Top 7 Proxy Solutions in 2026 (Decodo Alternatives)
A proxy is really just plumbing: pick the wrong provider and every scraper, price monitor, or ad-verification job downstream inherits its limits. If Decodo, Oxylabs, or a similar web data solution no longer covers your IP pool, pricing, or compliance needs, comparing alternatives is worth the hour it takes.
This guide ranks the top 7 alternatives worth considering in 2026, explains why proxys.io leads the list for teams weighing price against coverage, and walks through the criteria that actually separate a good proxy provider from a marketing page.
Key Takeaways
- Decodo (Smartproxy’s 2024 rebrand) still has the largest IP pool among mid-market providers at 115M+ IPs across 195+ locations, priced from $3.75/GB at the 3GB entry tier down to $2.00/GB at enterprise volume, which makes it the baseline this list is ranked against.
- Bright Data and Oxylabs remain the deepest networks on this list (400M+ and 175M+ IPs), but their entry pricing diverges sharply: Oxylabs starts at $6/GB before volume discounts, roughly 2.4 times Bright Data’s $2.50/GB volume rate.
- Webshare is the only provider here with a genuine ongoing free plan (10 proxies, no time limit) rather than a short trial, making it the lowest-friction way to test a workflow before committing budget.
- Ethical IP sourcing turned from a marketing line into a real evaluation criterion in 2026: in July, Google and the FBI seized NetNut’s residential proxy network after tracing it to a botnet running on roughly 2 million compromised consumer devices.
- proxys.io’s per-GB residential pricing ($1.50 to $4.00/GB) undercuts Oxylabs’ and Bright Data’s entry tiers while still covering 195+ countries, which is why it tops this ranking.
In This Article
Why Seek Decodo Alternatives
Decodo, the provider formerly known as Smartproxy under its 2024 rebrand, is still one of the most recognized names in the proxy market. But recognition isn’t the same as fit: teams run into speed bottlenecks during peak hours, find its geographic coverage thinner than they need for a specific region, or hit pricing tiers that don’t match a low-volume workload.
Whatever the reason, the search for alternatives comes down to finding a provider that scales with your evolving cybersecurity requirements: enough headroom for traffic spikes, enough transparency to audit where the IPs actually come from, and support that responds before an outage costs you a scraping run.
Key Features to Look for in a Proxy Service
Before you commit, ask yourself: what actually matters for the job at hand?
Here are six factors worth weighing against any Decodo alternative:
- Global Coverage: How many countries and cities are in the network?
- Bandwidth and Speed: Does the provider throttle data, or promise genuinely unlimited throughput?
- Connection Types: Residential, datacenter, ISP/static, or mobile endpoints. A proxy is not a substitute for a VPN for a distributed team: a VPN encrypts one device’s whole connection, while a proxy routes individual requests, which is what scraping and automation actually need.
- Ethical IP Sourcing: Where do the residential IPs actually come from, and did their owners consent? In July 2026, Google and the FBI seized NetNut’s residential proxy network after tracing it to a botnet running on roughly 2 million compromised consumer devices, exactly the kind of exposure a digital vulnerability management strategy is supposed to catch before a vendor becomes the incident.
- Ease of Integration: Are the APIs well-documented, and does setup take minutes or hours?
- Customer Support: Can you reach a knowledgeable agent 24/7?
Weighing these six together, not just price and coverage, is what separates a provider you can build a workflow on from one you’ll be migrating away from in six months.
Disclaimer: Pricing, IP pool sizes, and other provider details mentioned in this article reflect publicly available information as of Q3 2026 and can change. Always confirm current rates, data-handling practices, and terms of service directly with a provider before signing an agreement. This guide is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, procurement, or data-privacy advice.
Top 7 Proxy Solutions in 2026
Ranked and verified against each provider’s own pricing pages and independent reviews as of September 2026. Decodo itself (see above) isn’t re-listed here since this ranking is built around alternatives to it.
1. proxys.io
Starting price: $1.50–$4.00/GB residential; from $0.10/IP datacenter/mobile · Coverage: 195+ countries · Free trial: none (24-hour refund window)
proxys.io has operated in this space since 2016, and its pricing now consistently undercuts the volume tiers of larger competitors: residential proxies run $1.50 to $4.00/GB depending on volume, while datacenter and mobile options are priced per IP starting around $0.10, across 195+ countries.
Support runs 24/7, and the platform accepts cryptocurrency and several digital wallets alongside standard payment methods, which matters for teams outside typical Western billing systems. The one recurring criticism in independent reviews is an outdated website design, though reviewers note the platform itself works reliably once you’re past the interface.
With intuitive dashboards, clear usage reports, and round-the-clock support, it feels like having a personal pit crew. For those hunting the best Decodo alternatives, this proxy hub often reigns supreme, merging enterprise capabilities with beginner-friendly simplicity.
