Best Residential Proxies: A Buyer's Checklist, Without Rankings

What a residential proxy is

A residential proxy sends your traffic out through an IP address that a consumer internet provider assigned, so websites see the address of an ordinary home network instead of a hosting company. The IP only changes the network address a site sees. It does not change a site's rules, and it does not lift a restriction or undo a ban.

Choose the session type first

This choice decides most of the rest. A rotating residential proxy gives you an exit from a large pool, usually a different one each time you generate or request one, and suits many independent requests. A fixed IP, such as a static ISP IP, stays fixed for the whole lease term and suits work that must keep one address, such as a long login session. Some services also offer sticky sessions, which hold one exit for a limited time; ask how long and what ends the session.

Compare like with like. A fixed IP can be shared with other customers, so ask how many and whether the page says so. For the difference between the types, see the residential, ISP and datacenter guide; for choosing by use case, see how to choose a residential IP.

• residential, ISP and datacenter guide
• how to choose a residential IP

Billing: per GB or per IP

Per GB means you pay for the traffic you use. It suits scraping, checking pages and tasks where the amount of data varies; the per-GB proxies guide explains the model. Per IP means you pay for an address and a term, whatever traffic passes through it, which suits steady jobs on one address. Check three things on every pricing page: the unit (GB, IP, days), the smallest purchase, and whether unused traffic or time expires.

• per-GB proxies guide

Location depth

Country targeting is the baseline. State and city targeting is not offered on every line, and a requested city is a request, not a guarantee, because lookup databases disagree about cities. If your work depends on a city, ask which lines support it and verify with the city-level targeting guide.

• city-level targeting guide

Protocols

Check that the plan offers the protocol your tool uses, HTTP or SOCKS5, and whether it is chosen per account, per proxy or per IP. If your tool needs SOCKS5 with a login, see the SOCKS5 buyer's guide.

• SOCKS5 buyer's guide

Test before you commit

Make the first purchase the smallest one on offer and run the same checks every time.

Test before you commit: steps

1. Step 1

   Generate one proxy and request https://ipinfo.io/json through it. Read ip, country and org.

2. Step 2

   Check that the country is the one you chose and that the org is a consumer internet provider, not a hosting company. The proxy location guide explains each field.

   • proxy location guide

3. Step 3

   Repeat several times. A rotating proxy should give different exits; a fixed IP should show the same address throughout the lease term.

4. Step 4

   Run a small version of your real task against your real target and note errors and response times.

5. Step 5

   Only then buy more.

Read pricing pages carefully

Look for the unit, the smallest purchase, whether the per-GB price falls with larger packages, whether purchased traffic expires, and whether you can try the service before paying. If any of these is missing from a page, ask before you pay.

Claims you cannot verify before buying

Pool size, success rate, speed and uptime figures on any pricing page are the provider's own numbers, and they depend on your target and your location. Treat them as a reason to test, not as a result. A ranking of providers has the same limit: it does not know your target.

Proxy302 in this checklist

Rotating residential covers 195+ countries and regions, with state and city targeting on the lines that support it, and Proxy302 states a network of 65M+ residential IPs. It is billed per GB from 1 GB. The Budget line costs US$1.50 per GB, with package prices of US$1.42 at 50 GB, US$1.35 at 100 GB, US$1.20 at 300 GB and US$1.124 at 500 GB; the Premium line costs US$5 per GB, with US$4.74 at 50 GB, US$4.50 at 100 GB and US$4.25 at 300 GB. Purchased traffic has no expiry. HTTP or SOCKS5 is chosen when you generate the proxy.

For a fixed address, a static ISP IP costs US$0.50 for one day and US$7.99 for 30 days, the same in every country, and stays fixed for the whole lease term without rotating. One lease can be shared by up to 6 customers. Auto-renew is optional and set per IP: switch it on in My assets (new purchases start with it off), or renew by hand there before the end date. There is no free trial; the smallest purchases are 1 GB of rotating residential traffic or one IP for one day.

• Sources:
• Proxy302 product facts and price list

How to do it with Proxy302

Rotating residential traffic is billed per GB, and a static ISP IP is the option when one address must stay fixed for the lease term. The table shows where exits in 7 countries landed in our latest hourly check; the probe sends its request to ChatGPT, which is only an example target of a network check. A proxy does not change ChatGPT's terms, and OpenAI's list of supported countries still applies. Setup is on the rotating residential page, the static ISP page and the pricing page.

• rotating residential page
• static ISP page
• pricing page
• ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini supported countries

Measured exits: ChatGPT from 7 countries

Hourly check of the Proxy302 probe, 25 October 2026, 08:29 UTC: one request to ChatGPT per country through a dynamic residential exit, using the public Proxy302 entry. Only the first three octets of an IP are public. One sample per country, not an average; later checks will differ.

• Sources:
• Proxy302 hourly connectivity check

How to do it with Proxy302: steps

1. Step 1

   Open the rotating residential page, choose the line, and keep Protocol on HTTP or choose SOCKS5, then click Review cost and generate.

2. Step 2

   Open My assets (the console page that holds everything you bought) and copy HOST, PORT, USERNAME and PASSWORD. The Connect page shows a ready example with your own endpoint.

3. Step 3

   Enter the details in the browser or tool you are setting up.

4. Step 4

   Confirm the exit with https://ipinfo.io/json through the proxy.

5. Step 5

   From mainland China, start the helper tool from the Connect page first and keep it open while you use the proxy.

   • Helper tool guide

Prices and limits

The Budget line costs US$1.50 per GB, US$1.35 per GB in a 100 GB package and US$1.20 per GB at 300 GB. There is no free trial, and the smallest purchase is 1 GB. Which exit locations are available changes daily.

• Sources:
• Proxy302 product facts and price list

FAQ

Read next

Rotating residential proxies

Real household IPs in 195+ countries with state and city targeting. Rotate on every request or keep sticky sessions. From US$1.50/GB, US$1.35/GB at 100 GB. HTTP and SOCKS5.

View options and pricing

ISP proxies (static residential)

Fixed static ISP proxies: a residential-grade IP that stays the same for the whole term. For social accounts, stores and AI tools. HTTP and SOCKS5.

View options and pricing

Residential vs ISP vs datacenter proxies

What separates rotating residential, static ISP and datacenter proxies — who owns the IP, whether it changes, how you pay — and which one Proxy302's own presets pick for each job.

Pay per GB proxies

How gigabytes are counted when you pay per GB, the Budget and Premium prices, how to estimate your volume and when leasing an IP costs less.

How to choose a residential IP

Which residential IP type fits which job: rotating residential, a static ISP IP or a datacenter IP.