# Illusory > Illusory provides bare metal mobile proxies for data-led operations. Purpose-built for AI model training, web scraping, market research, and automation at scale. Every proxy runs on dedicated hardware with real mobile carrier IPs — not shared pools or datacenter ranges. This is the expanded llms-full.txt for Illusory. It includes full blog post content, detailed pricing information, and API documentation. For a compact index, see [llms.txt](https://www.illusory.io/llms.txt). ## Pages - [Illusory | Modern proxies for data-led operations](https://www.illusory.io/): Homepage for Illusory — bare metal mobile proxies for data-led operations. Overview of the platform, key features (dedicated hardware, real carrier IPs, instant IP rotation, API control), and use cases. - [Terms & Conditions | Illusory](https://www.illusory.io/terms): Illusory terms and conditions governing use of the proxy platform and services. - [Privacy | Illusory](https://www.illusory.io/privacy): Illusory privacy policy — how user data is collected, stored, and protected. - [Pricing | Illusory](https://www.illusory.io/pricing): Mobile proxy pricing with flexible plans. Pay-as-you-go and subscription options designed for scraping, automation, and AI data collection workloads. - [Illusory | Blog](https://www.illusory.io/blog): Illusory blog — articles on mobile proxies, web scraping best practices, AI data collection, proxy technology comparisons, and privacy. ## Pricing > Detailed pricing information for Illusory mobile proxies. See [pricing page](https://www.illusory.io/pricing) for the latest. ### Plans #### Standard For production operations with the option to scale your mobile proxies. - Price: $1/hour per proxy (~$24/day, ~$200/month per proxy) - Single-tenant dedicated hardware - Swap location or ISP anytime - Change IPs every 1 minute - Unlimited API requests - Bulk order discounts available - HTTP & SOCKS5 support - TCP & UDP support - IPv4 & IPv6 protocols - Basic and whitelist authentication - Instantly deploy on-demand from available stock - Email support #### Enterprise For large-scale operations managing serious mobile proxy workloads. - Price: Custom pricing per proxy - All Standard features included - Designated support manager - Uptime SLAs - 24x7x365 premium enterprise support - Private Slack channel - Bypass stock limits (minimum commitment required) - Multi-location access from any Illusory locations - Choice of any Illusory ISPs - Email support with SLA - Onboarding support #### Virgin For companies that need fresh, private mobile IP ranges for their operations. - Price: Custom pricing per proxy - All Standard features included - Private location — city and state of your choice - Virgin IPs from Illusory (never previously used) - Internet service provider of your choice - Whiteglove service - Bypass stock limits (minimum commitment required) - Designated customer success manager - Private Slack channel - Onboarding support ### Specifications (All Plans) - Bare metal dedicated hardware - 5G network connectivity - 1,000 threads per proxy (Standard), custom for Enterprise/Virgin - Change IP on-demand (15 second minimum frequency) - Automatic IP rotation scheduling - HTTP & SOCKS5 proxy protocols - TCP & UDP transport - IPv4 & IPv6 support (IPv4 toggleable) - Basic authentication (username/password) - Whitelist authentication (IP-based, no limit on IPs) - Full API access for automation - Instant proxy swap on-demand ### Bulk Discounts Standard plan offers fixed pricing per proxy with bulk order discounts. Contact sales for Enterprise and Virgin custom pricing. ### FAQ - **Trial**: Contact Illusory for trial availability. - **Locations**: Multiple locations available from Illusory stock; Enterprise/Virgin allow custom location selection. - **Data limits**: Unlimited data — no bandwidth caps on any plan. - **Cancellation**: Contact support to cancel subscriptions. - **Refunds**: See refund policy on the pricing page. ## Blog Posts > Full content from the [Illusory blog](https://www.illusory.io/blog). 21 articles on mobile proxies, web scraping, AI data collection, and proxy technology. ### The Critical Role of Proxies in Today's Digital Landscape URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-critical-role-of-proxies-in-todays-digital-landscape Summary: Why proxies are important for personal and business use — privacy, access, security, and competitive intelligence. The Critical Role of Proxies in Today's Digital Landscape Insight # The Critical Role of Proxies in Today's Digital Landscape Why proxies are important and why you should use them for personal or business. Why proxies are important and why you should use them for personal or business. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 4, 2024 February 4, 2024 The significance of proxies cannot be overstated. Serving as intermediaries between users and the internet, proxies offer more than just a way to access blocked websites. They are pivotal in enhancing security, ensuring privacy, and optimizing performance across various sectors. This article delves into the multifaceted importance of proxies, shedding light on their indispensable role in modern digital operations. For a technical deep dive, see our [comprehensive guide to how proxies work](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work). ## Enhancing Online Privacy and Security One of the primary roles of proxies is to bolster online privacy and security. By masking the user's IP address, proxies make it challenging for malicious actors to trace internet activities back to the user. This anonymity is crucial not only for individual privacy but also for protecting sensitive corporate data from potential cyber threats. Explore how [mobile proxies safeguard your digital footprint](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-and-privacy-safeguarding-your-digital-footprint). Additionally, proxies can encrypt web requests, adding an extra layer of security against eavesdropping and ensuring data integrity. ## Facilitating Access to Restricted Content In regions where internet censorship is prevalent, proxies serve as a vital tool for accessing unrestricted information. They enable users to bypass geo-restrictions and censorship by routing traffic through servers located in different geographical areas. This capability is not only essential for promoting freedom of information but also valuable for businesses that require access to global market data and international platforms. ## Enabling Secure and Anonymous Data Collection For businesses and researchers, proxies are indispensable tools for data collection and market analysis. They allow for the scraping of vast amounts of data from the web anonymously and without being blocked by anti-scraping mechanisms. This capability is crucial for gathering competitive intelligence, monitoring market trends, and training AI models with diverse datasets. See why [mobile proxies are vital to data scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping). ## Streamlining Workload Automation Proxies are pivotal in automating and optimizing the distribution of workloads across servers, particularly for high-demand applications and services. They intelligently manage and route traffic to prevent any single point of overload, ensuring smooth, uninterrupted service delivery and enhancing overall system efficiency, even under the heaviest loads. Discover the [top IP rotation services](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026) that help automate these workflows. ## Optimizing Internet Speed and Bandwidth Proxies can significantly enhance internet performance by caching frequently accessed web pages. When a user requests a cached page, the proxy server can deliver it faster than if the request was processed directly through the internet. This not only speeds up web browsing for the user but also reduces bandwidth usage, which is particularly beneficial for organizations looking to optimize their network resources. ## Conclusion The importance of proxies extends far beyond simply accessing blocked websites. They are a cornerstone of modern internet usage, integral for ensuring security, privacy, performance, and unrestricted access to information. As digital technologies continue to advance, the role of proxies is set to become even more crucial — especially [mobile proxies, which outperform other types](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-edge-of-mobile-proxies-over-others), underscoring the need for robust and reliable proxy solutions in navigating the digital landscape. Explore the future of seamless internet navigation and workload automation with Illusory. Visit [https://illusory.io](https://illusory.io/) to discover how our cutting-edge proxy solutions can transform your digital strategy and keep you ahead in the fast-paced online world. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### Why Mobile Proxies Outperform the Competition URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-edge-of-mobile-proxies-over-others Summary: Mobile proxies vs residential, datacenter, and ISP proxies — which type delivers better results and why. Why Mobile Proxies Outperform the Competition Insight # Why Mobile Proxies Outperform the Competition Mobile proxies vs residential, datacenter and ISP proxies. Which is better? Mobile proxies vs residential, datacenter and ISP proxies. Which is better? Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 8, 2024 February 8, 2024 In the vast and varied plethora of proxy services, mobile proxies stand out for their unique advantages over residential proxies, data center proxies, and ISP proxies. Their unparalleled ability to provide users with genuine mobile IP addresses directly from mobile internet operators gives them a distinctive edge in various applications. Let's delve into why mobile proxies are considered superior for a range of online activities. (New to proxies? Start with our [comprehensive guide to how proxies work](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work).) ## Anonymity and Detection Resistance Mobile proxies offer exceptional anonymity because they use IP addresses allocated to real mobile devices. This makes them significantly harder to detect and block compared to data center proxies, which are often recognized by websites due to their specific IP address ranges. Unlike residential or ISP proxies, the IP addresses from mobile proxies rotate dynamically as they mimic genuine user behavior, making them nearly indistinguishable from regular mobile internet users. This is why [mobile proxies are a top choice for online privacy](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-and-privacy-safeguarding-your-digital-footprint). ## High Trust Score Websites and online services tend to trust mobile IP addresses more than those from data centers. This trust stems from the understanding that mobile IPs are assigned to actual devices used by consumers, thus carrying a lower risk of being part of a botnet or involved in malicious activities. Mobile proxies, therefore, have a higher success rate in accessing content without triggering CAPTCHAs or bans, a critical factor for tasks requiring reliable access, such as [web scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping) or social media management. ## Adaptive Geolocation Mobile proxies provide a significant advantage in terms of geolocation flexibility. Given the global nature of mobile networks, users can access and emulate locations across different regions, enhancing geo-sensitive testing and market research. This flexibility is often more challenging with residential and ISP proxies, which are limited by the availability of IPs in desired locations. Data center proxies, while globally distributed, do not offer the same level of authenticity in representing a local user's internet behavior. ## Overcoming Restrictions and Censorship The dynamic IP rotation characteristic of mobile proxies makes them incredibly effective at bypassing internet restrictions and censorship. Whether it's for accessing geo-restricted content, conducting competitive intelligence, or ensuring communications remain unblocked, mobile proxies provide a resilient solution. This capability is especially pertinent in environments with stringent internet controls, where other types of proxies might quickly get blacklisted. ## Realistic Testing Environments For developers and marketers, mobile proxies offer an authentic environment for testing mobile applications and advertisements. They allow for accurate emulation of user experiences across different mobile networks, essential for optimizing mobile apps and campaigns. This benefit is somewhat limited with data center and residential proxies, which may not accurately reflect mobile user conditions. ## Conclusion While residential, data center, and ISP proxies each have their place in the proxy ecosystem, mobile proxies emerge as the leading choice for users seeking the highest level of anonymity, minimal detection risk, and versatile internet access. Their unique position in the market, powered by real mobile carriers, provides an unmatched tool for navigating the digital world. Whether for sophisticated web scraping operations, social media management, or bypassing geo-restrictions, mobile proxies offer a robust, reliable, and efficient solution, solidifying their status as the superior proxy choice in today's online landscape. See our [2026 authority guide to choosing a mobile proxy provider](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops). ## Enhance Your Digital Strategy with Illusory At Illusory, we specialize in elevating your data-driven projects with sophisticated, low-detection online data scraping and automation solutions. Whether your focus is on AI language model training, in-depth market research, or any other critical operation, we're here to support your success. Our bare metal mobile proxies offer the perfect blend of power and reliability, designed to ensure your projects not only proceed smoothly but excel. Interested in learning how we can be a part of your digital success story? Visit [illusory.io](https://illusory.io/) to explore the possibilities. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### How Mobile Proxies Are Vital to Data Scraping URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping Summary: Why mobile proxies are essential for data scraping — higher trust scores, real carrier IPs, and lower detection rates. How Mobile Proxies are vital to Data Scraping Insight # How Mobile Proxies are vital to Data Scraping Should you use mobile proxies to scrape or collect data? Short answer, absolutely. Should you use mobile proxies to scrape or collect data? Short answer, absolutely. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 14, 2024 February 14, 2024 Data scraping has emerged as a crucial technique for businesses and researchers aiming to gather insights from the vast expanse of the internet. However, as websites become more sophisticated in detecting and blocking scraping attempts, the role of mobile proxies has become increasingly vital. Mobile proxies offer a unique solution to the challenges faced in data scraping, providing a blend of anonymity, accessibility, and effectiveness that [traditional proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work) can't match. ## The Intricacies of Data Scraping Data scraping involves extracting information from websites, a practice that is invaluable for market research, competitive analysis, SEO optimization, and training AI algorithms. Yet, this process is fraught with technical and ethical challenges. Websites often employ anti-scraping measures to protect their data, including IP blocking, CAPTCHA challenges, and rate limiting, which can significantly hinder the efficiency of data collection efforts. ## The Unmatched Solution: Mobile Proxies Mobile proxies serve as an intermediary between the scraper's server and the target website, routing requests through mobile devices' IP addresses. These IPs are dynamically assigned by mobile network operators, making them less predictable and more difficult for websites to block compared to static IPs from data center or residential proxies. Here are the key reasons why mobile proxies are indispensable for effective data scraping: ### 1. High Anonymity and Low Detection Risk The IP addresses used by mobile proxies are indistinguishable from those of regular mobile users. This camouflage effectively reduces the risk of detection and blocking, allowing for more reliable data collection. Given the vast pool of mobile IP addresses, the chances of reuse (and consequent flagging) are significantly lower. ### 2. Overcoming Geo-restrictions Mobile proxies provide access to IP addresses from various geographic locations, enabling data scraping from region-locked websites. This is particularly valuable for businesses operating in global markets, allowing them to gather localized data effortlessly and conduct comprehensive market analysis. ### 3. Dynamic IP Rotation One of the standout features of mobile proxies is their ability to rotate IPs dynamically. This rotation further complicates detection efforts by websites, making it nearly impossible to track and block scraping activities based on IP behavior. Dynamic IP rotation ensures a smoother and more continuous data collection process, critical for large-scale scraping operations. Learn how to [overcome rate limits with SIM residential IPs](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-to-overcome-rate-limits-with-reliable-sim-residential-ips). ### 4. Improved Success Rates Because mobile IPs are considered more trustworthy by websites, requests routed through mobile proxies are less likely to be met with CAPTCHAs or outright rejections. This trust translates into higher success rates for data scraping tasks, ensuring that businesses and researchers can collect the data they need without constant interruptions. ### Case Study: Mastering E-commerce Competitive Pricing Say you're an e-commerce business operating in a highly competitive market. Your success hinges on offering your customers the best prices. However, with competitors constantly adjusting their prices and offering flash sales, keeping up manually is not just challenging; it's virtually impossible. Automated data scraping tools promise a solution, but soon you hit a wall – CAPTCHAs, IP bans, and throttled access due to your scraping activities become daily hurdles. Your efforts to collect accurate, timely data are significantly hampered, threatening your competitive edge and, ultimately, your bottom line. This scenario is not just hypothetical but a reality for many e-commerce businesses. It underscores a critical challenge in today's digital marketplace: accessing reliable data without being detected or blocked. Here, mobile proxies emerge as a game-changer. By routing your requests through real mobile devices and offering the ability to frequently change IPs and connect from geographically relevant locations, they provide high anonymity and significantly lower the risk of detection. This flexibility ensures you can scrape the data you need to make informed pricing decisions without interruption, adapting to market changes with unparalleled agility. This is how mobile proxies turn the tide, allowing you to maintain competitiveness and navigate the complexities of global e-commerce with ease. ## The Future of Data Scraping with Mobile Proxies The digital age demands innovative solutions for data collection, and mobile proxies stand out as a critical tool for anyone looking to scrape data efficiently. They offer a level of anonymity, flexibility, and efficiency that is unparalleled, addressing the core challenges of modern data scraping practices. As websites continue to advance their anti-scraping measures — particularly with [AI-powered web scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-web-scraping-mobile-proxies) gaining traction — the importance of mobile proxies in the data scraping ecosystem will only grow, solidifying their status as an indispensable asset for digital success. In conclusion, mobile proxies are not just a workaround for scraping challenges; they are a vital component of a sophisticated digital strategy, enabling businesses to navigate the complexities of the internet and extract valuable data with minimal risk and maximum efficiency. ## Discover Illusory Proxies For businesses looking to harness this power and navigate the complexities of the digital marketplace with ease, Illusory stands ready to provide top-tier mobile proxy services. With Illusory, gain access to high-quality, reliable mobile proxies that ensure your data scraping operations are seamless, efficient, and undetectable. Read our [2026 authority guide to choosing the best mobile proxy](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops), or visit [Illusory](https://illusory.io/) to discover how our mobile proxies can transform your data collection strategies and keep you one step ahead of the competition. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### Mobile Proxies and Privacy: Safeguarding Your Digital Footprint URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-and-privacy-safeguarding-your-digital-footprint Summary: How mobile proxies protect online anonymity and safeguard your internet privacy — no logs, real carrier IPs, and full encryption. Mobile Proxies and Privacy: Safeguarding your digital footprint Insight # Mobile Proxies and Privacy: Safeguarding your digital footprint Unlock the secret to online anonymity with mobile proxies, safeguarding your internet privacy, no logs attached. Unlock the secret to online anonymity with mobile proxies, safeguarding your internet privacy, no logs attached. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 20, 2024 February 20, 2024 Online privacy is a foundational concern for both individuals and businesses. The increasing volume of personal and corporate data traversing the internet has made privacy not just a preference but a necessity. Amidst growing threats to digital privacy, mobile proxies stand out as a powerful tool for enhancing security and anonymity online. This article delves into the importance of online privacy and illustrates why mobile proxies are paramount for maintaining it effectively. (For proxy basics, see our [guide to how proxies work](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work).) ## The Importance of Online Privacy ### For Businesses For businesses, privacy is synonymous with security and competitiveness. Protecting sensitive data — be it customer information, proprietary research, or strategic plans — is critical to maintaining a competitive edge and complying with regulatory standards. Breaches can lead to financial loss, legal repercussions, and irreparable damage to a brand's reputation. Moreover, businesses need to safeguard their online activities from competitors to prevent corporate espionage and protect their market position. ### For Individuals Individuals face a myriad of privacy concerns, from identity theft to personal data exploitation. With the rise of data brokers and the commodification of personal information, maintaining privacy is crucial for personal security and freedom. Online tracking, profiling, and targeted advertising further underscore the need for solutions that can provide anonymity and protect users' digital identities. ## Mobile Proxies: The Privacy Shield Mobile proxies serve as an intermediary between the user's device and the internet, routing traffic through a mobile device's IP address. This simple yet effective mechanism provides a robust layer of privacy for several reasons: ### Enhanced Anonymity Mobile proxies assign dynamic IP addresses from real mobile devices, making it significantly harder for websites, trackers, and malicious actors to pinpoint and track user activities. Unlike static IP addresses, which can be easily traced back to a specific user or business, the dynamic nature of mobile IPs ensures a higher degree of anonymity. This is one reason [mobile proxies outperform other proxy types](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-edge-of-mobile-proxies-over-others). ### Harder to Detect and Block Given that mobile IP addresses are distributed across a wide range of devices and are constantly changing, detecting and blacklisting these IPs is much more challenging for websites. This reduces the likelihood of being targeted by data thieves or falling victim to selective content blocking, ensuring unrestricted access to information. This detection resistance also makes them [essential for data scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping). ### Geolocation Flexibility Mobile proxies offer the ability to choose IPs from specific geographic locations, enabling users to bypass regional restrictions and access global content freely. This geolocation flexibility is crucial for businesses conducting market research or individuals seeking unrestricted access to information, all while maintaining their privacy. ### Trust and Credibility Traffic coming from mobile IP addresses is generally deemed more trustworthy by online services, reducing the risk of encountering CAPTCHAs or additional verification steps. This inherent trust benefits users by providing smoother access to online resources, minimizing disruptions, and enhancing the overall browsing experience. ## Conclusion: Mobile Proxies as Privacy Champions In the quest for robust online privacy, mobile proxies emerge as a superior solution. They adeptly balance the need for anonymity, security, and unrestricted access, catering to the privacy requirements of both individuals and businesses. By leveraging the power of mobile proxies, users can navigate the digital landscape with confidence, knowing their digital footprint is protected. For those seeking to enhance their online privacy with mobile proxies, exploring reputable providers is a crucial first step. Services like [Illusory](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops) offer state-of-the-art mobile proxy solutions designed to meet the high privacy and security standards of today's digital users. By choosing the right mobile proxy service, businesses and individuals can secure their online activities, safeguard sensitive data, and enjoy a free and open internet. In a world where digital privacy is constantly under threat, mobile proxies stand as a bastion of security and anonymity. Embracing these tools is not just a step toward safer internet usage; it's a leap towards reclaiming control over one's digital presence. ## Illusory: No-Log Mobile Proxies Illusory Mobile Proxy Servers offer an unparalleled solution. Our state-of-the-art mobile proxies not only enhance your digital anonymity but also ensure your activities remain yours alone — we do not log traffic, maintaining the utmost respect for your data privacy. Embrace a safer, more secure digital experience with Illusory. Explore how our mobile proxy services can protect and empower your online activities today. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### The Comprehensive Guide to How Proxies Work URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work Summary: What is a proxy, how does it work, and how are proxies used in the real world? A comprehensive guide to proxy types and use cases. The Comprehensive Guide to How Proxies Work - Guide # The Comprehensive Guide to How Proxies Work Get to know your way around a proxy. What is it and how are is it used in the real world? Get to know your way around a proxy. What is it and how are is it used in the real world? Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 21, 2024 February 21, 2024 Understanding the mechanics of a proxy server is essential for navigating the complexities of internet privacy, security, and access. This comprehensive guide explores the fundamentals of how proxies work, their types, uses, and why they're increasingly important in today’s online world. ## What is a Proxy Server? A proxy server acts as an intermediary between a user's device and the internet. When you use a proxy, your internet request goes to the proxy server first, which then forwards the request to the destination website. The website's response is sent back to the proxy server, and then relayed back to you. This process ensures that the website sees the IP address of the proxy server, not your original IP address, providing anonymity and the ability to bypass content restrictions or censorship. ## How Does a Proxy Server Work? ### Step 1: Request Initiation When you enter a URL into your browser, the request is sent to the proxy server. The proxy server receives your request and looks up its cache to determine if it already has the requested data. If available, the proxy can serve this cached content directly, speeding up the response time. ### Step 2: Forwarding the Request If the content is not cached, the proxy server forwards your request to the destination website using its own IP address. This masks your identity and can make it appear as though the request is coming from a different location or device. ### Step 3: Receiving the Response The destination website processes the request and sends the data back to the proxy server. The proxy server can then perform various functions, such as caching the content for future requests, modifying the data for security or anonymity purposes, or logging the transaction. ### Step 4: Sending the Data to the User Finally, the proxy server sends the requested content back to your device. From your perspective, it appears as though you're directly accessing the website, but in reality, all communication goes through the proxy. ## Most Common Types of Proxies Each type offers unique advantages and is suited to specific use cases. Here are the most common types of proxies: ### Data Center Proxies Data center proxies are hosted on servers in data centers rather than being associated with an internet service provider (ISP). These proxies offer high speed and efficiency, making them ideal for bulk tasks that require fast internet connections, such as web scraping. However, because they come from large, often identifiable IP subnets, they are easier for websites to detect and block compared to other types of proxies. ### Residential Proxies Residential proxies assign users IP addresses that belong to real residential addresses, making it appear as though requests are coming from actual home internet connections. This type of proxy is less likely to be flagged by websites because the IPs correspond to genuine ISP customers. Residential proxies are particularly useful for tasks that require a high level of trust from the target site, like price comparison and ad verification. ### ISP Proxies ISP proxies blend the benefits of data center and residential proxies. They are hosted in data centers but are registered with real ISPs, providing both the speed of a data center proxy and the legitimacy of a residential IP address. This makes ISP proxies particularly resistant to detection and blocking, suitable for sensitive operations where maintaining user trust is paramount. ### Mobile Proxies [Mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-edge-of-mobile-proxies-over-others) route traffic through mobile devices connected to cellular networks, using IP addresses assigned to mobile data users. Given the dynamic nature of mobile IPs (which change as devices move and connect to different cell towers), these proxies offer exceptional anonymity and are extremely difficult for websites to detect and block. Mobile proxies are ideal for operations that require high privacy levels, accessing content restricted to mobile users, or simulating genuine user behavior across different geographical locations. ## Uses of Proxy Servers **Privacy and Anonymity**: Proxies can hide your IP address, protecting your identity and personal data from potential threats. Learn more about [how mobile proxies safeguard your digital footprint](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-and-privacy-safeguarding-your-digital-footprint). - **Bypassing Geo-Restrictions**: Proxies can mask your geographical location, allowing access to region-locked content. - **Security and Filtering**: Businesses use proxies to filter out malicious traffic, preventing attacks on their network. - **Web Scraping**: Proxies can help automate the collection of data from various websites without being detected or banned. See why [mobile proxies are vital to data scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping) and explore [IP rotation practices for AI agents](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026). - **Load Balancing**: They can distribute internet traffic across multiple servers, ensuring reliable access to websites and services. ## Conclusion Proxy servers play a crucial role in enhancing online privacy, security, and accessibility. By understanding how proxies work and selecting the right type for your needs, you can navigate the internet more safely and freely, accessing content without restrictions while protecting your digital footprint. Whether for individual privacy or corporate security, proxies offer a versatile solution to many of today’s internet challenges. Ready to choose a provider? Read our [2026 authority guide to choosing the best mobile proxy](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops). Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### AI Web Scraping in 2025: Pros, Cons, and Mobile Proxy Best Practices URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-web-scraping-mobile-proxies Summary: Explore the advantages and challenges of AI-powered web scraping and the best way to scrape with AI and mobile proxies. AI Web Scraping in 2025: Pros, Cons, and Mobile Proxy Best Practices - Guide # AI Web Scraping in 2025: Pros, Cons, and Mobile Proxy Best Practices Explore the advantages and challenges of AI-powered web scraping and the best way to scrape with AI and mobile proxies. Explore the advantages and challenges of AI-powered web scraping and the best way to scrape with AI and mobile proxies. Illusory Illusory July 15, 2025 July 15, 2025 AI-powered web scraping has revolutionized data collection, offering unprecedented speed and adaptability. However, it also introduces challenges related to ethics, legality, and technical hurdles. Integrating mobile proxies into AI scraping workflows can mitigate many of these issues, ensuring more reliable and responsible data extraction. ## Pros of AI-Powered Web Scraping **1. Enhanced Efficiency and Speed** AI-driven scrapers can process vast amounts of data rapidly, significantly reducing the time required for data collection compared to manual methods. **2. Adaptive Learning** Machine learning algorithms enable AI scrapers to adapt to changes in website structures, reducing the need for constant manual updates. **3. Improved Data Accuracy** AI can filter out irrelevant information and focus on extracting high-quality, relevant data, leading to more accurate datasets. **4. Intelligent Decision-Making** AI systems can prioritize which websites to scrape based on relevance, reducing unnecessary data collection and focusing on valuable sources. ## Cons of AI-Powered Web Scraping **1. Legal and Ethical Concerns** Scraping data without consent can violate terms of service and intellectual property rights, leading to potential legal issues. **2. Resource Intensiveness** AI models require significant computational resources, which can be costly and may not be feasible for all organizations. **3. Detection and Blocking** Websites employ measures like CAPTCHAs and IP blocking to prevent scraping, which AI scrapers must navigate carefully to avoid detection. **4. Data Quality Issues** AI models may misinterpret or misclassify data, leading to inaccuracies that require human oversight to correct. ## How Mobile Proxies Enhance AI Web Scraping [Mobile proxies are essential for modern data scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping) — here's how they specifically improve AI-powered workflows: **1. Bypassing IP Restrictions** Mobile proxies rotate IP addresses, making it harder for websites to detect and block scraping activities. For a deeper dive, see our guide on [overcoming rate limits with SIM residential IPs](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-to-overcome-rate-limits-with-reliable-sim-residential-ips). **2. Mimicking Human Behavior** Requests routed through mobile proxies appear as if they originate from real users, reducing the likelihood of triggering anti-bot measures. **3. Accessing Geo-Restricted Content** Mobile proxies allow scrapers to access content restricted to specific geographic locations by routing requests through IPs in those regions. **4. Enhanced Anonymity** Using mobile proxies adds a layer of anonymity, protecting the identity of the scraping entity and reducing the risk of IP bans. ## Best Practices for Ethical AI Web Scraping with Mobile Proxies **Respect Robots.txt Files**: Always check and adhere to the guidelines specified in a website's robots.txt file to avoid unauthorized scraping. - **Implement Rate Limiting**: Control the frequency of requests to prevent overwhelming target websites and to mimic human browsing patterns. - **Data Usage Transparency**: Clearly define how collected data will be used, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and ethical standards. - **Regularly Update Scraping Scripts**: Keep scraping algorithms up-to-date to adapt to changes in website structures and to maintain efficiency. By combining AI capabilities with mobile proxies, organizations can conduct web scraping more effectively and ethically. This integration not only enhances data collection efficiency but also helps navigate the complex landscape of legal and ethical considerations in web scraping. ## Ready to Supercharge Your Web Scraping? Unlock the full potential of AI-powered web scraping with Illusory’s premium mobile proxies. Seamlessly bypass restrictions, enhance your scraping accuracy, and keep your operations anonymous and secure. ### Why Choose Illusory? See our [2026 authority guide to mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops) for a detailed provider comparison. Here's why Illusory leads: - 🌐 **Reliable IP Rotation:** Stay undetectable with regularly rotated IP addresses. - 📱 **Genuine Mobile IPs:** Appear as real mobile users, reducing detection risks. - 🌍 **Global Coverage:** Access geo-restricted content easily from anywhere in the world. - 🔒 **Enhanced Security:** Protect your identity and ensure compliance with privacy regulations. 👉 [Get Started](https://app.illusory.io/) now, view our [Documentation](https://illusory.io/docs) or contact us at [help@illusory.io](mailto:help@illusory.io) to learn more. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Q: Is AI web scraping legal?** A: The legality of web scraping depends on several factors, including the website's terms of service, the type of data being collected, and your jurisdiction. While scraping publicly available data is generally permissible, you should always respect robots.txt files, avoid scraping personal data without consent, and comply with laws like GDPR and CCPA. When in doubt, consult legal counsel before scraping sensitive or copyrighted content. **Q: What's the difference between mobile proxies and residential proxies?** A: Mobile proxies route requests through real mobile devices on cellular networks (3G/4G/5G), while residential proxies use IP addresses assigned to home internet connections. (See our [guide to how proxies work](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work) for a full comparison of proxy types.) Mobile proxies are typically harder to detect and block because websites trust mobile IPs more, as they're associated with legitimate mobile users. They also benefit from automatic IP rotation when devices switch between cell towers. **Q: How do mobile proxies prevent IP bans?** A: Mobile proxies prevent IP bans through regular IP rotation, making each request appear to come from a different legitimate mobile user. This distribution of requests across multiple IPs prevents any single IP from being flagged for suspicious activity. Additionally, mobile IPs are shared among many real users, making it difficult for websites to ban them without affecting genuine mobile traffic. **Q: Can websites still detect my scraping activity even with mobile proxies?** A: While mobile proxies significantly reduce detection risk, sophisticated websites can still identify scraping through behavioral patterns like unusually fast requests, identical user agents, or predictable navigation patterns. That's why it's essential to implement rate limiting, randomize request timing, rotate user agents, and mimic human browsing behavior alongside using mobile proxies. **Q: Do I need programming knowledge to implement AI web scraping?** A: While programming knowledge is helpful, many modern AI scraping tools offer user-friendly interfaces and pre-built solutions that require minimal coding. However, understanding basic programming concepts in Python or JavaScript will give you more flexibility to customize scraping scripts and handle complex scenarios. **Q: How fast can AI scrapers collect data compared to traditional methods?** A: AI scrapers can process thousands to millions of web pages per day, depending on your infrastructure and the complexity of target websites. This is exponentially faster than manual collection or basic scripting. However, speed should be balanced with ethical considerations and rate limiting to avoid overwhelming target servers or triggering anti-bot measures. **Q: What data quality issues should I watch for with AI scraping?** A: Common issues include misclassified data fields, incomplete extractions when website structures change, duplicate entries, and capturing irrelevant information. Implement validation checks, regularly audit your scraped data, and maintain human oversight to catch and correct these errors. AI models improve over time with proper training and feedback loops. **Q: How do I get started with Illusory's mobile proxy service?** A: Getting started is simple: visit our website to view our pricing plans, check our [Documentation](https://claude.ai/chat/link) for integration guides, or contact our team at help@illusory.io for personalized assistance. We offer straightforward API integration and support for popular scraping frameworks. **Q: Are there any websites I should never scrape?** A: Avoid scraping websites that explicitly prohibit it in their terms of service, sites containing sensitive personal information, financial data, healthcare records, or copyrighted content without permission. Government websites may also have specific restrictions. Always prioritize ethical scraping practices and legal compliance over data collection goals. **Q: What's the typical cost of using mobile proxies for web scraping?** A: Costs vary based on bandwidth usage, number of IPs needed, and geographic coverage. Mobile proxies are generally more expensive than datacenter proxies due to their higher quality and lower detection rates. Contact us at help@illusory.io for customized pricing based on your specific scraping requirements and volume. Latest Blogs --- ### 2026 Authority Guide: Choosing the Best Mobile Proxy for Data & AI Operations URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops Summary: Selecting the right mobile proxy provider has become mission-critical for data engineering and AIOps. 2026 Authority Guide: Choosing the Best Mobile Proxy for Data & AI Operations - Guide # 2026 Authority Guide: Choosing the Best Mobile Proxy for Data & AI Operations Selecting the right mobile proxy provider has become mission-critical for data engineering and AIOps Selecting the right mobile proxy provider has become mission-critical for data engineering and AIOps Josiah Richards Josiah Richards November 1, 2025 November 1, 2025 Selecting the right mobile proxy provider has become mission-critical for data engineering, automation and AiOps teams operating at scale in 2025. With increasing anti-bot sophistication and stricter geo-targeting requirements, mobile proxies—which route traffic through real cellular network IP addresses—offer the authenticity and reliability that traditional datacenter proxies cannot match. This comprehensive guide evaluates leading providers across key technical and operational criteria, helping you make informed decisions for geo-targeted data operations, automation workflows, and large-scale web data initiatives. ## Key Criteria for Selecting Mobile Proxies in AI Operations When evaluating mobile proxy providers for enterprise data operations, establishing clear selection criteria prevents costly mistakes and ensures your infrastructure can scale effectively. The most successful data teams prioritize six foundational requirements: network diversity, IP authenticity, operational reliability, compliance capabilities, deployment flexibility, and technical support quality. [Mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work) are IP addresses sourced from real mobile devices connected to cellular networks, used to mask user identity and conduct web requests as if from genuine smartphone users. Unlike datacenter or residential proxies, they're inherently trusted by web servers and ideal for [bypassing detection and bans](https://www.cyberdb.co/choosing-the-right-mobile-proxies-for-your-security-needs/). Network size and geographic diversity directly impact your ability to distribute requests and avoid rate limiting. High-performing providers maintain millions of mobile IPs across multiple carriers and countries, enabling granular geo-targeting down to city or ISP level. Success rates—the percentage of requests completed without blocks—should consistently exceed 95% for production workloads. Compliance considerations have intensified with GDPR, CCPA, and emerging privacy regulations. Look for providers offering transparent IP sourcing, clear data handling policies, and features like automatic rotation that minimize data retention risks. Operational control features such as API access, custom rotation intervals, and real-time performance monitoring are essential for integrating proxies into automated data pipelines and DevOps workflows. ## Overview of Leading Mobile Proxy Providers The 2025 mobile proxy landscape features several established providers, each with distinct strengths for different operational requirements and budget constraints. Provider Mobile IPs Uptime Success Rate Starting Price Bright Data 7M+ 99.9% 99.5%+ Custom pricing Oxylabs 20M+ 99.9% 99%+ Custom pricing Smartproxy 10M+ 99.99% 99.48%+ $8/GB Rayobyte 5M+ 99%+ 95%+ $9/GB SOAX 8.5M+ 99%+ 98.65% $6.60/GB Infatica 2M+ 99%+ 94.2%+ $3/GB [Bright Data](https://brightdata.com/blog/proxy-101/best-mobile-proxies) maintains the industry's most extensive mobile network with over 7 million mobile IPs and 99.9% uptime, making it the go-to choice for enterprise operations requiring maximum reliability and scale. Their infrastructure spans 195 countries with granular targeting capabilities and robust compliance features. [Oxylabs](https://proxyempire.io/best-mobile-proxies-in-2025/) offers 20 million global mobile IPs with enterprise-grade reliability, featuring dedicated account management and custom SLA options for large-scale deployments. Their network emphasizes carrier diversity and real-time IP rotation capabilities. [Smartproxy](https://medium.com/@datajournal/the-best-mobile-proxies-6f41321dc954) strikes an optimal balance between performance and cost-effectiveness, delivering 99.99% uptime with over 10 million IPs and transparent pricing starting at $8 per GB. They provide sticky sessions of up to 30 minutes and city-level geo-targeting. Rayobyte focuses on ethical sourcing through CGNAT infrastructure, offering stable performance with pricing from $9/GB and 7-day trial periods. Their approach emphasizes compliance and transparency in IP acquisition methods. ## Performance and Speed Comparison Performance benchmarks reveal significant variations in response times and reliability across providers, directly impacting the efficiency of data operations and automation workflows. Provider Avg Response Time Success Rate Uptime Bright Data 0.6s 99.5% 99.9% Smartproxy 0.8s 99.48% 99.99% Infatica 0.32s (UK) 94.2% 99%+ FlyProxy 0.6s 99%+ 99.9% SOAX 0.7s 98.65% 99%+ [Infatica](https://www.proxy-cheap.com/blog/best-mobile-proxies) demonstrates the fastest response times at 0.32 seconds for UK traffic, though with slightly lower success rates at 94.2%. This makes them suitable for high-throughput operations where speed outweighs absolute reliability requirements. Success rate measures the percentage of requests successfully completed without being blocked—a critical proxy reliability indicator for sustained data operations. [Bright Data and Smartproxy](https://proxybros.com/proxies/best-mobile-proxy/) consistently achieve success rates above 99%, essential for mission-critical automation where request failures can cascade into operational disruptions. Low latency and high reliability prove vital for real-time data collection, API testing, and automated monitoring systems. For strategies on maintaining access under throttling, see our guide to [overcoming rate limits with SIM residential IPs](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-to-overcome-rate-limits-with-reliable-sim-residential-ips). Teams running continuous integration pipelines or time-sensitive market data collection should prioritize providers with sub-second response times and uptime guarantees exceeding 99.9%. ## Pricing Models and Cost Efficiency Understanding mobile proxy pricing structures helps data teams optimize costs while ensuring adequate performance for their specific use cases. Providers typically offer either pay-as-you-go bandwidth pricing or subscription-based plans with included data allowances. Provider Price per GB Trial Period Minimum Commitment Refund Policy Smartproxy $8-$20 None $8 minimum 14-day money-back Rayobyte $9 7 days $50 minimum 7-day trial SOAX $6.60 24 hours $99 minimum Trial available IPRoyal $1.75-$7 None $5 minimum 24-hour refund Infatica $3-$8 3 days $20 minimum 3-day trial [Smartproxy's](https://medium.com/@datajournal/the-best-mobile-proxies-6f41321dc954) $8-$20 per GB pricing includes 14-day money-back guarantees and no long-term commitments, making them accessible for teams testing mobile proxy integration. Their transparent pricing model scales predictably with usage volume. Pay-as-you-go models suit variable workloads and development environments, while fixed subscription plans with included bandwidth often provide better value for consistent, high-volume operations. Some providers offer unlimited API access and dedicated support at higher tiers, significantly impacting total cost of ownership beyond headline per-GB rates. Enterprise teams should evaluate pricing holistically, considering factors like dedicated IP pools, priority support, custom SLAs, and integration assistance. The cheapest per-GB rate may not deliver the best value if it lacks essential features for production deployments. ## Geo-Targeting Capabilities and IP Rotation Effective geo-targeting and IP rotation strategies are fundamental to successful data operations, enabling teams to collect region-specific data while maintaining operational security and avoiding detection. Advanced providers offer multiple levels of geographic precision: country-level targeting for broad market research, city-level targeting for localized content testing, and ASN/ISP-level targeting for carrier-specific analysis. [Smartproxy](https://medium.com/@datajournal/the-best-mobile-proxies-6f41321dc954) provides city-level targeting with sticky sessions lasting up to 30 minutes, ideal for multi-step automation workflows requiring session persistence. Provider Geo-Targeting Rotation Options Session Control Smartproxy Country/City Per request, sticky Up to 30 minutes SOAX Country/City Custom intervals Configurable Bright Data Country/City/ASN Real-time Flexible Rayobyte Country/State Automatic Session-based IP rotation automates the switching of outgoing IP addresses during sessions, preventing bans and enhancing anonymity for large-scale data operations. For a complete playbook, see our guide to [IP rotation best practices for AI agents](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026). Rotation strategies range from per-request switching for maximum anonymity to sticky sessions for applications requiring consistent identity across multiple requests. [SOAX](https://medium.com/@datajournal/the-best-mobile-proxies-6f41321dc954) offers granular country and city-level targeting but requires IP whitelisting and restricts proxy pool access, which may limit flexibility for dynamic automation systems. Teams should evaluate rotation policies against their specific workflow requirements and compliance needs. ## API Access and Automation Support Robust API access and automation features are essential for integrating mobile proxies into modern data engineering workflows, enabling seamless orchestration and scaling of proxy-dependent operations. Leading providers offer unlimited API calls, RESTful endpoints for proxy management, and comprehensive documentation for popular programming languages. Advanced automation features include programmatic IP rotation triggers, real-time performance monitoring, and webhook notifications for service disruptions. Provider API Rate Limits Documentation Automation Features Bright Data Unlimited Comprehensive Full automation suite Oxylabs Unlimited Developer-focused Custom integrations Smartproxy Unlimited Good Basic automation Illusory Unlimited Technical docs Advanced controls Integration capabilities should support common data engineering tools including Python requests libraries, Selenium WebDriver, and CI/CD pipeline orchestration platforms. Teams using Kubernetes, Docker, or serverless architectures need providers offering containerized proxy endpoints and environment variable configuration. API features to evaluate include rate limiting policies, authentication methods, logging and metadata access, custom header support, and integration with monitoring systems like Datadog or Prometheus. Providers offering advanced developer controls enable fine-tuned optimization for specific use cases and performance requirements. ## Customer Support and Service Reliability Technical support quality and service reliability directly impact operational continuity for data teams running mission-critical proxy-dependent systems. The best providers combine proactive monitoring with responsive technical assistance. [Bright Data](https://brightdata.com/blog/proxy-101/best-mobile-proxies) provides 24/7 live support with dedicated success managers for enterprise accounts, plus comprehensive dashboards for real-time performance monitoring. Their support team includes technical specialists familiar with data engineering workflows and automation challenges. Essential support features include multiple contact channels (live chat, email, phone), documented SLA response times, escalation procedures for service disruptions, and access to technical documentation and integration guides. Enterprise teams should prioritize providers offering dedicated account management and custom SLA agreements. Service reliability encompasses uptime guarantees, redundancy measures, and transparent incident communication. Look for providers maintaining 99.9%+ uptime with automatic failover capabilities and real-time status pages. Proactive notification systems help teams respond quickly to service disruptions and maintain operational continuity. ## Illusory Mobile Proxies: Technical Advantages and Use Cases Illusory differentiates itself through bare-metal 5G infrastructure and enterprise-focused features designed specifically for demanding data operations and DevOps workflows. Their technical architecture emphasizes real-device IP authenticity, granular control, and compliance-ready deployment options. Core technical advantages include instant location and ISP switching, minute-by-minute IP rotation, unlimited API access, and private IP pool allocation. Unlike shared proxy networks, Illusory's dedicated infrastructure ensures consistent performance and eliminates the risks associated with shared IP reputation issues. Key differentiating features: Bare-metal 5G mobile proxies with carrier-grade performance - Real-device IP authenticity for maximum trust scores - Instant geo-targeting with granular ISP and location control - Custom SLA agreements with dedicated technical support - Transparent performance metrics and real-time monitoring - Privacy-first compliance with GDPR and CCPA requirements Primary use cases for Illusory's mobile proxy infrastructure include [large-scale web scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-web-scraping-mobile-proxies) for market intelligence, geo-sensitive application testing across multiple regions, AI and machine learning model training data collection, and brand protection through automated monitoring of unauthorized content distribution. Enterprise teams benefit from [Illusory's technical expertise](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping) in proxy optimization, dedicated support managers familiar with data engineering challenges, and flexible deployment options supporting both cloud and on-premises integration requirements. ## Comparative Evaluation Summary and Recommendations The mobile proxy landscape in 2025 offers diverse options tailored to different operational scales, technical requirements, and budget constraints. Success depends on aligning provider capabilities with specific use case demands rather than simply selecting based on price or feature checklists. For enterprise-scale data operations requiring maximum reliability and compliance, Bright Data and Oxylabs provide the most comprehensive solutions with extensive IP networks, robust SLAs, and dedicated support infrastructure. Their premium pricing reflects advanced features and enterprise-grade service levels. Mid-market teams seeking balanced performance and cost-effectiveness should evaluate Smartproxy and Rayobyte, both offering solid technical capabilities with transparent pricing and reasonable minimum commitments. For a broader comparison, see our roundup of [data extraction services that scale with your business](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-best-data-extraction-services-that-scale-with-your-business). These providers excel in standard data collection and automation workflows without requiring extensive customization. Budget-conscious teams or those in early development phases may find value in providers like IPRoyal or Infatica, which offer competitive per-GB pricing with basic feature sets suitable for testing and small-scale operations. Use Case Recommended Provider Key Reasons Enterprise Data Ops Bright Data, Oxylabs Maximum scale, reliability, compliance Mid-Market Automation Smartproxy, Rayobyte Balanced performance and pricing High-Performance Requirements Illusory Modern device infrastructure, dedicated support Budget-Conscious Projects IPRoyal, Infatica Competitive pricing, basic features For organizations demanding cutting-edge technical control, dedicated partnerships, and compliance at scale, [Illusory](../) offers specialized mobile proxy infrastructure designed specifically for enterprise data engineering teams. Illusory's bare-metal 5G approach and personalized support model address the most demanding operational requirements. ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is a mobile proxy and how does it differ from other proxy types?**A mobile proxy uses IP addresses from real mobile network carriers, making web requests appear as if originating from genuine smartphones. This provides higher trust scores and better evasion capabilities compared to datacenter or residential proxies, as mobile IPs are inherently trusted by web servers and less likely to be blocked or flagged as automated traffic. **How do mobile proxies enhance data operations and automation?**Mobile proxies mimic actual user traffic from mobile devices, helping data teams conduct large-scale scraping, ad verification, and regionalized testing while avoiding detection and bans. Their authentic mobile fingerprints enable access to mobile-specific content and APIs that may be restricted when accessed from datacenter infrastructure. **What security features are essential in a mobile proxy provider?**Essential security features include DNS and WebRTC leak protection, SSL/TLS encryption for all traffic, robust IP rotation mechanisms, and careful management of headers to maintain privacy. Advanced providers also offer private IP pools, custom authentication methods, and transparent logging policies to support compliance requirements. **How can I maintain compliance and avoid detection using mobile proxies?**Use reputable mobile proxies with strong IP rotation policies and anti-detection features like user agent randomization. Ensure all data collection activities align with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Implement rate limiting, respect robots.txt files, and maintain transparent data usage policies to minimize legal and ethical risks. **What are common use cases for mobile proxies in 2025?**Typical use cases include ad verification and fraud detection, global market research and competitive intelligence, large-scale web scraping for AI model training, brand protection and unauthorized content monitoring, mobile application testing across different regions and carriers, and social media monitoring and sentiment analysis. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### The Best Data Extraction Services That Scale With Your Business URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-best-data-extraction-services-that-scale-with-your-business Summary: Guide to choosing data extraction services that scale — from startup scraping needs to enterprise-grade collection pipelines. The Best Data Extraction Services That Scale With Your Business - Guide # The Best Data Extraction Services That Scale With Your Business Comparison matrix of top data extraction services Comparison matrix of top data extraction services Josiah Richards Josiah Richards December 14, 2025 December 14, 2025 ## Introduction If you need the best data operations companies for web scraping and data extraction, start with these eight: **Illusory**, Fivetran, Hevo Data, Skyvia, Octoparse, Import.io, Nanonets, and PromptCloud. Each scales from pilot to production with strong integration options, automated data pipelines, and controls for compliant data retrieval. Illusory specifically provides the mobile proxy layer used alongside scraping services to increase reliability and success rates. For AI/ML, e‑commerce, and analytics teams, your best choice balances scalability, cost, and governance so data flows reliably into your stack without rework or risk. Below, we compare scalable data extraction platforms across pricing, ease of use, and enterprise‑grade security so you can select a future‑proof partner. **Definition — data extraction services:** software or managed solutions that automate collection, transformation, and integration of structured or unstructured data from diverse sources at scale. Note: Illusory, included here, is a mobile proxy solution that pairs with scraping/extraction tools to improve reliability and compliance; it does not itself provide web scraping or data extraction services. This guide highlights scalable data extraction platforms that support automated data pipelines and privacy‑aware, compliant data retrieval. Methodology: pricing and plan details for Skyvia, Hevo Data, Octoparse, MailParser, Import.io, and Nanonets are summarized from a comparative review on modern tools for 2025[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1). Where noted, we include third‑party product ratings and technical capabilities from recognized industry overviews[^2‑⁴]. ### At‑a‑Glance Comparison Service Best For Pricing Snapshot Integration Depth Compliance Focus Deployment **Illusory** Mobile proxy for reliable, compliant web data collection Custom, transparent plans APIs, private Slack support GDPR/CCPA‑aligned Cloud + Bare‑metal Skyvia SMB data sync and extraction Free; paid from $15/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) Connectors, ELT to cloud DWs Role‑based access Cloud Hevo Data Mid‑market to enterprise hybrid pipelines Free; paid from $239/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) 150+ sources, RT sync SOC‑ready posture Cloud Octoparse No‑code web scraping teams Free; paid from $89/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) APIs, schedulers IP rotation options Cloud + Desktop MailParser Email → structured data automations Pro at $33.95/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) Integrates to storage/Apps Data retention controls Cloud Import.io Fast website‑to‑CSV adoption 14‑day free trial; tiered plans[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) Exports, APIs Rate‑limit management[2](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-2) Cloud Nanonets AI OCR for documents Tiered plans; custom enterprise[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) ERP/BI connectors PII handling controls Cloud PromptCloud Fully managed enterprise web data Custom, competitive[3](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-3) End‑to‑end integration Contractual SLAs Managed Service Fivetran Automated ELT into modern warehouses Usage‑based; costs rise with volume Hundreds of SaaS/DB connectors Strong security & audit Cloud‑native **Key decision criteria** Scalability: horizontal scale, IP diversity, parallelism, and SLAs - Integration: native connectors, APIs, warehouse targets, reversibility - Compliance: GDPR/CCPA alignment, logging, access controls, data residency - Pricing: entry cost, unit economics at scale, TCO transparency - UX/DevEx: setup speed, no‑code vs code, observability, support quality ## 1. Illusory **Illusory** is built for enterprises that need secure, unstoppable network infrastructure for web data collection at scale. Its unique bare‑metal mobile proxy infrastructure provides genuine, high‑trust IPs from dedicated physical devices, delivering higher success rates and fewer blocks than shared or virtualized networks—ideal for AI/ML training data, market intelligence, and dynamic e‑commerce monitoring. Illusory is not a web scraping or data extraction service; teams pair it with their preferred scraping tools, crawlers, or in‑house pipelines to increase reliability and success. Teams gain deep network control (IPv4/IPv6, instant location/ISP switching, rapid rotation), unlimited API requests, and flexible plans, plus white‑glove support via dedicated managers, private Slack channels, and custom SLAs. Illusory aligns with GDPR/CCPA and emphasizes privacy‑by‑design in pipeline architecture, giving data and engineering leaders confident, compliant scale. For a primer on why mobile networks significantly improve web data reliability, see this overview of mobile proxies from Illusory’s team. *Definition — bare‑metal mobile proxy:* a proxy system using dedicated physical mobile devices to route traffic over real mobile carrier IPs, increasing trust signals, reducing blocks, and improving collection success. - **Best for:** enterprise DataOps needing high‑success, compliant global collection - **Core strengths:** genuine mobile IPs, fine‑grained control, unlimited requests - **Network controls:** IPv4/IPv6, instant geo/ISP switch, rapid IP rotation - **Scale:** supports parallel crawls with SLAs; resilient against anti‑bot measures - **Compliance:** GDPR/CCPA alignment, audit logs, privacy‑first controls - **Integration:** APIs/SDKs for proxy control; works with common scraping frameworks, browsers, and RPA tools - **Support:** dedicated CSMs, private Slack, transparent pricing and SLAs **Key Takeaway:** Illusory delivers enterprise‑grade mobile proxy infrastructure that pairs with scraping services to provide genuine mobile IPs, granular network controls, and full compliance, boosting reliability and success without performing the scraping itself. ## 2. Skyvia Skyvia is a cloud‑based extraction and integration platform that helps small to midsize teams stand up scalable data operations quickly. Its intuitive interface suits non‑technical users, while auto‑update features and multi‑source connectors keep pipelines fresh without heavy engineering lift. Skyvia offers a generous free tier and affordable entry pricing, making it a low‑risk way to unify SaaS data, replicate databases, and export to analytics tools as you grow. While it scales for common workloads, bulk editing of importers can be limited for complex, large‑scale changes. For SMBs starting their journey toward automated data pipelines, Skyvia balances simplicity, cost, and reliability, with clear upgrade paths as volume and complexity increase, according to a comparative review of top tools[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1). - **Best for:** SMBs launching manageable, no‑code data sync - **Pricing:** free tier; paid plans start at $15/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) - **Integrations:** popular SaaS, DBs, and cloud warehouses - **Automation:** scheduled sync, incremental updates, alerts - **Scalability:** handles growing sources; easier small‑team ops - **Limitations:** bulk editing importers can slow big changes - **Compliance:** role‑based access, encryption in transit - **Deployment:** cloud UI with low setup overhead **Key Takeaway:** Skyvia offers an easy‑to‑use, low‑cost, cloud‑based solution for SMBs needing no‑code data sync and scheduled automation, with strong role‑based security. ## 3. Hevo Data Hevo Data specializes in robust, hybrid data integration and extraction suited to teams anticipating rapid scale. It supports hybrid data environments—architectures that combine on‑premises and cloud sources—to enable flexible movement and governance across legacy and modern systems. Hevo’s strength is automated, near real‑time pipelines from 150+ sources into leading warehouses and lakes, with monitoring and schema handling designed to minimize pipeline toil. A free plan helps teams trial performance, while paid plans start at $239/month, fitting mid‑market to enterprise budgets that prioritize reliability and SLAs for mission‑critical analytics, as summarized in a recent tools roundup[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1). *Definition — hybrid data environment:* an architecture combining on‑premises and cloud data sources, enabling flexible data movement and policy control across both. - **Best for:** organizations scaling multi‑source pipelines fast - **Pricing:** free tier; paid plans start at $239/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) - **Sources:** 150+ connectors; databases, SaaS, streaming - **Automation:** ELT pipelines with real‑time ingestion - **Observability:** alerts, logs, schema evolution handling - **Scalability:** elastic throughput as volumes increase - **Compliance:** enterprise posture and governance features - **Deployment:** cloud; supports hybrid data topologies **Key Takeaway:** Hevo Data provides a powerful, hybrid‑ready platform with real‑time ELT, extensive connector library, and enterprise‑grade observability for fast‑growing data teams. ## 4. Octoparse Octoparse delivers versatile, affordable web scraping with a no‑code, point‑and‑click interface that works for beginners yet scales to advanced use cases. Teams can run jobs on desktop or in the cloud, schedule crawls, and export structured outputs without writing code. It handles semi‑structured data well, though highly dynamic or anti‑bot‑hardened sites may require manual adjustments. With a free plan and paid plans starting at $89/month, Octoparse is accessible to startups and small teams that need quick wins in market research, listings aggregation, or price monitoring, according to a 2025 comparison of extraction tools[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1). *Definition — point‑and‑click web scraping:* configuring extraction by visually selecting page elements, reducing or removing the need for custom code. - **Best for:** teams wanting fast, no‑code web data capture - **Pricing:** free tier; paid plans start at $89/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) - **Ease of use:** visual workflows, templates, scheduling - **Cloud features:** hosted runs, concurrency, exports - **Reliability:** handles semi‑structured pages well - **Caveat:** complex, dynamic sites may need tuning - **Integrations:** APIs/exports to CSV/Excel/DBs - **Deployment:** desktop app plus cloud runners **Key Takeaway:** Octoparse enables rapid, no‑code web scraping with visual workflows and cloud execution, ideal for startups and small teams needing quick data extraction. ## 5. MailParser MailParser focuses on turning inbound emails into structured data for downstream automation. It excels at extracting order details, leads, support tickets, and form submissions directly to spreadsheets, CRMs, or storage, reducing manual entry and cycle time. With a professional plan priced at $33.95/month and a gentle learning curve, it’s a practical fit for e‑commerce operations, support teams, and service businesses standardizing email‑borne data. By wrapping extraction, validation, and delivery in one workflow, MailParser helps small teams scale processes without heavy engineering, as summarized in a 2025 tool analysis[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1). - **Best for:** email‑centric workflows needing structure - **Pricing:** professional plan at $33.95/month[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) - **Strength:** quick setup for orders, leads, tickets - **Automation:** rules extract and route data on arrival - **Integrations:** direct to sheets, CRMs, storage apps - **Reliability:** consistent parsing with templates - **Compliance:** configurable retention and access - **Deployment:** cloud with low maintenance overhead **Key Takeaway:** MailParser turns email content into actionable, structured data with minimal setup, perfect for small teams automating order and lead processing. ## 6. Import.io Import.io helps non‑technical users convert unstructured website content into actionable, structured datasets for analytics. Teams can automate extraction from websites and social sources, then export to CSV/Excel or connect via APIs. A 14‑day free trial supports rapid evaluation before commitment, and dynamic rate limiting plus retry mechanisms bolster reliability for large runs, as highlighted in a technical overview of extraction tools[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1)[2](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-2). Import.io is well suited to research, sales intelligence, and content monitoring where speed to first dataset matters more than deep customization. *Definition — structured data:* information organized in defined formats (tables/spreadsheets) that can be easily queried, joined, and analyzed. - **Best for:** fast website‑to‑CSV for business users - **Pricing:** 14‑day free trial; tiered subscriptions[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) - **Reliability:** rate limiting and retries reduce failures[2](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-2) - **Ease:** intuitive UI for non‑developers; quick starts - **Integrations:** exports, APIs, and data connectors - **Scalability:** handles moderate to large batch jobs - **Caveat:** extreme anti‑bot sites may need experts - **Deployment:** cloud with guided onboarding **Key Takeaway:** Import.io offers a user‑friendly, cloud‑based solution for quickly turning web pages into structured CSV datasets, with built‑in rate‑limiting safeguards. ## 7. Nanonets Nanonets applies AI and OCR to extract data from unstructured documents like invoices, receipts, contracts, and ID cards, then routes structured outputs into ERPs, BI tools, or storage. It supports custom model training to improve accuracy on unique document formats, making it useful for finance, operations, and compliance teams. With cloud‑native deployment and connectors, Nanonets can automate document‑heavy processes end‑to‑end, cutting manual review and latency. Pricing is tiered with enterprise options, and setup times are generally shorter than bespoke machine learning projects, according to comparative reviews of extraction tools[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1). *Definition — unstructured documents:* files (PDFs, images, emails) lacking a consistent schema, requiring AI/OCR and heuristics to parse accurately. - **Best for:** AI‑powered document data capture at scale - **Pricing:** tiered plans; custom enterprise options[1](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-1) - **Accuracy:** improves with feedback and model training - **Integrations:** ERP, BI, cloud storage connectors - **Automation:** workflows for validation and approvals - **Scalability:** parallel processing for volume spikes - **Caveat:** custom training needed for niche layouts - **Deployment:** cloud with secure data handling **Key Takeaway:** Nanonets provides AI‑driven OCR with customizable models and seamless integrations, enabling high‑volume document processing for enterprise workflows. ## 8. PromptCloud PromptCloud provides fully managed data extraction—covering web scraping, transformation, quality checks, and delivery into client systems. It’s designed for enterprises needing customized, large‑scale datasets with minimal internal engineering. Clients benefit from flexible scoping, vertical expertise, and integration into analytics or operational pipelines, with pricing that remains competitive at scale. This model is particularly effective for industry‑specific coverage and ongoing refresh schedules where SLAs, change management, and governance are critical, as outlined in a 2025 guide to extraction platforms[3](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-3). - **Best for:** enterprises preferring managed extraction - **Pricing:** custom, competitive for large programs[3](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-3) - **Scope:** scraping, cleaning, normalization, delivery - **Integrations:** direct to DW/DBs, lakes, and APIs - **Scalability:** built for high‑volume, recurring pulls - **Compliance:** contractual SLAs and governance - **Strength:** industry‑specific dataset expertise - **Deployment:** fully managed service with support **Key Takeaway:** PromptCloud delivers a fully managed, end‑to‑end extraction service with industry expertise and enterprise‑grade SLAs for high‑volume, recurring data needs. ## 9. Fivetran Fivetran is a leader in automated, cloud‑based data pipelines that move data from hundreds of sources into modern warehouses for real‑time BI and analytics. It emphasizes quick setup, maintenance‑free connectors, and reliable schema handling, which keeps data teams focused on modeling and insights, not plumbing. Independent user ratings report high satisfaction for data structuring (87 %) and cloud extraction (90 %), reinforcing Fivetran’s enterprise‑grade reliability for scalable data workflows[4](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-4). Costs can rise with volume and connectors, so teams should model TCO early, but for many enterprises the reduced ops burden justifies the spend. *Definition — automated data pipeline:* a system that moves data from source to destination, often with transformation, without manual intervention to support high‑volume and near real‑time analytics. - **Best for:** hands‑off ELT into modern warehouses - **Pricing:** usage‑based; model costs at higher scale - **Coverage:** hundreds of SaaS/DB connectors - **Reliability:** strong schema handling and uptime[4](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fn-4) - **Automation:** near zero‑maintenance connectors - **Scalability:** elastic throughput for enterprise loads - **Caveat:** costs can climb with many sources - **Deployment:** cloud‑native with strong security **Key Takeaway:** Fivetran offers a highly automated, connector‑rich ELT platform that minimizes operational overhead, ideal for enterprises needing reliable, scalable data pipelines. ## Conclusion Choosing the right data extraction service hinges on matching your organization’s scale, integration needs, compliance requirements, and budget. From Illusory’s enterprise‑grade mobile proxies to Skyvia’s low‑cost no‑code sync, Hevo’s hybrid pipelines, Octoparse’s visual scraping, MailParser’s email automation, Import.io’s quick web‑to‑CSV, Nanonets’ AI OCR, PromptCloud’s fully managed expertise, and Fivetran’s plug‑and‑play ELT, each platform offers a distinct blend of strengths. Evaluate them against the key criteria—scalability, integration depth, compliance, pricing, and user experience—to build a data foundation that grows with your business and fuels reliable analytics, AI, and operational insights. