Choosing proxies may feel confusing, as there are a lot of providers with different offers, and it may be hard to decide which one suits you best. On top of that, the majority of comparisons rank vendors by brands or reviews, without including the target audience or use case specifications. In practice, you need to consider factors specific to your use case, as well as price, scalability, and reliability. Where to start and how to make a choice? DataImpulse has prepared a step-by-step guide on choosing proxies and a structured overview of the most popular providers targeted at high-volume data collection – scroll down to see the results.

What is DataImpulse? 

DataImpulse (dataimpulse.com) is a proxy provider of residential, mobile, and datacenter IPs. The vendor offers first-party IPs from 195 locations at a pay-per-GB model, starting from $1/GB. The use cases for DataImpulse non-expiring traffic include web scraping, ad verification, price monitoring, SERP ranks tracking, and others. 

How to choose a proxy provider?

To make the right choice, it is important to define your goals – is it high-volume scraping or local SERP tracking? Are you in need of a big pool of proxies or precise targeting options? Do you need proxies from time to time or on a daily basis? After you are done, the next step is to analyze what providers offer and what problems they are targeting. 

The main criteria to pay attention to include:

• Proxy type – it is best to choose a provider who offers different kinds, like residential, mobile, and datacenter, cause they are necessary for different tasks. Even if your primary use case is web scraping, for example, and you need unique residential or mobile proxies, you may still use cheaper datacenter proxies for internal routine, like in-house ad verification. Having proxies from the same provider will save you time, as you would not need to adjust to various dashboards or learn again and again how to integrate proxies into your flow.
• IP pool size – the more addresses you have, the easier it is to give an impression of a regular user, as you can distribute traffic across numerous IPs. It also lowers the likelihood of IPs being overloaded and slow. This is an important metric in case you scrape websites that are actively protecting from bots. 
• Geo-targeting options – the more precisely you can target locations, the more accurate data you get. 
• Performance and latency – uptime percent and response speed are crucial for all tasks. It may seem like dozens of seconds, but when you conduct thousands of requests, those milliseconds turn into either hours of waiting or hours of productivity when you get data fast and act on it. 
• Protocol support – there are a lot of different protocols with HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 being the most widely used. Pay attention to other protocols only if you actually use them. There is no need to pay more for features you do not rely on.  Regarding HTTP(S) and SOCKS protocols, the choice depends on your use case. You can read more about HTTP protocol and have a detailed overview of the SOCKS5 protocol before choosing one. There is also an in-depth post on DataImpulse’s blog about choosing between HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 protocols. 
• Session control – rotating and sticky sessions are necessary for different use cases, and even the same tasks sometimes call for both types of sessions. You need a provider who offers them. When it comes to sticky sessions, it is better if you can manually adjust the duration. 
• Price transparency – proxies can eat away budget if bought carelessly. Understandable flow and convenient plans can save you thousands of dollars per month. Subscriptions may be a way to go if you are sure you will use up all the traffic. The pay-as-you-go flexible model is more convenient if you consume traffic in spikes – this way, you pay only for the traffic you actually use. 

What are DataImpulse’s key characteristics?

The provider is oriented towards enterprise needs, though it offers a flexible on-demand billing system, making it convenient even for mid-size businesses and developers. In practice, it means that you buy traffic when you need it, not when the subscription month comes to an end and it is time for the next payment. Purchased traffic never expires. 

Technically, DataImpulse offers such options:

• HTTP(S)/SOCKS5 protocols support 
• Country/state/city/ASN/ZIP targeting options
• 195 countries coverage 
• 99.9% uptime 
• 90M+ IP pool
• Response time – < 1 second

The vendor provides a 24/7 human support team with an average response time under two minutes, so if you need help, you will receive it right away.

Regarding prices, the basic price for residential proxies is $1/GB, with $0.8 – $0.7 for bulk purchases. Also, all plans from 1TB include dedicated manager’s support. 

