Rotating proxies for web scraping compared
A rotating proxy hands each request (or each session) a different IP, so a scraper is not blocked for hitting a site from one address. You can buy a rotating pool and manage retries yourself, or use a scraping API that rotates IPs, retries and renders JavaScript for you. This page covers both, using only the prices we verified.
Prices verified on vendor pages for 8 of 11 providers below; the rest are marked unknown. Always confirm at checkout. Order: vendor discounts, then free tiers, then standard signups, A–Z. Affiliate status does not affect order.
Comparison table
| Provider | Offer | Published pricing (verified) | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9Proxy | Vendor discount | Starting from $0.018/IP or $0.68/GB (per 9proxy.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-25). | Not verified |
| Bright Data | Vendor discount | 50% off residential proxies for 3 months; first-deposit match up to $500 (new accounts) | Not verified |
| Oxylabs | Vendor discount | 30% off first month (new clients); free credits available on eligible plans | Yes |
| Bright Data | Free tier | 5,000 free credits/mo (~$7.50); no card; Web Unlocker/SERP/Scraper/Studio/Browser API pool | Yes |
| ScrapingBee | Free tier | 1,000 free scraper API credits on signup; no credit card required | Yes |
| ZenRows | Free tier | Free plan: 5,000 credits every month; recurring; no credit card | Yes |
| DataImpulse | Standard signup | unknown | Not verified |
| IPFoxy | Standard signup | unknown | Not verified |
| Proxyrack | Standard signup | Pricing per proxyrack.com/pricing: Premium Residential (pay per GB) from $110/mo; Unlimited Residential (pay per thread, unmetered bandwidth, 35M+ monthly IPs) from $300/mo, e.g. 500 threads $750/mo, 1,000 threads $1,250/mo, 2,000 threads $2,000/mo, 5,000 threads $4,500/mo; Private Residential from $299.90/mo … | Not verified |
| ProxyScrape | Standard signup | unknown | Not verified |
| ScraperAPI | Standard signup | 7-day trial with 5,000 API credits (no card), then free plan 1,000 API credits (5 concurrent); paid plans from $49/mo | Yes |
Pros and cons
Derived only from facts on the vendor pages we checked.
9Proxy
Pros:
- Vendor-published discount: Residential proxies; starting from $0.018/IP or $0.68/GB (per 9proxy.com pricing)
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
Bright Data
Pros:
- Vendor-published discount: 50% off residential proxies for 3 months; first-deposit match up to $500 (new accounts)
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Requires an application; approval is not guaranteed
- Part of the offer is one-time or intro-only; check the ongoing price
Oxylabs
Pros:
- Vendor-published discount: 30% off first month (new clients); free credits available on eligible plans
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Part of the offer is one-time or intro-only; check the ongoing price
Bright Data
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- No card required to start (per vendor page)
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Requires an application; approval is not guaranteed
ScrapingBee
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- No card required to start (per vendor page)
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Some plans or trials require a card
ZenRows
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- No card required to start (per vendor page)
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
DataImpulse
Pros:
- None verified beyond the listing
Cons:
- No verified public price in our records; you must check the vendor site
IPFoxy
Pros:
- None verified beyond the listing
Cons:
- No verified public price in our records; you must check the vendor site
Proxyrack
Pros:
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
ProxyScrape
Pros:
- None verified beyond the listing
Cons:
- No verified public price in our records; you must check the vendor site
ScraperAPI
Pros:
- Free plan, trial or credits to test before paying
- No card required to start (per vendor page)
- Pricing is published, so you can budget before signing up
Cons:
- Limits and overage rates vary by plan; read them before committing
How to choose
- Decide pool vs API. A raw rotating pool is cheaper per GB but you handle retries, CAPTCHAs and rendering. A scraping API costs more per request but returns finished HTML.
- Check rotation controls: per-request rotation, sticky sessions and geo targeting matter for logged-in or multi-step flows.
- Use free credits to measure success rate on your real targets before buying.
- Watch concurrency limits on free and entry plans; they cap throughput more than the credit count does.
- Respect robots.txt, site terms and data-protection law.
FAQ
Should I use a rotating proxy or a scraping API?
If you already have a scraper with retry logic and only need IPs, a rotating pool is usually cheaper. If you want rendered HTML without managing blocks, a scraping API saves engineering time.
Which options have a free tier?
The table marks free plans and credits we verified on vendor pages, for example recurring monthly credits on some scraping APIs.
How is this list ordered?
By customer value: vendor discounts first, then verified free tiers, then standard signups, alphabetically. Affiliate status is not a ranking factor.
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