Best Proxies for Web Scraping: 7 Proxy Networks and APIs Compared
· Updated October 24, 2026
Part of our Proxy Providers guide
The best proxy for web scraping is the cheapest one that reliably loads the pages you may collect. For some projects that is a $3 datacenter plan.
For others it is residential traffic. It can also be a scraping API that handles proxies, retries and page rendering for you, and only charges for pages that succeed.
Picking the wrong setup usually shows up as a pile of failed requests. You also get a bill for traffic that produced nothing.
Our top three picks are below:
- Webshare for low-cost datacenter scraping.
- Decodo for balanced residential scraping.
- Oxylabs for large-scale collection.
Bright Data and Rayobyte suit heavy enterprise and high-volume jobs. IPRoyal fits occasional projects, and Zyte API is the pick if you would rather pay per successful page. All prices were checked in mid-October 2026.
What Are Proxies for Web Scraping?
Proxies for web scraping route your automated page requests through other IP addresses. Web scraping means using software to collect information from web pages automatically. Examples include public product prices, store locations or job listings.
Proxies help in three ways:
- They spread the load across many IPs.
- They let you see region-specific versions of pages.
- They keep your own server's address out of the picture.
A proxy network gives you IP addresses and leaves everything else to you. Your code sends requests, handles retries, renders JavaScript and parses the result.
A scraping API takes a URL and returns the page. It handles proxies, retries, browser rendering and often parsing behind the scenes. Proxies are cheaper and more flexible if you have engineering time.
Scraping APIs cost more per page but save a lot of work on difficult sites.
Before any project, find out what you need to collect. A site's sitemap is the best starting point for a list of pages. Our guide to getting all page URLs from a website shows five free ways to build one.
Quick Comparison: 7 Best Proxies for Web Scraping
Webshare is our top pick overall, followed by Decodo and Oxylabs. Here is how all 7 compare on use case, starting price and type. Prices were checked in October 2026, so confirm the live rate before you buy.
| Option | Best For | Starting Price | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webshare | Low-cost scraping on lighter sites | Free; 100 proxies around $2.99/mo | Datacenter proxies |
| Decodo | Balanced residential scraping | Residential around $4/GB | Proxies and scraping APIs |
| Oxylabs | Large-scale data collection | Residential around $30 for 5 GB | Proxies and scraper APIs |
| Bright Data | Hard public pages at enterprise scale | Residential around $8/GB; KYC required | Proxies, Web Unlocker, scraping browser |
| Rayobyte | High-volume rotating datacenter | Rotating datacenter around $0.30/GB | Proxies and scraping API |
| IPRoyal | Occasional scraping projects | Residential around $7/GB at 1 GB | Residential, ISP and datacenter proxies |
| Zyte API | Paying only for successful pages | About $0.13 per 1,000 simple responses | Managed scraping API |
What Makes a Great Scraping Proxy Provider?
A great provider gives you the right IP type for your targets, predictable cost per successful page and clear rules on what you may collect. The cheapest per-GB rate means nothing if half your requests fail and you pay for the retries.
We weighed five things:
- The IP types and scraping tools on offer.
- Cost per successful page rather than headline price.
- Rotation and session control.
- Documentation for developers.
- Acceptable-use and compliance policies.
Best Proxies for Web Scraping Overall
1. Webshare: Best for low-cost scraping on lighter sites
Webshare is the cheapest sensible starting point for scraping sites that accept datacenter IPs.
What it does well. Many scraping jobs work fine on datacenter proxies, like collecting public listings from smaller sites. Webshare makes that cheap. You can set the number of proxies, bandwidth and locations, then export a proxy list into your scraper in minutes.
The free plan lets you build and debug your scraper before you spend anything.
Key features:
- Free plan with 10 datacenter proxies and 1 GB a month
- Custom plans for proxy count, bandwidth and location
- Proxy list downloads and an API for automation
- Rotating residential option for tougher targets
Pricing. 100 shared datacenter proxies were listed at around $2.99 a month, or about $1.99 billed yearly. Rotating residential starts around $3.50 for 1 GB.
Best for: Developers scraping lightly protected public sites on a small budget.
Limitations. Datacenter IPs are easy for strict sites to recognize. Expect more challenges on well-protected targets.
2. Decodo: Best for balanced residential scraping
Decodo, formerly Smartproxy, covers both raw proxies and scraping APIs at a fair price.
What it does well. Decodo is a strong middle ground. Its residential network handles stricter sites. Session control lets you rotate per request, or hold an IP from 1 minute up to 24 hours for multi-step flows.
If you would rather not manage proxies at all, its scraping APIs return pages for you.
