Proxy Types Explained
Complete guide to residential, datacenter, mobile, and ISP proxies. Compare speed, detection rates, pricing, and use cases for each proxy type.
Not all proxies are equal. Residential proxies pass detection but cost more. Datacenter proxies are fast but get blocked. Mobile proxies are undetectable but expensive. Here's how to choose.
Quick Comparison
| Proxy Type | Speed | Detection Rate | Price/GB | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | Medium | Low (2-5%) | $5-15 | Account management |
| Datacenter | Fast | High (30-40%) | $0.50-2 | Testing, low-risk scraping |
| Mobile | Slow | Very Low (<1%) | $15-30 | Social media, high-risk accounts |
| ISP | Fast | Low (3-7%) | $3-8 | Static IP needs |
Residential Proxies
Residential Proxies
IPs assigned to real homes by ISPs. Look like genuine residential users. Hardest to detect.
Detection Rate: 2-5% (very low)
Speed: 5-15 Mbps average
Pricing: $5-15 per GB bandwidth
How They Work:
Proxy providers partner with homeowners or use peer-to-peer networks. Your traffic routes through real residential internet connections. Comcast, AT&T, Verizon IPs.
Sites see a normal home user. Not a datacenter or bot.
Advantages:
- Low detection rates - sites trust residential IPs
- Huge IP pool - millions of IPs available
- Geographic targeting - choose specific cities or countries
- ISP diversity - rotate across multiple internet providers
Disadvantages:
- Expensive - 10-30x more costly than datacenter
- Slower speeds - limited by home internet bandwidth
- Less stable - homeowners can disconnect, causing IP changes
- Bandwidth-based pricing - pay per GB instead of flat rate
Use Cases:
- E-commerce account management (Amazon, eBay sellers)
- Social media marketing (Facebook, Instagram accounts)
- Ad verification and monitoring
- Price scraping on strict sites
- Any platform with aggressive bot detection
Datacenter Proxies
Datacenter Proxies
IPs from cloud providers and data centers. Fast and cheap but easily detected by major platforms.
Detection Rate: 30-40% (high)
Speed: 100-1000 Mbps (very fast)
Pricing: $0.50-2 per GB or $50-200/month flat
How They Work:
Proxy companies run servers in AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean. You get IPs from these datacenters.
Sites see datacenter IPs in their logs. Red flag for most platforms.
Advantages:
- Blazing fast - gigabit speeds common
- Cheap - flat monthly rates or low per-GB cost
- Stable - no random disconnects
- Unlimited bandwidth options
- Multiple subnets available
Disadvantages:
- Easily detected - ASN databases list datacenter ranges
- Often blocked - Amazon, Facebook, Instagram block datacenter IPs
- Shared IPs - others abuse the same IP ranges
- Not legitimate - sites know these aren't real users
Use Cases:
- Testing and development
- Low-security web scraping
- Price monitoring on permissive sites
- Bypassing geo-restrictions (but not bot detection)
- Internal tools and automation
When to Avoid:
Don't use datacenter proxies for account management. Amazon bans datacenter IPs on sight. Facebook flags them immediately. Instagram blocks 90%+ of datacenter traffic.
Mobile Proxies
Mobile Proxies
IPs from mobile carriers (4G/5G). Most trusted by platforms. Nearly impossible to detect or block.
Detection Rate: <1% (virtually undetectable)
Speed: 5-50 Mbps (varies by signal)
Pricing: $15-30 per GB or $300-1000/month per SIM
How They Work:
Proxy providers operate farms of mobile devices with real SIM cards. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile connections. Your traffic routes through actual smartphones.
Platforms can't block mobile IPs. Doing so would ban millions of legitimate users.
Advantages:
- Undetectable - platforms trust mobile carrier IPs
- Carrier-grade NAT - multiple users share same IP legitimately
- Perfect for social media - mobile app fingerprints
- Dynamic IPs - change IPs by toggling airplane mode
- Won't get blacklisted - too risky for platforms to block
Disadvantages:
- Expensive - 3-6x cost of residential proxies
- Slow and unstable - depends on cell signal strength
- Limited IP pool - fewer carriers than residential ISPs
- Carrier restrictions - some carriers detect and block proxy usage
Use Cases:
- High-value social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
- Platforms with advanced bot detection
- Mobile app automation
- When residential proxies get detected
- Accounts worth protecting at any cost
ISP Proxies (Static Residential)
Hybrid between residential and datacenter. IPs hosted in datacenters but registered to residential ISPs.
How They Work:
Proxy companies rent IP address blocks from residential ISPs. Host servers in datacenters using these residential IPs.
You get datacenter speed with residential trust.
Advantages:
- Fast like datacenter - 100-1000 Mbps
- Trusted like residential - ISP-assigned IPs
- Static IPs - same IP for months
- Cheaper than residential - $3-8 per GB
Disadvantages:
- Smaller IP pools - limited availability
- Medium detection rate - some platforms detect them
- Not truly residential - advanced detection can spot them
Use Cases:
- Long-term account management needing static IPs
- Platforms that ban frequent IP changes
- When you need speed + moderate trust
- Budget alternative to full residential
Choosing the Right Proxy Type
| Your Situation | Best Proxy Type | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Managing 10+ Amazon seller accounts | Residential | ISP |
| Running Instagram influencer accounts | Mobile | Residential |
| Scraping product prices | Datacenter | Residential |
| Facebook Ads management | Residential | Mobile |
| Testing your own website | Datacenter | - |
| High-value accounts (>$10k/month revenue) | Mobile | Residential |
General rule: Match proxy cost to account value. $100/month account? Use residential. $10k/month account? Use mobile.
Dmitry Volkov
Proxy Infrastructure Architect
Dmitry Volkov designs proxy infrastructure for Multilogin.io. He's tested 50+ proxy providers and optimized detection rates across residential, datacenter, and mobile networks.