IPRoyal vs Webshare is a lopsided fight on price and a much closer one on flexibility. Webshare is cheaper almost everywhere and hands you a free plan. IPRoyal costs more up front but sells something Webshare does not: proxy traffic that never expires.
This comparison uses the current, live pricing from both providers, not stale numbers from a coupon farm. Below is the head-to-head, the real cost of each, and which proxy provider actually fits how you work.
The quick verdict
Pick Webshare if you want the cheapest way in, a genuine free tier, and excellent budget datacenter proxies. Pick IPRoyal if you buy proxies occasionally and want the traffic to sit in your account until you need it, or if you need ISP and mobile proxies from the same provider.
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | Yes(winner for this row) |
| Residential entry price Webshare is running a 50% sale; its list price is also $7/GB. | $7/GB | $3.50/GB (50% sale)(winner for this row) |
| Residential at high volume | $1.75/GB (10TB) | $1.40/GB (3TB)(winner for this row) |
| Datacenter proxies | $1.39/proxy, pay-as-you-go | From $2.99/mo, 100 proxies(winner for this row) |
| Residential IP pool | 64M+ | 80M+(winner for this row) |
| Traffic never expires IPRoyal residential traffic is pay-as-you-go and does not expire. Webshare residential is a monthly bandwidth allowance. | Yes(winner for this row) | No |
| Proxy types offered | Residential, ISP, datacenter, mobile, web unblocker(winner for this row) | Datacenter, static & rotating residential |
| Billing model | Pay-as-you-go | Mostly monthly subscription |
| Protocols | HTTP(S), SOCKS5 | HTTP(S), SOCKS5 |
| City-level targeting | Yes | Yes |
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IPRoyal pricing, in plain terms
IPRoyal is pay-as-you-go across the board, with no monthly commitment and no free plan. Residential proxies start at $7 a GB for 1GB, drop to about $5.25/GB at 10GB, and only reach the headline $1.75/GB at 10TB. If you have seen “from $1.75/GB” advertised, that is the 10-terabyte rate, not what a normal buyer pays.
Where IPRoyal earns its price is the never-expiring traffic. Buy 2GB, use it over six months, and it is still there. For anyone who scrapes in bursts rather than daily, that alone can make it cheaper in practice than a monthly plan you keep under-using. It also has the widest range here: residential from $7/GB, ISP proxies from $1.80 a proxy, datacenter from $1.39 a proxy, mobile from $117 a month, and an AI web unblocker from $1 per 1,000 requests. Our full IPRoyal review covers the reliability side.
Webshare pricing, in plain terms
Webshare’s pitch is simple: be the cheapest, and give people a free plan to prove it. You get 10 free proxies with no card, and they do not expire. Paid datacenter proxies start at $2.99 a month for 100 proxies with bandwidth included, and the per-proxy price falls as low as $0.0179 at scale. This is where Webshare is genuinely hard to beat.
Its residential proxies are on a 50% sale as we write this, which puts them at $3.50/GB at 1GB and down to $1.40/GB at 3TB, undercutting IPRoyal at every tier. The catch is the model: Webshare residential is a monthly bandwidth allowance, so unused traffic is gone at the end of the month. Cheap if you use it, wasteful if you do not.
The difference that actually decides it
Strip away the tiers and it comes down to one thing: monthly allowance versus never-expiring traffic. Webshare is cheaper per GB, but you rent that bandwidth each month. IPRoyal costs more per GB, but you own what you buy until you use it.
So the honest answer depends on your usage pattern, not a price chart. Heavy, steady monthly scraping? Webshare wins on cost. Occasional, bursty projects? IPRoyal’s model can quietly work out cheaper, because you never pay for a month you barely touched. If you are still deciding between proxy types before picking a brand, our guides to rotating vs static proxies and the best proxy networks help narrow it down.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is IPRoyal or Webshare cheaper?
Webshare, in most cases. It has a genuine free plan, its datacenter proxies start at $2.99 a month, and its residential proxies are on a 50% sale that undercuts IPRoyal at every tier we checked ($3.50/GB versus $7/GB to start). IPRoyal only edges ahead on value if you need traffic that never expires.
Does IPRoyal or Webshare have a free plan?
Only Webshare. You get 10 free proxies with no card required, and the plan does not expire. IPRoyal has no free tier at all, though it does let you start small with pay-as-you-go rather than a monthly commitment.
What is the real difference in their residential pricing?
The billing model, not just the number. Webshare residential is a monthly bandwidth allowance, cheap right now on a 50% sale but use-it-or-lose-it each month. IPRoyal residential is pay-as-you-go and the traffic never expires, so light or occasional users are not forced to burn a monthly quota. Heavy monthly users lean Webshare; sporadic users lean IPRoyal.
Which is better for datacenter proxies?
Webshare, comfortably. Its whole reputation is built on cheap, reliable datacenter proxies with bandwidth included and a free tier to test on. IPRoyal offers datacenter proxies too, from $1.39 a proxy, but Webshare is the budget datacenter specialist.
Which has more proxy types?
IPRoyal. Alongside residential and datacenter it offers ISP proxies, mobile proxies and an AI web unblocker, so it suits people who need several proxy types from one provider. Webshare keeps it simpler: datacenter plus static and rotating residential.
Which should I use for web scraping?
For most scraping on a budget, start with Webshare, the free plan and cheap datacenter proxies let you test and scale without commitment. Step up to its residential proxies for tougher sites. Choose IPRoyal if you scrape only occasionally and want the traffic you buy to sit in your account until you need it.
Are both IPRoyal and Webshare ethically sourced and safe?
Both advertise ethically sourced residential networks and run KYC checks on proxy use. Whichever you pick, use proxies for legitimate purposes only. Our full IPRoyal review digs into its sourcing and reliability in more detail.
So which one should I pick?
Pick Webshare if you want the cheapest entry, a free plan and great datacenter proxies. Pick IPRoyal if you want pay-as-you-go traffic that never expires and a wider range of proxy types including ISP and mobile. For pure price, Webshare wins; for flexibility, IPRoyal does.
The bottom line
On pure price, Webshare wins this IPRoyal vs Webshare match-up: it is cheaper on residential and datacenter, and it is the only one with a free plan. For budget scraping and datacenter proxies, start there.
But IPRoyal is not beaten. Its never-expiring pay-as-you-go traffic and broader mix of ISP, mobile and web-unblocker products make it the smarter pick for occasional users and anyone who wants several proxy types under one roof. Match the billing model to how you actually work, and either one is a solid choice.
