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Residential proxies vs. Datacenter proxies
Residential and datacenter proxies mainly differ in origin, speed, reliability, and cost. Residential proxies offer higher anonymity but might come at a premium.
Meanwhile, datacenter proxies provide swift connections often at a more affordable rate.
Make your selection based on your priorities
Features
Residential proxy
Datacenter proxy
Proxy pool
55M+
100K+
Locations
195+ worldwide
US & Europe (Pay/GB)
8 worldwide (Pay/IP)
City/state targeting
✓
✖
Speed
<0.6s
<0.3s
Socks5 support
✓
✓
Rotating/IP rotation
✓
✓
Anonymity
Highest
High
Blocking
Undetectable
Detectable
Source of IPs
Household desktop and mobile devices provided by Internet Service Providers.
Data centers
Sticky sessions
1, 10, or 30 min
30 min
Ethically sourced
✓
✓
Ideal Users
Those who seek authentic IPs for genuine web interactions.
Those who require fast, stable connections for bulk web tasks.
Best for:
Web scraping, multi-accounting, ad verification
SEO research, load testing, market research
Choose for:
Anonymity, versatility
Stability, cost-effectiveness
Pay for:
Traffic
Traffic or IPs
Residential vs. Datacenter proxies
Master anonymity with residential proxies
A residential proxy is an intermediary that uses an IP address provided by an ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Residential proxies are extremely difficult to detect because their IPs come from actual household desktop and mobile devices that have aspects of real internet users, including ISP attribution, without any subnetworks or other tell-tale signs of a proxy network.
If your use case requires high anonymity, residential proxies will allow you to stay under the radar and bypass any possible blocking or flagging.
Reach top speed with datacenter proxies
Datacenter proxies are intermediaries originating from dedicated servers (remote computers), each with its distinct IP address.
Since datacenter proxies share subnets, they are more easily blocked compared to residential proxies. However, datacenter proxies run on exceptionally fast machines, so their connection speed and stability are superior.
It’s a great choice for accessing geo-restricted content, performing market research, and scraping certain targets. Even though datacenter proxies may be less suitable for scraping targets with advanced anti-proxy systems, they still provide adequate security, anonymity, and cost-effectiveness.
Why choose Smartproxy
Simplicity guaranteed
Our documentation is packed with all the key information you’ll need to handle proxies with ease.
Quick as a flash
We take pride in our industry-leading proxy speed. The average response time of our residential proxies clocks in at under 0.6 seconds.
14-day money-back
Enjoy maximum performance worry-free. Buy a proxy plan and decide within 14 days. Not impressed? We'll refund you (terms apply).
What people are saying about us
We're thrilled to have the support of our 50K+ clients and the industry's best.
Clients
Awards
Industry experts
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Frequently asked questions about proxies
What is a proxy?
A proxy acts as an intermediary server between the user and the internet. It lets users browse the web anonymously by masking their original IP address.
What is a residential proxy?
A residential proxy gives the user the IP address of a genuine household device in a different geographical location. These IPs come from ISPs, ensuring excellent anonymity and the ability to bypass blocks.
What is a datacenter proxy?
A datacenter proxy comes from remote computers with their own IP addresses. They act as an intermediary between you and the target website: instead of connecting to the website directly, your request goes via proxies to hide any identifying personal information.
What is the difference between residential vs. datacenter proxies?
The main difference is that datacenter proxies originate from remote computers (data centers), whereas residential proxies use IP addresses from domestic devices.
Residential proxies allow the user to appear like any regular internet user, so they are versatile for numerous use cases. Our residential proxies efficiently bypass CAPTCHAs, IP blocking, flagging, and other restrictions imposed by websites.
Meanwhile, our datacenter proxies, hosted on rapid servers with steady connections, are faster, dependable, and cost-effective compared to residential proxies.
Read more about the difference between these proxy types on our blog.
Can I test your proxies?
Currently, we don’t offer a free trial for our residential proxies. However, you can test our proxy solutions by choosing our 3-day 100MB Trial for $1 with all features included.
How was the speed and success rate of residential proxies tested?
The average residential proxies' response time and success rate provided on our website are based on Proxyway's research. Proxyway is an independent educational platform that researches and tests proxy providers and services.