Bright Data (formerly Luminati) is one of the most well-known proxy providers, offering a large network of over 72 million residential IPs as well as datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies. Its advanced features, enterprise-friendly approach, and powerful web scraping tools make it a top choice for many businesses.
However, Bright Data‘s premium offerings come at a high price that may not fit every budget. The service is mainly geared toward enterprise clients, with robust management options but more limited appeal for smaller users. Some potential drawbacks of Bright Data include:
- High costs, with residential proxy prices starting at $8.40/GB
- No cryptocurrency payment options
- SOCKS5 protocol only supported under certain conditions
- No access to Google via proxies
Fortunately, there are several strong Bright Data alternatives on the market that provide reliable proxies at competitive prices. Here is an overview of the 7 best Bright Data alternatives for web scraping in 2024:
1. IPRoyal
Founded in 2020, IPRoyal has quickly become one of the top proxy providers thanks to its affordable pricing, flexible plans, and excellent features. Its proxy network includes over 32 million residential IPs in 195 countries.
Key benefits of IPRoyal residential proxies:
- Precise country, city, and ASN geo-targeting at no extra cost
- Both rotating and sticky sessions up to 60 minutes
- Traffic never expires
- HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS5 protocols supported
- Fast speeds and 99.9% uptime
Pricing starts at $7/GB for residential proxies, with big discounts for high-volume users bringing costs down to just $1.75/GB. Unlike Bright Data, there are no unfavorable IP costs or upsells.
IPRoyal also offers mobile proxies from over 7,500 cellular IPs, with unlimited 3G/4G/LTE bandwidth starting at $90/month. Its datacenter and ISP proxies provide dedicated private IPs with unlimited threads, traffic, and bandwidth. Overall, IPRoyal delivers premium proxies at reasonable prices.
2. Proxy-Seller
Proxy-Seller is a reliable provider offering high-quality proxies at some of the lowest prices in the industry. Its residential proxy network covers over 150 countries with a choice of static and rotating IPs.
Advantages of Proxy-Seller residential proxies:
- Affordable pay-as-you-go pricing from $7/GB
- 10+ million residential IPs with city-level targeting
- Unique virgin proxies never before used for web scraping
- Flexible rotation options and sticky sessions up to 30 mins
- Easy proxy tester and management tools
For mobile proxies, Proxy-Seller has 4.5 million cellular IPs supporting HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, and SOCKS5 protocols. Its datacenter proxies come with unlimited bandwidth and threads, while shared datacenter proxies start at just $0.80/IP.
Customer support is available 24/7 via live chat, email, and Discord. While its documentation is less extensive than Bright Data‘s, Proxy-Seller offers solid proxies at great value for money.
3. SOAX
SOAX is a relatively new proxy provider that has quickly built one of the largest proxy networks on the market. It offers residential, mobile, and ISP proxies with advanced features.
Notable features of SOAX residential proxies:
- Huge pool of 155+ million IPs worldwide
- Granular geo-targeting options down to city level
- Customizable rotation settings and extended sticky sessions
- Simple pricing with no hidden costs, starting at $6.60/GB
- Intuitive API and browser extensions
SOAX mobile proxies include 33+ million 3G/4G IPs covering 220 countries. Its US-based ISP proxies allow holding the same IP up to 24 hours. All plans come with HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 support.
The main drawbacks are a lack of dedicated datacenter proxies and pay-as-you-go options. However, SOAX‘s massive proxy pool and flexible controls make it a strong alternative to Bright Data for most use cases.
4. Smartproxy
Smartproxy is another leading provider known for its user-friendly, well-rounded proxy solutions. It offers all major proxy types with solid features at reasonable prices.
Key benefits of Smartproxy residential proxies:
- Over 55 million IPs with worldwide coverage
- State, city, and even ZIP code targeting options
- Convenient rotation settings – every 1, 10, or 30 mins
- No IP blocking, even for sites like Google and Instagram
- Affordable pricing from $7/GB for pay-as-you-go
Smartproxy‘s new ISP proxies offer unlimited threads and connections across 4 countries. Its mobile proxy network spans 120+ countries with sticky sessions up to 30 mins. There are also shared and private datacenter proxies with very flexible plans.
The main cons are a lack of SOCKS protocol support and few discounts for high-volume users. But Smartproxy‘s well-rounded features make it a user-friendly alternative for most proxy needs.
5. Proxy-Cheap
As the name suggests, Proxy-Cheap aims to provide quality, cheap private proxies for all purposes. Its offerings include residential rotating proxies, mobile proxies, and IPv4 proxies.
Proxy-Cheap residential proxy advantages:
- Over 10+ million IPs across 200+ countries
- City and state-level targeting in 40+ countries
- Adaptive IP rotation every 1-30 mins
- Highly anonymous proxies supporting HTTP(S) and SOCKS5
- Cheap prices starting at just $3.30/GB
The provider‘s mobile proxy network spans 180+ cellular carriers. IPv4 proxies offer 99.9% uptime, unlimited bandwidth, and SOCKS5 support at competitive prices.
While Proxy-Cheap may not have as large a proxy pool as Bright Data, its high-quality IPs and budget-friendly options make it a great alternative for smaller users.
6. HydraProxy
HydraProxy specializes in residential, datacenter, and mobile proxies with an emphasis on performance and flexibility. Its network covers virtually all countries with city-level targeting in many.
HydraProxy residential proxy benefits:
- 5+ million IP pool with 99.9% availability
- Rotating sessions from 1 minute to 24 hours
- Highly anonymous IPs supporting HTTP(S) and SOCKS45
- Flexible pricing with 1-day plans and volume discounts
- Intuitive API for easy integration and bulk orders
HydraProxy‘s mobile proxies span over 100 countries with multiple subnets per city. Datacenter proxies offer 1 Gbps speeds, unlimited bandwidth, and world-class infrastructure.
The main drawbacks are a lack of ISP proxies and high costs for low-volume residential proxy users. But HydraProxy‘s elite performance and granular controls make it a worthy Bright Data alternative for demanding proxy needs.
Making the Right Choice
Bright Data may be the biggest name in the proxy market, but it‘s far from the only option. The 6 Bright Data alternatives covered here each bring something unique:
- IPRoyal – Affordable, flexible plans with premium features
- Proxy-Seller – Low costs with reliable service
- SOAX – Huge proxy pool with advanced options
- Smartproxy – User-friendly, well-rounded proxies
- Proxy-Cheap – Budget proxies that don‘t sacrifice quality
- HydraProxy – Elite performance for demanding users
Ultimately, the best Bright Data alternative depends on your specific needs and priorities. For general web scraping, IPRoyal and Smartproxy are strong all-around options balancing cost, features, and ease of use.
If your top priority is keeping costs low, Proxy-Seller and Proxy-Cheap are worth considering. For the largest proxy network and most flexible controls, SOAX is hard to beat. And if you need the highest performance for demanding tasks, HydraProxy delivers.
Whichever you choose, these 6 reliable providers prove you don‘t have to pay Bright Data‘s premium prices to get quality proxies for all your web scraping needs. Compare the key features and pricing to find the best Bright Data alternative for you.