Key features:
- Residential, ISP, datacenter and mobile proxies
- Per-request rotation or sticky sessions up to 24 hours
- Web scraping APIs for managed collection
- Three-day free trial with 100 MB of traffic
Pricing. Residential pay-as-you-go was around $4 per GB, with cheaper monthly plans. Shared datacenter traffic is about $0.60 per GB.
Best for: Small and mid-sized teams scraping a mix of easy and strict sites.
Limitations. Residential pay-as-you-go costs more per GB than budget providers. Block images and other heavy files to keep traffic down.
Best Proxies for Large-Scale Scraping
3. Oxylabs: Best for large-scale data collection
Oxylabs is built for companies whose business depends on steady, large-volume data collection.
What it does well. Oxylabs combines premium proxy networks with scraper APIs. A team can use raw proxies where they work and switch to managed scraping where they do not. Volume pricing rewards big monthly usage, and account support helps when a large project hits trouble.
Key features:
- Residential, mobile, ISP and datacenter proxies
- Web scraper APIs that handle rendering and retries
- Residential tiers down to about $2.50 per GB
- Dedicated support on larger plans
Pricing. Residential plans were listed at around $30 for 5 GB, $100 for 20 GB, $500 for 125 GB and $2,500 for 1 TB. Shared datacenter traffic is about $0.59 per GB with a 20 GB minimum.
Best for: Data teams running steady, high-volume collection.
Limitations. Small projects pay a high per-GB rate on entry plans.
4. Bright Data: Best for hard public pages at enterprise scale
Bright Data offers the widest set of scraping tools, from proxies to finished datasets.
What it does well. For difficult public pages, Bright Data's Web Unlocker and scraping browser handle retries, fingerprints and JavaScript rendering automatically. Its scraper APIs and ready-made datasets mean you may not need to scrape common sources at all. That breadth suits enterprises that want one accountable vendor.
Key features:
- Web Unlocker for hard-to-load public pages
- Scraping browser for JavaScript-heavy sites
- Scraper APIs and ready-made datasets
- Residential, ISP, datacenter and mobile proxies
Pricing. Residential pay-as-you-go was around $8 per GB, with promotions as low as about $4. Monthly plans run about $3.50 to $2.50 per GB.
Best for: Enterprises scraping difficult public sites at scale.
Limitations. Bright Data's documentation says residential zones created after July 7, 2026 need human-reviewed KYC approval with a company email. Traffic is limited to approved use cases. Web Unlocker, ISP and datacenter products remain available without KYC.
Our Bright Data alternatives guide covers lighter-onboarding options.
5. Rayobyte: Best for high-volume rotating datacenter scraping
Rayobyte offers cheap rotating datacenter traffic plus a scraping API.
What it does well. When your targets accept datacenter IPs, Rayobyte gives you a fresh IP on every request from around $0.30 per GB. That is ideal for broad, high-volume collection from many lightly protected sites. Residential and ISP pools and a scraping API cover the harder pages.
Key features:
- Rotating datacenter traffic per GB
- Dedicated datacenter IPs for steady jobs
- Residential, ISP and mobile proxies
- Web scraping API
Pricing. Prices from Rayobyte were:
- Rotating datacenter from around $0.30 per GB.
- Dedicated US datacenter IPs about $2.50 per IP a month, with a five-IP minimum.
- Residential around $2 per GB at mid volumes.
Best for: High-volume scraping of sites that accept datacenter traffic.
Limitations. Strict sites may still challenge datacenter IPs. Fair-use terms apply to rotating plans.
Best for Occasional Scraping and Managed Collection
6. IPRoyal: Best for occasional scraping projects
IPRoyal suits scrapers who run projects a few times a year, thanks to traffic that never expires.
What it does well. IPRoyal's official FAQ confirms that residential traffic does not expire. So a quarterly price check does not waste a monthly plan. Its documentation lists sticky sessions up to seven days, and reviewers report per-IP datacenter proxies with unlimited bandwidth.
Key features:
- Non-expiring residential traffic
- Sticky sessions up to seven days
- Per-IP datacenter proxies from about $1.39
- ISP and mobile proxies
Pricing. Residential starts around $7 per GB for one gigabyte and falls to roughly $1.75 per GB at large volumes. Datacenter proxies start around $1.39 per proxy on a 90-day rental.
Best for: Freelancers and small teams with irregular scraping needs.
Limitations. Small purchases cost a lot per GB. The same sticky IP is not guaranteed for the full session.
7. Zyte API: Best for paying only for successful pages
Zyte, the company behind the open-source Scrapy framework, sells a scraping API instead of raw proxies.
What it does well. Zyte API takes a URL and returns the page, handling proxies, retries and browser rendering. You pay only for successful responses, priced per 1,000 and tiered by how hard the site is. Failed requests cost nothing, so your bill tracks the data you actually get.
