Oxylabs is a well-known proxy provider with one of the largest residential IP pools in the industry — over 100 million IPs across 195 countries. Their infrastructure is enterprise-grade, and they offer advanced features like Scraper API and structured data delivery. But their premium pricing is not for everyone. With residential proxies starting at $8/GB and minimum commitments of $300/month, many teams find themselves paying significantly more than necessary for their actual usage.
If you are looking for a provider that delivers comparable performance at a lower price, here are the five best Oxylabs alternatives in 2026, tested and compared across pool size, speed, features, and value.
Why Look for Alternatives?
Oxylabs is a strong provider, but there are legitimate reasons to explore alternatives:
- Cost — $8/GB adds up fast. A scraping job that consumes 100 GB/month costs $800 with Oxylabs. The same job might cost $7.20/month with a per-day provider like ResProxy.
- Minimum commitments — Oxylabs requires a minimum spend of $300/month for residential proxies. Smaller teams and startups may not need that level of commitment.
- Complexity — Oxylabs' pricing tiers and product lineup can be overwhelming for teams that just need simple rotating proxies.
- Support response time — Some users report slower support for non-enterprise accounts.
That said, Oxylabs excels at structured data delivery and enterprise features. If you need their Scraper API or have an enterprise budget, they remain a top choice. For everyone else, these alternatives offer better value.
Top 5 Alternatives
1. ResProxy — Best Overall Value
Why switch: ResProxy's day-based pricing model fundamentally changes the economics of proxy usage. Instead of paying per GB (where costs scale linearly with data volume), you pay for time — starting at $0.24/day with unlimited bandwidth.
Pool size: 10M+ residential IPs across 130+ countries with city-level geo-targeting.
Key features: - Unlimited bandwidth on all plans — no surprise bills - Day-based pricing: 1-day, 7-day, and 30-day options - Three speed tiers to match budget and performance needs - Four rotation intervals (per request, 1 min, 10 min, 30 min) - Both HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS5 protocol support - Clean dashboard with one-click proxy generation and API access
Pricing comparison with Oxylabs:
| Usage | Oxylabs Cost | ResProxy Cost | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 GB/month | $80 | $7.20 (30-day plan) | 91% |
| 50 GB/month | $400 | $7.20 (30-day plan) | 98% |
| 100 GB/month | $800 | $7.20 (30-day plan) | 99% |
The savings are dramatic for bandwidth-heavy workloads because ResProxy's per-day model does not meter data usage at all.
Best for: Teams running continuous scraping jobs, SEO monitoring, price tracking, and any high-bandwidth operation.
2. Bright Data — Best for Enterprise Features
Why consider: Bright Data (formerly Luminati) has the largest residential pool at 72M+ IPs and offers advanced tools like Web Unlocker (automated CAPTCHA solving), Scraping Browser, and a data collector marketplace.
Key features: - 72M+ residential IPs in 195 countries - Web Unlocker with automatic retry and CAPTCHA solving - Scraping Browser for JavaScript-rendered content - Datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxy options alongside residential - Pay-as-you-go and subscription plans
Pricing: Starts at $8.40/GB for residential proxies. Custom enterprise pricing available.
Drawbacks: Pricing is comparable to Oxylabs (not cheaper). The platform is complex with a steep learning curve. Dashboard can feel overwhelming for small teams.
Best for: Enterprise teams with large budgets who need maximum IP diversity and advanced anti-bot features.
3. Smartproxy — Best User Experience
Why consider: Smartproxy focuses on simplicity and developer experience. Their dashboard is one of the cleanest in the industry, and their browser extension lets you switch proxies in two clicks.
Key features: - 55M+ residential IPs - Browser extension for quick proxy switching - Scraping APIs for popular targets (Google, Amazon, real estate) - Pay-as-you-go with no minimum commitment on some plans - 14-day money-back guarantee
Pricing: Starts at $7/GB for residential proxies. Micro plan available at $12.50/month for 1 GB.
Drawbacks: Per-GB pricing is still expensive for heavy usage. Pool is smaller than Oxylabs. City-level targeting limited to select countries.
Best for: Small teams and solo operators who value ease of use over advanced features.
4. IPRoyal — Best Budget Option
Why consider: IPRoyal offers some of the lowest per-GB rates in the market, making them attractive for budget-conscious users.
