If you are considering leaving Bright Data, start by matching the replacement to your workload—not by picking the provider with the biggest advertised IP pool or lowest headline price. The options named in Bright Data’s 2026 overview include Decodo (formerly Smartproxy), Oxylabs, Webshare, SOAX and IPRoyal. They are candidates to evaluate, not a verified ranking: proxy type, target websites, geography, billing, tooling and procurement requirements determine which one fits.
Which Bright Data alternatives are worth evaluating?
Bright Data’s 2026 provider overview names Decodo, Oxylabs, SOAX, IPRoyal and Webshare among 11 providers. Bright Data characterizes Decodo as a budget all-rounder, SOAX as offering granular targeting, IPRoyal as having non-expiring residential traffic, and Webshare as offering a free plan. These are the publisher’s descriptions, not independent findings. Check each provider’s current documentation and terms before relying on a feature, price or plan description.
Oxylabs is the alternative that Bright Data treats most directly in its side-by-side comparison. That page discusses residential, datacenter and ISP offerings from both vendors. It reports 400M+ residential IPs across 195+ countries for Bright Data and 175M+ across 195 countries for Oxylabs. Those are vendor-published figures in Bright Data’s 2026 comparison, not independently verified counts or a measure of success on your target sites.
Use the names above to build a shortlist, not to infer that one provider is best for every use case. The overview’s advertised network figures, prices, plan terms and ratings should be checked with the providers themselves.
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First decide whether you need proxies or a scraping API
“Proxy provider” covers different products. The comparisons discuss residential, datacenter and ISP proxies, as well as managed scraping API products. These solve related but distinct problems: a proxy service supplies proxy access, while a scraping API is a managed product for retrieving or processing web data. Do not treat them as interchangeable when estimating cost or comparing capabilities.
Write down the actual job before comparing vendors:
- Product: Specify residential, datacenter, ISP or a managed scraping API. If you need more than one, evaluate each requirement separately.
- Targets: List the websites and the pages or actions your workflow needs. Success on one site does not establish likely success on another.
- Geography: Identify the locations your requests must appear to come from. A provider’s claimed reach is potential coverage, not proof of usable access for a particular location and target.
- Output: Define what counts as a successful result, such as receiving the expected page data rather than merely completing an HTTP request.
- Scale: Estimate request volume, timing, concurrency and acceptable failure or retry rates for a representative period.
How Bright Data and Oxylabs compare in the available figures
Bright Data’s comparison gives dated public-price claims for residential traffic: $5/GB for Bright Data and about $8/GB for Oxylabs. The page says its rates were verified in May 2026. It also mentions a Bright Data promotion. Treat those amounts as a dated comparison, not guaranteed current quotes or equivalent offers; a promotion should not be mistaken for a durable rate.
| Comparison point | Bright Data | Oxylabs |
|---|---|---|
| Residential IP reach reported by Bright Data’s 2026 comparison | 400M+ across 195+ countries; vendor-published claim | 175M+ across 195 countries; vendor-published claim |
| Residential starting price reported by Bright Data, rates verified in May 2026 | $5/GB; a promotion is mentioned, so confirm eligibility and terms | About $8/GB; confirm the current plan and terms |
| Proxy types covered in Bright Data’s comparison | Datacenter, residential and ISP | Datacenter, residential and ISP |
| Target-specific success for your workload | Not established by these figures | Not established by these figures |
The table is a starting point, not a like-for-like quote. Confirm the current price, plan size, billing basis, promotion eligibility and included features directly with each provider. Then estimate the cost of the same workload, including retries and any feature charges or usage multipliers described in the terms. If one service bills by bandwidth and another by request, compare the cost of equivalent successful outputs rather than comparing unlike units.
How to compare providers fairly
- Get comparable terms. Ask each shortlisted provider for the current price and billing rules for the product type, target locations and usage volume you need. Record trial or pay-as-you-go availability and any eligibility conditions; the comparison overview recommends checking these rather than assuming they are available.
- Use the same target workload. Send a representative set of requests to the same sites and locations with each candidate. Keep the task, expected result and observation window consistent. Do not treat a benchmark on one target as a verdict for a different target.
