Top 10 Rotating Proxies for Data Scraping: Unveiling Performance Comparison

Justin Shin

Are you looking for the best rotating proxies for data scraping? Then you are on the right page as I will be recommending some of the best proxy networks with rotating residential proxies for data scraping.

Table Of Contents

Best Rotating Proxies (Overview)


10 Best Rotating Proxies (Web Scraping Performance Comparison)

Proxy Provider Success Rate Proxy Download Speed Response Time IP Pool Size Locations Concurrency Allowed Bandwidth Allowed Cost Good for
Bright Data 99.8% 32.48 Mbps 192 ms Over 72 million IPs All countries and major cities Unlimited Starts from 1GB $15 monthly for 1GB Data collection at any scale, avoiding blocks
Nimbleway 99.2% 27.85 Mbps 218 ms Undisclosed number of IPs 195 countries Unlimited Starts from 21GB $300 monthly for 21GB Enterprise-level web scraping
Soax 99.01% 15.58 Mbps 276 ms Over 5 million IPs Over 100 countries Unlimited Starts from 8GB $99 monthly for 8GB Scraping localized classified ad sites
Smartproxy 99% 28.58 Mbps 189 ms Over 40 million IPs 195 countries Unlimited Starts from 1GB $12.5 monthly for 1GB Fast data scraping operations
Oxylabs 98.78% 29.39 Mbps 243 ms Over 102 million IPs All countries supported Unlimited Starts from 1GB $15 monthly for 1GB Large-scale web scraping
Shifter 98% 23.08 Mbps 257 ms Over 31 million IPs All countries supported Unlimited Unlimited Starts from $249.99 monthly for 10 special ports Unlimited bandwidth support
Apify Proxy 97.04% 19.06 Mbps 249 ms Undisclosed number of IPs 195 countries Unlimited Starts from 1GB $15 monthly for 1GB Apify data scrapers
Hydraproxy 96.18% 17.58 Mbps 317 ms Over 5 million IPs Over 100 countries Unlimited Starts from 1GB $5 monthly for 1GB Unlimited IP usage concurrently
Proxy-cheap 95.08% 14.07 Mbps 299 ms Over 7 million IPs Over 127 countries Unlimited Starts from 1GB $4.99 monthly for 1GB Small budget scraping projects
Netnut 96.78% 27.86 Mbps 193 ms Over 52 million IPs All countries Unlimited Starts from 20GB $300 monthly for 20GB Enterprise scraping projects

Web scrapers without changing their IP addresses are easy to detect by even the most basic anti-spam systems out there. That is why you need to make use of proxies to mask your real IP address and provide you with as many IPs as you need to exceed request limits. But not all proxies are good for data scraping; you will need rotating proxies to ease your proxy management for you.

Rotating proxies offer you just one endpoint through which you can access a pool of IP addresses. For these, IPs are assigned dynamically and randomly either after every request or a specific period of time. These types of proxies are also known as backconnect proxies and among others, web scraping is one of their major use cases.

In this article, I will recommend some of the best rotating proxies for data scraping for you. For each of the providers mentioned here, the proxies of interest to us here are their residential proxies as they are the undetectable proxies you can use for web scraping most websites.


1. Bright Data — Overall Best Rotating Proxies for Data Scraping

Bright Data from my personal experience and usage is the number one rotating proxy network for web scraping. This proxy network provides you with all of the features you need to collect data of any kind online without getting blocked. Bright Data offer you just an endpoint that serves as a gateway to their proxy pool with over 72 million IP addresses.

From a previous test, I carried out, over 80 percent of web scraping requests sent were assigned a new IP address. This is what enables you to exceed request limits set by websites that will get you blocked. The service also does support IPs from all countries and most cities around the world. With this, you are able to scrape localized and geo-targeted from any website.

The proxies you get from this provider are undetected. As a developer, I find it easy to integrate their proxies into my codes. The only major problem you will have to deal with is their KYC process which is compulsory if you must make use of their residential proxy network.


2. Nimbleway — Enterprise-Level Smart Proxy Network for Web Scraping

Nimbleway provides the Nimble IP, a proxy infrastructure for web scraping. This proxy service is not just another proxy service — it is developed to take care of the problems associated with the use of proxies. For this service, you can configure it to choose the best IP address to assign to your web requests. Generally, this provider offers the offer both residential and datacenter IPs.

