Maybe SOAX’s per-gigabyte bill crept past what your project can justify. Maybe you blew through a bandwidth cap mid-scrape, or you just want a proxy network that fits your exact job instead of paying premium for features you never touch. SOAX is genuinely good, clean IPs and a tidy dashboard, but it stopped being the only reliable option a while ago. We pulled together the SOAX alternatives actually worth your money, from enterprise giants to budget pools with non-expiring traffic, and matched each one to the person it really suits.
In a hurry? For enterprise-scale scraping, Bright Data and Oxylabs lead on pool size and success rates. For the best price-to-quality balance, Decodo (Smartproxy’s value brand) is our pick. On a tight budget, IPRoyal and Proxy-Cheap sell non-expiring residential traffic for a fraction of premium rates. Want to test free first? Webshare and Geonode both have real free tiers.
SOAX alternatives at a glance
| Provider | Proxy types | Best for | Starts from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Data | Residential, DC, ISP, mobile | Enterprise-scale data collection | ~8.40 USD/GB |
| Decodo | Residential, DC | Best value for scraping pros | ~3.50 USD/GB |
| Oxylabs | Residential, DC, ISP, mobile | Enterprise reliability & AI tools | ~8.00 USD/GB |
| IPRoyal | Residential, DC, ISP | Budget users & non-expiring traffic | ~1.75 USD/GB |
| Proxy-Cheap | Residential, DC, ISP, mobile | Cheapest all-round pool | ~3.49 USD/GB |
| Storm Proxies | Rotating residential, DC | Unlimited bandwidth on a flat fee | ~19 USD/mo |
| Webshare | Residential, DC | Developers & free-tier testing | Free / ~2.00 USD/GB |
| Geonode | Residential | Flexible pay-as-you-go access | Free / ~4.00 USD/GB |
Prices were checked in mid-2026 on each provider’s official pricing page. SaaS proxy pricing shifts often, so treat these as a starting point and confirm the current rate before you buy. IP-pool sizes are the providers’ own advertised figures.
Best SOAX competitors and alternatives in 2026
Here are the eight proxy providers we would actually put in front of a SOAX user, each matched to a clear use case, price point, and honest catch.
1. Bright Data — Best for enterprise-scale data collection
If SOAX feels like it runs out of room at scale, Bright Data is the opposite problem: it is the biggest, most feature-heavy data platform there is, and it can feel like overkill until you genuinely need it. Formerly Luminati, it grew into a full-stack web-data stack, with proxies, ready-made datasets, a scraping browser, and an unblocker, so a serious data team can run an entire pipeline in one place. It out-tools SOAX comfortably; it also out-charges it.
Best for: large teams and enterprises that need maximum success rates and a full data-collection stack.
Not ideal for: hobbyists or anyone running a handful of small scrapes.
Proxy types: residential, datacenter, ISP, mobile.
Key Features:
- 72M+ advertised residential IPs, with targeting down to ZIP and ASN level
- Web Unlocker that handles CAPTCHAs, fingerprinting, and anti-bot systems
- Scraping Browser with full JavaScript rendering for dynamic pages
- SERP API and a ready-made datasets marketplace
- SOC 2 Type II certified, with GDPR and CCPA compliance
Pricing: residential from ~8.40 USD/GB pay-as-you-go, scaling down to ~5.04 USD/GB on commitment. Free trial available.
Pros: largest, most reliable network; unmatched geo-targeting; full-stack tooling; very high success rates. Cons: the priciest option here; a real learning curve; overkill for small jobs.
2. Decodo — Best value for scraping professionals
Decodo is Smartproxy’s value-focused brand, and it is the alternative we point most SOAX users toward first. You get Smartproxy’s mature network and built-in scraping APIs at a noticeably lower entry price than SOAX, without enterprise complexity. The one thing to keep straight: Decodo and Smartproxy are close cousins, which can confuse first-time buyers.
Best for: scraping pros and SEO teams who want strong performance without a premium bill.
Not ideal for: heavy mobile-proxy workloads.
Proxy types: residential, datacenter.
Key Features:
- 65M+ advertised residential IPs on Smartproxy’s global network
- 195+ countries with city and state-level targeting
- Built-in Web Scraping API and SERP API with automatic parsing
- Rotating and sticky sessions, HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 support
- No-code scraping tools and a free trial for new users
Pricing: residential from ~3.50 USD/GB; datacenter from ~0.50 USD/IP. Free trial available.
Pros: one of the best price-to-quality ratios around; battle-tested infrastructure; integrated scraping and SERP APIs; easy onboarding. Cons: brand overlap with Smartproxy; thin mobile coverage; fewer enterprise features than Bright Data or Oxylabs.
3. Oxylabs — Best for enterprise reliability and AI tooling
Oxylabs is Bright Data’s closest rival and a step up from SOAX in scale and formal reliability. Where SOAX gives you a clean pool, Oxylabs backs a huge one with a 99.95% uptime SLA and AI-assisted scraping tools, which is exactly what compliance-conscious corporations and cybersecurity teams want. The trade-off is a sales-led buying process and pricing that assumes real volume.