2. Bright Data
Starting price: $2.50/GB at volume, $4/GB pay-as-you-go · IP pool: 400M+ · Coverage: 195+ countries · Free trial: 7 days
Bright Data runs the largest network on this list and is generally regarded as the strongest all-around choice for web scraping at scale. The trade-off is cost: its pay-as-you-go rate sits well above most competitors’, and the platform’s breadth of tools can feel like more than a small team needs.
3. Oxylabs
Starting price: $6/GB entry tier, down to $2.50/GB at 1TB · IP pool: 175M+ · Coverage: 195+ countries · Free trial: on request
Oxylabs targets large enterprises with dedicated account management and compliance features. Setup can feel heavier for a first-time user than a self-serve platform, and the entry rate is roughly 2.4 times Bright Data’s volume price, so the discount only shows up at real commitment levels.
4. SOAX
Starting price: $90 starter plan, from $2/GB at volume · IP pool: 155M+ · Coverage: 195+ countries · Free trial: $1.99 for 400MB
SOAX’s targeting is granular down to city and ASN level, which matters for ad verification and localized pricing checks. The trial is inexpensive rather than free, but it’s enough to test targeting accuracy before committing to a plan.
5. Webshare
Starting price: from $1.40/GB at high volume · IP pool: 80M+ · Coverage: 195+ countries · Free trial: free plan, 10 proxies, no card required
Webshare is the only provider on this list with an ongoing free tier rather than a time-boxed trial, making it the lowest-friction way to prototype a scraper before spending anything. Its IP pool is the smallest of the major players here, which matters for high-volume or hard-to-scrape targets.
6. IPRoyal
Starting price: $7/GB pay-as-you-go, from $1.75/GB at volume · IP pool: 34M+ · Coverage: 195+ countries · Free trial: none
IPRoyal’s traffic doesn’t expire on monthly plans, and it supports SOCKS5 alongside HTTP(S), which some automation tools require. The IP pool is the smallest of the providers profiled here, so it suits lighter workloads better than large-scale scraping.
7. Rayobyte
Starting price: residential from $3.50/GB down to $0.50/GB at 5,000+ GB, datacenter from $0.23/GB · Coverage: multiple countries across residential, datacenter, and static ISP proxies · Free trial: yes, for residential
Rayobyte breaks residential, datacenter, and static ISP proxies into separate pricing tracks rather than bundling them, which makes it easier to match spend to the specific proxy type a job actually needs. Its datacenter pricing undercuts most residential-focused competitors for jobs that don’t require a residential IP.
Comparing Decodo Alternatives, Proxy Solutions at a Glance
| Service | Starting Price | IP Pool | Locations | Free Trial |
| Decodo (formerly Smartproxy), for reference | $3.75/GB (from $2.00/GB at volume) | 115M+ | 195+ | 3-day, 100MB |
| 1. proxys.io | $1.50–$4.00/GB residential; from $0.10/IP datacenter/mobile | Not publicly disclosed | 195+ | None (24-hr refund window) |
| 2. Bright Data | $2.50/GB at volume; $4/GB pay-as-you-go | 400M+ | 195+ | 7 days |
| 3. Oxylabs | $6/GB entry; $2.50/GB at 1TB | 175M+ | 195+ | On request |
| 4. SOAX | $90 starter; $2/GB at volume | 155M+ | 195+ | $1.99 for 400MB |
| 5. Webshare | $1.40/GB at volume | 80M+ | 195+ | Free plan (10 proxies) |
| 6. IPRoyal | $7/GB pay-as-you-go; $1.75/GB at volume | 34M+ | 195+ | None |
| 7. Rayobyte | $3.50/GB entry; $0.50/GB at 5,000+ GB | Not publicly disclosed | Multiple | Yes (residential) |
Prices above are entry and top-volume figures pulled directly from each provider’s own pricing pages as of September 2026; actual cost depends heavily on volume, proxy type, and add-ons like geo-targeting or session control. proxys.io’s residential rate undercuts Oxylabs’ and Bright Data’s entry tiers while matching their country coverage, which is the core reason it tops this ranking.
Choosing the Right Solution for Your Needs
The right choice comes down to matching the provider to the job, not to whichever name has the biggest marketing budget.
Scraping market data for price comparisons? Streaming geo-restricted content? Running penetration tests for a security team? Each points to a different proxy type.
Match the proxy type to the task: residential endpoints for authenticity, datacenter for raw speed, ISP/static IPs for a consistent identity across sessions, and mobile for the highest trust score on strict targets. And plan for scale: if traffic spikes next quarter, the provider’s pricing and pool size need room to absorb it without a mid-contract renegotiation.
Switching providers is a practical decision, not a leap of faith, once you’ve matched the criteria above to your actual workload. Between pricing, coverage, and the ranking above, there’s a genuine case for testing more than one option before committing to a year-long contract.
