2024 Guide to Web Scraping Proxies: 10 Best Proxy Services

Are you looking for a web scraping proxy service for smooth data extraction? Proxies are more than just an anti-block measure for web scraping. They let you scrape faster and more efficiently, use precise geolocation, and remain anonymous.

This guide will show you the best web scraping proxy on the market. You'll learn more about different proxy types and review the ten best providers. After reading, you'll be ready to choose the perfect toolkit for your next project!

Why Do You Need Proxies for Web Scraping?

Proxies are among the top techniques to avoid getting blocked when web scraping. But their uses go beyond just that. Let's go through the main benefits of using proxies when extracting Internet data:

• Avoiding anti-bot systems: Many websites rely on anti-bot systems to protect their data. The systems block suspicious IPs temporarily or even permanently. With proxies, you can switch your IP address for each request to make you undetectable. Still, keep in mind that only rotating premium proxies can hold against the more demanding anti-bot systems. Grabbing random free proxies and manually switching them won't do the trick.
• Geolocation targeting: Access to certain websites is restricted based on location. Most proxy providers offer IP addresses from different, precise parts of the world, letting you retrieve region-specific data and avoid geo-restrictions.
• Anonymity: Proxies will hide all the information about you and your device, so you'll be protected against getting discovered.
• Accelerated performance: Proxies will let you send more requests and avoid errors, blocks, and timeouts. With an improved success rate, you'll scrape much more efficiently.

What Are the Different Types of Proxies for Scraping?

Proxies can be categorized based on their origin. Let's examine a few types that are well-suited for web scraping.

Residential Proxies

Residential proxies are servers with IPs connected to real residential addresses assigned to daily internet users by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). They automatically provide the user with a large pool of IPs for each request, which helps retain anonymity, prevent bans, and access geo-restricted sites.

👍 Pros:

• Legitimate, real-world addresses.
• Ability to choose precise geolocation.
• Rotating IPs helps with at-scale data scraping.

👎 Cons:

• Higher costs (but there are cheap residential proxies, too)
• Occasional performance issues (tend to be slower than datacenter proxies).

Datacenter Proxies

Datacenter proxies are artificially created and managed by datacenters and cloud services. They aren't associated with any ISPs.

While residential proxies are always shared (though from a large enough pool to offset any potential drawbacks), datacenter proxies can be either shared or dedicated:

• Shared: The same IP addresses are shared between all or some groups of users of a given provider. Some are free, and even the paid solutions are more cost-effective than dedicated addresses. The drawback is a greater risk of getting blocked since many people use the same IP address for different purposes.
• Dedicated: These types of IPs are given exclusively to a user. Dedicated proxies guarantee fast performance and face less risk of being blocked when web scraping. On the other hand, they're usually costly, and since they come in limited numbers, they still risk being blocked.

👍 Pros:

• High speed.
• Usually cheap.
• Stable, effective performance even with high volumes of requests.

👎 Cons:

• More prone to detection and bans.
• Usually static and needs to be changed manually for all subsequent requests.
• Uneffective for the advanced anti-bot systems.

Mobile Proxies

Also called 4G/5G proxies, these proxies get IP addresses straight from mobile networks. They provide a new IP address to each device every time a new connection is established, routing the connections through a mobile operator.

👍 Pros:

• High speed.
• Lower risk of getting blocked.
• Great for mobile-based sites and portals.

👎 Cons:

• High costs.
• May underperform in large-scale web scaling projects.

Public Proxies

Public proxies are free to use for everyone. They remain one of the most accessible options and are usually used by multiple users simultaneously.

However, there's a price to pay for this undeniable ease of use: as multiple users utilize them at once, they're prone to blocks and crashes.

👍 Pros:

• Free.
• Suitable for testing and learning.

👎 Cons:

• Unstable and unreliable.
• Susceptible to viruses and attacks.
• Slow.

Premium Proxies

Premium proxies are high-quality proxies that come straight from ISP providers. They aim to combine the advantages of other proxy types while mitigating their most significant risks.

Premium proxies guarantee total anonymity and efficient performance at the best cost-to-value ratio. They enable excellent IP rotation (even if they're datacenter proxies) without needing to manage your infrastructure, offer exact geolocation, and are more cost effective than traditional proxy pools.

