Decodo (formerly Smartproxy)
- + Customer Support
- + Ease of Use
- + Proxies
- + IP Quality
- + Helpful
- - Proxy Issues
- - Pricing Issues
- - Expensive
- - Limitations
- - IP Limitations
When choosing a proxy provider, evaluate across these key dimensions:
Check pool size, geographic coverage (country/city level), and IP types (residential/datacenter/mobile/ISP). Residential IPs offer higher anonymity; datacenter IPs are faster but easier to detect.
Test connection speed, response time, and success rate. Quality proxies should have >95% success rate. Check SLA guarantees and uptime history. Note concurrent connection limits for high-volume use.
Common models: per-GB, per-port/IP, per-request, unlimited monthly. Small volume โ pay-per-GB. Large volume โ monthly plans. Watch for minimums and overage fees.
Verify ethical IP sourcing (e.g., Bright Data has KYC). Check logging policy โ does the provider log your browsing data? For regulated use cases, confirm GDPR/CCPA compliance.
Does it offer REST API, browser extensions, proxy dashboard? SOCKS5/HTTP(S) support? Easy integration with Scrapy, Puppeteer, Selenium, and other tools?
G2 and Trustpilot are the primary review platforms. Distinguish genuine reviews from fake ones โ Trustpilot's Consumer Alert flag is an important signal to watch for.
๐ก Always test with a free trial or small package before committing, verifying performance on your actual use case (target sites, regions, protocols).
Large-scale crawling requires IP rotation to avoid blocks. Residential proxies have highest success rates.
E-commerce price comparison needs access from different regions/IPs to get localized pricing.
Verify ad display across regions and detect ad fraud.
View search rankings from different locations (Google localizes results by region).
Monitor counterfeit sites, trademark infringement, gray market distribution.
Multi-account management needs unique IPs to avoid linking. Static residential proxies work best.
Competitive analysis and trend research without being detected as bot traffic.
Pen testing and vulnerability scanning need distributed request sources to avoid target firewall blocks.
| Type | Price | Speed | Anonymity | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | $$$ | Medium | Highest | Scraping, ad verification, social media |
| Datacenter | $ | Fastest | Low | Bulk requests, speed-first tasks |
| Mobile | $$$$ | Medium | Very high | Mobile testing, app data |
| ISP Proxy | $$ | Fast | High | Long sessions, stable IP |
| SOCKS5 | $$ | Fast | Medium | Non-HTTP protocols, gaming, P2P |