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June 18, 2021

7 minutes read

The ultimate proxy race: Smartproxy vs. Storm Proxies

In Proxy Market Research 2021, Proxyway gave Smartproxy an A, and Storm Proxies was graded a D. You’re probably wondering why. This report consists of many tests, lots of research and data, so let’s look at how different Smartproxy is from Storm Proxies – and which one might be the right choice for you.

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The ultimate proxy race: Smartproxy vs. Storm Proxies

Features

Pool size & performance/ Our proxies are more successful

First of all, let’s look at the advertised IP pool sizes and the percentage of unique IPs in them. This is crucial if you want your scraping projects to perform well. We offer 40M IPs, and Storm Proxies offers 200,000. Of course, the difference is sizable, but what about quality and unique IPs?

According to Proxyway, our pool contains 63.62% unique IPs, whereas Storm Proxies has only 5.82%. This is more than ten times less, besides the fact that the pool size in itself is quite petite, even compared to other providers in the report.

Actually, Storm Proxies is the only provider that has less than a million IPs when compared to big and small players like Oxylabs, Bright Data, GeoSurf, NetNut, Packet Stream, and SOAX. Thus, we got an A+, and Storm Proxies got an F.

Pool size & performance/ Our proxies are more successful

Then, there’s the question of proxy performance. If you make a request using a proxy, you need it to be successful. Proxyway sent out their fair share of requests – around 2 million for each provider.

The research found that Smartproxy reached an impressive 99.26% successful request rate, and Storm Proxies showed a 68.11% success rate. Nearly all of Smartproxy’s requests came back with a desired result, while Storm Proxies showed errors around every third request, and the response time was longer.

According to these findings, Storm Proxies’ IP pool and its performance doesn’t stack up against Smartproxy’s.

Locations, IP rotation & user experience/ Storm Proxies’ resources are limited

When it comes to location targeting, having global reach certainly helps. This is why we offer worldwide locations that include country, state, and city-level targeting. Storm Proxies, however, offers combined US & EU addresses and country targeting, but no city targeting.

IP rotation differs as well. Smartproxy offers to automatically rotate your IP with every request or with every minute, and up to 10 minutes or 30 minutes during sticky sessions. Storm Proxies only offers rotation every 3 or 15 minutes.

Moreover, while we offer user:pass authorization and having up to 5 sub-users, Storm Proxies doesn’t support user:pass authorization or any sub-users, which might be an issue for some. Besides, we offer unlimited concurrent connection requests – Storm Proxies limits them to 10-400 threads.

Locations, IP rotation & user experience

Free tools/ Any tempting extras?

Everybody loves a free extra, and Smartproxy has released quite a few tools to tickle your fancy. Besides having sleek Chrome and Firefox browser extensions, and the Proxy Address Generator (all for free), we’re now offering two new additions – SERP Scraping API and the X Browser tool!

SERP Scraping API guarantees a 100% success rate when gathering SERP data (you know, the new craze). You can get your results in raw HTML or parsed JSON. On top of that, you will only have to pay for successful requests!

When it comes to security, the X Browser tool will guarantee the safety of all your profiles by giving them unique fingerprints! These tools will def come in handy, and X Browser is included in your monthly subscription price.

Prices/ It’s a close call when it comes to pricing

Even though we price per GB, and Storm Proxies prices per port, the two can still be compared. We offer recurring monthly subscriptions. Storm Proxies offers the same, but their plans do not automatically recur, which is slightly inconvenient.

If you’re looking for a free trial or a refund policy, you’re in luck! Both providers offer a refund if you change your mind.

Smartproxy offers a pretty good bargain when it comes to price – if you choose the cheapest deal, you will get 5GB for 75$ + VAT. This plan includes the aforementioned extra tools and features exclusive to Smartproxy. On the other hand, Storm Proxies charges less for traffic usage, but their IP network is less developed.

Onboarding/ You don’t need to be a pro to start

Some providers have long and taxing KYC processes, but if you want to start using proxies, you prob want to start right away.

Proxyway rated our setup difficulty as ‘easy’, and Storm Proxies got a rating of being moderately hard to set up. Both providers offer self-service (yay!) and have a KYC process. Smartproxy’s KYC process is basic and quick, while Storm Proxies skips it entirely.

Finally, there’s not much to say about Storm Proxies when it comes to a good API and extra tools, as they do not have any. Meanwhile, Smartproxy offers a public API where you can manage your whitelisted IPs, monitor your traffic, and see a list of available endpoints.

As we mentioned earlier, we also have Chrome and Firefox extensions (free, ofc), and plenty of tools to aid your projects. This might be why Proxyway gave our user experience an A+, and Storm Proxies an E.

Customer success/ We’re just a few clicks away

What makes our customer service worthy of an A+? Why did Storm Proxies get an F?

First things first – Smartproxy’s documentation is extensive, while Storm Proxies has a basic one that might not answer all of your questions, especially the ones concerning integration. Fortunately, both providers have customer support. Yet, the quality of it differs.

The main differences are the customer support availability and the response times. We have 24/7 support with instant replies via Live Chat. Storm Proxies doesn’t offer 24/7 help, and you will have to wait for a reply for hours – Proxyway waited for 4 hours to get an email back.

Thus, if you want to get help as soon as you ask for it, you need to choose the provider with the resources to offer it.

Topics: Data Collection

James Keenan

Senior content writer

The automation and anonymity evangelist at Smartproxy. He believes in data freedom and everyone’s right to become a self-starter. James is here to share knowledge and help you succeed with residential proxies.

Frequently asked questions

Are Storm Proxies and Smartproxy legit proxy service providers?

Yes, both providers are legit, and you will get to use their proxies if you pay for them.

Are Storm Proxies and Smartproxy good proxy service providers?

This depends on the features that are important to you. Yet, in general, both Storm Proxies and Smartproxy are good proxy service providers.

Do Storm Proxies and Smartproxy offer free proxies?

Both providers offer refunds, but you do have to buy proxies to see if they work as well as you want them to. However, Smartproxy offers an ecosystem of free tools for all its users.

Do Storm Proxies and Smartproxy offer static and rotating IPs?

Neither Storm Proxies nor Smartproxy offers static IPs. However, Smartproxy’s advanced algorithms let you keep your IP for up to 1, 10, or 30 minutes in so-called long sticky sessions or rotate IPs with every connection request.

Do Storm Proxies and Smartproxy offer residential and datacenter proxies?

Yes fam, they both offer residential and datacenter proxies.

Which provider has a bigger network of residential proxies – Storm Proxies or Smartproxy?

We have a bigger network with more than 40 million IPs (Storm Proxies has 200,000 IPs).

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