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.

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 promo ($8 regular) · $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) → ~$5.15/GB @ 50GB · 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

No PAYG · from $3/GB on $200/mo Builder plan

Clean pools and fine-grained ASN/city targeting suit agencies with steady monthly volume in premium geos. But there's no real pay-as-you-go and the entry plan is $200/month.

✓ Granular targeting, unified resi+mobile allowance.

△ Subscription-only, $200/mo entry, geo-tiered rates.

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 at 1GB.

Visit Webshare ↗

Side-by-side comparison

	Roam	Decodo (Smartproxy)	Bright Data	Oxylabs	IPRoyal	SOAX	Webshare
Cheapest PAYG $/GB	$2	$4	$4*	~$6	$7.35	—	$7 (sub)
Subscription required?	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Balance never expires	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Free trial	300MB	100MB	Yes	Yes	paid	$1.99	Free DC
Min to start	$2	$4	trial	$30/mo	$7	$200/mo	$3.50/mo
Datacenter per-GB	$0.80	$0.60	$0.60	$0.59	per-IP	incl.	per-IP
Countries	190+	195+	195+	195+	195+	190+	195+
Alipay/crypto	Yes	crypto	—	—	crypto	—	crypto

Pricing verified July 2026 from official provider pages; promotional rates marked. *Decodo PAYG. 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 (as of July 2026). Decodo and Bright Data's promo sit at $4/GB, IPRoyal starts at $7.35/GB, and SOAX and Webshare have no true PAYG. Enterprise committed rates can reach $2.50/GB but require $1,999–$2,500/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