Key features:
- Pay only for successful responses
- Simple HTTP or full browser-rendered requests
- Automatic proxy rotation and retries
- Works with Scrapy and any HTTP client
Pricing. Pay-as-you-go HTTP responses cost about $0.13 per 1,000 on the easiest sites, rising to about $1.27 on the hardest tier. Browser-rendered responses range from about $1.01 to $16.08 per 1,000.
Monthly commitments of $100, $200 and $500 lower the simplest HTTP rate to about $0.10, $0.08 and $0.06 per 1,000. New accounts get $5 in free credit.
Best for: Teams that want predictable cost per page and less proxy management.
Limitations. Rendered pages on difficult sites get expensive fast. You also give up some low-level control compared with raw proxies.
How Should You Choose a Scraping Setup?
Match the IP type to the target. Start with datacenter proxies for lightly protected sites, because they are fast and cheap. Our best datacenter proxies guide compares shared, dedicated and rotating plans.
Move to residential only for pages that refuse datacenter traffic or need true local views. Compare costs in our best residential proxies guide. If you need a fresh IP on every request, read our guide to the best rotating proxies.
Compare cost per successful page. Run 500 requests against your real targets with each option. Divide the total cost by the number of pages that came back complete. A $1-per-GB proxy with a 60 percent success rate can cost more than a scraping API that charges only for successes.
Scrape responsibly. Follow these basic rules:
- Check the site's terms and robots.txt.
- Keep your request rate polite.
- Avoid collecting personal data unless you have a lawful reason.
- Never scrape content behind a login you are not allowed to automate.
Proxies are for spreading load and seeing regional pages. They are not for getting around a site's clear rules.
Still deciding on a proxy type? Our residential vs datacenter proxies comparison explains when the cheaper option is enough. The best ISP proxies guide covers static IPs for long scraping sessions.
How We Evaluated These Scraping Options
We built this list from each provider's public pricing pages, developer documentation and acceptable-use policies, checked in mid-October 2026. We added independent reviews from outlets such as TechRadar and Proxyway. We compared IP types, scraping tools, pricing models, session control and compliance terms.
We did not run our own success-rate or speed benchmarks. Use trials to measure cost per successful page on your own targets, and confirm live prices before you buy.
Is web scraping legal?
Scraping publicly available data is legal in many places, but it is not a free pass. Website terms, copyright, contract law and privacy rules such as the GDPR and CCPA can all apply, especially with personal data.
Courts have treated scraping public pages differently from breaking into protected systems. Get legal advice for large or sensitive projects.
Are scraping APIs better than proxies?
Scraping APIs are better when sites are hard to load or you lack engineering time. They handle proxies, retries and rendering, and often charge only for successful pages. Raw proxies are cheaper and more flexible when targets are easy and your team can manage the scraper.
Many teams use both.
The Bottom Line
Webshare is the best low-cost starting point for scraping lighter sites. Decodo is the most balanced choice for mixed targets, and Oxylabs is the strongest option for large-scale collection.
The rest each lead in one area:
- Bright Data for hard public pages at enterprise scale.
- Rayobyte for cheap rotating datacenter volume.
- IPRoyal for occasional projects.
- Zyte API for paying only for pages that succeed.
Next steps: List the pages you need, then test two options on 500 real requests. Pick the one with the lowest cost per successful page. For a broader view of providers, see our proxy provider comparison.
Build your URL list before you scrape
Paste any page or sitemap into our free URL Extractor to get a clean, de-duplicated list of links.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which proxy is best for web scraping?
Start with datacenter proxies, such as Webshare or Rayobyte, because they are fast and cheap. Switch to residential proxies, like Decodo, for sites that block datacenter IPs. If you would rather pay only for pages that succeed, a scraping API such as Zyte API is often simpler.
How many proxies do I need for web scraping?
It depends on how many pages you collect and how fast. Rotating proxies remove the need to count, since each request gets a fresh IP from a large pool. With static proxies, spread requests so no single IP sends too many in a short time.
Do I need residential proxies for scraping?
Not always. Many public sites accept datacenter proxies, which cost a fraction of residential traffic. Use residential proxies only for pages that refuse datacenter IPs or when you need local results by city.
How do I cut proxy costs when scraping?
Block images, video and fonts, since residential traffic is billed by the gigabyte. Use datacenter proxies wherever they work, cache pages you already collected and limit retries. Measuring cost per successful page shows where the money actually goes.
Can I scrape a site without proxies?
Yes, for small jobs. Collecting a few hundred public pages at a polite pace often works from a single IP. Proxies become useful when you need regional views, higher volume or to spread load across many addresses.