Best Smartproxy Alternatives & Competitors in 2026

Smartproxy has long been a popular choice for residential proxies, known for its user-friendly dashboard and competitive pricing. But with the proxy market evolving rapidly — and Smartproxy itself rebranding to Decodo in late 2025 — many users are exploring alternatives that better fit their specific needs. Whether you need a larger IP pool, cheaper per-GB pricing, enterprise-grade features, or better geo-targeting, there's a provider out there that might serve you better.

The global proxy services market is projected to reach $8.3 billion by 2027, and competition among providers has never been fiercer. This means more options, better pricing, and innovative features for users willing to look beyond the default choice. In this guide, we've tested and compared the 8 best Smartproxy alternatives across pricing, IP pool size, performance, and features to help you find the perfect fit.

Why Look for Smartproxy Alternatives?

Smartproxy (now Decodo) is a solid provider, but it's not the best fit for every use case. Here are the most common reasons users seek alternatives:

• Pricing structure: Smartproxy's residential proxy pricing starts at around $1.50/GB, which is competitive but not the cheapest. Providers like IPRoyal and Lunaproxy offer significantly lower per-GB rates

• IP pool size: With approximately 55 million residential IPs, Smartproxy falls behind enterprise providers like Bright Data (150M+) and Oxylabs (100M+) that offer much larger networks

• Advanced features: Enterprise users often need capabilities like CAPTCHA solving, browser automation, and AI-powered scraping tools that competitors like Bright Data offer natively

• Geo-targeting granularity: While Smartproxy offers country and city-level targeting, some alternatives provide ZIP code, ASN, and ISP-level precision

• Branding confusion: The recent rebrand to Decodo has left some users uncertain about the product direction and looking for stability

Quick Comparison: Top Smartproxy Alternatives

Before diving into detailed reviews, here's a side-by-side comparison of all the alternatives we'll cover:

Use our proxy comparison tool to compare any of these providers side-by-side with detailed feature breakdowns.

Best Smartproxy Alternatives in 2026

1. Bright Data — Best Overall Alternative

Bright Data is the industry leader in proxy infrastructure and the most feature-rich alternative to Smartproxy available today. With over 150 million residential IPs spanning every country in the world, it offers the largest and most diverse proxy network on the market.

What sets Bright Data apart is its full-stack approach to data collection. Beyond proxies, it offers a Web Scraper IDE, SERP API, browser automation tools, and built-in CAPTCHA solving — features that Smartproxy simply doesn't match. For teams running complex, large-scale scraping operations, Bright Data eliminates the need for multiple tools.

The trade-off is pricing. At $3.00/GB for residential proxies, Bright Data is roughly double Smartproxy's starting price. However, for enterprises where data quality and success rates matter more than per-GB cost, the investment typically pays for itself through higher completion rates and less failed requests.

Best for: Enterprise teams, data-intensive scraping, users who need an all-in-one platform with advanced automation features.

2. Oxylabs — Best for Enterprise-Scale Operations

Oxylabs is a premium proxy provider that consistently ranks among the top three globally. Its 100+ million residential IP pool is backed by AI-powered proxy rotation technology that automatically adapts to target website behavior, significantly improving success rates for difficult-to-scrape sites.

One area where Oxylabs distinctly outperforms Smartproxy is geo-targeting precision. While Smartproxy offers country and city-level targeting, Oxylabs provides ZIP code-level granularity — essential for localized price monitoring, ad verification, and local SEO research.

Oxylabs also excels in compliance and data governance, making it the preferred choice for Fortune 500 companies and regulated industries. Their proxies are KYC-verified and fully GDPR-compliant, backed by a dedicated account management team for enterprise clients.

At $4.00/GB after volume discounts, Oxylabs is the most expensive option on this list, but the premium is justified by 99.95% uptime, dedicated support, and consistently high success rates even against the most aggressive anti-bot systems.

Best for: Enterprises, regulated industries, teams requiring dedicated account management and premium support.

3. SOAX — Best for Compliance and Ethical Sourcing

SOAX has carved out a strong niche as the most compliance-focused proxy provider in the market. With 155 million residential IPs — actually a larger pool than Smartproxy — SOAX combines scale with a rigorous ethical sourcing framework that ensures all IPs are obtained with full user consent.

