Expanding the capabilities of web scrapers can pose significant challenges, mainly due to the risk of detection by anti-bot measures. To alleviate this concern, the most effective solution is the utilization of the best scraping proxy for web data collection.
A reliable proxy designed for web scraping can effectively shield your scraper from throttling and blocking, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of your web page crawling efforts. This guide will delve into the fundamentals of web scraping proxies, exploring the various types available, and ultimately presenting a curated list of the top 8 best scraping proxy providers ideally suited for web scraping.
1. Shifter – Unveiling Dynamic Web Scraping Proxies
Shifter opens our journey with its impressive residential proxies, available in both rotating and static flavors, catering to your specific requirements. Thanks to its distributed cloud infrastructure, Shifter guarantees blazing-fast speeds and an astounding 99.99% uptime. Whether you prefer HTTP/S or Socks 4/5 protocols, this web scraping proxy has you covered.
Just note that the web scraping API comes at an additional cost on top of the base proxy plan. The pricing starts at $74.99 per month, providing 25 static residential proxies.
Pros:
Dynamic and residential proxies.
Global coverage.
Stellar 99.9% uptime guarantee.
Cons:
The proxy plan lacks an API.
Limited geographical diversity for dedicated and shared proxies.
2. OkeyProxy – The Swiss Army Knife of Proxies
OkeyProxy stands as a versatile proxy server, supporting both Socks5 and HTTP(s) protocols. It boasts an extensive range of IP choices, including a whopping 150 million rotating residential IPs, 5 million static residential proxies, and datacenter proxies from over 200 countries. The flexibility extends further with support for various static IPs to match your distinct needs. It’s compatible with Windows, IOS, Android, and Linux, and it serves myriad use cases, from Antidetect Browsers to Emulators and Data Scraping.
Pros:
Vast pool of 150M+ rotating residential proxies and 5M+ static residential proxies.
Comprehensive global coverage.
Support for HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5.
Free trial for both rotating and static proxies.
24/7 premium support.
Cons:
Premium quality comes at a higher cost.
No bundled API in the proxy plan.
3. Oxylabs – Lithuania’s Proxy Powerhouse
Established in Lithuania in 2015, Oxylabs is a well-respected web scraping proxy provider. It offers public residential proxy services and scraper APIs to unlock web data at scale. With approximately 100 million IPs distributed across the globe, Oxylabs assures diverse choices.
The pricing kicks off at $300 per month, granting access to 25GB of traffic.
Pros:
- A variety of proxy types, including 4G and residential.
- Round-the-clock premium support.
- No restrictions on concurrent sessions.
Cons:
Premium pricing.
Not ideal for beginners or smaller-scale projects.
4. Smartproxy – Cost-Effective Web Scraping Solution
Smartproxy emerges as an economical web scraping proxy server, boasting both residential and dedicated datacenter proxies, with prices starting as low as $12.5. Similar to ZenRows, its proxies stealthily navigate web pages, evading detection by bots.
Pros:
Residential and datacenter proxy options.
Budget-friendly plans.
Compatibility with Chrome and Firefox browser extensions.
Cons:
API not included in the scraping proxy plan.
Lacks support for SOCKS5.
5. NetNut – Unleash the Hybrid Proxy Network
NetNut boasts a hybrid proxy network that directly links with global ISPs, capable of handling hundreds of gigabytes of network traffic per second. This ensures unfettered access to geo-targeted web data.
NetNut offers six distinct plans, with the entry-level plan priced at $100 per month, inclusive of 100GB and access to a vast array of global proxies.
Pros:
Diverse proxy types, including 4G and rotating.
Exceptional capacity, handling over 100GB per second.
Direct connectivity to global ISPs.
Cons:
Premium pricing.
Limited and rudimentary support.
6. BrightData – The Proxy Behemoth
Formerly known as Luminati, BrightData reigns as the giant of proxy providers, flaunting a colossal pool of over 70 million rotating IPs worldwide. It accommodates residential proxies, datacenter proxies, and mobile proxies, guaranteeing high-quality and reliable options.
Starting at $500 per month, BrightData’s premium status comes at a price, with a CPM rate of $3.00, making it a more costly choice compared to other providers.
Pros:
A wide range of proxy types, from rotating to residential, mobile, and datacenter.
Over 70 million rotating IPs across the globe.
Flexible enough to accommodate projects of any size.
Cons:
High-tier pricing.
Consider exploring alternatives for budget-conscious scraping.
7. Zyte – Precision Data Scraping with Residential Proxies
Formerly known as Scrapinghub, Zyte specializes in residential proxies, offering a remarkable 99.9% data accuracy. The entry-level proxy plan starts at just $29 a month and grants access to extensive proxy pools worldwide for precise geolocation. Automatic proxy rotation further streamlines the web scraping process.
Pros:
Intelligent rotating and residential proxies.
Exceptional 99.9% data accuracy.
10% discount available for annual plans.
Cons:
Advanced features are add-ons, not bundled.
Consider seeking Zyte alternatives for specialized needs.
8. Rayobyte – A Budget-Friendly Option for Beginners
Rayobyte, formerly known as Blazing SEO, provides a variety of web scraping proxies, including datacenter, residential, and mobile proxies. It stands out as a wallet-friendly choice, making it appealing to beginners. Unlimited bandwidth and support for HTTP, HTTP(S), and SOCKS protocols sweeten the deal.
Pros:
Multiple proxy options, from residential to mobile and datacenter.
Highly affordable pricing.
Unlimited bandwidth included.
Cons:
Can become expensive for large-scale crawling.
Offers limited and basic support.
In Conclusion
Selecting the right web scraping proxy provider amidst the abundance of choices can be overwhelming. Fortunately, we’ve curated the top eight options for you. As a quick recap, the best proxy services for web scraping include:
Shifter
Okeyproxy
Oxylabs
Smartproxy
NetNut
Bright Data
Zyte
Rayobyte.
