Home › Guides › Mobile vs Residential Proxies
✓ last verified 2026-10-02 · every figure read from the provider’s live pricing page on that date · how we verify
Mobile proxies exit through carrier networks (4G/5G); residential proxies exit through home broadband. Mobile IPs get the gentlest treatment from platforms because carriers put thousands of real users behind each IP (CGNAT) — blocking one mobile IP risks blocking them all. You pay for that immunity.
The practical differences
| Mobile | Residential | |
|---|---|---|
| Trust level at targets | Highest (CGNAT herd immunity) | High |
| Verified price range | $0.50–$2.00/GB pooled; $6–$10+/IP dedicated | $1.00–$7.00/GB |
| Speed/stability | Carrier-dependent, jittery | Steadier |
| Best for | Social platforms, app APIs, account work | General scraping, geo-testing, e-commerce |
Verified mobile pricing
| Provider | Best verified rate | Plan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DataImpulse | $2.00/GB | Intro/Basic | 1TB tier $1.60/GB |
Verified residential pricing
| Provider | Best verified rate | Plan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProxyEmpire | $0.75/GB | rotating from | static resi from $0.75/GB + $2/IP; rotating mobile from $1.25/GB; DC from $0.35/GB; unlimited resi from $1500/ |
| Proxy-Cheap | $0.78/GB | rotating from | shown discounted from $2.60 — promo pricing; static resi (ISP) $2.71/mo; rotating mobile $5.99/GB; DC IPv4 fro |
| DataImpulse | $1.00/GB | Intro/Basic | PAYG, traffic never expires; 1TB tier $0.80/GB; premium resi $5/GB |
| Proxy-Seller | $1.30/GB | from | STARTING PRICE ONLY; mobile from $10/IP, IPv4 from $0.49/IP, ISP from $0.98/IP, IPv6 from $0.02/IP |
| SOAX | $1.50/GB | Scale $1500/mo | Tier1 geo; 3000 credits; +VAT; Enterprise from $0.85 T1 |
| Webshare | $1.50/GB | 1000GB | 3TB tier at $1.40/GB |
| Rayobyte | $1.50/GB | Professional 250-999GB | Corporate 1-5TB $0.70/GB; Enterprise 5TB+ $0.50/GB |
| IPRoyal | $1.75/GB | Custom 10TB+ | pay-as-you-go $1.84/GB |
| NodeMaven | $2.20/GB | monthly from | PAYG $4.50/GB (20% off from $5.63); $3.50 trial w/ 750MB; ISP from $2.99/IP |
| Bright Data | $2.50/GB | 798GB | 50% off promo pricing |
| Oxylabs | $2.50/GB | Corporate 1TB | plans from $6/GB (Starter 5GB, $30/mo) to $2.50/GB (Corporate 1TB, $2,500/mo); mobile from $7.5, ISP from $16, SOCKS5 from $8 |
| Decodo (ex-Smartproxy) | $2.75/GB | 100GB | +VAT |
FAQ
Are mobile proxies worth the premium over residential?
Only when the target treats mobile IPs differently — principally social platforms and mobile-app endpoints. For ordinary scraping, verified residential at $1–$4/GB does the job; paying mobile rates there is waste.
Why are mobile proxies more expensive?
Scarcer supply (real SIM/carrier capacity) and higher demand from account-management use cases. Dedicated mobile IPs run a verified $6–$10+ per IP monthly.
Can I use residential proxies for Instagram or TikTok accounts?
People do at small scale, but platform tolerance is materially higher for carrier IPs; serious multi-account operations default to mobile. That’s a use-pattern observation, not an endorsement — follow platform terms.
Are residential proxies illegal?
Using proxies — residential included — is legal in the US and EU; they are ordinary infrastructure for ad verification, price monitoring and research. Legal exposure comes from conduct: bypassing authentication, breaching a target’s terms at commercial scale, or mishandling personal data. Provider-side risk is about IP sourcing consent, which the July 2026 NetNut seizure made concrete.
What are the three types of proxies?
Four that matter commercially: datacenter (server IPs, cheapest, most detectable — verified from $0.30/GB), residential (real household IPs, from a verified $1.00/GB), ISP/static residential (datacenter-hosted but ISP-registered, per-IP from $0.98), and mobile (carrier IPs behind CGNAT, the hardest to block, from $0.95/GB pooled). Buy the cheapest type your target tolerates.
Which is safer, VPN or proxy?
Different tools. A VPN encrypts all your device’s traffic to one endpoint — built for privacy, useless at scale. Proxies route per-connection through many IPs — built for volume and identity management, with no encryption promise. ‘Safer’ depends on the threat: personal privacy on hostile networks → VPN; running many identities or scraping → proxies. They compose fine, too.