- Record outcomes, not just attempts. Track total attempts, expected results received, failures, retries and elapsed time. Decide in advance what constitutes success for your application. A nominal network size or uptime claim does not say how many usable results your own workload will produce.
- Calculate cost per successful result. Apply each provider’s actual billing unit and terms to the same workload. Include failed attempts or retries if they are billable, as well as any feature charges described in the plan. Keep one-time trial access separate from recurring production cost.
- Review operations and procurement. Compare APIs and dashboards, support channels, onboarding effort, documentation, and the provider’s sourcing and compliance disclosures against your team’s needs. Verify certifications and other procurement evidence directly before signing a commercial agreement.
What benchmark and network claims can—and cannot—tell you
The available comparisons do not establish an independently comparable, current benchmark across all named providers for your specific workload. Bright Data’s scraping API comparison says results may vary by target. It cites a Proxyway 2025 report in which Shein averaged 21.88% success across providers and G2 averaged 36.63%. Those are target-specific figures reported by Bright Data, not results for a particular provider, and they should not be generalized to other websites or to your own test.
Likewise, an advertised pool size or country count describes claimed potential reach; it is not a count of addresses guaranteed to work for your tasks. Use provider claims to form questions for an evaluation, then make the decision using results from your target sites, locations and expected request mix.
A practical shortlist by evaluation question
- Want a direct comparison with Bright Data? Include Oxylabs because Bright Data’s own comparison directly discusses both providers’ datacenter, residential and ISP offerings.
- Need more candidates beyond that comparison? Include Decodo, SOAX, Webshare or IPRoyal as candidates named by Bright Data’s 2026 overview. Verify the particular plan and capability you need with the provider; the overview’s labels are not independent endorsements.
- Unsure which product category fits? Compare proxy access and managed scraping APIs as separate options. Specify whether you need to operate proxy requests yourself or are evaluating an API product for retrieving web data.
- Have procurement constraints? Make documentation, sourcing disclosures, compliance review, support and contractual terms pass/fail criteria rather than leaving them until after a technical trial.
Common comparison mistakes and how to avoid them
Choosing by advertised pool size
Why it misleads: A large vendor-reported network does not establish response quality on a particular target. Better approach: Test the actual sites and locations you need, and measure successful outputs.
Comparing unlike prices
Why it misleads: Billing units, plan sizes, promotions and included features may differ. Better approach: Normalize against one workload and confirm current terms. Keep promotional or trial pricing distinct from a recurring production estimate.
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Assuming one benchmark predicts another target
Why it misleads: The cited scraping API comparison warns that results vary by target, and its reported examples concern specific sites. Better approach: Treat published benchmarks as context, not as a substitute for a controlled test on your own targets.
Skipping operational and compliance review
Why it misleads: A technically promising trial does not answer whether the service meets support, documentation, sourcing or procurement requirements. Better approach: Verify the relevant disclosures, certifications, support arrangements and terms with the provider before a commercial agreement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Screenshot capture is a different job
If your goal is to capture rendered webpages as images or PDFs rather than obtain proxy access or evaluate a scraping API, ScreenshotNeo is a separate tool to try first. It is a website screenshot API and MCP server, not a Bright Data replacement or proxy provider. A single GET request can return a screenshot or PDF; see the ScreenshotNeo site for the product.
For that adjacent screenshot use case, one cURL request is:
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. Its stated features include accepting cookie or consent banners and removing more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups and chat widgets before capture, with each step optional. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits are not billed; responses identify the page verdict and billing status in headers. It also offers an MCP server with screenshot and PDF tools for AI agents. The free plan includes 1,000 shots per month without a card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for ScreenshotNeo’s free plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Decodo and Smartproxy the same provider name?
Bright Data’s 2026 overview identifies Decodo as formerly Smartproxy. Confirm the current product and plan names in the provider’s own documentation.
Does the available comparison prove which provider is fastest?
No. The cited material does not establish an independently comparable, current performance ranking for an individual reader’s target workload.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
