Which Proxy Type Is Best For Your Business Needs?

Businesses use proxies for various purposes, including price monitoring, competitor analysis, web scraping, and much more. But with so many different types of proxy servers ( Dedicated IP, Shared IP, Residential IP, Datacenter IP) on the market, it can be hard to decide which proxy type is right for your specific use case.

This article will break down the two most popular types of proxies and help you decide which of them is right for your business. So you can get maximum profit in less time!

What are Proxies?

Proxies are intermediary servers that route traffic between a user and the internet. For example, when you use a proxy server, your IP address is hidden from the sites you visit.

There are many different types of proxies, but the two main categories are residential proxies and datacenter proxies.

Residential Proxies

Residential proxies are IP addresses that are assigned to real people’s homes. These proxies are perfect for businesses that need to scrape data from websites that block IP addresses from data centers.

These proxies are less likely to be detected and blocked by website security systems since they belong to actual residential users. The only legal way for proxy providers to get residential proxies is expressed content. Therefore, you’re most likely to get ethically-sourced proxies.

Mobile proxies are a sub-type of residential proxies. These proxies use 4G IP addresses from real mobile devices. They offer better anonymity and support dynamic IP addresses that are perfect for extended use. If it’s the proxy type you’ve been searching for, then take your pick here.

Pros of Residential Proxies

Here are some benefits of using residential proxies:

• Least Likely to be Blacklisted: Unliked other proxies, residential proxies are less likely to be blacklisted because they come from actual people’s homes.
• Better Anonymity: Residential proxies provide better anonymity than other proxies since it’s tough to track down the owner of a residential IP address.
• Better for Scraping: If you’re planning to scrape data from websites, residential proxies are a better option than other proxies since they’re less likely to be detected and blocked.

Cons of Residential Proxies

Here are some potential drawbacks of using residential proxies:

• Expensive: Residential proxies are more expensive than datacenter proxies since they’re difficult to obtain.
• Slow Speeds: Residential proxies may be slow since they may be shared among many users. In this case, you should try to avoid shared proxies and opt for the dedicated ones.

Datacenter Proxies

Datacenter proxies are IP addresses assigned to data centers. These proxies do not have any affiliation with an Internet Service Provider. Instead, they come from data centers and provide private IP authentication to users.

Pros of Datacenter Proxies

The benefits of datacenter proxies include:

• Faster Speeds: Datacenter proxies are usually faster than residential proxies because they’re not shared among many users.
• More Affordable: Datacenter proxies are more affordable than residential proxies since they’re easy to obtain.
• Good for Sneaker Bots: Datacenter proxies are perfect for businesses that use sneaker bots since they’re fast and can handle many requests simultaneously.

Cons of Datacenter Proxies

Datacenter proxies have the following shortcomings:

• Likely to be Banned: Compared to residential proxies, datacenter proxies are more likely to be blacklisted by websites since they don’t have IP addresses from residential users.
• Can be Traced: Datacenter proxies can be traced back to the datacenter they came from, which isn’t ideal if you’re looking for anonymity.

How to Choose a Suitable Proxy Type for Your Business?

Which of the two types of proxies is right for your business? It depends on your specific needs. Here’s a quick overview of when to use each type of proxy.

If you’re looking for better anonymity and are willing to pay more, go with residential proxies. On the other hand, if you want faster speeds or have a limited budget, datacenter proxies are ideal.

Secondly, the type of proxy you use will also depend on what you want to use it for. For instance, if you’re a sneaker reseller, you’ll need fast proxies that can work with sneaker bots to add sneakers to your cart before they run out of stock.

In that case, datacenter proxies will be a better choice since they’re faster than residential proxies. Plus, you can save upfront costs by choosing datacenter proxies over their residential counterparts.

However, if you want to use proxies for business purposes, such as price monitoring, SEO monitoring, ad verification, and competitor analysis, you should use residential proxies. These proxies will keep you from getting blacklisted from competitors’ sites.

Moreover, you’ll have a higher chance of getting accurate data since residential proxies are less likely to be detected and blocked by websites.

Conclusion

Both residential and datacenter proxies have their advantages and disadvantages. Similarly, mobile proxies also prove helpful in situations where you need extra anonymity and want to leverage IP rotation.

However, the type of proxy you use will depend on your specific needs and requirements. Therefore, before selecting a proxy type, you should determine your budget and use case. Likewise, you should also focus on the speed, security, and accuracy you need.