Best Proxy Servers for 2026
Proxy services give you access to millions of IP addresses around the world, but some are more likely to be blocked than others. We analyzed performance, pricing, and ethics to rank the elite.
Two proxy servers scored far above the rest in our analysis: Oxylabs and Decodo. With its advanced features and affordable high-data packages, Oxylabs is the best proxy server for larger businesses. It boasts the largest proxy pool in the industry with over 175 million IPs.
Decodo is our pick for smaller businesses needing less than 100GB of data monthly. It’s more accessible for newcomers and offers competitive pay-as-you-go pricing.
If you’re looking for the lowest price possible, Webshare offers the cheapest all-around servers—especially for datacenter proxies starting at just $0.03 per IP.
Top Picks In-Detail
1. Oxylabs
Best for Large BusinessPros
- Largest residential pool (175M+ IPs)
- Proxies in 195+ countries
- Cheap data when purchased in bulk
- Real human customer support
- Excellent 3rd-party integrations
Cons
- Setup can be daunting for beginners
- Documentation less thorough for novices
Why We Like It
The numbers with Oxylabs are eye-popping: 175 million residential proxies in 195 countries. You can target specific locations with unmatched detail—including by ASN or ZIP code. Oxylabs also achieved one of the best fraud scores in our testing, meaning your requests are less likely to trigger anti-bot detections.
Who It’s Best For
Oxylabs is clearly targeted toward developers and enterprise customers. If you just want a proxy to cop sneakers, it might be overkill. But for businesses looking to maximize web scraping capabilities with APIs and integrations, it’s a dream.
Pricing
Prices are geared towards enterprise. Residential proxies start around $4/GB, but costs drop significantly for bulk (1,000GB+) orders.
2. Decodo
Best for Small BusinessPros
- Best-in-class success rate & response time
- Useful browser extension
- Low pay-as-you-go prices ($3.50/GB)
- High-quality IP pool
Cons
- Expensive high-data residential plans
- No city-level targeting for DC proxies
Why We Like It
Decodo checks all the boxes: deep/quality pool, elite performance, and an accessible UI. It has one of the lowest pay-as-you-go prices for residential proxies ($3.50/GB). Its infrastructure response time was elite in our testing.
Who It’s Best For
Especially attractive for users new to proxy servers. The setup is easy, and documentation is thorough. While not as API-heavy as Oxylabs, it still offers plenty of tools for most users.
3. Webshare
Cheapest OptionPros
- Low prices at every level
- High customization options
- Ethically sourced residential proxies
- 30% discount for annual payments
Cons
- No HTTPS/SOCKS5 (UDP) protocols
- No mobile proxies
- Slower response times
Why We Like It
The value proposition is simple: It’s incredibly cheap. While usually a red flag, Webshare stacked up well in analysis. Uptime is average, and while IPs aren’t as high-quality as Oxylabs, the price allows for higher volume.
Pricing
Pay-per-GB starts at $3.50 but quickly drops to $1.50/GB in bulk. Datacenter proxies are astoundingly cheap, starting at $0.03 per IP.
Other Proxy Servers We Tested
Soax
Score: 8.8/10 — Soax came in third with an impressive 155 million IPs. Excellent interface and documentation, but hard to recommend purely over Oxylabs or Decodo.
DataImpulse
Score: 7.6/10 — Offers the cheapest mobile proxies, but fraud scores were near the bottom. Good for budget mobile needs, but has slow response times.
Massive
Score: 7.1/10 — extremely high quality IPs (best fraud score) but a tiny pool of just 1 million. Ethical sourcing policy is opaque regarding compensation.
IPRoyal
Score: 6.7/10 — Serviceable but didn’t stand out. Modest 32M pool. Good option for short-term projects with non-expiring data options.
Bright Data
Score: 6.6/10 — Huge pool (150M+), but fraud scores were middle-of-the-pack. Not as high-performing as Decodo or as cheap as Webshare in this round.
NetNut
Score: 5.3/10 — Targeted at high-data businesses. No pay-as-you-go. Low fraud scores dragged it down.
Factors to consider in a proxy server
Proxy Type
There are four main types of proxy servers:
Residential
IPs from real devices (ISPs). Less likely to be blocked. Best for Amazon, Google, Instagram.
Mobile
IPs from wireless carriers. Highest quality, hardest to block, but most expensive. Best for social media.
ISP (Static Residential)
Hosted in datacenters but owned by IPs. Faster than residential, but easier to detect.
Datacenter
Cloud server IPs (AWS, Google). Cheapest and fastest, but most easily blocked.
Dedicated vs. Shared
Shared proxies are used by multiple users at once. They are cheaper but slower and carry “bad neighbor” risk. Dedicated IPs are exclusive to you, offering better performance and security at a higher price.
Proxy Pool & IP Quality
A Proxy Pool is the total number of IPs available. A larger pool (like Oxylabs’ 175M) reduces block rates. However, IP Quality matters too—IPs with high fraud scores (IPQS > 90) are likely to be blocked regardless of pool size.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which type of proxy server should I use?
For scraping, ad verification, or SEO on protected sites, use Residential or Mobile proxies. For less protected targets or high-speed needs, Datacenter proxies can save you money.
Should I use a proxy server or VPN?
If you are an individual focused on privacy, use a VPN (it encrypts traffic). Proxy servers are best for business use cases like web scraping where you need millions of IPs.
What are the best free proxy servers?
We do not recommend free proxies. They often steal data or are incredibly slow. Use a free trial from a premium provider (like Webshare’s free tier) instead.
