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editorial picks 2026

Top 5 proxies for beginners, 2026

The easiest places to start: free trial, simple setup, transparent pricing, friendly support.

📅 updated 06.05.2026 5 providers methodology public

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#1

Decodo (ex-Smartproxy) ◆ EDITOR PICK

LT · Vilnius · since 2018
Formerly Smartproxy. Best price-to-quality ratio for most scenarios — from scraping to multi-account work.
score
9.2
success
99.5%
pool
125M+
start
$2.00 / GB

+ Strong points

  • · Best success rate in residential — 99.5%
  • · 14-day free trial
  • · Friendly dashboard, simple API, iGaming-OK

− Limitations

  • · No ASN targeting on standard plans
  • · Smaller mobile pool than SOAX
#2

Webshare

US · San Francisco · since 2018
Top pick for datacenter and ISP when enterprise features aren't needed. Their free tier is the best on-ramp on the market.
score
8.5
success
97.5%
pool
30M+
start
free / 10 IP

+ Strong points

  • · Free tier with 10 proxies forever
  • · Cheapest datacenter IPs
  • · Unlimited bandwidth on dedicated plans

− Limitations

  • · Weaker residential than market leaders
  • · No enterprise-grade support
#3

SOAX ◆ EDITOR PICK

GB · London · since 2019
Best balance of price, quality and tolerance for arbitrage and scraping. A top pick for rare geos.
score
9.1
success
98.8%
pool
155M+
start
$1.99 trial

+ Strong points

  • · Sticky sessions up to 24 hours — the longest in the segment
  • · iGaming-neutral, lenient KYC
  • · Coverage of rare geos (SI, NZ, Balkan countries)

− Limitations

  • · No Proxy Manager at Bright Data's level
  • · Mobile pool is smaller than residential
#4

DataImpulse

EE · Tallinn · since 2021
Cheap and cheerful for budget use-cases. A good backup provider next to your main one.
score
8.0
success
97.8%
pool
10M+
start
$1.00 / GB

+ Strong points

  • · Cheapest residential on the market — from $1/GB
  • · $1 free credit to start testing
  • · iGaming-neutral

− Limitations

  • · Smaller IP pool than the leaders
  • · Young product, less battle-tested
#5

IPRoyal

IE · Dublin · since 2020
Strong value pick for irregular workloads — purchased traffic doesn't expire and can be used for months.
score
8.7
success
98.5%
pool
32M+
start
$1.75 / GB

+ Strong points

  • · Traffic doesn't expire (no-expiry policy)
  • · One of the cheapest residential offers
  • · Strong coverage of rare geos (SI, Baltics)

− Limitations

  • · No free trial
  • · Basic support tier on entry plans