What is Residential Proxy (and Why You Need One)

A Residential Proxy is a type of proxy equipped with IP addresses belonging to real residential devices and assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). While using these proxies, websites can’t quickly identify them, and they appear as regular users using the Internet in a specific IP location.

Residential proxies are useful for staying anonymous during online activities. They are less likely to be detected and blocked by websites with strict anti-scraping measures, when compared to other types of proxies. For instance, Datacenter and ISP proxies are generally less trustworthy, and there is a higher chance of getting detected and IP banned by certain websites. On the other hand, mobile proxies are very difficult to detect and block, but they are expensive, and the use cases are limited.

The table below compares the different types of proxies based on the level of anonymity they provide, their speed, estimated average pricing per GB, and various use cases.

So, different types of proxies are available, and users can choose the type that fits their requirements. Residential proxies are generally great for web scraping, SEO optimization, ad verification, social media management, and more. We’ll discuss the use cases of Residential proxies in more detail later in the article.

How Residential Proxies Work

The key advantage of Residential Proxies is that they utilize Residential IPs. ISPs assign these IPs to residential customers and give each household or business a dynamic or static IP address. The proxy providers source these IPs from companies or individuals. The trustworthy providers source these IPs with the consent of the owners. A proxy user should always get Residential Proxies from reliable providers, as they work based on laws and legal standards.

The role of the proxy providers is to manage large pools of IP addresses and maintain the proxy servers. They should also provide the necessary proxy management tools and software to make the process of setting up and using the proxies as easy as possible.

If the proxy provider does their job with the help of the newest encryption technologies and commitment to legal guidelines, you will rarely get noticed by websites as a proxy user, and the website block rates will be very low.

To fix the rare occurrence of IP bans while using Residential Proxies, many providers employ proxy rotation. This means that your IP address will be automatically changed every time you connect or send a request for information to a web server. Automated proxy rotation depends heavily on having a large authentic IP pool that won’t give you the same address repeatedly.

However, some users need static Residential Proxies that provide them with a static IP address. Using static Residential Proxies, the IP won’t change for long periods, enabling users to have stable sessions on websites that are sensitive to IP changes.

Advantages of Residential Proxies

There are multiple reasons why many people choose Residential Proxies over the other types. First and foremost, the high level of anonymity makes these proxies very attractive, especially to users who use them for web scraping and social media management.

Extracting vast amounts of data or managing multiple accounts on social media without getting blocked by websites is a huge advantage, mainly over Datacenter proxies. Users of Datacenter proxies deal with IP bans more frequently.

The ability to access geo-restricted content is available in all proxy types. However, due to low block rates and reliable access while using Residential Proxies, the experience of gathering information from target websites is immensely more favorable. Additionally, Residential Proxies can bypass sophisticated anti-bot and anti-web scraping measures like CAPTCHAs more reliably.

Residential Proxy Pros

• Low risk of detection by websites
• Reliable and safe access to target websites
• Low block rate compared to Datacenter and ISP proxies
• Ability to bypass complex anti-bots
• Easy access to geo-restricted content
• IP Rotation for security

Disadvantages of Residential Proxies

Considering the advanced features and reliable IP addresses of Residential Proxies, the cost of subscribing to this proxy type is generally higher than that of Datacenter and some ISP proxies. That’s why some users who don’t care about anonymity choose to utilize other types of proxies.

Besides, because the IPs are based on residential users, the speed of connections in some locations can be lower than expected. This is where Datacenter proxies have the upper hand because the IP addresses are provided by data centers.

Using Residential IPs owned by other individuals can raise ethical concerns and sometimes even be considered a violation of privacy. Reliable proxy providers often ensure the acquisition of the consent of IP owners, but some providers are not transparent about these concerns.

Furthermore, some websites have explicit terms of service that prohibit users from accessing data through a proxy. So, violating these rules can result in legal issues, and users should be responsible for the proxy services they choose and how they utilize them.

Residential Proxy Cons

• Higher cost compared to Datacenter and ISP proxies
• Slower speed compared to Datacenter proxies
• Possible ethical and legal issues if the proxy is not sourced from a trustworthy provider

Top Residential Proxy Providers

Choose a reputable residential proxy provider that prioritizes ethical practices and transparency. We recommend the following ones that claim to obtain consent from IP owners, have clear usage policies, and use strong security measures.

Residential Proxy Providers

Bright Data minimizes proxy failures by using 100% ethically sourced residential IPs. It provides dedicated monitoring and analytics tools for greater reliability and control over residential proxies.