For businesses operating in regulated markets or handling sensitive data, SOAX's transparent sourcing policies provide a significant advantage over Smartproxy. Every IP in their network is obtained through opt-in partnerships, and SOAX actively monitors for abuse across their platform.

The provider offers flexible targeting options including country, city, ASN, and ISP-level selection, along with both rotating and sticky session support. The dashboard is clean and intuitive, making it easy for less technical users to get started quickly.

At $3.60/GB, SOAX is positioned between Smartproxy and the enterprise-tier providers. It's a strong choice for teams that need more IPs and better compliance guarantees than Smartproxy offers, without the complexity of Bright Data or Oxylabs.

Best for: Compliance-focused teams, businesses in regulated industries, users who prioritize ethically sourced proxies.

4. IPRoyal — Best Budget Alternative

If your primary reason for leaving Smartproxy is cost, IPRoyal should be at the top of your list. Starting at just $1.00/GB for residential proxies — roughly 33% cheaper than Smartproxy — IPRoyal offers one of the most affordable entry points in the premium proxy market.

Despite the lower pricing, IPRoyal doesn't cut corners on quality. Their 32+ million residential IPs cover 195 countries, and the platform supports essential features like API access, IP whitelisting, and both HTTP and SOCKS5 protocols. The pay-as-you-go model means you only pay for what you use — no minimum commitments required.

Where IPRoyal falls slightly behind Smartproxy is in advanced features. You won't find built-in scraping tools, CAPTCHA solving, or the same level of dashboard sophistication. But for straightforward proxy usage — web scraping, social media management, sneaker copping, or market research — IPRoyal delivers excellent value for money.

IPRoyal's Royal Residential product is particularly noteworthy, offering non-expiring traffic that never expires. This means you can purchase bandwidth and use it at your own pace, unlike Smartproxy where unused bandwidth expires monthly.

Best for: Budget-conscious users, small teams, pay-as-you-go flexibility, non-expiring traffic needs.

5. NetNut — Best for Speed and Reliability

NetNut takes a fundamentally different approach to proxy infrastructure by using a hybrid P2P and direct ISP partnership model. Rather than relying solely on peer-to-peer residential IP networks (as Smartproxy does), NetNut maintains direct connections to ISPs, resulting in faster speeds and more stable connections.

This architecture gives NetNut a significant edge in connection reliability. Where Smartproxy users occasionally experience timeout issues on demanding targets, NetNut's direct ISP connections ensure consistent throughput, making it ideal for time-sensitive data collection jobs.

With 50+ million IPs globally, NetNut's pool is comparable to Smartproxy's, and it offers advanced features including automated IP rotation, session control, and a robust API. The platform supports residential, datacenter, mobile, and ISP proxy types.

At $3.45/GB, NetNut sits in the mid-premium range. It's more expensive than Smartproxy but delivers noticeably better speed and reliability, especially for targets that require consistent, low-latency connections.

Best for: Speed-critical operations, real-time data collection, users who need ISP-grade connection stability.

6. Lunaproxy — Most Affordable Alternative

Lunaproxy is the ultimate budget pick for users who want maximum bandwidth at minimum cost. Starting at an industry-low $0.77/GB, it's roughly half the price of Smartproxy and offers one of the largest IP pools available — over 200 million residential IPs worldwide.

For high-volume scraping operations where cost-per-GB is the primary concern, Lunaproxy is hard to beat. The platform supports dynamic IP rotation and sticky sessions, covers 195+ countries, and delivers solid performance for standard web scraping tasks.

The main trade-offs compared to Smartproxy are in dashboard polish and customer support. Lunaproxy's interface is functional but less refined, and support response times can be slower. Advanced features like built-in scraping APIs are limited compared to premium providers.

However, for teams doing straightforward, high-volume data collection where every dollar counts, Lunaproxy's price-to-performance ratio is unmatched. Many users pair it with their own scraping framework for a highly cost-effective setup.

Best for: High-volume scraping on a budget, cost-sensitive teams, users who prioritize bandwidth over premium features.

7. Webshare — Best Free Option to Start

Webshare stands out from every other provider on this list with something none of them (including Smartproxy) offer: a completely free tier. New users get access to 10 free proxy IPs with 1GB of bandwidth per month — no credit card required. This makes Webshare the obvious starting point for developers, students, and anyone wanting to test proxies before committing to a paid plan.