However, you can worry less about getting blocked as it is built for accessing data from hard-to-access websites. This provider didn’t provide detail of the number of IPs in their pool but from my scraping test, there are millions of IP addresses in their pool.

If you need to scrape localized data, you also do not have a problem as it does have support for country, state, and city-level targeting for selected cities. As a new user, this provider offers you 22GB free after creating and verifying your account with them.


3. Soax — Best Rotating Proxies for Scraping Craigslist

If you are looking for a rotating proxy network that minimizes retries then Soax is the provider for you. This provider monitors and cleans its pool regularly to remove bad IPs. But that is not where it is on this list. When it comes to web scraping, you will love Soax, especially for scraping data from localized classified ad sites.

This is because Soax does support city-level targeting, making it possible for sites like Craigslist to identify you as a user in any city you choose and by doing that, allow you to access listing data from that location. Aside from city-level targeting, Soax does have support for both country and state-level targeting. Soax rotation technology ensures the best uptime while making data access easy for you.

This provider has over 45 million residential IPs in it. Aside from regular residential proxies you get from this provider, Soax also offers mobile proxies that are more expensive pricing that is best for hard-to-access targets like LinkedIn.


4. Smartproxy — Fastest Rotating Proxies for Data Scraping

Make no mistake about it, proxies will generally slow you down. And for faster operations, you will need proxies that are fast and that is where Smartproxy comes in. I recently carried out a performance and speed test between top providers and Smartproxy came first in terms of response time with an average of less than 2.0 sec. but this is not all, you can generate as many proxy endpoints as you need at no extra charge since you are charged based on bandwidth usage.

The proxy pool used by this service is a fairly big one as it has about 40 million IP addresses in it according to the information on t website. While there was no way for me to verify this, I got an impressive number of unique IPs during my scraping and performance test which suggests they really do have a large IP pool. The proxies are rotating proxies but you can maintain a session for up to 30 minutes. You can choose IPs from about 195 countries across the globe and all of the states in the US.


5. Oxylabs — Best for Large Scale Web Scraping

Another provider worthy of mention is Oxylabs. In fact, it might interest you to know that Oxylabs is Bright Data’s biggest competitor so far. On this list, Oxylabs is here for its large proxy pool size and how that aids in web scraping. Currently, Oxylabs has the largest proxy pool in the market with over 100 million IPs in it. With an average of 70% unique IPs gotten across different test periods, you can be sure to get the most unique IPs from this provider than anyone else.

This makes it perfect for large-scale scraping. Interestingly, all countries, states, and most big cities around the world are supported. However, it is important you know that the more granular you go in terms of geo-targeting let’s say city, the fewer the number of IPs available to you are. The proxies offered by Oxylabs are rotating proxies that will assign you a different IP address after every request. But there is still support for session IPs that last for up to one hour.


6. Shifter — Best Rotating Proxies with Unlimited Bandwidth Support

Web scraping consumes a lot of bandwidth which becomes a problem if you scrape millions of pages as the proxies sold to you by the other providers on this list come with limited bandwidth. If you are a proxy user that consumes a lot of bandwidth, then opting for proxies with unlimited bandwidth support is the way to go and Shifter is the provider of that. Shifter is a backconnect residential proxy provider with undetectable proxies you can use for web scraping.

This provider is not the best if you need proxies that change IP after every request as its IP rotation system is time-based. However, if your data scraping task can withstand the same IP for a few minutes, then you can purchase their package that comes with multiple ports each having its own IP. Together, you can alternative which to use for which request to exceed request limits before the IPs are eventually changed for you. The provider has got support for over 31 million IPs in its pool with all countries supported.


7. Apify Proxy — Best for Apify Data Scrapers

Apify is an automation platform that offers specialized bots and web scrapers for specific tasks known as actors. The actors come without proxies and you have the freedom to make use of any proxy of your choice. However, if you plan to make use of their web scrapers for data scraping, it is better you make use of the Apify Proxy service. This is because it is easier to integrate and can be said to be as effective as other providers.

You can also use the proxies for your third-party bots. One thing you will come to like about the Apify Proxy is that it operates a combined pool of residential and datacenter IPs. It smartly rotates between these two for you when web scraping to help reduce cost while getting the job done for you. However, if you're interested in using just residential or datacenter proxies, then Apify will provide you with such.