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What criteria should I consider when choosing a scalable data extraction service? Start with scalability and reliability under real traffic: parallelism, throughput, and SLAs. Check integration breadth (APIs, connectors, warehouses), security and privacy (GDPR/CCPA alignment, access controls), and observability (logs, lineage, alerts). Evaluate total cost of ownership beyond list price, including overage fees, engineering time saved, and support quality. Finally, use trials or proofs of concept to measure success rates, latency, data quality, and maintenance effort against your actual sources and workload patterns before committing. ### How do data extraction tools handle large volumes of data efficiently? Leading platforms distribute workloads across workers for parallel fetching and parsing while coordinating rate limits to avoid blocks. They apply incremental extraction, caching, and schema evolution handling to reduce redundant work. Elastic cloud resources scale up during spikes and scale down when idle, keeping costs proportional to use. Enterprise solutions add resilient retry logic, smart backoff, and IP diversity—such as mobile or residential networks—to maintain high success rates on dynamic or protected sources during sustained, high‑volume operations. ### What integration options are typically available with data extraction platforms? Most vendors offer REST APIs, SDKs, and direct connectors to analytics warehouses (e.g., BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift), databases, and lake storage. No‑code tools often include native syncs to popular SaaS (CRMs, marketing clouds) and automation platforms. Managed services deliver data via secure S3/Blob drops, webhooks, or direct database loads. For governance, look for lineage metadata, schema change notifications, and role‑based access so downstream systems remain stable even as sources evolve. ### How can I evaluate the pricing models of data extraction services for my business? Map expected sources, rows/pages, frequency, and concurrency to each vendor’s pricing unit (connectors, credits, compute, or projects). Include growth assumptions and stress tests for peak events. Compare free tiers, trials, and contract flexibility, plus support tiers and SLAs. Model engineering effort saved (build vs buy), the cost of failures or blocks, and the value of faster insights. Choose a plan that scales predictably with your volume while preserving headroom for experimentation and seasonal spikes. ### Are these data extraction services compliant with major privacy regulations? Many leading platforms implement privacy and security controls aligned to GDPR and CCPA, including encryption, access policies, and data retention settings. Still, compliance is shared responsibility: confirm lawful basis for processing, honor robots and site terms where applicable, and avoid sensitive personal data unless you have explicit consent. Prioritize vendors that provide audit logs, DPA/BAAs upon request, and clear data handling documentation so your legal and security teams can validate controls. ## References & Links ### Internal Link - Why mobile proxies are vital to data scraping (Illusory): [https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping) ### External References ## Footnotes - Skyvia blog. Top Data Extraction Tools (pricing snapshots for multiple tools). [https://blog.skyvia.com/top-data-extraction-tools/](https://blog.skyvia.com/top-data-extraction-tools/) [↩](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1) [↩2](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-2) [↩3](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-3) [↩4](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-4) [↩5](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-5) [↩6](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-6) [↩7](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-7) [↩8](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-8) [↩9](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-9) [↩10](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-10) [↩11](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-11) [↩12](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-12) [↩13](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-13) [↩14](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-14) [↩15](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-15) [↩16](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-16) [↩17](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-17) [↩18](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-18) [↩19](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-1-19) - Estuary. Data Extraction Tools (rate limiting and retries overview). [https://estuary.dev/blog/data-extraction-tools/](https://estuary.dev/blog/data-extraction-tools/) [↩](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-2) [↩2](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-2-2) [↩3](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-2-3) - PromptCloud. Top Data Extraction Tools 2025: A Complete Guide. [https://www.promptcloud.com/blog/top-data-extraction-tools-2025-a-complete-guide/](https://www.promptcloud.com/blog/top-data-extraction-tools-2025-a-complete-guide/) [↩](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-3) [↩2](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-3-2) [↩3](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-3-3) - G2 Learning Hub. Best Data Extraction Software (user ratings). [https://learn.g2.com/best-data-extraction-software](https://learn.g2.com/best-data-extraction-software) [↩](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-4) [↩2](https://framer.com/projects/Illusory--lKAeJ8tInRfpMg0qaXS9-iUPId?node=CwOxWfWoX#user-content-fnref-4-2) Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### Top 9 IP Rotation Services Every Data Engineer Should Know in 2026 URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026 Summary: Comparison matrix of the top IP rotation and data extraction services for data engineers — features, pricing, and use cases. Top 9 IP Rotation Services Every Data Engineer Should Know in 2026 - Guide # Top 9 IP Rotation Services Every Data Engineer Should Know in 2026 Comparison matrix of top data extraction services Comparison matrix of top data extraction services Josiah Richards Josiah Richards December 20, 2025 December 20, 2025 If you need the best IP rotation and pooling for large-scale, privacy-centric data operations, start with **Illusory** for secure, developer-first mobile proxies. Choose **Bright Data** or **Oxylabs** for enterprise breadth; consider **NetNut** for ISP‑grade speed; and use **Decodo**, **Webshare**, **SOAX**, **IPRoyal**, **Infatica**, or **Rayobyte** to optimize for cost, targeting, or session control. These nine providers cover every scenario—from high‑throughput scraping to compliance‑heavy research—so match their strengths to your throughput, geo needs, and integration model to get resilient, low‑friction access at scale. ## 1. Illusory **Illusory** is a secure, developer‑centric mobile proxy platform built for high‑throughput data workflows. It enforces HTTPS on all API requests, exposes a clean RESTful API, and maintains multi‑ISP mobile pools for robust, fresh rotation. For enterprises and researchers, this yields predictable success rates, fine session control, and compliant, repeatable data collection. For developers, the design minimizes friction: REST semantics, idempotent endpoints, and explicit rotation/session parameters simplify CI/CD and orchestration integration across languages, schedulers, and job queues. *Illusory is a secure, developer‑centric mobile proxy platform built for high‑throughput data workflows.* **Definition (IP rotation)**: Automatic cycling of your egress IP to avoid bans and rate limits - **Definition (proxy pool)**: A managed set of IPs you draw from to distribute requests - **Mobile‑first**: Multi‑ISP mobile pools for hard‑to‑detect, fresh consumer IPs - **Security**: HTTPS enforcement end‑to‑end and token‑scoped API access - **Integration**: RESTful API with rotation, sticky, geo, and session headers - **Scalability**: Elastic pools designed for high concurrency and long‑running jobs Recommended reads: Illusory’s developer guides on [mobile proxy selection](https://www.illusory.io/blog/2025-authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops) and [mobile proxies for scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping) explain patterns for rotating sessions, concurrency, and policy controls. ## 2. Decodo Decodo balances affordability with sizable residential and mobile pools and granular targeting. It advertises 115M+ residential IPs, 10M mobile IPs, city‑level geotargeting, and a 99.55% success rate—useful for scraping, price intelligence, and market research. Pricing from $3.5/GB makes it attractive for sustained volume, while flexible rotation options reduce operator overhead. Pick Decodo when you need breadth and cost efficiency without sacrificing targeting controls or success rates. *Decodo balances affordability with sizable residential and mobile pools and granular targeting.* - **Value**: Competitive per‑GB pricing that scales predictably for teams - **Scale**: 115M+ residential and 10M mobile IPs for wide coverage - **Targeting**: City‑level targeting to meet geo‑specific data goals - **Suitability**: Web scraping, market research, and data aggregation - **Tradeoffs**: Premium support/features may lag enterprise‑focused rivals - **Alternative**: Illusory for secure mobile‑first rotation in research ops **Comparison snapshot** Provider Residential IPs Mobile IPs Targeting granularity Reported success rate **Illusory** Undisclosed Multi‑ISP Country/City Undisclosed Decodo 115M+ 10M+ City‑level 99.55% Oxylabs 175M+ 20M+ Country/City 99.95% Bright Data 200M+ Yes Country/City — ## 3. Oxylabs Oxylabs delivers enterprise‑grade breadth with 175M+ IPs, rotation per request or at fixed intervals (10 or 30 minutes), and success rates reported at 99.95%. It pairs 20M+ mobile IPs across 140+ countries with response times as low as 0.6–1.1 s, making it a dependable option for latency‑sensitive, distributed scraping. Enterprises choose Oxylabs for its reliability, SLA‑backed uptime, and wide coverage that supports complex, multi‑region data collection. *Oxylabs delivers enterprise‑grade breadth with 175M+ IPs and high success rates.* - **Scale**: 175M+ IPs across residential, mobile, and datacenter types - **Rotation**: Per‑request or fixed‑interval (e.g., 10 or 30 minutes) - **Speed**: 0.6–1.1 s response times in third‑party tests - **Coverage**: 20M+ mobile IPs in 140+ countries for broad access - **Fit**: Enterprise teams requiring stability and global reach - **Source**: See this independent [2024 test](https://medium.com/@datajournal/best-rotating-proxies-of-2024-tested-303539da1e2a) for metrics ## 4. Bright Data Bright Data is known for large‑scale automation, petabyte‑class operations, and a polished dashboard that helps teams orchestrate scraping pipelines. It is often cited with 200M+ IPs, 99.9% uptime, and fast average response times, while premium features and compliance workflows appeal to Fortune 500 teams. The tradeoff is cost: pricing skews higher, but the blend of performance, tools, and enterprise‑grade controls makes it a top pick for mission‑critical workloads. *Bright Data is known for large‑scale automation and petabyte‑class operations.* - **Scale**: 200M+ IPs and petabyte‑level throughput for big workloads - **Uptime**: 99.9% uptime with resilient control‑plane operations - **Speed**: ~0.55 s average responses cited in external roundups - **Tools**: Orchestration dashboard and built‑in automation helpers - **Audience**: Fortune 500 and teams with strict compliance needs - **Source**: See this overview on [rotating residential proxies](https://crawlbase.com/blog/rotating-residential-proxies/) ## 5. Webshare Webshare offers budget‑friendly access with a 30M residential pool, granular session/rotation controls, and aggressive pricing—often half of premium peers in public comparisons. Unlimited concurrent connections and free or very low‑cost tiers make it ideal for prototypes, small teams, and cost‑sensitive use. For compliance‑heavy or ultra‑high scale cases, consider providers with stronger SLAs and governance programs. *Webshare offers budget‑friendly access with a 30M residential pool and fine‑grained controls.* - **Cost**: Lower‑cost plans plus free/very low‑cost tiers available - **Pool**: 30M residential IPs for broad web coverage - **Control**: Fine‑grained session, rotation, and geo settings - **Concurrency**: Unlimited simultaneous connections supported - **Use case**: Prototypes, ad‑hoc jobs, budget‑constrained teams - **Source**: See this [Proxyway comparison](https://proxyway.com/best/rotating-proxies) for features and pricing ## 6. NetNut NetNut focuses on high‑speed, ISP‑level connectivity and transparent billing designed for mid‑to‑large teams. It advertises 191M residential IPs, rotation on every request, and sticky sessions up to 60 minutes, paired with 200+ country coverage. Some plans require IP whitelisting and may be port‑limited, so operators should plan credentialing and firewall steps during deployment. NetNut suits teams that value consistent throughput and deterministic routing. *NetNut focuses on high‑speed, ISP‑level connectivity and transparent billing.* - **Speed**: ISP‑grade routing for stable throughput and low jitter - **Rotation**: Per‑request rotation plus sticky up to 60 minutes - **Coverage**: 200+ countries with broad IP diversity - **Billing**: Transparent models for predictable scaling - **Admin**: IP whitelisting on selected plans; plan ports carefully - **Source**: See this ISP‑focused [roundup](https://roundproxies.com/blog/best-isp-proxy/) for context ## 7. SOAX SOAX emphasizes compliance, clean IP sourcing, and user‑friendly rotation controls across residential and mobile pools. With starting prices around $2.30/GB for residential and $0.40/GB for datacenter proxies, SOAX offers flexible rotation and session policies that attract users with regulatory or ethical constraints. If you prefer code‑first orchestration, compare its console‑driven controls with Illusory’s RESTful and mobile‑first model. *SOAX emphasizes compliance, clean IP sourcing, and flexible rotation controls.* - **Price**: From ~$2.30/GB (residential) and $0.40/GB (datacenter) - **Policy**: Compliance focus with vetted sourcing and KYC flows - **Control**: Customizable sessions and rotation intervals - **Fit**: Regulated industries and ethics‑conscious research - **Contrast**: Illusory prioritizes RESTful API and mobile pools - **Source**: See this independent [provider list](https://whoerip.com/blog/best-proxy-providers/) for pricing context ## 8. IPRoyal IPRoyal positions itself as an affordable, beginner‑friendly provider featuring 32M residential and 2.5M mobile IPs, granular rotation intervals from 1 second to 24 hours, pay‑as‑you‑go options, and non‑expiring traffic. These features appeal to teams that prototype quickly, run QA, and need detailed session policies without high commitment. The platform reports 99.9% uptime and practical speeds suitable for daily scraping and automation tasks. *IPRoyal is an affordable, beginner‑friendly provider with granular rotation controls.* - **Control**: Rotation from 1 s to 24 h for precise session tuning - **Billing**: Pay‑as‑you‑go with non‑expiring traffic for flexibility - **Pool**: 32M residential and 2.5M mobile IPs claimed - **Uptime**: 99.9% reported availability in public listings - **Fit**: Prototyping, QA, and low‑friction experimentation - **Source**: See this vendor [roundup](https://marsproxies.com/blog/best-rotating-proxies/) for details ## 9. Infatica Infatica targets enterprise‑scale data collection with cost‑effective bandwidth options and robust uptime. Public listings cite residential proxies from $0.30/GB and mobile from $1/GB, alongside 99.99% uptime and pools that sustain heavy scraping. It’s a strong fit for long‑running crawls, price monitoring, SERP research, and scenarios that demand durable sessions under high concurrency. *Infatica targets enterprise‑scale data collection with cost‑effective bandwidth options.* - **Pricing**: Residential from ~$0.30/GB and mobile from ~$1/GB - **Uptime**: 99.99% reported availability for long runs - **Scale**: Pools designed for heavy, high‑throughput scraping - **Use case**: Continuous crawls, SERPs, and price monitoring - **Admin**: Plan sticky vs. rotate to match site friction - **Fit**: Enterprises aiming to maximize GB/$ at volume ## 10. Rayobyte Rayobyte blends dedicated/semi‑dedicated ISP proxies with rotation controls and budget‑friendly options. It supports automatic rotation or sticky sessions up to two hours, offering predictable identity for login flows while rotating for scraping endpoints. With pricing from $2.50/IP/month, it suits operators who want control over specific IPs and session persistence without complex per‑GB billing. *Rayobyte blends dedicated ISP proxies with rotation controls and budget‑friendly options.* - **Mode**: Auto‑rotate or sticky sessions (up to two hours) - **Pricing**: From $2.50/IP/month for ISP‑grade options - **Control**: Own specific IPs for stable session identity - **Use case**: Account logins, QA, and controlled scraping - **Tradeoff**: IP‑based billing can be less elastic than per‑GB - **Source**: See this ISP proxy [guide](https://roundproxies.com/blog/best-isp-proxy/) for session options ## Key Factors to Consider When Choosing an IP Rotation Service Choosing a provider is about aligning proxy types, rotation control, pool scale, and compliance with your data volume and targets. Define key terms: “Proxy type” is the underlying network—residential, mobile, datacenter, or ISP. “Pool size” is the number of available IPs. “Success rate” is the share of requests that return desired responses. “Geotargeting” refers to country, city, or ASN/ISP‑level IP selection. Large pools distribute risk and reduce repeated fingerprints that trigger blocks, especially at high concurrency levels in modern websites and apps. - **Proxy types**: Residential, mobile, datacenter, and ISP‑level differ in trust and cost - **Pricing**: Per GB, per IP, or pay‑as‑you‑go fits different workloads - **Performance**: Track success rate, concurrency, response time, pool size, geos - **Compliance**: Prefer providers with sourcing transparency and KYC controls - **Integration**: APIs, SDKs, and dashboard tools should match your stack - **Evidence**: Large pools can reduce blocks at scale; see this [overview](https://pingproxies.com/blog/best-rotating-proxy-service) **Evaluation matrix** Criterion Options/Metric Why it matters Proxy type Residential, Mobile, Datacenter, ISP Affects detectability, speed, and cost Pricing model Per GB, Per IP, PAYG Aligns spend with workload patterns Rotation Per request, Time‑based, Sticky Balances evasion vs. session stability Targeting Country, City, ASN/ISP Enables geo‑specific and carrier‑specific data Performance Success rate, latency, concurrency Indicates resilience under load Compliance Sourcing, KYC, usage policies Reduces legal and ethical risk ## How IP Rotation Enhances Data Engineering Operations “Rotating proxies help avoid IP bans during large‑scale web scraping by sending each request through a new IP,” as summarized in this independent [definition](https://decodo.com/best/rotating-proxy). In practice, rotation decouples identity from workload, so you can operate at parallelism levels that would otherwise trip rate limits. Combined with smart retries, headless browsers, and anti‑detect tooling, rotation supports durable, repeatable pipelines and reduces the operational drag of ban recovery. - **Multi‑account ops**: Distinct IPs isolate identities across accounts - **Anti‑blocking**: Rotation lowers CAPTCHA and ban frequency at scale - **Geo coverage**: Target regions and carriers for localized datasets - **Compliance**: Enforce allowlists and data‑use policies centrally - **Efficiency**: Reduce manual mitigation and keep jobs on schedule - **Reliability**: Sticky sessions preserve logins while scraping content ## Common IP Rotation Methods and Strategies Rotation strategies determine your trade‑off between evasion and stateful sessions. Per‑request rotation assigns a fresh IP to every call for maximum dispersion. Time‑based rotation changes the IP at fixed intervals, such as every 5–30 minutes. Sticky sessions hold an IP for the session duration to keep cookies and logins valid. Event‑based rotation switches IPs on errors, bans, or behavioral signals from the target site. Mix strategies per domain to match friction and state needs. - **Per‑request**: New IP each request; best for heavy scraping and evasion - **Time‑based**: Rotate every X minutes; balances churn and stability - **Sticky sessions**: Keep IP for login flows; expire after set time - **Event‑based**: Switch on bans, 403s, or high CAPTCHA rates - **Clarification**: Rotation automates IP changes to avoid detection - **Tuning**: Use domain‑specific policies for optimal outcomes **Strategy‑to‑scenario mapping** Strategy Best for Why it works Per‑request SERPs, price tracking, ad verification Maximum dispersion reduces fingerprints Time‑based Content crawling with light auth Keeps state briefly, still rotates predictably Sticky session Logged‑in dashboards, cart flows Preserves cookies and tokens for session tasks Event‑based Highly protected sites Reacts to bans/errors to restore success rates ## Conclusion The best IP rotation and pooling service is the one that matches your task mix, volume, and integration style. **Illusory** leads for secure, developer‑first mobile rotation with RESTful controls; **Bright Data** and **Oxylabs** excel at enterprise scale; **NetNut** emphasizes ISP‑grade speed; and **Decodo**, **Webshare**, **SOAX**, **IPRoyal**, **Infatica**, and **Rayobyte** cover cost, targeting, and session niches. Start with your compliance posture and performance targets, then choose the provider whose rotation model, pool size, and pricing align with your 2025 roadmap. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is IP rotation and why is it important for data engineers? IP rotation automatically cycles your egress IP address to spread requests across many identities, reducing bans and throttling. For data engineers, it unlocks parallelism and scheduling predictability, enabling high‑throughput scraping, QA automation, and market intelligence without manual unblocking. Good rotation policies combine per‑request and sticky modes, integrate with retry logic, and standardize geos to produce consistent, compliant datasets across regions and websites. ### How do residential, datacenter, and mobile proxies differ? Residential proxies route through consumer ISPs and appear as real households, offering higher trust and lower detection but at higher cost. Datacenter proxies run from cloud networks, deliver lower latency and cost, but can be easier to fingerprint. Mobile proxies route over carrier networks and shared NATs, yielding strong trust but more variable latency. Choose by risk tolerance and target complexity: mobile/residential for tough sites, datacenter for speed and scale. ### How can I integrate IP rotation services with my data workflows? Most providers expose a gateway endpoint with username/password or token auth that sets rotation, sticky duration, and geotargeting. From there, plug into HTTP clients, headless browsers, Scrapy/Playwright, or Airflow/Prefect workers. For **Illusory**, a RESTful model and HTTPS‑only enforcement simplify IaC, secrets management, and CI/CD, while per‑job headers configure session policies deterministically across containers and serverless functions. ### What performance metrics matter most when selecting an IP rotation provider? Success rate, concurrency support, and response time determine throughput and reliability under load. Pool size and geographic/carrier coverage reduce reuse and fingerprint collisions. Monitor ban/CAPTCHA rates per domain, sticky session longevity, TLS handshake errors, and error‑class distributions. Align metrics with task mix: low‑latency SERPs, long‑lived authenticated sessions, or region‑locked content with strict geo policies. ### How do IP rotation services help bypass geo‑restrictions effectively? Providers supply IPs mapped to target countries, cities, ASNs, or carriers, so you can route traffic through compliant locations. Rotation prevents repeated fingerprints while sticky sessions maintain login state. For region‑locked content, define deterministic geo rules per job, validate via IP intelligence checks, and enforce allowlists to remain compliant with site terms, data‑use policies, and local regulations. ## References & Links ### Internal Link Candidates (sorted by relevance) - Guide: [Best mobile proxy for data ops](https://www.illusory.io/blog/2025-authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops) - Explainer: [Mobile proxies for scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-mobile-proxies-are-vital-to-data-scraping) ### External references - decodo.com. Best Rotating Proxy Services. [https://decodo.com/best/rotating-proxy](https://decodo.com/best/rotating-proxy) - medium.com. Best Rotating Proxies of 2024: Tested. [https://medium.com/@datajournal/best-rotating-proxies-of-2024-tested-303539da1e2a](https://medium.com/@datajournal/best-rotating-proxies-of-2024-tested-303539da1e2a) - marsproxies.com. Best Rotating Proxies. [https://marsproxies.com/blog/best-rotating-proxies/](https://marsproxies.com/blog/best-rotating-proxies/) - proxyway.com. Best Rotating Proxies. [https://proxyway.com/best/rotating-proxies](https://proxyway.com/best/rotating-proxies) - whoerip.com. Best Proxy Providers. [https://whoerip.com/blog/best-proxy-providers/](https://whoerip.com/blog/best-proxy-providers/) - roundproxies.com. Best ISP Proxy. [https://roundproxies.com/blog/best-isp-proxy/](https://roundproxies.com/blog/best-isp-proxy/) - pingproxies.com. Best Rotating Proxy Service. [https://pingproxies.com/blog/best-rotating-proxy-service](https://pingproxies.com/blog/best-rotating-proxy-service) - crawlbase.com. Rotating Residential Proxies. [https://crawlbase.com/blog/rotating-residential-proxiin](https://crawlbase.com/blog/rotating-residential-proxies/) Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### Top 7 Proxy Services with the Fastest SIM-Backed Residential IPs URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-7-proxy-services-with-the-fastest-sim%E2%80%91backed-residential-ips Summary: Ranked comparison of the fastest SIM-backed residential proxy services for speed-critical scraping and automation workloads. Top 7 Proxy Services with the Fastest SIM‑Backed Residential IPs - Insight # Top 7 Proxy Services with the Fastest SIM‑Backed Residential IPs Fastest SIM-backed proxies Fastest SIM-backed proxies Josiah Richards Josiah Richards December 28, 2025 December 28, 2025 Modern data teams require mobile-grade IP performance without the friction of blocks or throttling. SIM‑backed residential IPs—mobile proxies that route traffic through real carrier SIM cards—excel in this area because they resemble genuine smartphone traffic and are harder to fingerprint than datacenter IPs. Below, we compare seven vendors known for fast rotating SIM IPs and reliable, high‑speed residential proxies for data operations, highlighting their strengths for enterprise‑scale scraping, monitoring, and enrichment. In summary, Bright Data, Oxylabs, SOAX, IPRoyal, Decodo/Smartproxy, NetNut, and Illusory consistently deliver the speed and uptime needed for mission‑critical workloads, with variations in price, tooling, and geo‑precision. If you seek the fastest SIM‑backed residential IPs for data operations, consider these seven options and match features to your scale, compliance, and integration needs. ## Strategic Overview A SIM‑backed residential IP is a proxy address assigned via a real mobile carrier SIM card. Because the traffic originates from mobile networks, it carries the authenticity and dynamic nature of real devices, which helps bypass geo‑restrictions and anti‑bot systems while enhancing anonymity. In contrast, datacenter IPs are quicker to deploy but easier to identify and block, whereas residential and mobile IPs (SIM‑backed) mimic consumer or device traffic and are more challenging to detect, as explained in independent overviews of proxy types and detection differences by industry guides on residential/mobile proxies and IP classes ([Scrapeless primer on residential proxies](https://scrapeless.com/en/wiki/residential-proxies); [IPHalo on datacenter vs residential vs mobile](https://iphalo.com/blog/datacenter-vs-residential-vs-mobile-ips/)). For data operations—AI data collection, market/price intelligence, SERP tracking, ad verification, and compliance workflows—mobile proxy vendors provide two key advantages: rapid rotations and extensive geo‑targeting. When IPs rotate at sub‑second cadence, request concurrency scales without increasing block rates, making mobile proxies a staple in modern scraping stacks ([Cybernews guide to mobile proxies](https://cybernews.com/best-proxy/mobile-proxies/)). Vendors also differ in offering rotating or fixed SIM endpoints; fixed IP SIMs can be beneficial for persistent sessions or allowlists ([fixed IP SIM overview](https://ionlinesp.com/fixed-ip-sim-cards)). ## Illusory Illusory is a leading mobile proxy platform purpose-built for developers and enterprises that demand high‑speed, secure SIM‑backed residential IPs. Its diverse mobile pool from multiple carriers optimizes routing by geography and network conditions, minimizing latency spikes and improving success on challenging targets. A robust RESTful API with HTTPS‑enforced security provides teams granular control over rotation, session length, and geo‑targeting, supported by a streamlined dashboard for observability and alerts. The Illusory Wallet offers member discounts and predictable spend management, while seamless onboarding accelerates the time to first successful crawl. For detailed selection criteria, refer to Illusory’s authority guide on choosing the