Best for: data-analytics firms and enterprises that need SLA-backed uptime at scale.
Not ideal for: individuals who want to self-serve a small plan quickly.
Proxy types: residential, datacenter, ISP, mobile.
Key Features:
- 100M+ advertised residential IPs, one of the largest pools going
- 99.95% uptime SLA on enterprise agreements
- Web Scraper API and E-Commerce Scraper API with anti-bot bypass
- AI-powered Adaptive Parser for automatic data structuring
- City and state-level targeting across 195+ countries; 24/7 account management
Pricing: residential from ~8.00 USD/GB, scaling to ~5.00 USD/GB on commitment. Enterprise custom pricing available.
Pros: massive, diverse pool; SLA-backed reliability; best-in-class docs; strong ethical sourcing. Cons: around 300 USD minimum monthly spend; slow trial for individuals; too much for small projects.
4. IPRoyal — Best for budget users and non-expiring traffic
If you left SOAX over price, IPRoyal is the easy win. Its headline trick is non-expiring residential traffic: the gigabytes you buy never lapse, which kills the classic proxy anxiety of paying monthly for bandwidth you did not use. The pool is smaller than the enterprise names, so it is a genuinely cheap workhorse rather than a heavy-scraping powerhouse.
Best for: freelancers and small teams who want reliable proxies cheaply, on their own schedule.
Not ideal for: large-scale scraping of heavily protected sites.
Proxy types: residential, datacenter, ISP, sneaker.
Key Features:
- 2M+ advertised residential IPs across 195+ countries with city-level targeting
- Non-expiring residential traffic, the standout cost saver
- HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 and sticky sessions up to 24 hours
- Dedicated datacenter, ISP, and sneaker proxies
- Instant activation, no KYC, pay-as-you-go from 1 GB
Pricing: residential from ~1.75 USD/GB (pay-as-you-go, non-expiring); datacenter from ~1.39 USD/proxy.
Pros: among the cheapest residential options; non-expiring traffic; beginner-friendly; no minimum commitment. Cons: smaller pool limits rotation diversity; success rates dip on hard targets; no built-in scraping or unblocker tools.
5. Proxy-Cheap — Best cheapest all-round pool
Proxy-Cheap does what the name promises without gutting the essentials. It undercuts SOAX hard, offers non-expiring residential bandwidth like IPRoyal, and, unlike most budget shops, still carries all four proxy types including mobile and ISP. The catch is the usual budget one: geo-targeting and success rates on the toughest sites will not match Bright Data or Oxylabs.
Best for: freelancers, social-media managers, and emerging-market users who need dependable, low-cost proxies across every type.
Not ideal for: precision geo-targeting or scraping the most hostile sites.
Proxy types: residential, datacenter, mobile, ISP.
Key Features:
- 6M+ advertised residential IPs across 130+ countries
- Non-expiring residential bandwidth
- All four proxy types with country and city-level targeting
- HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5; rotating and sticky sessions up to 60 minutes
- Instant activation, no KYC, no minimum commitment
Pricing: residential from ~3.49 USD/GB (pay-as-you-go, non-expiring); datacenter from ~1.00 USD/proxy/month; mobile at competitive rates.
Pros: highly affordable with non-expiring traffic; a broader 6M+ pool than similarly priced rivals; all major proxy types; no forced subscriptions. Cons: no built-in scraping or unblocker tools; geo-targeting granularity trails the leaders; speed can wobble on protected sites.
6. Storm Proxies — Best for unlimited bandwidth on a flat fee
Storm Proxies solves one specific SOAX headache: metered per-GB billing. Instead of watching a bandwidth counter, you pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited traffic on a small rotating pool. That makes it a plug-and-play pick for predictable, low-complexity jobs, as long as you do not need a big pool or precise geo-targeting.
Best for: hobbyists and small operations that want unlimited bandwidth without per-GB math.
Not ideal for: geo-sensitive or large-scale scraping.
Proxy types: rotating residential, datacenter.
Key Features:
- Unlimited bandwidth on rotating residential and datacenter plans
- ~70,000 rotating residential IPs, auto-changing every 3-15 minutes
- Back-connect rotating gateway for simple integration
- Instant setup, port-based access, no configuration complexity
- Flat monthly pricing with no per-GB metering
Pricing: rotating residential from ~19.00 USD/month for 5 ports with unlimited bandwidth.
Pros: unlimited bandwidth kills overage worries; the simplest pricing here; quick setup for non-technical users. Cons: one of the smallest pools around; mostly US/EU targeting; no API or analytics; reliability wobbles under heavy load.
7. Webshare — Best for developers and free-tier testing
Webshare is where developers go to try proxies before spending a cent. Its free tier hands you 10 proxies with no card required, and the whole platform is API-first, so it slots neatly into automated workflows. It lacks the scale and heavy tooling of SOAX or the enterprise names, but as a low-risk starting point it is hard to beat.