• Starting Price

  $8.40/GB

• Proxy Pool

  72 million+

• Best For

  Enterprise

Smartproxy focuses on multi-account management, making it an ideal choice for users focused on public data collection. It has a large IP pool, which ensures response times of less than 0.6 seconds.

• Starting Price

  $7/GB

• Proxy Pool

  55 million+

• Best For

  Developers

Oxylabs’ residential proxies are designed to enhance web scraping projects. The platform implements HTTP, HTTP(S), and SOCKS5 protocols for cybersecurity and large-scale scraping.

• Starting Price

  $8/GB

• Proxy Pool

  100 million+

• Best For

  Web-Scraping

IPRoyal focuses on ease of use and allows users to manually change IPs for greater control. It supports unlimited concurrent sessions and ensures security through sticky IPs and TCP connections.

• Starting Price

  $4.55/GB

• Proxy Pool

  34 million+

• Best For

  Small to Medium Businesses

So, when choosing a proxy provider, there are 6 important factors that you need to check carefully before subscribing to a service.

• Size of the IP Pool: If you want to minimize the chance of being detected by websites and avoid IP blocks, you should choose a proxy provider with a large proxy pool.
• Location Coverage: Make sure your provider offers many IP locations and gives you the ability to easily target specific countries or cities.   
• Speed and Stability: Use the trial period of different providers to test their proxies’ speed. Ensure that they provide stable connections.
• Pricing: Compare the price of subscribing to the different proxy services. Choose one that provides enough features to justify the cost. However, avoid providers that offer their services at a suspiciously low cost.
• Customer Support: While having 24/7 customer support is great, it is not enough. Before subscribing, you should ask questions and test their patience and availability to find the provider with the best customer support.
• User Interface: The user interface can make or break a software experience. Ensure the proxy management tools are easy to use and the setup process is user-friendly.

A low performance in any of these areas can hurt the overall experience of using a Residential proxy.

Use Cases for Residential Proxies

There are 5 main use cases for Residential proxies:

• Web Scraping: Extracting data from websites with the use of automatic tools and bots is called web scraping. Usually, sites detect the constant request for collecting data and block the user’s IP, but with rotating residential IPs, it’s a smooth process.
• Ad Verification: Many business owners use this kind of proxy to test ads and see if they are being displayed correctly across different IP locations. With reliable access to geo-restricted content and proxy rotation, ad verification will be done quickly.
• Competitive Intelligence: Gathering competitive intelligence to make accurate and strategic business decisions based on other similar businesses is essential for many companies. Residential proxies make the competitor analysis process effortless.
• SEO Optimization: Website owners use Residential proxies for SEO monitoring. This includes keyword tracking, analyzing user experience from different locations, and finding suitable backlinks.
• Social Media Management: Some users need to manage different social media accounts simultaneously, which is possible through static or rotating Residential proxies. Static IPs are perfect for social media websites that need stable sessions.

Of course, the experience of using Residential proxies is not the same for everyone and depends on how you use and optimize the proxies. To maximize the effectiveness of Residential proxies in various use cases, we recommend these 5 tips:

1. Choose a reliable proxy provider: First and foremost, you should find a proxy provider that can reliably offer all the proxy services you need. Check the user reviews and find out the pros and cons of every provider. The scale and diversity of IP pools are essential for residential proxies; check if you will have access to IPs from many locations. Additionally, make sure the customer support is responsive and can help you set up the proxy and solve any problems quickly.
2. Find the best proxy management tools: Many proxy providers offer advanced proxy management tools to make changing IP addresses and monitoring the proxy’s performance easier. Before choosing a proxy provider, use the free trial period of multiple providers to find the one that provides dedicated monitoring tools, faster speeds, and ease of use.
3. Customize the proxy settings: The default proxy settings are usually not optimized for your specific needs. In the proxy settings, you can pick the location of residential IPs, control session durations, and more.
4. Utilize Proxy Rotation: Unless you specifically need a static IP that won’t change over a long period, activating proxy rotation is beneficial in different use cases. All the popular proxy providers offer proxy rotation capabilities, but you need to test them for speed and efficiency.
5. Avoid ethical and legal issues: Before using a proxy, we recommend that you check the terms of service of the websites you want to visit. Some websites don’t allow the use of proxies and can take legal action. Furthermore, make sure that your provider offers authentic residential IP addresses with the consent of the IP owners, and that it follows ethical standards.