👍 Pros:

• High speed.
• Stellar performance.
• Nearly a 100% chance of avoiding blocks.

👎 Cons:

• Premium proxy providers usually don't offer private proxies. However, you still retain complete anonymity, thanks to large proxy pools and smart rotation.

Top 10 Proxy Providers for Web Scraping

Now that you know what types of proxies are on the market, let's go through ten of the best proxy services for the web scraping use case.

Let's quickly summarize them in the table below:

Now, let's go into more detail about each proxy provider.

1. ZenRows

ZenRows provides residential proxies with over 55 million globally distributed premium IPs covering 185+ countries. It offers auto-rotating and sticky proxies with flexible geo-targeting, allowing you to bypass IP bans effectively. ZenRows is also cost-effective, as it only charges you for successful requests.

Under the same price cap, ZenRows offers a full-fledged web scraping API with all the tools required to bypass anti-bots and CAPTCHAs at scale. The scraping API also features headless browsing to interact with web elements, mimic human behavior, and extract dynamic content.

👍 Pros:

• Smart rotating proxies.
• Vast proxy pool.
• Proxy usage statistics.
• Dedicated web scraping API available.
• Unified pricing system.
• Full anti-bot bypass.
• Flexible geo-location.
• Only charges for successful requests.
• 24/7 technical support with an excellent knowledge base.

👎 Cons:

• No proxy browser extensions.

💰 Pricing

ZenRows offers a unified pricing system. Under the same price cap, you gain access to the residential proxy service and the web scraping API. ZenRows pricing starts at $69 at $5.5/GB. The service only charges for successful requests and offers a free trial without a credit card commitment.

2. Oxylabs

Oxylabs is one of the leading proxy networks. It offers different proxy solutions, including residential, mobile, and rotating ISP proxies, as well as shared, dedicated, and static datacenter proxies. Oxylabs has a proxy pool of around 100 million IPs, which are conveniently located all around the world.

It supports proxy auto-rotation and geo-targeting, allowing you to access geo-restricted content. Oxylab's toolkit also includes web scraping APIs, which you can purchase separately from the proxies.

👍 Pros:

• Multiple proxy types, including mobile and residential.
• 24/7 customer support.
• Flexible (you can pick exact proxy types and pay as you go).
• Proxy auto-rotation and geo-targeting.
• Well-distributed IPs.
• Chrome extension is available.

👎 Cons:

• High-cost plans for full-scale web scraping toolkit with CAPTCHA bypass.
• Steep learning curve.

💰 Pricing

Oxylabs offers various pricing options depending on the proxy type. The residential proxy service starts at $99/month and costs $7.75/GB. It also provides $8/GB pay-as-you-go.

3. NetNut

NetNut is an industry-leading residential proxy network boasting 85M+ residential IPs in over 200 countries. It offers rotating, static, mobile, and datacenter proxies.

In addition to proxy services, NetNut features a SERP scraper API and an anti-bot system called Website Unblocker. Notably, it also offers customers dataset APIs for business intelligence.

👍 Pros:

• Multiple proxy types, including mobile and rotating residential proxies.
• Flexible pricing.
• Vast proxy pool.
• Web scraping APIs are available.

👎 Cons:

• Plans are expensive.
• Limited knowledge base.

💰 Pricing

NetNut charges separately for all its services. The residential proxy service starts at $350/month and costs $17.5/GB. It also offers a free trial.

4. SmartProxy

Smartproxy is another popular proxy server for web scraping. It offers residential, data center, ISP, and mobile proxies. It boasts over 55 million globally distributed IPs with auto-rotation and geo-targeting features.

It also extends its services to general and dedicated web scraping APIs, including SERP, e-commerce, and social media APIs. However, these services need to be purchased separately. Additionally, SmartProxy offers a no-code solution for web scraping, but it's more expensive than the rest of Smartproxy's scraping products.

👍 Pros:

• Vast selection of proxy types.
• Affordable plans.
• Chrome and Firefox browser extensions.
• Big IP pool.
• 24/7 customer support.
• Proxy extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

👎 Cons:

• APIs aren't included in the proxy plans.