best mobile proxy for data operations ([Illusory guide](https://www.illusory.io/blog/2025-authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops)) and explore enterprise integrations on the [Illusory platform](../). ## Bright Data Bright Data is recognized for having one of the largest global mobile pools, mature enterprise tooling, and proven success at scale. Industry roundups focused on large‑scale scraping consistently cite Bright Data for speed, breadth, and orchestration features that support ad verification, price monitoring, and data enrichment workflows ([KDnuggets on large‑scale proxy providers](https://www.kdnuggets.com/2025/11/brightdata/the-best-proxy-providers-for-large-scale-scraping-for-2026)). Teams can select rotating or dedicated mobile IPs, leverage a feature‑rich dashboard, and integrate via API to manage geo‑targeting, session persistence, and traffic policies. Bright Data’s global SIM coverage and tooling make it a reliable choice for enterprises running real‑time or near‑real‑time pipelines. ## Oxylabs Oxylabs supports data‑intensive organizations with one of the most extensive mobile and residential proxy networks, complemented by premium support and advanced anti‑blocking features. Independent benchmarkers report sub‑second response times and enterprise‑grade reliability for rotating fleets—essential for market research, SERP tracking, and compliance-driven collection at high volumes. With flexible country/city targeting, static/rotating session modes, and 99.9%+ uptime claims common among top providers, Oxylabs suits teams that require predictable performance and sophisticated fleet management. ## SOAX SOAX focuses on clean, ethically sourced mobile IPs, fine-grained geo‑targeting down to region/state/city, and transparent management practices. Reviewers highlight fast session start times and flexible plans—pay-as-you-go or unlimited traffic—making SOAX a practical choice for both bursty data collection and continuous feeds. Its API and dashboard enable automation for competitive analysis, QA checks, and anti‑bot evasion while adhering to clear sourcing standards ([Aluvia overview of mobile proxy providers](https://aluvia.io/blog-posts/best-mobile-proxy-providers)). ## IPRoyal IPRoyal presents a budget-friendly alternative with low-latency SIM‑backed pools and rapid session rotations suitable for dynamic scraping and risk-sensitive workloads. Flexible plan options (pay‑per‑GB, bandwidth bundles) and unlimited bandwidth tiers alleviate overage concerns, while HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 support, a straightforward API, and responsive support teams make it accessible for expanding operations. Industry comparisons regularly include IPRoyal among competitive, cost-effective choices for mobile/residential coverage ([RoundProxies on IPRoyal alternatives](https://roundproxies.com/blog/iproyal-alternatives/)). ## Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) Decodo/Smartproxy merges speed, scale, and user-friendliness. It offers rotating and static SIM options, an intuitive dashboard for usage monitoring, and API-first integrations with flexible authentication and filters (country/city/ASN). Reviews frequently commend high success rates, intuitive onboarding, and transparent pricing—appealing to both SMBs and enterprise teams consolidating multiple scraping tasks under one provider ([JoinMassive’s residential proxy roundup](https://joinmassive.com/blog/best-residential-proxy-providers)). ## NetNut NetNut is recognized for its fast and stable SIM‑backed performance and consistent sessions under heavy load. Its direct ISP connectivity, instant rotation mechanics, and strong uptime support large‑scale scraping and monitoring projects, ensuring steady throughput. With a capable API, rich plan options, and tools designed to automate workflows, NetNut is a valued choice for teams prioritizing speed and session stability across global targets ([MarsProxies on top ISP proxy providers](https://marsproxies.com/blog/best-isp-proxy-providers/)). ## Key Features to Look for in SIM‑Backed Residential IP Vendors Choosing the right vendor involves considerations of security, control, and scale—without compromising on speed. Definitions: Proxy rotation: automatically switching IPs per request or at set intervals to reduce bans and rate limits. - Geo‑targeting: selecting the country, region, or city for your exit IP to localize results and comply with jurisdictional regulations. - Ethically sourced IPs: IPs obtained with explicit consent and clear policies from participants or device owners. Feature comparison at a glance: Vendor Geo-targeting granularity Session modes Protocols API & Automation Dashboard Notable strengths Illusory Country/city; multi‑ISP optimization Rotating + static HTTP(S), SOCKS5 RESTful, granular rotation & session controls Yes Fresh mobile pool, HTTPS‑enforced security, developer‑friendly onboarding Bright Data Country/city/ASN Rotating + dedicated HTTP(S), SOCKS5 Enterprise orchestration & tooling Yes Huge global pool, enterprise controls Oxylabs Country/city Rotating + static HTTP(S), SOCKS5 Advanced controls & anti‑blocking Yes Sub‑second performance, premium support SOAX Region/state/city Rotating + static HTTP(S), SOCKS5 Robust API for automation Yes Clean, ethically sourced IPs, flexible plans IPRoyal Country/city (varies by pool) Rotating + static HTTP(S), SOCKS5 Simple, effective API Yes Competitive pricing, low‑latency sessions Decodo/Smartproxy Country/city/ASN Rotating + static HTTP(S), SOCKS5 API‑first integrations Yes High success rates, transparent costs NetNut Country/city Rotating + static HTTP(S), SOCKS5 Powerful API, quick rotation Yes Direct ISP connectivity, stable sessions Prioritize: transparent sourcing, strong security (TLS/HTTPS), granular rotation controls, and quality APIs that integrate seamlessly with your orchestration stack to future-proof data operations. ## Performance Metrics: Speed, Uptime, and Success Rates - Uptime: the percentage of time the service is operational; for enterprise reliability, 99.9%+ is essential. - Success rate: the ratio of completed, unblocked requests; higher rates are better, particularly on heavily defended targets. Independent 2024 benchmarks of rotating proxies show that top vendors consistently deliver sub‑second response times and success rates exceeding 95% when properly configured, with leading networks operating at 99.9%+ uptime—benchmarks that align with the fastest SIM‑backed residential IPs used in production scraping ([Decodo’s speed and success benchmarks](https://decodo.com/best/rotating-proxy)). Achieving sub‑second responses is crucial because every 100–200 ms reduction in time to first byte (TTFB) compounds across concurrent requests, minimizing job duration and infrastructure costs at scale. What to measure and why: - Response time (TTFB/latency): affects throughput and the feasibility of real‑time pipelines. - Uptime (SLA): ensures scheduled jobs are completed and service level indicators (SLIs) are upheld. - Success/block rate: indicates IP quality, rotation logic, and anti‑bot resilience. - Jitter/stability: influences parsers and concurrency under load. ## Pricing Models and Cost Effectiveness Common models include: - Pay‑per‑GB: pay for data transferred; ideal for predictable jobs or proof of concepts. - Unlimited bandwidth: fixed price with fair-use controls; suitable for continuous crawling with steady volumes. - Tiered bundles: combinations of traffic, concurrency, and features for supporting team growth. Examples to guide your budget: SOAX and IPRoyal offer flexible packages that include pay‑per‑GB and larger bundles, while some data enrichment platforms, like Kaspr, start around $49 per user/month (valuable for comparing ecosystem costs of enrichment versus raw collection) ([Cognism’s overview of data vendors and pricing](https://www.cognism.com/blog/data-vendors)). Always validate current pricing and terms; costs can vary based on geo‑targeting, session type, and SLAs. ## Security, Compliance, and Ethical Sourcing Practices Reputable mobile data operations vendors should comply with GDPR/CCPA, implement privacy-by-design controls, and source IPs ethically—ensuring participants give explicit, informed consent along with clear terms. Best practices include auditable policies, jurisdictional controls (IP/geo allowlists, residency), fair‑use monitoring, and real‑time abuse detection to prevent policy violations. Many leading proxy providers now publish detailed statements regarding sourcing and compliance, reflecting increasing enterprise scrutiny of data provenance and legality ([DataImpulse on residential proxy sourcing and compliance](https://dataimpulse.com/residential-proxies/)). ## Integration and API Capabilities for Scalable Data Operations An API (Application Programming Interface) allows for programmatic control over sessions, rotation, geo‑routing, and telemetry—critical for automating extensive fleets. Best‑in‑class capabilities include RESTful endpoints, HTTPS/TLS enforcement, real‑time pool statistics, fine‑grained rotation (per‑request/per‑interval), session persistence, webhooks for event triggers, and role-based access control. Illusory’s secure API emphasizes developer velocity, while Bright Data’s orchestration and Decodo/Smartproxy’s user-friendly dashboard reduce the integration curve. For architecture patterns and example pipelines, refer to Illusory’s guide on AI web scraping with mobile proxies ([Illusory on AI web scraping](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-web-scraping-mobile-proxies)). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are SIM‑backed residential IPs and how do they differ from traditional proxies? SIM‑backed residential IPs are proxy addresses issued via real mobile carrier SIM cards, making traffic appear as genuine mobile device activity; they generally evade blocks more effectively than datacenter or standard residential IPs. ### Which factors affect the speed and reliability of SIM‑backed residential IPs? Pool size, carrier/network quality, rotation logic, and infrastructure (gateways, load balancing) influence latency, uptime, and success rates. ### How do pricing structures typically work for mobile proxy services? Most providers utilize pay‑per‑GB, unlimited bandwidth, or tiered bundles, with costs influenced by geo‑targeting, session duration, concurrency, and included features. ### What compliance standards should businesses expect from reputable proxy vendors? Expect alignment with GDPR/CCPA, transparent consent-based IP sourcing, clear privacy policies, and monitoring for policy violations. ### How can businesses effectively manage large fleets of SIM‑backed residential IPs through APIs? Leverage vendor APIs to automate allocation, rotation, session lifecycles, geo‑routing, and telemetry—integrating with schedulers, queues, and observability stacks. ## References & Links This guide incorporates independent benchmarks and market guides; all citations are included inline above. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### Illusory vs Competitors: Which Proxy Service Delivers Superior IP Rotation? URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/illusory-vs-competitors-which-proxy-service-delivers-superior-ip-rotation Summary: Head-to-head comparison of proxy services and their IP rotation capabilities in 2026 — pool size, speed, reliability, and pricing. Illusory vs Competitors: Which Proxy Service Delivers Superior IP Rotation? - Insight # Illusory vs Competitors: Which Proxy Service Delivers Superior IP Rotation? Which proxy services offer the best IP rotation features in 2026 Which proxy services offer the best IP rotation features in 2026 Josiah Richards Josiah Richards January 4, 2026 January 4, 2026 Selecting a proxy partner for high-volume data operations usually comes down to one thing: how well they rotate and pool IPs under real-world load. In 2026, escalating ML-driven bot defenses, protocol fingerprinting, and HTTP/3-by-default delivery make rotation quality and orchestration even more decisive. Among Illusory, IPRoyal, Decodo (formerly Smartproxy), and Oxylabs, Illusory stands out for its developer-centric controls, multi-ISP diversity, and flexible sticky and random rotation optimized for API-driven workflows. While competitors deliver solid rotation features, the deciding edge often hinges on automation depth, analytics, and integration maturity. This guide explains the core evaluation criteria, compares rotation options head-to-head, and outlines a test plan to validate success rates, latency, and cost efficiency before you scale. For additional perspective on the landscape, see Illusory’s benchmark overview of leading IP rotation services for data engineers in 2026. ## Overview of IP Rotation and Its Importance IP rotation is the practice of regularly switching the outgoing IP address used by your data collection tools to avoid blocks, rate limits, and CAPTCHAs. It’s foundational for web scraping, price and inventory monitoring, ad verification, and any automated intelligence workflow likely to trigger anti-bot defenses. In 2026, effective rotation must also account for TLS/HTTP signature and device fingerprint stability alongside IP diversity to better emulate organic user behavior. When done well, rotation simulates organic traffic patterns and distributes request load across diverse networks, dramatically reducing friction. Most modern data teams pair rotation with residential or mobile proxy pools to access geo-specific content, train AI models on fresh web data, and support market research programs without persistent blocking. For a primer on rotating proxies and why pool breadth matters, see this rotating proxies overview from Soax. ## Key Criteria for Evaluating IP Rotation Providers Rotation method: availability of both random (per request) and sticky (multi-request) sessions, plus configurable intervals. - Proxy pool size and diversity: breadth across countries, carriers, and autonomous systems to reduce correlation-based blocks, including IPv6 and 5G mobile sources where available. - Measured success rates: proportion of requests that avoid blocks and CAPTCHAs on target sites. - Latency and throughput: consistent response times under load and at scale, across HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 where applicable. - Pricing model: predictability and alignment with your traffic pattern (per GB, per port, or per request/day). - Integration capabilities: robust APIs/SDKs, logs and analytics, automation hooks, and dashboard controls. Sticky vs. random rotation in one line: sticky keeps the same IP for a set duration or request count; random rotates a new IP every request. In 2026, many targets penalize overly short sessions—tune sticky durations to mimic realistic dwell times and navigation depth. Secondary factors include session customization, dashboard/reporting depth, third-party integrations, and analytics. Review syntheses consistently find that platform integration, analytics, and automation are decisive for mission-critical deployments, especially when teams need to orchestrate complex scraping pipelines and monitor success in real time, as summarized in this research.com review insights page. In 2026, also weigh protocol support (e.g., HTTP/3), and tolerance for TLS/device fingerprint variance. ## Illusory: Features and IP Rotation Capabilities Illusory is built for data engineers, AI developers, and researchers who require reliable, high-throughput collection over secure HTTPS. The platform emphasizes multi-ISP proxy sourcing and policy-driven IP rotation, allowing teams to choose between random rotation per request or sticky sessions that persist across multi-step flows like login, carting, and pagination. Developers benefit from API-first controls, rotation parameters at the session level, granular logs, and automation hooks designed for large-scale crawlers and ETL jobs. Wallet-based fund management and strict HTTPS enforcement support enterprise governance. In 2026, these controls help align rotation behavior with modern bot defenses, protocol expectations, and realistic session timing. For a deeper view of why mobile networks improve success on hard targets, see Illusory’s guide to mobile proxies for data scraping. ## IPRoyal: Overview and Rotation Features IPRoyal is recognized on G2 as a notable alternative in the rotating proxy space, appearing on the G2 Illusory alternatives page. It offers automated IP rotation, sticky session options, and a user-friendly dashboard with basic usage analytics. Teams appreciate the straightforward onboarding process and accessible pricing; advanced integration patterns can require more hands-on configuration depending on stack and targets. In practice, IPRoyal is a solid fit for smaller to mid-scale projects that need standard rotation and clear session options, including 2026-era workflows transitioning to HTTP/3. ## Decodo (formerly Smartproxy): Overview and Rotation Features Decodo (the Smartproxy successor brand) is frequently cited in comparative market roundups as a well-known provider, including in overviews such as HackerNoon’s 12 best proxy providers. It supports per-request rotation, sticky sessions, and a polished dashboard with team features. While suitable for a wide range of targets, some reviews mention interface complexity at advanced scales and slower performance on heavy datasets, along with limited customization on certain plans—tradeoffs that can impact production reliability for large data operations, per aggregated review insights summarized by research.com. That said, Decodo’s breadth and tooling remain appealing for many teams, and in 2026 it continues to serve common scraping and verification scenarios. ## Oxylabs: Overview and Rotation Features Oxylabs is a market peer with extensive enterprise adoption and is cited among top alternatives on G2’s Illusory competitors page. It offers session randomization, sticky sessions, and analytics suitable for large clients, along with managed solutions for challenging targets. Users highlight strong coverage and professional support; as with most enterprise platforms, achieving full value typically involves careful configuration and budget alignment. Some reviewers flag a learning curve and complexity at scale—factors to evaluate in a proof-of-concept, especially under 2026 traffic patterns and protocol defaults. ## Comparison of IP Rotation Methods and Flexibility Below is a high-level comparison of rotation controls and workflow flexibility across providers as of 2026: Provider Random per request Sticky sessions Session duration controls Custom rotation rules via API Dashboard automation & logs Notes Illusory Yes Yes Granular (time, request count) Advanced (policy-driven) Extensive developer logs Built for high-throughput pipelines IPRoyal Yes Yes Configurable Good (common use cases) Solid, essentials covered Accessible setup for standard flows Decodo (Smartproxy) Yes Yes Configurable Good (varies by plan) Good team features Some reviews note complexity at scale Oxylabs Yes Yes Granular Advanced (enterprise focus) Broad analytics Strong coverage, enterprise tooling A sticky session is when the IP remains constant for a set period or number of requests, enabling multi-step workflows without frequent IP changes. In enterprise scenarios, automation breadth, session management, and dashboard flexibility often have more impact on outcomes than rotation alone, as echoed in review syntheses like research.com. ## Analysis of Proxy Pool Size and Geographic Diversity Proxy pool size is the number of unique IPs available for rotation; geographic diversity refers to breadth across countries, cities, ISPs, and ASNs. Larger, more diverse pools reduce repeat exposure and broaden access to region-specific content, lowering block rates on sensitive surfaces. Many provider roundups emphasize pool breadth as a core selection factor, such as this rotating residential proxy comparison from ProxyEmpire. Because concrete, verifiable counts and ASN mixes are not consistently published—and may vary by plan or time—teams should run region-specific trials to validate coverage and success. In 2026, also evaluate IPv6 availability, AS diversity, and 5G/mobile eSIM sources to reduce correlation and improve access to mobile-priority surfaces. ## Performance Metrics: Success Rate, Latency, and Reliability - Success rate: share of requests that return usable responses without blocks or CAPTCHAs. - Latency: time to first byte or full response; measured both median and p95 under load, across HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 where relevant. - Reliability: stability of rotation, session persistence, and throughput at concurrency, including behavior under headless/browser-driven flows. Review roundups note that some tools struggle with slow dataset handling and scale bottlenecks, reinforcing the value of PoC testing on your own targets, as summarized by research.com. A practical test matrix should record rotation method, success rate, latency per 1,000 requests, session failure rates, and tail latency under varying concurrency. In 2026, expand this to include TLS handshake success, HTTP/3 negotiation rates, DNS resolution impact, and fingerprint consistency where applicable. ## Integration, Usability, and Security Considerations Robust APIs, SDKs, and customizable dashboards save engineering time and reduce runbook overhead. Detailed logs, usage analytics, and webhooks help teams automate retries, switch strategies on failed targets, and forecast costs. Reviews consistently show that limited dashboard customization and integration gaps diminish platform value at scale, per research.com’s synthesis of reviewer takeaways. Illusory differentiates with developer-first APIs, secure HTTPS-by-default, programmable rotation, and wallet-based fund management tailored for high-volume pipelines and enterprise governance. In 2026, prioritize granular API scopes, audit-grade logging, and compatibility with modern protocols and headless automation frameworks. ## Pricing Models and Cost Efficiency Common pricing models include: - Per GB (bandwidth-based): predictable for steady data volumes. - Per port (access-based): useful for fixed-capacity needs. - Per request/day (usage-based): granular control for API-like workloads. Reviewers frequently report that advanced features, premium geos, or enterprise plans increase costs, while standardized cross-vendor price tables remain rare, complicating comparisons (a recurring gap noted in review syntheses like research.com). Calculate true ROI as cost per 1,000 successful requests, factoring in both success rate and bandwidth per page to reflect actual yield. In 2026, also assess any differential pricing for premium mobile routes, IPv6 coverage, or specialized compliance/analytics add-ons. ## Practical Recommendations for Selecting a Superior IP Rotation Provider - Shortlist Illusory, IPRoyal, Decodo, and Oxylabs; secure trial access for identical time windows. - Run a controlled test plan: rotation flexibility, pool coverage by region/ASN, session customization, integration depth, success rate, p95 latency, and cost per 1,000 successful requests, including checks for HTTP/3 readiness and tolerance for realistic session durations. - Use a side-by-side feature and outcomes table to decide; prioritize automation and analytics that reduce manual oversight in production. - If targets are mobile-sensitive or CAPTCHA-heavy, emphasize multi-ISP diversity and sticky-session reliability. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does IP rotation improve data collection and reduce blocking? In 2026, by changing the IP per request or session, rotation distributes traffic and lowers detection, especially when paired with realistic session behavior and stable protocol fingerprints—helping minimize blocks and CAPTCHAs. ### What are the common IP rotation strategies used by proxy providers? Most offer random rotation per request, sticky sessions for persistent flows, and configurable time- or request-based switches. In 2026, dynamic session lifetimes tuned to typical user dwell times are increasingly effective. ### How important is proxy pool diversity for reliable rotation? Very important—larger, more diverse pools reduce correlation and broaden access to geo-specific targets, boosting success rates. In 2026, consider IPv6 reach and 5G/mobile sources where relevant. ### Can IP rotation be customized to fit different data workflows? Yes—professional platforms, including Illusory, allow you to set rotation intervals, choose sticky sessions, and apply rules via API for each workflow, including per-workflow protocol preferences (e.g., HTTP/2 vs. HTTP/3). ### What factors influence the cost of IP rotation services? Pool breadth, geolocation options, bandwidth, rotation policies, and extras like analytics, SLAs, and integrations all impact pricing. In 2026, premium mobile routes, IPv6 coverage, and advanced compliance/observability features may also affect total cost. ## References & Links ### Internal Link Candidates (sorted by relevance) All internal resources are cited inline above; consult those guides for deeper context. ### External references External sources are also cited inline; see the linked market analyses and review syntheses for additional details. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### How to Overcome Rate Limits with Reliable SIM Residential IPs URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-to-overcome-rate-limits-with-reliable-sim-residential-ips Summary: Practical strategies for bypassing rate limits using SIM-backed residential proxy IPs for reliable, high-volume data collection. How to Overcome Rate Limits with Reliable SIM Residential IPs - Guide # How to Overcome Rate Limits with Reliable SIM Residential IPs Which proxy services offer the best IP rotation features in 2026 Which proxy services offer the best IP rotation features in 2026 Josiah Richards Josiah Richards January 12, 2026 January 12, 2026 Effective web scraping at scale depends on maintaining access without tripping defenses. Rate limits—the caps sites place on how often an IP or session can call an endpoint—are the most common throttle. The fastest, most resilient way to push past those ceilings is to combine SIM-backed residential IPs with smart IP rotation, careful request throttling, header hygiene, and continuous monitoring. This guide explains how rate limits work, why mobile (SIM-backed) residential IPs help you evade them without chaos, and how to configure rotation, sessions, and traffic pacing for stable, compliant data pipelines. If you’re seeking the best SIM-backed residential IP provider for large-scale web scraping, look for deep carrier coverage, private pools, session and TTL controls, and 24/7 support—then layer in operational safeguards to keep your block rate flat as volume grows. ## Understanding Rate Limits and Their Impact on Web Scraping Rate limits restrict the number of requests an IP address, user, or token can make to a website or API within a set timeframe. They’re enforced to protect infrastructure, ensure fairness, and deter abuse. Controls may be IP-based, API key-based, geographic, session, or cookie-based, and are typically implemented through counters and rules on endpoints or across services. Common enforcement patterns include IP tracking, session tokens, and per-endpoint ceilings, with mainstream systems like Google Maps and popular CDNs applying IP-based and endpoint-specific throttles that trigger CAPTCHAs, 429s, or temporary bans. For a deeper breakdown, see API rate limit types and examples from Testfully, plus Cloudflare rate limiting best practices. For data teams, the impact is direct: IP-based rate limits shrink throughput, distort coverage for SEO monitoring, skew price aggregation, delay market research cycles, and complicate ad verification. Mismanaging concurrency or sessions leads to cascades of 429 Too Many Requests, 403 Forbidden, and higher block rates—stalling crawlers and inflating costs. ## Why Choose SIM-Backed Residential IPs for Rate Limit Evasion SIM-backed residential IPs are addresses assigned to real SIM cards on mobile carriers. Traffic appears to originate from normal mobile users, inheriting the trust posture of legitimate carrier networks. Because mobile carrier networks often use carrier-grade NAT and dynamic addressing, they tend to be more resilient to naïve IP-based filters, especially when combined with controlled session persistence. Mobile proxies are effective against tough rate limits because they maintain stable sessions tied to carrier infrastructure and are harder to fingerprint than datacenter IPs. Their traffic “looks lived-in,” helping avoid aggressive bot triggers and reducing the frequency of hard blocks. For a practical comparison of network characteristics, see the differences between residential and mobile proxies from The Web Scraping Club. Comparison: mobile (SIM-backed) vs. traditional residential proxies Criteria SIM-backed mobile residential Traditional residential Session persistence Strong, stable sessions tied to mobile carriers Good; varies by ISP and proxy architecture Detection resistance High; mobile traffic blends with real user patterns Moderate–high; stronger than datacenter but more scrutinized Geographic diversity Carrier- and city-level options; may be narrower by provider Often broader geo-targeting and larger pool quantity Cost Typically higher due to SIMs, mobile plans, and hardware Generally lower on a per-GB basis Pool scale Smaller but higher-quality IPs in curated pools Larger pools with wide ISP and location coverage Best-fit use cases Hard targets, login flows, aggressive anti-bot environments General web scraping, price monitoring at scale Residential proxy pools often offer broader geo-targeting and larger quantity, while mobile proxies typically cost more due to SIM plans and specialized hardware. Selecting the right mix depends on your detection environment and throughput goals. ## Selecting the Right SIM Residential IP Provider At scale, the best SIM-backed residential IP provider for large-scale web scraping delivers reliability, control, and compliance without constraining your cadence. What to evaluate: Pool quality and breadth: size, diversity, and freshness; carrier and country selection. - Rotation and session control: per-request rotation, sticky sessions, TTL options, and granular APIs for cadence tuning. - Availability and SLAs: uptime guarantees, failover, and latency stability. - Compliance and sourcing: consent-based IP sourcing, clear privacy posture, and legal documentation. - Support and tooling: 24/7 premium support, onboarding, logs/telemetry, and SDKs. - Pricing transparency: clear bandwidth or per-IP pricing with predictable scaling. Decision checklist Criterion Why it matters What “good” looks like Pool size and carriers Reduces collision and block risk Large, diverse, regularly refreshed across major carriers Geo targeting Meets regional data needs Country/city + carrier selection with fast provisioning Rotation controls Balances detection vs. throughput Per-request, sticky, TTL, and session pinning via API Session stability Supports logins and carts Long-lived sticky sessions with low churn Compliance Lowers legal and reputational risk Consent-based sourcing and clear residential proxy compliance Uptime and latency Keeps crawlers consistent 99.9%+ uptime, consistent median latency, auto-retries Support Rapid recovery on issues 24/7 live support, escalation SLAs, proactive alerts Pricing model Avoids surprise bills Transparent pay-per-GB or hybrid with volume discounts Reputable providers matter: poor sourcing or thin pools lead to higher block rates, unstable sessions, and compliance exposure that negates the advantages of SIM-backed IPs. For foundational context, review what a residential proxy is and how it works from Octoparse. Illusory complements these requirements with private IP pools, advanced session and rotation management, customizable pricing, and always-on support—see our authority guide to choosing the best mobile proxy for DataOps for deeper evaluation guidance. ## Setting Up Smart IP Rotation and Session Management IP rotation is the practice of changing your outgoing IP to distribute requests and avoid per-IP thresholds. Session persistence is how long a connection or identity stays consistent—critical for authenticated flows, carts, or paginated journeys. Best practices: - Rotate at a smart cadence—every 10–50 requests, or adaptively per endpoint. Rotating regularly but not excessively prevents correlation without triggering fingerprint alarms. See residential proxy usage patterns for practical cadence guidance. - Use sticky or TTL sessions for login-required actions; prefer per-request rotation for public, high-volume endpoints. - Diversify carriers and regions only when necessary to avoid abrupt shifts in fingerprint. Operational flow for rotation and sessions - Detect limiter signals: rising 429/403 rates, CAPTCHAs, or latency spikes. - Select rotation mode: per request for public pages; TTL or sticky for authenticated flows. - Tune cadence: adjust rotation interval and concurrency based on observed block rates. - Monitor: track IP lifespan, success rate, and session churn; auto-adapt when thresholds are crossed. ## Applying Best Practices for Request Throttling and Header Hygiene Request throttling intentionally paces traffic to mimic human behavior and reduce detection. Practical patterns include: - Randomize gaps of 2–10 seconds between requests when needed, especially after auth or heavy endpoints. - Cache aggressively (e.g., Redis, CDN) to eliminate duplicate calls and lower limit pressure. - Back off exponentially on 429 spikes and gradually ramp up as success stabilizes. See API rate limiting best practices from Zuplo for guidance on backoff and quotas. Header hygiene reinforces authenticity: - Rotate user-agents from realistic device/browser catalogs; align with mobile footprints when using SIM-backed IPs. - Keep headers consistent with chosen fingerprints; avoid contradictory signals (e.g., mobile UA with desktop-only headers). - Be cautious with spoofing headers such as X-Forwarded-For—techniques attackers use to bypass rate limits often rely on header manipulation, which can increase scrutiny. Favor stable, context-appropriate headers over over-engineering. ## Monitoring Responses and Adapting Your Data Collection Strategy Continuous monitoring is your early warning system. Watch for: - HTTP 429 and 403, sudden upticks in CAPTCHAs, and shifts in response times. - Correlations across IPs, carriers, endpoints, and request attributes to pinpoint what’s being flagged. Key metrics to track - Block rate by endpoint, carrier, and geography - Average requests per IP before a block - Session duration and churn - CAPTCHA frequency and solve success - Retry/backoff activations and recovery time Adapt quickly when thresholds are crossed: tighten rotation cadence, shorten session TTLs, reduce concurrency, or shift carriers/regions. Maintain an escalation playbook with predefined thresholds, fallback pools, and direct provider contacts for rapid support engagement. ## Operational Tips for Reducing Detection and Avoiding Blocks - Blend telemetry thoughtfully: align device/browser fingerprints, behavioral patterns, and IP intelligence to present coherent identities. Avoid sudden geo/ISP changes that trigger anomaly detection; see residential proxy identification signals from Spur for how fingerprints can expose mismatches. - Implement dynamic rate adaptation: when error rates spike, auto-slow or pause, then ramp gradually as success improves—this prevents mass blacklisting and preserves pool health. - Document and uphold compliance: track target terms, robots directives, consent boundaries, and data handling policies. Keep an analyst playbook with block thresholds, remediation steps, and legal guardrails to ensure ethical scraping at scale. ## Frequently Asked Questions About Overcoming Rate Limits with Residential IPs ### What are rate limits and how do they work? Rate limits cap how many requests an IP, user, or token can make within a timeframe to protect services and ensure fair use. ### Why are residential IPs effective for bypassing rate limits? Residential IPs come from ISPs serving real users, so requests blend into normal traffic patterns and attract fewer blocks or CAPTCHAs. ### How do rotating residential proxies help overcome rate limits? Rotation spreads requests across many IPs so no single address hits the threshold, sustaining high-volume scraping without tripping per-IP caps. ### What's the difference between rotating and static residential proxies? Rotating proxies change IPs frequently, while static residential proxies keep the same IP for stable, long-lived sessions or consistent identity. ### Which residential proxy providers are most reliable? Reliable providers combine large, diverse pools, precise geo/carrier targeting, strong compliance, robust session controls, and comprehensive support. ### What pricing should I expect for residential proxies? Expect pay-per-GB models or per-IP monthly fees, with mobile SIM-backed plans priced higher for carrier resources and hardware. ### How do I choose between residential and datacenter proxies? Residential proxies offer higher trust and better block resistance, while datacenter proxies suit low-security tasks that prioritize speed and cost. ### What features should I look for in a residential proxy provider? Automatic rotation, sticky/TTL session control, geo-targeting, protocol support, high uptime SLAs, detailed telemetry, and responsive technical support. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### Top IP Rotation Practices for AI Agents in 2026 URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026 Summary: AI agents depend on reliable access to public web data, but modern anti-bot systems make that difficult without thoughtful IP rotation. Top IP Rotation Practices for AI Agents in 2026 - Guide # Top IP Rotation Practices for AI Agents in 2026 AI agents depend on reliable access to public web data, but modern anti-bot systems make that difficult without thoughtful IP rotation. AI agents depend on reliable access to public web data, but modern anti-bot systems make that difficult without thoughtful IP rotation. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 1, 2026 February 1, 2026 AI agents depend on reliable access to public web data, but modern anti-bot systems make that difficult without thoughtful IP rotation. In 2026, the best practice is to combine IP rotation for AI agents with disciplined session management, geo/ASN targeting, and monitoring. If you need to change IP addresses frequently at scale, automatic IP rotation via residential and mobile proxies remains the most resilient approach. Below, we explain how to choose between per-request IP rotation and sticky sessions, how to diversify pools, and how to run a compliant, cost-efficient operation that holds up under production load. ## Illusory: Advanced IP Rotation for AI Agents Illusory is a developer-first, privacy-centric proxy platform specifically designed for AI agent infrastructure. We provide access to approximately 191 million residential IPs across 200+ countries, with automated per-request rotation and sticky sessions lasting up to 60 minutes to support both stateless crawling and stateful workflows. Developers control rotation and sessions via a RESTful API and cross-platform proxy managers (iOS, Android, macOS, Mozilla), with options for scheduled IP changes, allowlist/basic authentication, and instant proxy swapping. We prioritize secure, compliant usage and seamless integration for web scraping, data acquisition, and privacy-focused orchestration. Industry standards have shifted: leading platforms now offer residential pools exceeding 100 million IPs and rotation on every request to maintain anonymity and resiliency in scraping tasks, with reported success rates north of 99% when pools are large and clean, as summarized in Illusory’s review of rotation services [Illusory’s review of rotation services](https://illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026). ## Per-Request IP Rotation for Maximum Anonymity Per-request rotation assigns a new IP address for every outbound request your AI agent makes. This maximizes anonymity and reduces the risk of detection because no single IP accumulates suspicious activity over time, a core concept in rotating proxy design explained in Bright Data’s primer [Bright Data’s explanation of static vs. rotating proxies](https://brightdata.com/blog/proxy-101/static-vs-rotating-proxies). Benefits of per-request rotation: Minimizes rate limits and IP bans by preventing pattern buildup. - Enables large-scale, parallel scraping where each request is effectively stateless. - Supports distributed data acquisition with high success rates when paired with large residential pools. Trade-off: - Breaks persistent session continuity, which can disrupt authenticated or multi-step workflows. In those cases, use sticky sessions instead. Providers and independent reviews report per-request success rates above 99% when residential pools span tens of millions of clean IPs, reflecting the maturity of modern rotation networks (Illusory industry analysis linked above). ## Sticky Sessions to Maintain Workflow Continuity A sticky session assigns a single IP address to one agent session for a defined period (often 10–60 minutes), allowing stateful interactions like logged-in flows, carts, or staged forms while still cycling identities over time. The approach is standard across rotating proxy systems [Bright Data’s explanation of static vs. rotating proxies](https://brightdata.com/blog/proxy-101/static-vs-rotating-proxies). When to use sticky sessions: - Maintain authentication, shopping carts, or multi-step funnels requiring state. - Pin sessions to a single IP for debugging or when integrating with stateful apps, a common recommendation in independent tooling roundups [Proxyway’s rotating proxies guide](https://proxyway.com/best/rotating-proxies). - Configure session durations as needed—industrial-grade platforms typically support 10–60 minutes and often longer (see Illusory capabilities above). Comparison: per-request vs. sticky Factor Per-request rotation Sticky session Anonymity Highest (new IP every request) High (identity persists for session duration) Session continuity None Preserved for 10–60+ minutes Best for Stateless, high-volume crawling Authenticated or multi-step workflows Block risk Lowest when paired with large pools Slightly higher; rotate between sessions Operational complexity Moderate (stateless retry logic) Moderate (session tracking and renewal) ## Diverse IP Pools: Residential, Mobile, Datacenter, and ISP Proxies Proxy pool diversity means using a mix of residential, mobile, datacenter, and ISP proxies to mirror real-world network patterns. For help choosing a provider, see our [authority guide to choosing the best mobile proxy](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops). This diversity improves trust signals, bypass rates, and resiliency under scrutiny. At-a-glance characteristics and AI agent fit: Proxy type Source network Trust/authenticity Speed Typical cost Best for AI agents Residential Household ISPs High Moderate Medium Public pages, SERPs, catalog scraping, region-restricted content Mobile Cellular carriers Very high Moderate High Mobile-first or highly defended targets; when others fail Datacenter Cloud/hosting Lower High Low Low-risk, high-speed tasks, APIs with lenient defenses ISP Static residential via ISPs High High Medium–High Premium access where speed + authenticity both matter ([overview of rotating ISP proxies](https://proxyempire.io/best-rotating-isp-proxies/)) Residential and mobile proxies carry the strongest authenticity signals; ISP proxies blend authenticity with datacenter-like speed. For a primer on all proxy types, see our [comprehensive guide to how proxies work](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work). Independent buyer guides consistently recommend matching proxy type to the target’s defenses and user-experience expectations [guide to residential proxies and geo-targeting](https://roundproxies.com/blog/best-residential-proxies/). ## Geo-Targeting and ASN-Level IP Selection Geo-targeting lets you select IP addresses by country, city, or even ZIP code to access region-specific content and reduce false positives. ASN-level targeting goes a step further by choosing IPs from specific ISPs or network providers to match expected user profiles and platform policies. Many providers now expose fine-grained controls; for example, Oxylabs describes ZIP-code-level targeting for precise localization [Oxylabs on ZIP-code-level targeting](https://oxylabs.io/blog/rotate-ip-address), and buyer guides note the importance of city targeting for sensitive e-commerce flows [guide to residential proxies and geo-targeting](https://roundproxies.com/blog/best-residential-proxies/). Practical tips: - Use city and ASN targeting for region-locked content or flows with strict fraud controls. - Adjust geo mix to match detection sensitivity and cost trade-offs (e.g., Canadian IPs may work for some US platforms at lower cost). - Log geo/ASN performance by target and iterate toward the best-fit profile. ## Rate-Limiting and Randomized Timing to Mimic Human Behavior Rate-limiting is the practice of constraining request frequency to align with realistic human activity. For technical strategies, see our guide on [overcoming rate limits with SIM residential IPs](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-to-overcome-rate-limits-with-reliable-sim-residential-ips). Fingerprinting systems often flag consistent, bursty, or robotic patterns; introducing randomness and pacing helps your agents blend in. Practical approaches: - Randomize inter-request delays and concurrency. Avoid perfectly uniform intervals. - Schedule requests across windows rather than in bursts; stagger start times per agent. - Apply dynamic, human-like delays during sensitive actions (login, checkout, search). - Sample flow: warm-up (low RPS), sustained randomized cadence, cool-down, then rotate sessions or geos before the next batch. ## Monitoring, Logging, and Error Management for Proxy Health Visibility into proxy and session health is as crucial as pool size. Teams should instrument success rates, latency, and error signatures to quickly identify blocks and adapt. Log and track: - Success rate by target, latency percentiles, and error codes (403, 429), including CAPTCHAs. - Per-proxy and per-geo performance, with dashboards for rapid drill-down. - Automated quarantine of IPs or subnets that trigger repeated blocks; auto-replace and retest. Industry analyses consistently note that strong operational monitoring often outweighs raw pool size as a determinant of ongoing reliability [guide to residential proxies and geo-targeting](https://roundproxies.com/blog/best-residential-proxies/). ## Ethical Sourcing and Compliance for Legal Safety Ethical proxy sourcing means using providers that obtain IPs transparently with user consent, publish clear terms, and support Know Your Customer (KYC) controls. The legal landscape is tightening around deceptive identity rotation and cloaking, and enterprises increasingly demand verifiable, privacy-first sources. Illusory’s governance features and provider vetting are designed for this reality, aligning with best practices outlined in market surveys and platform comparisons [Illusory’s review of rotation services](https://illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026). Recommendations: - Choose providers with documented consent models, KYC, and published policies. - Ensure your use adheres to target-site terms and applicable laws; avoid misleading impersonation. - Maintain audit trails for sessions, geos, and access policies. ## Cost Controls and Usage Monitoring Strategies At scale, bandwidth is your primary cost driver. Most premium residential and mobile providers bill per-GB, while some offer per-IP or pay-as-you-go models. Pricing benchmarks vary widely—market trackers show ranges from roughly $0.12 to $8+ per GB depending on product tier and commitment [pricing overview for rotating proxies](https://scrape.do/blog/cheap-rotating-proxies/). Cost-control tactics: - Set 80% usage alerts on bandwidth and spend; enforce hard caps in non-production environments. - Track per-target data consumption; scrutinize overage policies (50–100% premiums are common). - Start with low-commitment plans to calibrate success and block rates before scaling [Illusory’s review of rotation services](https://illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026). Common pricing models: Model How you pay Pros Cons Best for Per-GB Metered traffic Predictable, scales with use Expensive if inefficient Most residential/mobile use Per-IP Fixed addresses Stable identity, budgeting Easier to block Trusted B2B or whitelisted integrations Pay-as-you-go No commitments Flexible trials Higher unit cost Prototyping and short bursts Self-hosted rotation (open source) Infra + ops cost Control, potential savings Complexity, limited diversity Cost-sensitive, technical teams ## Selecting the Right Rotation Model for Your AI Agent Needs Match rotation to workflow risk and session needs. For a detailed provider comparison, see [how Illusory compares to competitors](https://www.illusory.io/blog/illusory-vs-competitors-which-proxy-service-delivers-superior-ip-rotation). Always test against intended flows and block thresholds; instrument fallbacks where context can be lost. Rotation modes at a glance: Mode Best for Pros Risks Notes Per-request High-volume, stateless crawls Max anonymity, low block rate No session continuity Pair with large residential pools [Bright Data’s explanation of static vs. rotating proxies](https://brightdata.com/blog/proxy-101/static-vs-rotating-proxies) Sticky session/pinning Logins, carts, multi-step flows Preserves state, predictable Higher block risk over time Rotate between sessions; monitor error codes Time-based (every X seconds/minutes) Moderate-risk tasks Simple to implement Predictable timing patterns Add jitter; combine with geo/ASN rotation ## Balancing Pool Types for Performance and Security Blend proxy types to optimize throughput, reliability, and cost: - Datacenter for high-volume, low-risk workloads (lowest cost, highest speed). - Residential for moderate-risk and region-locked content (balanced cost and trust). - ISP or mobile for highest authenticity when defenses are strict; mobile often succeeds where others fail, but at a premium (noted across market guides and buyer reports). Sample pool blends for AI workflows: Workflow Recommended blend Rationale SERP aggregation at scale 70% residential, 30% datacenter Trust where needed; datacenter for speed on tolerant endpoints E-commerce catalog monitoring 80% residential, 20% ISP Higher trust signals; ISP for performance on sensitive hosts Mobile-app or mobile-first sites 60% mobile, 40% residential Maximum authenticity with residential fallback Public API harvesting (lenient) 80% datacenter, 20% residential Cost-effective with a safety net Authenticated account flows 60% residential sticky, 40% ISP sticky Session stability with strong reputation ## Operational Best Practices for Scalable IP Rotation - Centralize proxy routing behind a single API or gateway for consistent policy enforcement. - Automate failure detection, token rotation, IP/session replacement, and credential expiry; treat secrets as first-class assets, as emphasized in enterprise AI guidance [why AI agents need strong key and access controls](https://www.rtinsights.com/ai-agents-need-keys-to-your-kingdom/). - Containerize proxy components and sidecars for repeatability and scale-out. - Enforce least-privilege for service identities and segregate environments. - Monitor for session breaks and error bursts; implement quarantine and rapid IP swap. - Run periodic audits: performance, compliance, and billing; document integration patterns and scaling runbooks. ## Frequently Asked Questions About IP Rotation for AI Agents ### What proxy types work best for different AI agent tasks? Residential proxies are ideal for public data and SERPs, mobile proxies offer maximum authenticity on mobile-first platforms, and datacenter or ISP proxies suit high-speed, low-risk crawling. ### How should IP rotation be scheduled to avoid detection? Distribute requests across time windows, add random delays and jitter, and avoid predictable bursts to reduce throttling and fingerprinting. ### Why is IP rotation essential for AI data collection? Rotating IPs prevents bans and rate limits so AI agents can consistently gather important data for research, model training, and analytics. ### How can IP rotation be integrated securely in AI systems? Use centralized gateways, secure service accounts, and automate both token and IP rotation with monitoring, treating proxies as core infrastructure. ### What legal and ethical considerations affect IP rotation practices? Work only with providers that offer transparent, consent-based sourcing and clear compliance controls, ensuring your activities align with applicable laws and platform terms. Ready to get started? [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing), explore our [documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs), or [sign up](https://app.illusory.io/signup). Latest Blogs --- ### How to Build AI Data Pipelines with 5G Mobile Proxies URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping Summary: Illusory makes it easier to retrieve online data and perform complex tasks. Train AI language models, conduct market research, or run mission-critical operations with our powerful, bare metal mobile proxies. How to Build AI Data Pipelines with 5G Mobile Proxies - Guide # How to Build AI Data Pipelines with 5G Mobile Proxies Learn to build AI data pipelines with 5G mobile proxies for RAG and agentic scraping. Covers proxy routing, session control, and cost optimization. Learn to build AI data pipelines with 5G mobile proxies for RAG and agentic scraping. Covers proxy routing, session control, and cost optimization. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 8, 2026 February 8, 2026 ## What You Will Learn Why proxy infrastructure is now a core layer in AI data pipelines, not an afterthought - How to architect segmented proxy routing for RAG ingestion and agentic scraping workflows - Session control and IP rotation patterns that keep multi-step AI agents unblocked - When to use mobile proxies versus residential proxies based on workload type and budget - How to connect Illusory's 5G mobile proxy infrastructure to popular AI scraping frameworks ## The 2026 AI Data Landscape: Proxies Are Now AI Infrastructure The web scraping market hit an estimated $1.17 billion in 2026, according to [Mordor Intelligence](https://www.mordorintelligence.com/). That figure is not driven by traditional price monitoring or lead generation alone. The bulk of new demand comes from AI teams building RAG systems, fine-tuning LLMs on fresh domain data, and deploying autonomous agents that browse the web on behalf of users. The numbers behind this shift are hard to ignore. Akamai reported that [AI bot traffic surged over 300%](https://www.akamai.com/blog/security/2026/jan/ai-pulse-how-ai-bots-agents-will-shape-2026) across its network in 2025. Adobe measured a [4,700% year-over-year increase](https://www.verygoodsecurity.com/blog/posts/trends-in-agentic-commerce-for-2026) in generative AI traffic by mid-2025. The AI agents market is projected to reach $48.3 billion by 2030 at a 43.3% CAGR. Scrapingdog estimates that nearly half of all internet traffic will be bots by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, the [2026 State of Web Scraping report](https://blog.apify.com/web-scraping-report-2026/) from Apify found that 65.8% of web scraping professionals increased their proxy usage year-over-year, and 58.3% reported higher proxy spending. This is not a cost problem. It is a signal that proxy quality directly determines data pipeline reliability. For AI workloads, a blocked request is not just a failed scrape. It is a gap in your model's knowledge. ## RAG Pipelines Need Fresh Web Data Retrieval-Augmented Generation has become the standard architecture for grounding LLM outputs in real-world facts. Instead of retraining a model every time information changes, a RAG pipeline retrieves relevant documents from an external knowledge base at query time and injects them into the prompt. The result is more accurate, up-to-date responses without the cost of full fine-tuning. The bottleneck is the retrieval layer. RAG systems need continuous web ingestion to keep their vector stores current. A pricing page that changed two hours ago, a regulatory filing published this morning, a competitor's new product listing: if your scraper cannot access these sources reliably, your RAG system serves stale answers. As [Forage AI notes](https://forage.ai/blog/top-5-web-scraping-companies-for-data-for-ai/), for RAG-based systems, stale data actively degrades output quality. This is where proxy infrastructure becomes part of the AI stack. A RAG pipeline running bulk ingestion jobs against dozens of domains needs [intelligent IP rotation](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026) to avoid rate limits and blocks. Mobile proxies routed through real carrier networks produce traffic patterns that are nearly indistinguishable from organic user behavior, which means higher success rates per request and fewer gaps in your knowledge base. ## Agentic AI and Web Browsing: Why Agents Need Carrier-Grade IPs Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift from static scraping to dynamic web interaction. Tools like Google's Chrome auto browse (powered by Gemini), OpenAI's Atlas browser, and open-source frameworks like Browser Use and Crawl4AI allow AI agents to navigate websites autonomously: clicking links, filling forms, scrolling through results, and synthesizing information across multiple pages in a single session. This is structurally different from traditional scraping. A conventional scraper sends stateless HTTP requests. An AI agent maintains a multi-step browsing session that can span minutes and dozens of page loads, all under a single identity. If that identity gets flagged mid-session, the entire task fails, and the agent must restart from scratch. Datacenter IPs are a poor fit for this pattern. Anti-bot systems in 2026 use behavioral fingerprinting, TLS analysis, and IP reputation scoring. Datacenter addresses carry inherently lower trust scores. In real-world testing, datacenter IPs show ban rates around 27%, compared to roughly 4% for mobile carrier IPs and 6% for residential IPs. For agentic workflows where session continuity matters, that difference is not marginal. It is the difference between a pipeline that works and one that fails unpredictably. 5G mobile proxies solve this by routing agent traffic through physical SIM cards on real carrier networks. The IP addresses carry the same trust scores as any mobile user browsing from their phone. Combined with sticky sessions that hold an IP for the duration of a multi-step task, this gives AI agents the identity stability they need to complete complex workflows without interruption. ## Architecture: Segmented Proxy Routing for AI Data Pipelines Not every request in an AI pipeline needs the same level of proxy quality. A well-designed system segments traffic by target sensitivity and routes each segment through the appropriate proxy tier. This keeps costs down while maintaining high success rates where they matter most. Here is a practical routing architecture for AI data pipelines: Traffic Tier Use Case Proxy Type Session Mode Tier 1 (High Trust) Agentic browsing, login-gated sites, anti-bot-heavy targets 5G Mobile (Dedicated) Sticky (10-30 min) Tier 2 (Standard) RAG ingestion, product pages, news articles Mobile (Rotating) Rotating per request Tier 3 (Bulk) Public APIs, open data feeds, low-protection sites Residential or Datacenter Rotating per request The principle is straightforward: route your hardest targets through your highest-trust IPs, and send bulk refresh jobs through lower-cost infrastructure. This mirrors how [enterprise data teams structure their proxy stacks](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops) for production workloads. With Illusory, you can implement this segmentation on a single platform by assigning different proxy endpoints to different pipeline stages. ## Session Control and IP Rotation for Multi-Step Agent Tasks AI agents that browse the web need session management that matches their task structure. A research agent collecting data across five pages of search results needs a consistent IP for the entire workflow. A RAG crawler indexing hundreds of product pages needs rapid rotation to distribute requests and avoid rate limits. ### Sticky Sessions for Agentic Workflows Use sticky sessions when your agent maintains state across multiple page loads. This is critical for tasks that involve login flows, paginated results, or multi-step form submissions. Illusory supports sticky sessions up to 30 minutes on dedicated 5G connections, long enough for most agentic browsing tasks. You control session duration at the connection level, so each agent task can define its own session window. ### Rotating IPs for Bulk Ingestion For high-volume RAG ingestion, rotate IPs on every request. This distributes your footprint across the carrier's IP pool and prevents any single address from accumulating enough requests to trigger rate limits. The key is pairing rotation speed with request pacing. Sending 1,000 requests per second through rotating IPs still looks like a bot if every request hits the same domain. Spread requests across domains and add randomized delays between 1-3 seconds for best results. For a deeper breakdown of rotation strategies, see our guide on [IP rotation practices for AI agents](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026). ## Training Data Quality: How Dedicated Mobile IPs Reduce Noise Data quality is the silent killer of AI pipelines. AI-powered scrapers can achieve [accuracy rates up to 99.5%](https://www.scrapingdog.com/blog/web-scraping-statistics-and-trends/) and extraction speeds 30-40% faster than traditional methods. But that accuracy assumes the scraper can actually reach the target page and receive its real content. When requests get blocked, redirected to CAPTCHAs, or served degraded responses, the downstream data quality drops. Shared proxy pools amplify this problem. When your IP addresses are used simultaneously by dozens of other customers, some running aggressive or low-quality scraping jobs, the reputation of those IPs degrades. You end up with higher block rates, more CAPTCHAs, and more noise in your training data. Dedicated mobile infrastructure eliminates this variable. With Illusory, each customer gets access to bare-metal 5G hardware with real SIM cards, not shared pools. Your IP reputation is yours alone. This means consistent success rates, clean page responses, and data that does not need extra filtering before it enters your embedding pipeline or fine-tuning dataset. ## Cost Optimization: Mobile vs. Residential Proxies in AI Workloads Mobile proxies cost more per gigabyte than residential alternatives. In 2026, mobile proxy pricing ranges from approximately $3.90 to $9.00 per GB depending on provider and volume, while residential proxies range from $1.50 to $4.00 per GB. The question is not which is cheaper. It is which delivers lower cost per successful request for your specific workload. Factor Mobile Proxies Residential Proxies Price per GB $3.90 - $9.00 $1.50 - $4.00 Block rate (typical) ~4% ~6% Best for Anti-bot-heavy targets, agent sessions, login flows Bulk ingestion, open targets, high-volume RAG crawls Session stability High (carrier-grade) Variable (peer-to-peer) IP trust score Highest (real carrier IPs) High (residential ISP IPs) Ideal pipeline stage Tier 1 and Tier 2 targets Tier 3 bulk refresh The cost calculation shifts when you factor in retries, CAPTCHA solving fees, and data cleaning overhead. A mobile proxy that costs $6/GB but completes 96% of requests on the first attempt is often cheaper per clean data point than a residential proxy at $2/GB that fails 15% of the time against protected targets. Run the math on your specific targets before defaulting to the cheapest per-GB option. ## Getting Started: Connecting Illusory to AI Scraping Frameworks Illusory's 5G mobile proxies work with any HTTP/HTTPS-compatible client. Here is how to connect to the most popular AI scraping and RAG frameworks in 2026. ### Crawl4AI (RAG Pipelines) Crawl4AI is the top open-source crawler for LLM-ready data, producing clean Markdown output that feeds directly into vector databases like Pinecone, Weaviate, or Chroma. To route Crawl4AI through Illusory, pass your proxy credentials in the crawler configuration: **proxy="http://username:password@proxy.illusory.io:port"** Set this in the **BrowserConfig** when initializing **AsyncWebCrawler**. Crawl4AI handles headless browser rendering, JavaScript execution, and content extraction. Illusory handles the IP layer, ensuring each request arrives from a real 5G carrier address. ### LangChain and LlamaIndex Both frameworks support custom document loaders that accept proxy configuration. For LangChain, configure the proxy in your web scraping loader's request parameters: **proxies={"https": "http://username:password@proxy.illusory.io:port"}** This applies to **WebBaseLoader**, **AsyncHtmlLoader**, and custom loaders built on **requests** or **aiohttp**. For LlamaIndex, set the proxy in your data connector's HTTP client configuration. Both frameworks then handle chunking, embedding, and vector storage downstream. ### Scrapy and Playwright For teams running custom scraping infrastructure, configure Illusory as a standard HTTP proxy. In Scrapy, set **HTTP_PROXY** and **HTTPS_PROXY** in your project settings or use a custom downloader middleware that rotates between Illusory endpoints. In Playwright, pass the proxy object when launching the browser: **proxy={"server": "http://proxy.illusory.io:port", "username": "user", "password": "pass"}** Playwright is especially relevant for agentic workflows where the AI controls a headless browser. Combined with Illusory's sticky sessions, this setup gives your agent a stable 5G identity for the entire browsing session. For full connection details, see our [guide to data extraction services](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-best-data-extraction-services-that-scale-with-your-business) that integrate with proxy infrastructure at scale. ## FAQ ### Do I need mobile proxies for every part of my AI data pipeline? No. Use mobile proxies for high-value targets with strong anti-bot protections and for agentic browsing sessions that require session continuity. Route bulk ingestion of unprotected content through residential or datacenter proxies to manage costs. The segmented routing architecture described above gives you the best balance of reliability and efficiency. ### How do 5G mobile proxies differ from residential proxies for AI scraping? Mobile proxies route traffic through real SIM cards on carrier networks (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon), producing IP addresses with the highest trust scores. Residential proxies use IP addresses assigned to home ISP connections, often sourced through peer-to-peer networks. Mobile IPs have lower block rates (~4% vs ~6%) and better session stability, but cost more per GB. For a detailed comparison, see our [AI web scraping with mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-web-scraping-mobile-proxies) guide. ### Can I use Illusory proxies with OpenAI's browsing tools or ChatGPT plugins? Illusory works with any tool that supports HTTP/HTTPS proxy configuration. If you are building agents using the OpenAI Assistants API with web browsing capabilities, or using frameworks like Browser Use that control a headless browser, you can route that browser traffic through Illusory. Direct integration with ChatGPT's built-in browsing is not supported, as that runs on OpenAI's own infrastructure. ### What session duration should I use for AI agent tasks? It depends on the task. Short research queries (single page fetch) need no session persistence. Multi-step agent workflows that span 5-20 page loads should use sticky sessions of 10-30 minutes. For long-running monitoring agents, rotate IPs periodically (every 15-30 minutes) to balance trust score maintenance with detection avoidance. ### How much bandwidth does a typical RAG ingestion pipeline consume? A RAG pipeline crawling 10,000 pages per day, with an average page size of 500KB after rendering, consumes roughly 5GB of bandwidth daily. At Illusory's mobile proxy rates, that is a predictable cost you can model against the value of keeping your LLM's knowledge base current. High-volume pipelines indexing 100,000+ pages will benefit from the tiered routing approach to optimize spend across proxy types. ## Start Building AI data pipelines in 2026 are only as reliable as their access layer. Whether you are building RAG systems that need continuous web ingestion or deploying agents that browse autonomously, the proxy infrastructure underneath determines your success rate, data quality, and cost efficiency. Illusory provides dedicated 5G mobile proxy infrastructure built on bare-metal hardware with real carrier SIMs. No shared pools. No degraded IPs. Unlimited API access with instant rotation and geo-targeting. Check our [pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing) to find the right plan for your pipeline volume, or visit the [docs](https://docs.illusory.io) for connection details and API reference to start integrating today. Latest Blogs --- ### How 5G Mobile Proxies Bypass Modern Anti-Bot Systems in 2026 URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026 Summary: Illusory makes it easier to retrieve online data and perform complex tasks. Train AI language models, conduct market research, or run mission-critical operations with our powerful, bare metal mobile proxies. How 5G Mobile Proxies Bypass Modern Anti-Bot Systems in 2026 - Insight # How 5G Mobile Proxies Bypass Modern Anti-Bot Systems in 2026 Learn how 5G mobile proxies bypass anti-bot detection from Cloudflare, DataDome, and Akamai using carrier-grade IPs that modern detection systems cannot block. Learn how 5G mobile proxies bypass anti-bot detection from Cloudflare, DataDome, and Akamai using carrier-grade IPs that modern detection systems cannot block. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 12, 2026 February 12, 2026 Over 50% of internet traffic is now automated. Cloudflare's 2025 Year in Review found that non-AI bots alone generated 44% of HTML requests, while AI crawlers added another 4.2%. Anti-bot deployments from Cloudflare, DataDome, Akamai, and PerimeterX grew 78% year-over-year. The arms race between bot detection and proxy infrastructure has never been more intense, and the proxy type you choose determines whether you succeed or get blocked on the first request. This guide breaks down exactly how each anti-bot layer works in 2026, why most proxy types fail against them, and why carrier-grade 5G mobile proxies remain the most reliable way to [bypass anti-bot detection](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-edge-of-mobile-proxies-over-others) at scale. ## The 2026 Anti-Bot Detection Stack Modern anti-bot systems no longer rely on a single detection method. They stack multiple layers that evaluate every request from the TCP handshake to post-render behavioral analysis. Understanding each layer is essential before choosing a proxy strategy. ### Cloudflare Bot Management Cloudflare protects over 20% of all websites and processes more than 81 million HTTP requests per second. Its bot management combines machine learning models trained per-customer, JA3/JA4 TLS fingerprinting, JavaScript challenges (Turnstile), and behavioral scoring that analyzes scroll patterns, mouse movement, and request timing. In 2025, Cloudflare blocked 416 billion AI bot requests and mitigated 6% of all global traffic across its network. Cloudflare's per-customer ML models learn normal traffic patterns for each site, meaning a fingerprint that passes on one domain may fail on another. ### DataDome DataDome operates as an edge-first SaaS solution that processes signals in under 2 milliseconds. It layers TLS fingerprinting, IP reputation analysis against databases of trillions of signals, device fingerprinting, and behavioral consistency checks. DataDome focuses heavily on session-level behavioral analysis: it tracks not just whether your fingerprint looks real, but whether your behavior across multiple pages follows human patterns. A scraper that passes every fingerprint test can still get caught by DataDome's behavioral models if navigation patterns look automated. ### Akamai Bot Manager Akamai leverages its global CDN presence to perform deep behavioral analysis at the edge. Its 2026 stack includes upgraded JA4 fingerprinting (which catches libraries that JA3 missed), sensor data validation that requires JavaScript execution on the client, device fingerprinting, and request cadence analysis. Akamai's strength is correlating signals across its massive network: if your IP or fingerprint pattern appeared suspiciously on another Akamai-protected site, the trust score drops before you even load the page. ### PerimeterX (HUMAN Security) PerimeterX takes a unique approach. Rather than challenging traffic at the front door, it lets requests flow until a critical action occurs (like "Add to Cart" or form submission), then clamps down if behavior looks robotic. Its "Human Challenge" tracks mouse trajectory, scroll speed, and keystroke micro-timing to build a behavioral fingerprint. Because it integrates via JavaScript SDKs directly into protected applications, it has full visibility into client-side execution. Traffic that lacks the chaotic, imperfect movement patterns of a real human gets flagged immediately. ### The Combined Stack Every major anti-bot system in 2026 operates across these same fundamental layers: Detection Layer What It Checks Used By TLS Fingerprinting (JA3/JA4) Client TLS handshake parameters All four IP Reputation ASN type, fraud score, historical abuse All four JavaScript Challenges Client-side execution environment Cloudflare, Akamai, DataDome Browser Fingerprinting Canvas, WebGL, Audio, Font, WebRTC All four Behavioral Analysis Mouse, keyboard, scroll, navigation timing All four HTTP Header Analysis Header order, values, consistency All four Bypassing one layer is not enough. Modern detection correlates signals across all layers simultaneously. A request with a perfect browser fingerprint but a datacenter ASN still gets blocked. A residential IP with a mismatched TLS fingerprint still gets challenged. This multi-layer reality is exactly why proxy choice matters more than ever. ## Why Datacenter and Shared Residential Proxies Fail Not all proxies are equal against modern anti-bot systems. Two proxy types that once worked reliably now face rapidly declining success rates. If you are still using datacenter or shared residential pools for protected targets, understanding why they fail will save you from wasting budget on blocked requests. ### Datacenter Proxy Failures Datacenter proxies operate from IP ranges registered to hosting providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. These ASN ranges are publicly known and cataloged in databases like [IPQualityScore](https://www.ipqualityscore.com/) (IPQS) and Scamalytics. Modern anti-bot systems check the ASN of every incoming request as the very first filter. If the ASN belongs to a hosting provider rather than an ISP, the request starts with a near-zero trust score before any other analysis occurs. Industry benchmarks confirm the result: datacenter proxies now achieve only 20-40% success rates on sites protected by Cloudflare, DataDome, or Akamai. Some heavily protected targets block datacenter IPs on sight. Amazon, Google, and major social platforms maintain comprehensive blocklists of known datacenter IP ranges, and these lists update in real time. ### Shared Residential Proxy Pool Contamination Shared residential proxies route traffic through real household IP addresses, which gives them a legitimate ASN and higher base trust score. But the "shared" part is the problem. When hundreds of customers use the same pool, the IPs accumulate abuse flags. One customer scraping aggressively poisons the IP's reputation for everyone else in the pool. IP reputation databases like IPQS track historical behavior per IP. An IP that sent 10,000 requests to a single domain yesterday carries that reputation into today, regardless of who is using it now. Proxyway's 2025 Market Research found that success rates for shared residential proxies can swing from 85% one day to 58% the next when target sites update their anti-scrape measures. This unpredictability makes shared residential pools unreliable for any operation where consistency matters. For more on how IP rotation interacts with rate limiting, see our guide on [overcoming rate limits with SIM residential IPs](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-to-overcome-rate-limits-with-reliable-sim-residential-ips). ## How Carrier-Grade Mobile IPs Bypass Each Detection Layer Mobile proxies work differently from datacenter and residential proxies at a fundamental network level. They route traffic through real mobile carrier infrastructure, inheriting the trust properties of carrier-grade networks. Here is how that translates to bypassing each detection layer. ### IP Reputation: The CGNAT Advantage Every mobile carrier uses Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), a networking technique where hundreds or thousands of real users share a single public IPv4 address. [Cloudflare's own research](https://blog.cloudflare.com/detecting-cgn-to-reduce-collateral-damage/) on CGNAT confirms that "actions that rely on IP reputation or behaviour may be unduly influenced by CGNATs" because security systems cannot distinguish between individual users behind the same address. This creates a structural advantage for mobile proxy users. Anti-bot systems cannot block or penalize a CGNAT IP range without also blocking thousands of legitimate mobile users. The collateral damage of blocking a T-Mobile or Verizon CGNAT range is unacceptable for any commercial website, so these IPs maintain inherently high trust scores. Fraud prevention systems, rate limiters, and reputation databases all treat mobile carrier IPs with more tolerance than any other IP type. ### ASN Classification: Carrier Trust When an anti-bot system checks the ASN of a mobile proxy IP, it sees a registered mobile carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Vodafone) rather than a hosting provider or residential ISP. Carrier ASNs carry the highest trust classification because they are operated by regulated telecommunications companies with known subscriber bases. There is no public blocklist of "suspicious mobile carrier IPs" the way there is for datacenter ranges, because the entire mobile internet runs through these same IP pools. ### TLS Consistency When a 5G mobile proxy forwards traffic from a real browser on your machine, the TLS handshake parameters match real browser signatures exactly. Unlike datacenter proxies that often use HTTP libraries with distinctive JA3/JA4 fingerprints (Python's requests library, Go's net/http, Node.js), traffic through a mobile proxy inherits whatever TLS configuration your actual browser or automation tool uses. The proxy layer does not modify the TLS handshake, so there is no mismatch between your client fingerprint and the IP's expected traffic profile. ### Natural Rotation Mobile carrier IPs rotate naturally as devices move between cell towers and as CGNAT mappings refresh. This means IP rotation on a mobile proxy looks identical to normal mobile user behavior, not like a proxy pool cycling through addresses. Anti-bot systems that track rotation patterns (flagging rapid IP changes as suspicious) see nothing unusual when a mobile proxy rotates, because that is exactly what real mobile traffic looks like. For best practices on rotation strategies, see our guide on [IP rotation for AI agents in 2026](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026). ## Browser Fingerprinting vs. IP Reputation: What Mobile Proxies Solve and What They Don't Mobile proxies are not a magic bullet. They solve the IP reputation layer completely, but browser fingerprinting is a separate problem that requires its own solution. Understanding this distinction prevents wasted effort and misconfigured setups. ### What Mobile Proxies Solve **IP reputation scoring:** Carrier-grade IPs start with high trust scores that cannot be easily degraded - **ASN classification:** Mobile carrier ASNs are never flagged as hosting or datacenter ranges - **Rate limiting:** CGNAT means thousands of users share each IP, so per-IP rate limits are set higher - **Geographic consistency:** Mobile IPs resolve to real geographic locations served by the carrier - **IP rotation patterns:** Natural carrier rotation is indistinguishable from real mobile user behavior ### What Mobile Proxies Do Not Solve - **Browser fingerprint consistency:** Canvas, WebGL, Audio API, and Font fingerprints are generated client-side and are not affected by your proxy - **JavaScript challenge execution:** Cloudflare Turnstile and Akamai sensor scripts must be executed in a real browser environment - **Behavioral analysis:** Mouse movement, scroll patterns, and keystroke timing are client-side signals independent of IP - **WebDriver detection:** navigator.webdriver flags and headless browser indicators are client-side checks - **TLS fingerprint mismatches:** If your HTTP client produces a non-browser JA3/JA4 hash, the mobile IP will not compensate The takeaway: a mobile proxy eliminates the most common reason for immediate blocks (bad IP reputation), but you still need a properly configured client that presents consistent browser fingerprints. The combination of both is what achieves sustained high success rates. For a deeper understanding of how proxies interact with these layers, see our [comprehensive guide to how proxies work](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work). ## Bare-Metal vs. Shared Mobile Proxy Pools: The Dedicated Hardware Advantage Not all mobile proxies are built the same. The market splits into two models: shared mobile proxy pools and dedicated bare-metal hardware. The difference has a direct impact on success rates, consistency, and operational reliability. ### Shared Mobile Proxy Pools Most mobile proxy providers operate large pools of SIM cards shared across many customers. This model mirrors the shared residential proxy problem: multiple users send traffic through the same mobile IPs, and aggressive usage by one customer degrades IP reputation for everyone. Shared pools also suffer from inconsistent rotation timing (you cannot control when your IP changes), limited geographic targeting (you get whatever IP is available), and no guarantee of connection quality. ### Dedicated Bare-Metal 5G Hardware The alternative is dedicated hardware: physical 5G modems with real SIM cards, assigned exclusively to a single customer. This model eliminates pool contamination entirely. Your IPs have never been used by another proxy customer, so they carry the clean reputation of a normal mobile subscriber. You control rotation timing, maintain consistent carrier connections, and get predictable throughput from dedicated hardware. Factor Shared Mobile Pool Dedicated Bare-Metal IP Reputation Degraded by other users Clean, single-customer use Rotation Control Provider-managed API-controlled, instant Geographic Targeting Limited to available pool Fixed carrier and region Connection Consistency Variable across sessions Same hardware, same carrier Throughput Shared bandwidth Dedicated 5G speeds Fingerprint Consistency TLS varies by routing Consistent carrier TLS profile The dedicated model is more expensive per connection, but cost-per-successful-request is what matters. A cheaper shared proxy that fails 30% of the time costs more in wasted bandwidth and retries than a dedicated proxy that succeeds 99% of the time. ## Practical Integration: Pairing 5G Mobile Proxies with Anti-Detect Browsers Achieving consistent bypass rates above 95% on heavily protected targets requires combining mobile proxies with proper client-side tooling. Here is the practical stack that works in 2026. ### Anti-Detect Browsers Tools like Camoufox, GoLogin, and Multilogin create isolated browser profiles with unique, consistent fingerprints. Each profile generates distinct Canvas, WebGL, Audio, and Font fingerprints that persist across sessions. The key rule: one fingerprint profile per session. Changing fingerprints mid-session is a detection signal that every major anti-bot system catches. ### Headless Browser Automation For automated operations, Playwright with stealth configurations or Nodriver (the successor to undetected-chromedriver) provides real browser execution that passes JavaScript challenges. Note that puppeteer-extra-stealth was deprecated in early 2025, and Cloudflare now specifically detects its patterns. The current best practice is full browser execution with consistent fingerprints rather than stealth patches on top of detectable libraries. ### The Integration Pattern The most effective anti-bot configuration in 2026 follows this stack: - **Network layer:** Dedicated 5G mobile proxy providing clean, carrier-grade IP with natural rotation - **TLS layer:** Real browser or curl-impersonate library producing valid JA3/JA4 fingerprints - **Browser layer:** Anti-detect browser or stealth-configured Playwright with consistent fingerprint profiles - **Behavioral layer:** Randomized delays, human-like scrolling, realistic navigation patterns - **Session management:** One proxy IP per browser profile, consistent identity per session Each layer addresses a specific detection method. Skip any one and your success rate drops significantly. The mobile proxy handles the IP layer, the browser tooling handles fingerprinting and JS challenges, and behavioral randomization handles the analytics layer. ## Benchmark: Success Rates Across Proxy Types on Protected Targets Data from [Proxyway's 2025 Market Research](https://proxyway.com/) (which tested over 1.5 million requests across top proxy providers) and independent scraping benchmarks paint a clear picture of how each proxy type performs against protected targets. Proxy Type Success Rate (Protected Sites) Avg Response Time Cost per GB Datacenter 20-40% 0.1-0.3s $0.10-0.50 Shared Residential 58-85% 0.8-1.5s $2-8 ISP (Static Residential) 85-98% 0.5-1.0s $3-10 Shared Mobile 90-95% 0.5-0.9s $5-15 Dedicated 5G Mobile 97-99.9% 0.3-0.6s $10-25 Several patterns emerge from this data: - **Datacenter proxies are functionally useless** against any site running Cloudflare Bot Management, DataDome, or Akamai. The 20-40% success rate means more than half your requests are wasted. - **Shared residential pools are inconsistent.