On top of that, country-level targeting is included in the basic price, while other options are not. So if you do not need them, you do not pay for them and can only pay for as much targeted traffic as you consume. 

When to use DataImpulse?

• For scraping data from well-protected resources like Google (a big pool of unique IPs is necessary for such use cases) 
• You look for cost-effective proxies that remain budget-friendly regardless of your traffic usage – whether you consume traffic in spikes or use a lot of GBs on a daily basis
• You need precise targeting options for SERP monitoring, price tracking, and more. 

When not to use DataImpulse?

• The vendor doesn’t offer static ISP proxies, so if you are looking for them, DataImpulse may not be the best choice.
• There is also no controlled scraping API or other ready-to-go scraping solutions. 
• DataImpulse does not provide data from banking or government websites.

Now, let’s move to other brands’ overviews.

IPRoyal: overview 

IPRoyal, one of the most widely recognized vendors, is targeted at businesses that need scale and speed. For convenience, they offer both subscriptions and pay-as-you-go models.  

Technical characteristics are:  

• 32M+ IP pool
• 195 countries coverage 
• Rotating & sticky sessions support
• Country/state/city-level targeting options
• HTTP(S)/SOCKS protocols support 

The basic price for residential proxies is $7.35/GB with non-expiring traffic for the pay-per-GB model and priority support for subscriptions. IPRoyal is good if you need static ISP proxies or dedicated datacenter IPs.

When IPRoyal is not the best fit:

• You need precise targeting options, including ASN and ZIP
• You need to scrape at scale highly-protected sources like Google (better choose providers with a bigger IP pool) 
• You need live support to be available 

There is a detailed DataImpulse vs. IPRoyal comparison that helps you decide what meets your needs best. 

Oxylabs: overview 

Oxylabs is an enterprise-level provider, meaning its services are mainly targeted at big companies that consume a lot of traffic on a regular basis. Their support is also more oriented toward high-tier plans. 

Key options:

• 195 countries coverage 
• 175M+ proxy pool 
• Country/city/ASN targeting (included in prices)
• HTTP(S)/SOCKS5 protocols supported 
• Dedicated ISP and datacenter proxies 

The basic price for residential proxies is $8/GB. Oxylabs is worth attention if you handle  high-grade scraping tasks and do it regularly. 

When is Oxylabs not the best choice?

• You do not scrape on a daily basis – unused traffic does not roll over, so you risk losing purchased traffic 
• You do not use precise targeting options regularly – they are included in prices automatically, so you may pay for unnecessary features 
• You need technical support available at hand 
• You are not ready for possible VATs on top of the price. 

We also have an in-depth DataImpulse vs. Oxylabs comparison. 

Decodo: overview 

Decodo (formerly known as Smartproxy) is another provider, oriented at large-scale data collection. The provider positions itself as an AI-ready proxy solution, and let’s see its key characteristics:

• 115M+ proxy pool
• AI support assistant with a human agent on request 
• Advanced geo-targeting is included in prices 
• 195 countries coverage 
• HTTP(S)/SOCKS5 protocols available 

Decodo’s traffic is expiring, subscription-based, and the vendor has its own pay-as-you-go model variation, where you can practically buy only 1 GB at a time, no bulk purchases. That is why their billing flow may feel a bit tangled. 

When is Decodo not the best?

• You are not ready for VATs
• You consume traffic in spikes and fixed subscriptions, and expiring traffic is not fit for your budget 
• You need support available at hand 

For your convenience, there is a dedicated DataImpulse vs. Decodo comparison. 

DataImpulse/IPRoyal/Oxylabs/Decodo comparison table 

Summary 

Choosing the best proxy provider is all about finding the one that suits your needs best. Also, it is good if the vendor offers you a lot of options in terms of tool integrations and support. Transparent billing flow is also favorable, with pay-per-GB networks being more flexible and budget-wise. If you see that DataImpulse is a way to go for you, hit the “Try Now” button in the top-right corner or contact us at [email protected]. 

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