💰 Pricing

Smartproxy charges separately for all its products. Access residential proxies start at $12/month at $6/GB or $7/GB for a pay-as-you-go option.

5. Bright Data

Bright Data boasts one of the largest proxy pools on the market, with over 72 million rotating IPs from all over the world. Its offerings cover residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies.

For scraping, Bright Data provides a scraping browser, web scraping IDE, and web scraping API. It also features a dataset marketplace, matching learning-powered market intelligence, and dataset customizable options.

👍 Pros:

• Multiple proxy types, including rotating, residential, mobile, and datacenter.
• Comprehensive web unlocking, scraping, and JavaScript rendering solutions.
• Vast IP pool.
• 24/7 customer service.

👎 Cons:

• Expensive; may not be suitable for individuals or smaller companies.

💰 Pricing

All products are priced separately. Residential proxies start at $499/month and charges $6.43/GB. It also offers a pay-as-you-go option at $8.4/GB.

6. Rayobyte

Rayobyte is a proxy provider offering residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies. Like most proxy services recommended earlier, Rayobyte features IP auto-rotation and geo-targeting.

Notably, the platform includes a proxy reselling service. On the side, Rayobyte offers a simple web scraping robot for scraping.

👍 Pros:

• Multiple proxy types, including residential, mobile, and datacenter.
• Flexible pricing.
• Reseller service is available.
• Good customer support.
• It has a pay-as-you-go option.

👎 Cons:

• Expensive if used for large-scale crawling.

💰 Pricing:

Flexible pricing. The residential proxy starter plan charges $100 at $4.67/GB. The provider also offers pay-as-you-go plans with a $5.25/GB starter option.

7. HomeIP

HomeIP is a web scraping proxy provider with a vast network of global residential proxies: they offer 50M+ IPs spanning 195+ locations globally. With a public API and third-party tool integrations, HomeIP is a simple, highly targeted solution for those looking for residential proxies only.

👍 Pros:

• Rotating residential proxies.
• Unlimited parallel requests in all plans.
• High-quality support team.
• A pay-as-you-go option is available.

👎 Cons:

• No web scraping API.
• Limited proxy types.
• No free trial.
• Limited customer support.

💰 Pricing

Prices start at $135/month for a 25GB plan or $7/GB for a pay-as-you-go option.

8. Proxyrack

Proxyrack offers datacenter and residential proxies with over 5 million globally distributed IP addresses. An exciting feature is its private, unmetered residential proxy service, which dedicates residential IPs to your requests. The only shortcoming is that it's more expensive than the standard residential proxy.

Proxyrack also offers geo-targeting and proxy auto-rotation to switch your IP at intervals. However, auto-rotating proxies fall under a separate price cap.

👍 Pros

• Proxy auto-rotation.
• Geo-targeting.
• Good customer support.
• Proxy integration dashboard.
• Proxy API available.

👎 Cons

• Limited IP pools.
• All plans fall under separate pricing.
• No enhanced features like scraping API.
• No free trial.

💰 Pricing

The residential plan starts at $49.95/month at $5/GB.

9. GeoNode

GeoNode offers many proxy services, including residential, datacenter, mobile, and ISP proxies. It also features a web unblocker, a separate service with a different price cap. If you need a list of free proxies for prototyping or testing, you can grab those from GeoNode's free proxy list. There's also a proxy manager for integrating proxies with your browser.

👍 Pros

• Flexible pricing.
• Free proxy list included.
• Vast proxy pool.
• Multiple proxy types.
• Web unblocker.
• Pay-as-you-go options are available.

👎 Cons

• Free trial requires a financial commitment.
• All plans fall under separate price caps.
• Limited customer support.
• No scraping API.

💰 Pricing

GeoNode offers a flexible pricing system. The residential proxy plan starts at $59/month, while the premium residential proxy plan is exclusively available on a pay-as-you-go basis, starting at $4/GB.

10. IPRoyal

IPRoyal is one of the most popular proxy services, offering residential, data center, mobile, and ISP proxies. With over 34 million residential IPs covering 190+ countries, IPRoyal allows you to access geo-restricted content through IP auto-rotation and geo-targeting.