Key features: - 8M+ residential IPs - Non-expiring traffic on Royal Residential tier (bandwidth never expires) - No minimum commitment - Both rotating and sticky sessions - Pay-as-you-go from $5/GB
Pricing: $5/GB for residential proxies with volume discounts. The non-expiring traffic model means you can buy in bulk without worrying about expiration dates.
Drawbacks: Smaller pool means higher chance of IP reuse on popular targets. Fewer geo-targeting options compared to larger providers. Less advanced features.
Best for: Freelancers, students, and side-project operators who need occasional proxy access without a big commitment.
5. NetNut — Best for Speed
Why consider: NetNut's unique ISP-level peering architecture routes traffic through direct ISP partnerships rather than P2P residential networks, delivering some of the lowest latency numbers in the market.
Key features: - 52M+ residential IPs - Direct ISP peering (not P2P-based) - Average latency under 200ms, often under 100ms - Static ISP proxy options alongside rotating residential - Unlimited concurrent sessions
Pricing: Starts at $6/GB for residential proxies. Custom pricing for high-volume users.
Drawbacks: Pricing is still per-GB, which hurts at scale. Smaller pool than Oxylabs or Bright Data. Dashboard is functional but not as polished as Smartproxy.
Best for: Ad verification, real-time monitoring, and latency-sensitive operations where every millisecond counts.
Head-to-Head Comparison Table
| Provider | Pool Size | Starting Price | Pricing Model | Geo-Targeting | SOCKS5 | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxylabs | 100M+ | $8.00/GB | Per GB | Country | Yes | Structured data |
| ResProxy | 10M+ | $0.24/day | Per day | City | Yes | Value + volume |
| Bright Data | 72M+ | $8.40/GB | Per GB | City + ASN | Yes | Enterprise |
| Smartproxy | 55M+ | $7.00/GB | Per GB | City (select) | Yes | Ease of use |
| IPRoyal | 8M+ | $5.00/GB | Per GB | Country | Yes | Budget |
| NetNut | 52M+ | $6.00/GB | Per GB | City | Yes | Speed |
How to Choose the Right Alternative
Ask yourself these three questions:
- What is your monthly data volume? If you process more than 20 GB/month, per-day pricing (ResProxy) will save you 80-99% compared to per-GB providers. If your usage is under 5 GB/month, per-GB pricing from IPRoyal or Smartproxy may be sufficient.
- Do you need structured data or raw HTML? If you want JSON output without building a parser, Oxylabs' Scraper API or Bright Data's Web Unlocker are worth their premium. If you are comfortable parsing HTML yourself, any provider works.
- How important is latency? For real-time monitoring or ad verification, NetNut's ISP peering delivers the fastest response times. For batch scraping where a 200ms difference per request does not matter, optimize for cost instead.
Migration Tips
Switching proxy providers is simpler than you might think:
- Update your proxy endpoint — Change the hostname, port, and credentials in your scraper configuration.
- Test on your actual targets — Run a small test batch to verify success rates before migrating your full workload.
- Keep your old provider active temporarily — Run both providers in parallel for a week to compare performance on your specific targets.
- Update DNS settings — If you were using IP whitelisting, update your whitelist with the new provider's IP ranges.
See how ResProxy compares in our full residential proxy guide, or jump straight to rotating proxy pricing. For a deeper understanding of the technology, read what is a residential proxy.
For an independent comparison of proxy providers, see Proxyway's annual proxy market research.
FAQ
Is ResProxy as reliable as Oxylabs?
Yes. While Oxylabs has a larger IP pool, ResProxy's 10M+ IPs are more than sufficient for most use cases. The key differentiator is pricing — ResProxy's day-based model delivers the same quality at a fraction of the cost for bandwidth-heavy operations.
Can I use multiple proxy providers simultaneously?
Absolutely. Many teams use a primary provider for their core workload and a secondary provider as backup. This reduces dependency on any single provider and gives you fallback options if one experiences downtime.
Do cheaper alternatives mean lower quality?
Not necessarily. Price differences in the proxy market are driven more by business model (per-GB vs per-day) and marketing spend than by underlying quality. A per-day provider can offer lower effective prices while maintaining the same IP quality because they monetize differently.
How long does it take to switch from Oxylabs to another provider?
The technical migration takes minutes — just update your proxy endpoint and credentials. However, plan for a 1-2 week testing period to verify success rates on your specific targets before fully migrating.
Editorial Team
The ResProxy editorial team combines expertise in proxy technology, web scraping, network infrastructure, and online privacy to deliver actionable guides and industry insights.