Beyond the free tier, Webshare's paid plans are highly customizable. You can choose the exact number of IPs, bandwidth amount, and proxy type (datacenter, residential, or ISP) you need, with datacenter proxies starting from just $0.03/IP — making it one of the most affordable datacenter options available.

Webshare's 30+ million residential IPs are supplemented by a strong datacenter proxy offering, and the platform provides API access, detailed usage analytics, and sub-user management. For teams scaling up from free to paid, the transition is seamless.

The drawback is that Webshare's residential proxy quality doesn't quite match Smartproxy's for the most demanding targets. Anti-bot bypass rates on heavily protected sites may be slightly lower. But for general-purpose scraping, SEO monitoring, and testing, Webshare delivers excellent value.

Best for: Developers testing proxies, free-tier starters, datacenter proxy users, highly customizable plan needs.

8. Geonode — Best Mid-Range Alternative

Geonode positions itself as a balanced, mid-range alternative that combines competitive pricing with reliable performance. With residential proxies starting at $2.00/GB and a pool of 30+ million IPs, it sits neatly between Smartproxy and the enterprise providers in both price and capability.

What makes Geonode interesting is its unlimited bandwidth plans for certain proxy types. Unlike Smartproxy's strictly per-GB pricing, Geonode offers rotating residential plans with unlimited traffic at a fixed monthly rate, which can be dramatically more cost-effective for consistent, high-volume usage.

The platform supports HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 protocols, offers country and city-level targeting, and provides both rotating and sticky session management. The dashboard is clean and modern, comparable to Smartproxy's user experience.

Geonode's transparent pricing model — no hidden fees, no bandwidth expiry, and simple plan structures — is refreshing in an industry where pricing complexity is often used to obscure true costs. For mid-budget users who find Smartproxy slightly too expensive but don't want the bare-bones experience of ultra-budget providers, Geonode hits the sweet spot.

Best for: Mid-budget users, unlimited bandwidth needs, users who value pricing transparency.

How to Choose the Right Smartproxy Alternative

With eight strong alternatives to consider, choosing the right one depends on your specific priorities. Here's a decision framework:

Prioritize budget? → Go with IPRoyal ($1.00/GB) or Lunaproxy ($0.77/GB) for the lowest per-GB costs. If you want completely free entry, start with Webshare.

Prioritize scale and features? → Bright Data and Oxylabs offer enterprise-grade infrastructure with the largest IP pools and most advanced tooling.

Prioritize compliance? → SOAX leads the industry in ethical IP sourcing and regulatory compliance.

Prioritize speed? → NetNut's direct ISP partnerships deliver the fastest, most reliable connections.

Prioritize balance? → Geonode offers the best mid-range package with transparent pricing and unlimited bandwidth options.

Still not sure? Use our proxy comparison tool to compare any providers head-to-head with detailed feature and pricing breakdowns.

What About Smartproxy's Rebrand to Decodo?

In late 2025, Smartproxy officially rebranded to Decodo. The core product remains the same — the same infrastructure, IP pool, and team — but the new brand reflects an expanded focus beyond proxies toward a broader data intelligence platform.

If you're already a Smartproxy customer, the transition is seamless: your account, credentials, and pricing remain unchanged. However, the rebrand has created uncertainty for some users, and it's a reminder that evaluating alternatives regularly is good practice in the fast-evolving proxy market.

You can explore Decodo's current offering on our Decodo provider page, and compare it directly against any alternative using our comparison tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Smartproxy (now Decodo) remains a solid proxy provider, but the 2026 market offers compelling alternatives for every budget and use case. If you need enterprise-grade power, Bright Data and Oxylabs deliver unmatched scale and features. For budget-conscious operations, IPRoyal and Lunaproxy offer dramatically lower per-GB costs without sacrificing quality. And if compliance is paramount, SOAX leads with ethically sourced IPs.

The best approach is to test 2-3 providers against your specific targets before committing to a long-term plan. Start with Webshare's free tier to prototype, then scale up with the provider that delivers the best success rates for your particular use case.

Ready to compare? Use our proxy comparison tool to evaluate any of these providers side-by-side, or browse our complete proxy provider directory to discover even more options.