IPRoyal also features free Chrome and Firefox extensions, allowing you to set up and manage proxies within your browser, including those from other services.

👍 Pros

• Auto-rotating proxies.
• Geo-targeting.
• Multiple proxy types, including residential, mobile, datacenter, and ISP.
• Browser extensions.
• Free proxy checker.
• Flexible pricing system.

👎 Cons

• No enhanced services tailored towards web scraping.
• No free trial.
• Slow customer support.

💰 Pricing

IPRoyal offers a flexible pricing system. Its residential proxies plan starts from $7/GB and is consumable. It doesn't expire; you can use it as long as you have unused traffic.

Adding a Proxy to Your Web Scraper

Adding a proxy to your web scraper is easy. Let's look at quick examples in Python and Node.js, the two most popular programming languages. In each case, we'll request https://httpbin.io/ip, a test website that returns your current IP address.

Python

In this example, we'll use the Requests library to set a simple proxy. Let's start with free proxies from the Free Proxy List.

Import the Requests library and specify your proxy address. Then, add the proxy to your request and print the output:

# import the Requests library
import requests

# specify your proxy address
proxies = {
    "http": "http://159.223.248.13:8080",
    "https": "http://159.223.248.13:8080",
}

# send a request to the target site
response = requests.get("https://httpbin.io/ip", proxies=proxies)

# validate the request and print the response
if response.status_code != 200:
    print(f"Request failed with {response.status_code}")
else:
    print(response.text)

That's a free proxy.

To add a premium residential proxy from ZenRows, open the Request Builder and go to the Residential Proxies Dashboard. Grab your proxy credentials (username, password, domain, and port):

Now, update the previous code like so:

# import the Requests library
import requests

# specify your proxy address with credentials
proxies = {
    "http": "http://<ZENROWS_PROXY_USERNAME>:<ZENROWS_PROXY_PASSWORD>@superproxy.zenrows.com:1337",
    "https": "http://<ZENROWS_PROXY_USERNAME>:<ZENROWS_PROXY_PASSWORD>@superproxy.zenrows.com:1337",
}

# send a request to the target site
response = requests.get("https://httpbin.io/ip", proxies=proxies)

# validate the request and print the response
if response.status_code != 200:
    print(f"Request failed with {response.status_code}")
else:
    print(response.text)

You just integrated ZenRows proxy into your Python scraper!

Node.js

Let's see how to add a proxy to a Node.js scraper using Axios. We'll maintain the previous free proxies to start this example.

Import Axios and specify your proxy address. Add the address as a proxy parameter in your Axios request and get the response data:

// import Axios
const axios = require('axios');

// specify your proxy address
proxies = {
    host: '159.223.248.13',
    port: 8080,
    protocol: 'http',
};

axios
    // send request with the proxy
    .get('https://httpbin.io/ip', {
        proxy: proxies,
    })
    .then((response) => {
        // log the response data
        console.log(response.data);
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // log request error if any
        console.error('Error:', error);
    });

Now, let's see how to add premium residential proxies from ZenRows.

Follow the previous steps described in the Python example above to obtain your ZenRows credentials. Then, modify the above code with your ZenRows credentials using the auth parameter:

// import Axios
const axios = require('axios');

// specify your proxy address with credentials
proxies = {
    protocol: 'http',
    host: 'superproxy.zenrows.com',
    port: '1337',
    auth: {
        username: '<ZENROWS_PROXY_USERNAME>',
        password: '<ZENROWS_PROXY_PASSWORD>',
    },
};

axios
    // send request with the proxy
    .get('https://httpbin.io/ip', {
        proxy: proxies,
    })
    .then((res) => {
        // log the response data
        console.log(res.data);
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        // log request error if any
        console.error('Error:', error);
    });

Good job, you've successfully integrated a ZenRows residential proxy into your Node.js Axios scraper.

Conclusion

By routing requests through different IP addresses, proxies help distribute traffic across different IPs, avoid rate-limited IP bans, and access geo-restricted content.

However, even the highest-quality proxies can't handle sophisticated anti-bot systems. That's where services like ZenRows come in to provide additional value. Beyond residential proxies, ZenRows provides a scraping API to bypass CAPTCHAs and any anti-bot measure at scale.