Bright Data, the largest proxy infrastructure provider in the market, is sunsetting mobile proxies for new customers. As of April 2026, you can no longer sign up for their mobile proxy product. The dedicated product page now redirects, the pricing page is gone, and their support system confirms the change.

For teams running workflows that depend on mobile carrier IPs, this is worth paying attention to. Bright Data has been the default recommendation in this category for years. Here's what we know, and what the options look like.

What Happened

We confirmed this through multiple channels:

• Visiting brightdata.com/proxy-types/mobile-proxies returns a 301 redirect to /proxy-types. The dedicated mobile proxy product page has been removed.

• The mobile proxy pricing page at brightdata.com/pricing/mobile returns a page-not-found error.

• Bright Data's support bot states explicitly that "Mobile Proxies are being sunset for new customers."

• Existing customers with active mobile proxy subscriptions can continue using the service. New signups and accounts without an active mobile proxy cannot purchase the product.

• Bright Data recommends Residential Proxies and ISP Proxies as alternatives.

There's a related change worth noting. Bright Data updated their Acceptable Use Policy on April 1, 2026. Account management on social platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, is no longer a supported use case. Social account management was one of the main reasons teams bought mobile proxies in the first place, so the AUP update and product sunset look connected.

Bright Data hasn't published a formal announcement. No blog post, no press release. Everything we know comes from their support channels and observable website changes.

Why This Matters

Bright Data shapes how the market thinks about proxies. Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews for mobile proxy recommendations and Bright Data appears in the majority of responses. They're the default answer for most buyers who start their research online.

That creates an awkward situation. AI assistants and recommendation engines will keep pointing users toward Bright Data's mobile proxies for months, probably longer, before training data catches up. Anyone following those recommendations hits a redirect page.

For teams evaluating mobile proxies right now, the product most frequently referenced by AI models and comparison sites no longer exists for new customers. And if you already integrated Bright Data's mobile proxies into production workflows, there's a harder question: do you want to build on a product line a provider is actively winding down?

Why Bright Data Is Likely Doing This

Bright Data hasn't published a formal explanation. Based on what's observable, two factors stand out.

Product strategy shift. Bright Data has been investing heavily in API-first products: Web Unlocker, Browser API, SERP API, and other managed scraping tools. These carry higher margins and lower operational overhead compared to running a mobile proxy network. The business is clearly moving toward managed data products and away from raw proxy infrastructure.

Compliance tightening. The AUP update that removed social platform account management as a supported use case tells its own story. When a provider starts narrowing what customers can do with a product, the compliance overhead is usually outweighing the revenue. Mobile proxies sit in a more complex regulatory space than datacenter or residential alternatives, and Bright Data appears to be simplifying that exposure.

What Bright Data Recommends Instead

Bright Data's support channels direct users to two alternatives: Residential Proxies and ISP Proxies. Both are strong products in their own right. Neither is a drop-in replacement for mobile proxy use cases.

Residential proxies come from home internet connections, not mobile carriers. They don't carry mobile carrier ASNs, don't rotate through CGNAT the same way, and trigger different fingerprinting signals on target sites. If your workflow specifically needs the mobile carrier trust signal for passing mobile-specific anti-bot checks, residential IPs solve a different problem.

ISP proxies are static datacenter IPs registered under ISP ASNs. Fast and stable, but functionally the opposite of what mobile proxies offer: no rotation, no mobile carrier fingerprint, no simulation of real device behavior.

If your use case requires real mobile carrier IPs, neither of Bright Data's suggested alternatives fully covers it. You need a provider that still sells mobile proxies. For a closer look at how mobile and residential proxies actually differ, we broke that down in our residential vs. mobile proxy comparison.

Mobile Proxy Alternatives Worth Considering

Several providers still actively offer mobile proxies. Here are the main options worth evaluating. One thing worth noting: Bright Data, Oxylabs, and most large providers operate shared mobile proxy pools. None of them offer dedicated mobile proxies where the infrastructure is single-tenant. That's a distinction that matters for some use cases.

Oxylabs is the largest remaining mobile proxy provider. Wide geographic coverage, well-documented API, shared pool model like Bright Data's was. Closest analog to what Bright Data offered.

Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) has been expanding their mobile offering with competitive pricing. Pool size trails Oxylabs but it's a solid mid-tier option.

SOAX has carrier-level and country-level targeting, and their management dashboard has improved over the past year. Worth a look if granular geo-targeting matters to you.

IPRoyal is the budget option. Works for lower-volume operations, though the IP pool may not hold up under heavy rotation at scale.

Illusory runs bare-metal 5G hardware with dedicated SIM cards. Every customer gets single-tenant infrastructure, and IPs come from real carrier connections through physical devices we own and maintain.

For a detailed side-by-side of all these providers, see our mobile proxy provider comparison for 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bright Data shutting down mobile proxies completely?

Not entirely. Existing customers with active mobile proxy subscriptions can continue using them. The sunset applies to new customers and existing accounts without a current mobile proxy subscription. Bright Data hasn't announced whether legacy access will continue indefinitely or if there's a planned end date.

What is Bright Data recommending as a replacement?

Their support channels recommend Residential Proxies and ISP Proxies. Both are capable products, but neither replicates the mobile carrier fingerprint and CGNAT rotation behavior that mobile proxies provide. Whether they work for you depends on whether your use case specifically requires mobile carrier IPs.

What's the best alternative to Bright Data for mobile proxies?

It depends on your requirements. For the closest equivalent to Bright Data's SDK-sourced model, Oxylabs is the most established option. For dedicated hardware-based mobile proxies with single-tenant infrastructure, Illusory takes a hardware-first approach. SOAX and Decodo are also competitive. See our 2026 provider comparison for a full breakdown.

Are residential proxies a good replacement for mobile proxies?

For some use cases, yes. If you mainly need IP diversity and geo-targeting for general web scraping, residential proxies work fine. But if your workflow depends on mobile carrier ASNs, CGNAT behavior, or passing mobile-specific fingerprint checks, residential and mobile proxies are fundamentally different tools. The IP source and network characteristics don't overlap.

Why did Bright Data stop offering mobile proxies?

Bright Data hasn't issued a public explanation. Based on what's observable, they're shifting investment toward higher-margin API products (Web Unlocker, Browser API, SERP API) and tightening their compliance posture. The AUP update banning social platform account management happened the same month as the mobile proxy sunset.

What Comes Next

If you're evaluating mobile proxy providers after this change, start with what your workflow actually requires. Not every use case needs mobile carrier IPs. For many scraping and data collection tasks, residential or ISP proxies work fine.

But if your stack depends on real mobile carrier connections for AI agent IP rotation, mobile app testing, carrier-specific content access, or mobile-first verification flows, the provider you choose matters more now than it did last week.

Illusory offers mobile proxies built on dedicated 5G hardware with real carrier SIMs. You can explore our setup at illusory.io, check pricing, or read the API documentation to see how it works.