Buyer's guide · Updated July 2026

Best residential proxies
of 2026, ranked

We compared the major residential proxy providers on verified, current pricing and terms. There is no single "best" — each wins at something. If your priority is the cheapest pay-as-you-go rate with no subscription and no expiring traffic, Roam tops the list at a flat $2/GB. Full comparison table and honest per-provider verdicts below.

Disclosure: This guide is published by Roam (roamproxy.com), and Roam appears in the ranking. Comparisons are based on our published benchmark data and pricing checks; verify independently before you buy.

TL;DR: Cheapest PAYG & most flexible → Roam ($2/GB, no plan, 300MB free). Enterprise scale → Bright Data / Oxylabs. Affordable premium dashboard → Decodo.

The ranking

Best for pay-as-you-go & lowest flat rate

Roam

$2/GB flat PAYG · no subscription · 300MB free trial

Roam charges one flat $2/GB with no monthly plan and a balance that never expires — the cheapest true pay-as-you-go residential rate here. Rotating or sticky sessions, 190+ countries, plus datacenter ($0.80/GB) and 4G/5G mobile ($9/GB) on the same wallet.

✓ Cheapest PAYG, no commitment, balance never expires, Alipay/crypto/cards, 300MB free.

△ Newer brand with a smaller review footprint than the incumbents.

Start free — 300MB →

Best affordable premium

Decodo (Smartproxy)

$4/GB PAYG · $2.75/GB @ $275/mo · 3-day / 100MB trial

Formerly Smartproxy — a polished dashboard, good docs and scraping APIs at a mid-tier price. Solid all-rounder, but its pay-as-you-go rate is double Roam's and its best rates need monthly commitment.

✓ Great UX, scraping APIs, reliable pool.

△ PAYG $4/GB (2× Roam); low rates need $275+/mo.

Visit Decodo ↗

Best for enterprise scale & tooling

Bright Data

$4/GB with code RESIGB50 ($8 list) · $2.50/GB @ $1,999/mo

The industry giant: huge network, Web Scraper APIs, dataset marketplace, enterprise compliance. Unmatched at scale — and priced for it, with KYC onboarding and pay-as-you-go at $8/GB list.

✓ Largest network, full product suite, SLAs.

△ Expensive, KYC wait, complex pricing.

Visit Bright Data ↗

Best for enterprise support

Oxylabs

~$6/GB entry ($30/mo) · $2.50/GB @ $2,500/mo

Premium enterprise provider with a large pool, dedicated account management and strong tooling. Subscription-first pricing makes it costly for small and mid-size users.

✓ Big pool, dedicated support, mature tools.

△ No true PAYG; low rate needs $2,500/mo.

Visit Oxylabs ↗

Best budget with never-expiring traffic

IPRoyal

$7.35/GB (1GB) → $5.51/GB @ 10GB · traffic never expires

Budget-friendly with the same never-expiring-traffic model Roam uses, plus handy per-IP datacenter and ISP products. Its small-volume residential rate is the catch — 3× Roam's at the entry point.

✓ No subscription, never-expiring traffic, cheap DC per-IP.

△ $7.35/GB entry; good rates need bulk.

Visit IPRoyal ↗

Best for granular geo-targeting

SOAX

$5/GB PAYG on the free Sandbox plan · $3/GB on the $200/mo Builder plan

Clean pools and fine-grained ASN/city targeting suit agencies with steady monthly volume in premium geos. Pay-as-you-go does exist on their free Sandbox plan at $5/GB, but the credits you buy expire after 60 days, there is no free trial, and there is no datacenter product at all.

✓ Granular targeting, unified resi+mobile allowance.

△ Credits expire after 60 days, no free trial, geo-tiered rates, no datacenter option.

Visit SOAX ↗

Best free tier & cheap datacenter

Webshare

Residential subscription from $7/GB ($3.50 promo) · free DC tier

Famous for a generous free datacenter tier and rock-bottom shared DC proxies — great for hobby projects. Its residential product is subscription-based and pricier per GB at low volume.

✓ Free plan, ultra-cheap datacenter proxies.

△ Residential is subscription-only; $7/GB list at 1GB, $3.50 under the current promo.

Visit Webshare ↗

Side-by-side comparison

	Roam	Decodo (Smartproxy)	Bright Data	Oxylabs	IPRoyal	SOAX	Webshare
Cheapest PAYG $/GB	$2	$4	$8 · $4 w/ code	~$6	$7.35	$5.00	$3.50 promo · $7 list
Subscription required?	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Balance never expires	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Free trial	300MB	100MB	Yes	Yes	paid	No	Free DC
Min to start	$2	$4	KYC	$30/mo	$7.35	$0/mo	$3.50/mo
Datacenter per-GB	$0.80	$0.60	$0.60	$0.59	per-IP	—	per-IP
Countries	190+	195+	195+	195+	195+	190+	195+
Alipay/crypto	Yes	crypto	—	—	crypto	—	crypto

Pricing verified 14 September 2026 from official provider pages, each figure tied to the rotating-residential product it belongs to. Bright Data $4/GB requires coupon RESIGB50 (list $8) and residential access requires KYC. Webshare and Bright Data show a live promo price beside the list price. SOAX has no datacenter product and its top-up credits expire after 60 days. Figures change — confirm with each provider before buying.

FAQ

What is the best residential proxy provider in 2026?

It depends on your priority. For the cheapest pay-as-you-go rate with no subscription, Roam leads at a flat $2/GB with a balance that never expires. For enterprise scale and tooling, Bright Data and Oxylabs are strongest. For an affordable premium dashboard, Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) is a solid pick. This page ranks each by what it's genuinely best at.

Which residential proxy is cheapest?

On pay-as-you-go pricing, Roam is the cheapest at a flat $2/GB with no minimum plan (re-checked 14 September 2026). Decodo and Bright Data's promo sit at $4/GB, IPRoyal starts at $7.35/GB, SOAX does have PAYG on its free Sandbox plan ($5/GB Tier-1 down to $2/GB Tier-3), while Oxylabs and Webshare have no pay-as-you-go at all. Enterprise committed rates can reach $2.00–$2.50/GB but require $2,000+/month spend.

Are cheaper residential proxies lower quality?

Not necessarily. Price mostly reflects business model, not IP quality — Roam keeps costs low with a lean pay-as-you-go wallet and crypto/Alipay payments rather than enterprise sales overhead. All the providers here use real home-broadband IPs; the difference is pricing structure, tooling, and support depth.

What should I look for in a residential proxy?

Match it to your job: cheapest per-GB and no lock-in for scraping and testing (Roam), granular geo-targeting for localized data (SOAX), or enterprise tooling and SLAs for large teams (Bright Data, Oxylabs). Also check whether traffic expires, minimum spend, country coverage, and payment options.

Can I try residential proxies for free?

Yes. Roam offers a 300MB residential free trial with no card required. Decodo has a 3-day/100MB trial, Bright Data and Oxylabs offer trials, and Webshare has a free datacenter tier. Trials are the best way to test proxy quality on your own target sites before paying.

Best residential proxiesof 2026, ranked