Businesses of all sizes rely on proxy servers for data scraping. An extensive pool of proxy IP addresses is required by data scrapers in order to make their traffic seem normal and avoid being blocked.
In order to be both powerful and stable, the best proxy service must match your specific needs and use case. You should research and compare multiple proxy services before making a decision. In addition, you should take advantage of any free trials and read reviews before choosing a service.
Consider the following factors when choosing a powerful and stable proxy service:
- Diversity of proxy types: Proxies come in many different types, and you should ensure that a provider can supply as many types as possible (datacenter, residential, ISP, and mobile). You will be able to use proxies more efficiently and effectively if you can access a variety of proxy types.
- Size of proxy pool: The size of the proxy pool can affect the power and stability of the proxy service. Providers with large pools of proxies, preferably millions or hundreds of thousands, are the best.
- A good proxy service rotates its IP address after a certain number of requests or time intervals. As a result, the websites being accessed are not able to detect and block you.
- Make sure the proxy service you choose offers proxies in the locations you need. If you want to scrape data from a website that can only be accessed from certain countries, you will need proxies in those countries.
- Speed: The scraping process should be efficient and timely by using proxies that are fast enough.
- Reliability: Proxy services with high uptime rates should provide reliable and stable proxies.
- Customer Support: Proxy services should offer good customer support and respond promptly to any issues or concerns you may have.
- Price: Consider your budget and the number of proxies you need when choosing a proxy provider.
These are our top picks for proxy service providers:
#1 Bright Data
Bright Data is the best on every measure listed above. Bright Data’s web data collection infrastructure consists of multiple proxy network outlets, providing the industry’s most accurate and reliable web data collection. Their 99.9 percent uptime, fast response times, and reliability set them apart. Globally, millions of IP addresses are shared through community resource sharing. The proxy service provider Bright Data offers residential proxies, data center proxies, ISP proxies, and mobile proxies. With more than 72 million residential IPs and a presence in more than 195 countries, it is one of the largest proxy networks. It is known for its advanced features, high-level anonymity, and exceptional performance.
Bright Data is also exceptional for its versatility of products. You can choose from a spectrum of products depending on how much of your own infrastructure you’d like to use with Bright Data products vs. how much of Bright Data’s infrastructure you’d like to use. In short, Bright Data has something for everyone, and can support a range of setups with easy integration.
#2 Smartproxy
There are several proxy service providers that offer residential and data center proxy services. A popular one is Smartproxy. Over 40 million residential IPs are available in 195 locations. With its fast proxies and user-friendly dashboard, it is known for its easy integration and reliable proxy services. For those who require back-connected residential proxy servers, this is a great value. In terms of performance, pricing, and functionality, it offers a good balance. However, its limited targeting options are its biggest drawback. In addition, the SOCKS5 protocol is only supported by its dedicated datacenter proxy servers.
#3 Storm Proxies:
A popular proxy service provider, Storm Proxies offers residential, data center, and rotating proxies. The company offers over 70,000 rotating IPs at more than 40 locations and is well known for its outstanding performance, advanced features, and high-quality proxies. With its offering of affordable pricing, unlimited bandwidth, and instant setup, Storm Proxies offers some proxies in the EU and US. Despite Storm Proxies’ limited features, it offers a small pool of proxies. The service is suitable for beginners if they do not care about bandwidth limits or location restrictions.
#4 Oxylabs
Oxylabs is a good popular choice for proxies. With servers in 88 countries and a proxy pool of 100 million IPs, Oxylabs is a provider that enables city and state targeting and is a good pick for residential and medium-scale proxy projects. Some of the drawbacks of Oxylabs is limited bandwidth, and price. Oxylabs is one of the more expensive providers, which is a significant drawback for some.
#5 NetNut
The NetNut proxy network has a significant number of rotating residential proxy servers around the world (20 million IPs). Unlike other residential proxy providers, it offers fewer tools for more sophisticated unlocking activities. NetNut aims to serve small and medium-sized businesses with its services, and its infrastructure is not ideal for large-scale data scraping projects.
Conclusion
Bright Data far outshines its competition on almost every measure. Its versatility of products, reputation, proxy pool size, advanced features, high-quality infrastructure, comprehensive dashboard, and reliable customer support make it a top choice for users who need high-quality proxies for web scraping, ad verification, and other web automation tasks.