8. Hydraproxy — Best for Unlimited IP Usage Concurrently

The Hydraproxy is another proxy network you can purchase residential proxies for data scraping. This provider for the most part is like every other provider. However, it does have the perks that make it unique. For me, it is it endless proxy list generation tool. With this, you can generate as many proxy endpoints as you need and each will have its own unique IP address.

This makes it possible for you to use multiple IPs at the same time from this provider. Also, since each endpoint is unique, each will have its own unique session. However, you need to know that the proxies are rotating proxies that change IPs randomly — this makes it also perfect for web scraping. The provider has got over 5 million IPs which if you ask me, is only good for small to mid-scale web scraping. I wouldn’t recommend it for large-scale scraping projects.


9. Proxy-cheap — Cheapest Proxies for Data Scraping

Are you on a small budget and looking for the cheapest proxies you can lay your hands on that work well for web scraping? Then I recommend Proxy-cheap. I have used it for some small-scale web scraping projects across popular social media and Ecommerce platforms and it worked perfectly without getting detected. The only major problem you will have to deal with is that its speed is just a little above average.

Currently, it does have over 6 million IPs in its pool sourced via P2P from over 127 countries across the globe. While the location support is good, the pool size makes it a device for small scraping projects. For large-scale projects, I suggest the top providers mentioned at the beginning of the article. The proxies offered are rotating proxies but there is the option of maintaining sessions for up to 30 minutes. You only need $5 to purchase 1GB to get started and the integration process is easy.


10. NetNut – High-Speed Auto-Rotating Proxies

Many people consider rotating proxies as the ideal type of proxies for data scraping. NetNut.io stands out as a leading choice for rotating residential proxies, offering an impressive IP pool of over 52 million auto-rotating proxies. By providing unlimited connections and safeguarding against IP blocks, it ensures smooth web browsing and seamless data collection, all without the problems that come with dealing with CAPTCHAs and other web security measures.

By combining ISP and P2P proxy networks, NetNut.io achieves great performance while maintaining complete anonymity by avoiding U.S. peer proxies while routing your request. Also, P2P ensures all-week availability with minimal failure rates.

NetNut's rotating proxies are considered one of the fastest available today. That speed makes them an ideal choice for unrestricted data extraction of any website from anywhere in the world. This versatility makes them perfect for various use cases, including SEO, ad verification, market research, brand protection, cybersecurity, threat intelligence, etc. With lightning-fast data access, your web scraping tasks and data-heavy activities will be completed with greater efficiency and effectiveness.

NetNut, as always, offers flexible and scalable bandwidth-focused packages. Their six-tier pricing structure allows companies and businesses in data science, software development, and other internet-related industries to scale up (or down) as their needs dictate.  Paid access starts at just $300 per month. For those with more substantial needs, their largest package offers a massive 1TB of data which effectively costs you $4/GB.


FAQs

Q. Do I Need a Proxy for Web Scraping?

You do not just need a proxy, you need proxies for web scraping. This is because web scrapers send too many requests that will reveal their footprint and get them blocked. With a bunch of proxies or a rotating proxy network, you get as many IP addresses as you need to hide your requests as originating from the same device. Aside from evading blocks, another use case of proxies for web scraping is for scraping localized data. Since the web is becoming localized, proxies can provide you with IPs of regions you are not in which will aid you in scraping localized data for such regions as in the case of SEO.

Q. Is the Use of Proxies Illegal?

Proxies help you bypass requests set by websites to discourage botting such as web scraping. However, this does not in any way make it illegal to use proxies or even carry out web scraping in general. The use of proxies is legal in most countries of the world. The only major problem you will deal with is the issue of your proxies getting detected by your website of target. This is because most popular websites have systems in place to detect proxy traffic and block them. That is why we recommend residential proxies that are difficult to detect and block.

Q. What are the Best Proxies for Web Scraping?

While you can use datacenter proxies for scraping some sites, they are easy to detect and as such, not the ideal type of proxies for scraping popular sites. For scraping popular sites, I recommend residential proxies. This is because the providers actually route your requests via the devices of real Internet users, making it indistinguishable from regular traffic. These types of proxies are also rotating proxies that randomly rotate your IP to make it difficult for sites to detect your activities. However, these can be expensive compared to datacenter proxies.


Conclusion

When it comes to data scraping, you need to use the right proxies to succeed. This is because websites are becoming smarter at detecting proxies and not all proxies will work. The providers above are some of the best providers that provide undetectable proxies and as such, can be used for a good number of scraping jobs. You should use their unique offering to choose the best proxies for your use case.

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