Best for: developers and startups who want to prototype cheaply, then scale on paid residential.
Not ideal for: production scraping of well-defended sites.
Proxy types: residential, datacenter.
Key Features:
- Free tier with 10 proxies, no credit card required
- Full REST API for programmatic management and rotation
- HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 with auto-replacement of dead proxies
- Proxy list export (API, CSV, TXT) and country-level targeting on paid plans
- Built-in proxy checker and performance monitoring
Pricing: free tier (10 proxies); paid datacenter from ~5.20 USD/month; residential from ~2.00 USD/GB.
Pros: the best free tier in the market; developer-friendly API; competitive ~2.00 USD/GB residential; clean interface. Cons: free proxies are heavily shared and often blocked; smaller residential pool; limited geo-targeting on low plans; no unblocker tools.
8. Geonode — Best for flexible pay-as-you-go access
Geonode is for people who hate contracts. It offers residential access on a true pay-as-you-go model with transparent pricing, plus something rare in this space: a free residential tier to test with. It will not out-muscle the big pools, but for on-demand, no-commitment proxy access it is a refreshingly honest option next to SOAX’s plan tiers.
Best for: freelancers, small agencies, and developers who want on-demand access with no lock-in.
Not ideal for: large-scale jobs that need deep rotation diversity.
Proxy types: residential.
Key Features:
- 10M+ advertised residential IPs across 195+ countries
- Free tier with limited residential bandwidth
- True pay-as-you-go pricing, no forced monthly commitment
- Sticky sessions up to 60 minutes; country and city-level targeting
- HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 and API access for automation
Pricing: residential from ~4.00 USD/GB; a free plan with limited traffic is available.
Pros: genuine pay-as-you-go with no minimum spend; rare free residential tier; 60-minute sticky sessions; clean API. Cons: smaller effective pool; scraping tools less mature than rivals; success rates vary by geo; docs still maturing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which SOAX alternative is the cheapest?
IPRoyal and Proxy-Cheap are the cheapest picks, both starting under 3.50 USD per GB with non-expiring residential traffic, so the bandwidth you buy never lapses. Webshare and Geonode go one better with genuine free tiers if you only need a little.
What is the difference between residential and datacenter proxies?
Residential proxies use real IPs assigned by home ISPs, so they look like ordinary users and are much harder for sites to block, but they cost more. Datacenter proxies come from servers: they are fast and cheap, yet easier to detect and ban. For anti-bot-heavy targets, pay for residential; for simple, high-speed tasks, datacenter is fine.
Is it legal to use proxies for web scraping?
Using proxies is legal, and scraping publicly available data is broadly accepted in many regions, but the details matter. A site can restrict scraping in its terms of service, and personal or copyrighted data carries extra rules under laws like the GDPR. Check the target site terms and your local law, and treat this as general information rather than legal advice.
Which SOAX alternative is best for large-scale scraping?
Bright Data and Oxylabs are the strongest choices for large-scale scraping. Both run huge IP pools with high success rates and bundle unblocker and scraping-API tools that handle CAPTCHAs and anti-bot systems, which matters far more than sticker price once you are collecting data at volume.
Do any SOAX alternatives offer a free trial or free tier?
Yes. Webshare gives you 10 free proxies with no card required, and Geonode has a free residential tier with limited bandwidth. Decodo, Bright Data, and Oxylabs offer trials so you can test before you commit. Free tiers are ideal for prototyping, not heavy production use.
Are these proxies good for managing multiple social media accounts?
Yes, if you pick residential or mobile proxies with sticky sessions so each account keeps a stable IP. IPRoyal and Proxy-Cheap are affordable options with long sticky sessions, and both support mobile or ISP IPs that read as genuine users, which lowers the chance of account flags.
Is a cheaper proxy provider actually as good as SOAX?
It depends on your workload. For light scraping, account management, or testing, budget providers like Proxy-Cheap or IPRoyal do most of the job for far less. For high-volume scraping of well-defended sites, the smaller pools show their limits through more blocks, so the premium networks earn their price. Test on your real target sites before deciding.
Which SOAX alternative should you pick?
Run enterprise-scale collection and need the highest success rates? Bright Data or Oxylabs earn their premium. Want the best balance of price and built-in scraping tools? Decodo is the sweet spot, and the one we would try first coming off SOAX. On a budget, IPRoyal and Proxy-Cheap give you non-expiring residential traffic so nothing you pay for goes to waste. Hate metered billing? Storm Proxies sells unlimited bandwidth on a flat fee. Want to test before you pay? Webshare and Geonode both have real free tiers.
One warning: the cheapest pool is no bargain if it gets blocked on your target sites. Success rate on the pages you actually scrape matters more than the per-GB price. So do what we do before committing real money: shortlist two providers, run a small pay-as-you-go test on your genuine target sites, and keep the one that quietly gets through. That single test will teach you more than any comparison table, including this one.