** The wide range (58-85%) reflects day-to-day IP reputation fluctuation caused by pool contamination from other users. - **Dedicated mobile proxies lead on effective cost.** Despite higher per-GB pricing, the 97-99.9% success rate means virtually every request returns data. At $15/GB with 99% success, you pay ~$15.15 per GB of actual data. At $5/GB with 70% success, you pay ~$7.14 per GB of actual data but waste 30% of bandwidth on retries, timeouts, and error handling. - **Response times favor dedicated mobile.** 5G connections deliver 0.3-0.6s response times, comparable to datacenter speeds but with residential-grade trust. The benchmark also confirms Proxyway's finding that mobile proxies achieve the best-in-market performance: Decodo's mobile proxies hit 99.94% success with 0.57s average response time in 2026 benchmarks, and SOAX's mobile pool reached 99.95% uptime with 0.55s response times. ## FAQ ### Can mobile proxies bypass Cloudflare bot detection completely? Mobile proxies eliminate the IP reputation layer of Cloudflare's detection, which is the most common cause of immediate blocks. However, Cloudflare also uses TLS fingerprinting, JavaScript challenges (Turnstile), and behavioral analysis. To bypass Cloudflare reliably, you need a mobile proxy paired with a real browser or anti-detect browser that produces valid fingerprints and executes JavaScript challenges. The mobile proxy handles the network layer; the browser handles everything else. ### What is CGNAT and why does it make mobile proxies harder to block? Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) is a technique where mobile carriers share a single public IPv4 address across hundreds or thousands of subscribers. When anti-bot systems see traffic from a mobile proxy, they cannot distinguish it from legitimate mobile users sharing the same IP. Blocking a CGNAT range means blocking thousands of real customers, which no commercial website will do. This structural property makes mobile carrier IPs inherently more trusted than any other proxy type. ### Are dedicated mobile proxies worth the higher cost compared to shared residential? Yes, when measured by cost-per-successful-request rather than cost-per-GB. Shared residential proxies cost less per GB but achieve 58-85% success rates on protected sites, meaning 15-42% of your bandwidth is wasted on failed requests. Dedicated 5G mobile proxies achieve 97-99.9% success, so virtually every request returns usable data. For operations targeting protected sites, dedicated mobile proxies typically deliver lower total cost of ownership despite higher unit pricing. ### Do I still need an anti-detect browser if I use mobile proxies? Yes. Mobile proxies handle IP reputation, ASN classification, and rate limiting. Browser fingerprinting (Canvas, WebGL, Audio), JavaScript challenge execution, and behavioral analysis are client-side detection methods that operate independently of your IP. Without consistent browser fingerprints, you will get caught by DataDome's behavioral models or PerimeterX's Human Challenge regardless of how clean your IP is. ### How do 5G mobile proxies compare to 4G for anti-bot bypass? The anti-bot bypass capability is identical: both use carrier-grade CGNAT IPs with the same trust properties. The difference is performance. 5G delivers significantly lower latency (0.3-0.6s vs 0.5-1.0s average response time) and higher throughput, which matters when running high-volume operations. 5G also supports more concurrent connections without degradation, making it the better choice for scaled scraping or automation workloads. ## Start Bypassing Anti-Bot Systems with Dedicated 5G Mobile Proxies Illusory provides dedicated bare-metal 5G mobile proxies built on physical hardware with real carrier SIM cards. Every connection runs through infrastructure assigned exclusively to your account, with no shared pools and no IP contamination from other users. You get instant API-controlled IP rotation, carrier-grade CGNAT IPs that anti-bot systems cannot block without disrupting real mobile users, and 5G speeds that match datacenter-grade throughput. If you are running scraping, automation, or data collection against protected targets and tired of wasted bandwidth on blocked requests, [see our pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing) or talk to our team about a dedicated 5G mobile proxy setup built for your use case. Latest Blogs --- ### Web Scraping Compliance in 2026: Legal Frameworks, Ethical Proxy Use, and What Enterprises Must Know URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/web-scraping-compliance-2026-legal-ethical-proxy Summary: Illusory makes it easier to retrieve online data and perform complex tasks. Train AI language models, conduct market research, or run mission-critical operations with our powerful, bare metal mobile proxies. Web Scraping Compliance in 2026: Legal Frameworks, Ethical Proxy Use, and What Enterprises Must Know - Insight # Web Scraping Compliance in 2026: Legal Frameworks, Ethical Proxy Use, and What Enterprises Must Know Web scraping legal compliance in 2026: EU AI Act, GDPR enforcement, robots.txt rulings, ethical proxy sourcing, and the enterprise checklist your team needs. Web scraping legal compliance in 2026: EU AI Act, GDPR enforcement, robots.txt rulings, ethical proxy sourcing, and the enterprise checklist your team needs. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 16, 2026 February 16, 2026 ## The 2026 Compliance Landscape: Why "Can We Scrape It?" Became "Can We Scrape It Responsibly?" Eighteen months ago, enterprise data teams asked one question before launching a scraping project: *will it work?* In 2026, the first question is *will it hold up in court?* The shift is not theoretical. The EU AI Act's high-risk system requirements take effect on August 2, 2026, with penalties reaching **€35 million or 7% of global revenue**. GDPR enforcement has now surpassed **€5.88 billion in cumulative fines** since 2018, with 2025 alone accounting for €2.3 billion — a 38% year-over-year increase. In the United States, Google filed a [federal lawsuit against SerpApi](https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/serpapi-lawsuit/) in December 2025, alleging DMCA violations for circumventing its SearchGuard anti-bot system. Reddit sued SerpApi, Oxylabs, and Perplexity AI two months earlier for similar conduct. The message from courts, regulators, and platforms is now unanimous: data collection at scale requires a compliance architecture, not just a technical one. This guide breaks down what changed, what the law actually says, and what your procurement and engineering teams need to implement before enforcement catches up. ## Key Legal Developments: EU AI Act, Google v. SerpApi, and the hiQ Legacy ### The EU AI Act: Data Governance Meets Scraping Infrastructure The [EU AI Act](https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/implementation-timeline/) does not regulate web scraping directly. It regulates what happens *after* the data is collected. Starting August 2, 2026, any organization deploying high-risk AI systems — spanning employment decisions, credit scoring, education, and law enforcement — must demonstrate full compliance with data governance requirements, technical documentation standards, and transparency obligations. For data teams that scrape the web to train models or feed AI pipelines, three provisions matter most: **Training data disclosure** — AI providers must disclose data sources and respect copyright opt-outs under the EU Copyright Directive. - **Transparency rules (Article 50)** — AI-generated content must be labeled, and systems interacting with humans must disclose that fact. Both provisions become enforceable in August 2026. - **GPAI model obligations** — Providers of general-purpose AI models face enforcement powers and fines starting August 2, 2026, including penalties up to 3% of worldwide annual turnover or €15 million for copyright-related violations. The practical impact: if your [AI web scraping pipeline](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-web-scraping-mobile-proxies) feeds a model deployed in the EU, the provenance of every dataset becomes auditable. "We scraped it from public sources" is no longer a sufficient answer. ### Google v. SerpApi: The DMCA Meets Anti-Bot Enforcement On December 19, 2025, Google filed suit against SerpApi in the Northern District of California, alleging violations of **DMCA Section 1201** — the anti-circumvention provision. The core claim: SerpApi bypassed Google's SearchGuard system (launched January 2025) to scrape hundreds of millions of search result pages daily, then resold the data through a paid API. Google's complaint details that SerpApi's automated queries increased by **25,000%** over two years. SearchGuard, which Google describes as costing "tens of thousands of person hours and millions of dollars," was designed to block exactly this kind of automated access. SerpApi allegedly circumvented it by masking bots as human users, syndicating authorization tokens, and misrepresenting device and location data. The case is significant because Google is not relying on traditional copyright infringement claims alone. The DMCA framing means the *method of access* — bypassing a technological protection measure — is itself the violation. If Google prevails, it establishes that anti-bot systems like SearchGuard qualify as DMCA-protected access controls, making circumvention illegal regardless of whether the underlying data is "public." ### The hiQ v. LinkedIn Legacy The hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn saga ended in December 2022 with a settlement: hiQ agreed to a permanent injunction, **$500,000 in damages**, and destruction of all scraped data and source code. But the precedent that survived is instructive. The Ninth Circuit twice held that scraping publicly available data does *not* violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case for reconsideration after its Van Buren decision, but the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its position in April 2022. The CFAA's "without authorization" standard, the court found, does not apply to data that anyone with a web browser can see. However, the district court ultimately ruled that hiQ **violated LinkedIn's User Agreement** through automated scraping and fake profile creation. The takeaway: scraping public data may not be a federal crime, but it can absolutely be a breach of contract. Platforms increasingly enforce their Terms of Service as the primary legal weapon against scrapers. Case Filed Core Legal Theory Status (Feb 2026) Google v. SerpApi Dec 2025 DMCA §1201 (circumvention of SearchGuard) Active — pre-trial Reddit v. SerpApi et al. Oct 2025 DMCA + ToS violation Active — pre-trial Ziff Davis v. OpenAI 2025 DMCA (robots.txt as TPM) Partially dismissed hiQ v. LinkedIn 2017 CFAA + breach of contract Settled — $500K + injunction Reddit v. Anthropic 2025 Breach of ToS (robots.txt) Active — pre-trial ## Robots.txt in 2026: From Suggestion to Legal Signal For decades, robots.txt was treated as a polite request — a gentleman's agreement between site owners and crawlers. That framing is collapsing, but not in the way most people assume. In late 2025, Judge Sidney H. Stein of the Southern District of New York ruled in **Ziff Davis v. OpenAI** that robots.txt files do *not* constitute "technological measures that effectively control access" under the DMCA. Ziff Davis had argued that OpenAI's bots ignoring their robots.txt amounted to anti-circumvention. The court disagreed: robots.txt lacks the technical enforcement characteristics the DMCA requires. But that is not the end of the story. In **Reddit v. Anthropic**, Reddit's lead claim is breach of its Terms of Service — a contract theory, not a copyright one. Reddit argues that its ToS explicitly prohibits scraping and that robots.txt serves as one layer of that prohibition. This approach avoids the Ziff Davis problem entirely by shifting the legal theory from DMCA circumvention to contract breach. For enterprises, the practical guidance is clear: - **Robots.txt is not legally binding on its own**, but ignoring it destroys good-faith arguments in court. - **Terms of Service are enforceable**, especially when a scraper has actual knowledge of them (as courts found in the Meta v. Bright Data ruling in 2024). - **GDPR enforcement reinforces robots.txt** — European data protection authorities increasingly view robots.txt violations as evidence of non-compliance with data minimization principles. The French CNIL published updated guidance in June 2025 specifically addressing web scraping for AI development, confirming that legitimate interest under GDPR requires documented, proportionate justification — and that ignoring site-owner preferences undermines that justification. ## How Anti-Bot Enforcement Changed the Rules The technical landscape has shifted as dramatically as the legal one. In July 2025, [Cloudflare announced](https://blog.cloudflare.com/declaring-your-aindependence-block-ai-bots-scrapers-and-crawlers-with-a-single-click/) that it would block AI bots by default for all customers, including free-tier users. Given that approximately 20% of websites use Cloudflare, this single decision reshaped the scraping ecosystem overnight. Cloudflare's Turnstile — a CAPTCHA replacement that uses behavioral analysis and browser fingerprinting — now dynamically adjusts challenge difficulty based on traffic patterns. Google's SearchGuard, deployed in January 2025, uses similar principles to distinguish human users from automated scrapers. Both systems represent a new class of anti-bot technology: **adaptive, ML-driven, and designed to make circumvention itself a legal liability** (as the Google v. SerpApi case demonstrates). For data collection teams, this creates a fork in the road: Approach Legal Risk Technical Sustainability Compliance Posture Circumvent anti-bot systems High — DMCA §1201 exposure Low — constant cat-and-mouse Indefensible Use shared residential proxy pools Medium — IP sourcing questions Medium — pool quality degrades Questionable Use dedicated mobile proxy hardware Low — real carrier IPs, no circumvention High — stable, auditable Strong Official APIs / data licensing Lowest — contractual access Highest — sanctioned access Optimal The trend line is unmistakable: the anti-bot arms race is becoming a legal arms race. Circumventing protections is no longer just an engineering challenge — it is a litigation risk. ## Proxy Sourcing Ethics: Shared Pools vs. Dedicated Hardware Not all proxies carry the same compliance burden. How your proxy vendor *sources* its IP addresses matters as much as what you do with them. The proxy industry broadly divides into three sourcing models: - **SDK/proxyware pools** — Residential IPs sourced through apps installed on consumer devices. The user theoretically "consents" by accepting terms embedded in another application. Consent chains are often opaque, and [privacy risks are well-documented](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-and-privacy-safeguarding-your-digital-footprint). - **Shared residential pools** — Large pools of IPs aggregated from multiple sources. Compliance varies wildly. Without visibility into how each IP was acquired, enterprises inherit their vendor's sourcing risk. - **Dedicated bare-metal hardware** — Physical devices connected to real mobile carriers, owned and operated by the proxy provider. No consumer devices are involved, no consent chains are needed, and the IP provenance is fully auditable. From a GDPR perspective, the distinction is critical. European Data Protection Authorities have fined companies for scraping-related violations totaling over **€50 million in Clearview AI cases alone**. Poland fined a data broker €220,000 for scraping public business registries. France's CNIL fined KASPR €200,000 for scraping LinkedIn profiles. In every case, the regulators scrutinized not just *what* data was collected but *how* the collection infrastructure was sourced and operated. For enterprises running data collection at scale, dedicated infrastructure eliminates the largest category of sourcing risk. When the proxy hardware is owned by the provider — real 5G SIM cards in physical devices connected to carrier networks — there is no ambiguity about consent, no third-party SDK in the chain, and no residential user whose privacy is at stake. This is the model Illusory operates: [bare-metal mobile proxy infrastructure](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work) with dedicated hardware per customer, real carrier IPs, and full auditability. Sourcing Model Consent Clarity GDPR Risk Audit Trail Enterprise Suitability SDK / Proxyware Opaque — buried in ToS High Minimal Low Shared Residential Pool Varies by sub-vendor Medium-High Limited Medium Dedicated Bare-Metal Hardware N/A — no consumer IPs Low Full High ## Enterprise Compliance Checklist: What Procurement Teams Should Ask Proxy Vendors Legal and procurement teams evaluating proxy vendors should treat the selection process like any other third-party risk assessment. The following checklist covers the questions that matter in 2026: ### IP Sourcing and Ethics - How are residential or mobile IPs acquired? Is there explicit, informed consent from device owners? - Does the provider use SDK-based acquisition through bundled consumer apps? - Can the vendor produce a documented consent chain for any IP address in their pool? - Does the vendor hold ISO 27001, SOC 2, or equivalent security certifications? ### Data Protection and GDPR - What personal data does the vendor collect from proxy network participants? - Is collected data minimized, encrypted, and time-bound per GDPR requirements? - Does the vendor have a published Data Processing Agreement (DPA)? - How does the vendor handle Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)? ### Usage Policies and Monitoring - Does the vendor enforce an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) with a list of prohibited use cases? - Does the vendor actively monitor traffic patterns for abuse? - Are KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures in place for all customers? - What escalation paths exist for disputes or takedown requests? ### Infrastructure Transparency - Is the proxy infrastructure shared or dedicated per customer? - Can the vendor demonstrate the physical provenance of its IP addresses (carrier, device type, location)? - Does the vendor provide API access with full logging and audit capabilities? Failure to ask these questions turns your proxy vendor into a latent liability. Courts and regulators have made it clear: outsourcing data collection does not outsource compliance responsibility. If your vendor's IP sourcing is unethical, the enforcement action lands on your desk, not theirs. ## Building Audit-Friendly Data Collection Pipelines Compliance is not a checkbox exercise — it is an architectural decision. The strongest legal posture comes from pipelines that are *designed* to be audited, not retrofitted after a subpoena arrives. A compliant data collection pipeline in 2026 includes these components: - **Data provenance logging** — Record the source URL, timestamp, proxy IP used, and robots.txt status for every request. This creates the audit trail regulators and courts expect. - **Robots.txt compliance layer** — Automatically check and respect robots.txt before every crawl. Log all directives encountered and decisions made. This is not legally required, but it is your strongest good-faith evidence. - **PII detection and filtering** — Implement automated scanning to identify and quarantine personal data before it enters downstream systems. Under GDPR, scraping personal data requires a lawful basis — "we did not know it was there" is not a defense. - **Rate limiting and politeness controls** — Aggressive scraping that degrades site performance can constitute a denial-of-service attack. Courts have ruled against scrapers who damaged server infrastructure. - **Vendor audit integration** — Your proxy provider should expose API-level logging that integrates with your compliance tooling. If your [mobile proxy vendor](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops) cannot produce request logs on demand, that is a red flag. - **Retention and deletion policies** — Define how long scraped data is stored and implement automated deletion. GDPR's data minimization principle applies to scraped data identically to any other personal data. The French CNIL's June 2025 guidance on web scraping for AI development explicitly states that legitimate interest under Article 6 of the GDPR requires a *documented and concrete assessment* of necessity and proportionality — with tailored safeguards. Organizations that cannot produce this documentation face enforcement risk regardless of whether the scraped data was technically "public." ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is web scraping legal in 2026? It depends on jurisdiction, method, and data type. In the United States, scraping publicly accessible data does not violate the CFAA (per the Ninth Circuit's hiQ v. LinkedIn rulings), but circumventing anti-bot systems may violate the DMCA (per Google v. SerpApi). Breaching a site's Terms of Service can result in contract liability. In the EU, scraping personal data requires a lawful basis under GDPR, and the AI Act adds disclosure and governance requirements for AI training data. There is no blanket "scraping is legal" or "scraping is illegal" answer — compliance is determined by how you scrape, what you scrape, and what you do with it. ### Does the EU AI Act directly regulate web scraping? Not directly. The AI Act regulates what happens after data collection — requiring training data disclosure, copyright opt-out compliance, and data governance for high-risk systems. However, scraping that feeds AI systems deployed in the EU must meet these downstream requirements, which effectively makes the collection method and data provenance auditable. Enforcement begins August 2, 2026, with penalties up to €35 million or 7% of global revenue. ### Is ignoring robots.txt illegal? Robots.txt is not legally binding on its own, and a federal court ruled in Ziff Davis v. OpenAI (2025) that it does not qualify as a DMCA-protected technological measure. However, ignoring robots.txt can undermine good-faith defenses in court, and combined with Terms of Service violations, it can support breach-of-contract claims. Under GDPR, European regulators view robots.txt compliance as evidence of data minimization and purpose limitation. ### What should enterprises look for in a compliant proxy vendor? Transparent IP sourcing (no opaque SDK consent chains), security certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2), a published Acceptable Use Policy, KYC procedures, dedicated infrastructure per customer, and API-level logging. If a vendor cannot explain where their IPs come from or produce an audit trail for your requests, they are a compliance liability. ### How does GDPR apply to scraping "public" data? GDPR applies to all personal data regardless of whether it is publicly accessible. The "public" nature of data may support a legitimate interest argument under Article 6, but it does not eliminate obligations around transparency (Articles 12-14), data minimization, and purpose limitation. The CNIL fined KASPR €200,000 for scraping publicly available LinkedIn profiles. Poland fined a data broker €220,000 for scraping public business registries. "It was public" is not a compliance strategy. ## Build Your Compliance-First Data Pipeline The enterprises that avoid enforcement actions in 2026 will not be the ones that scraped less — they will be the ones that scraped *responsibly*, with auditable infrastructure, transparent proxy sourcing, and documented compliance at every layer. Illusory provides bare-metal 5G mobile proxy infrastructure built for exactly this standard: dedicated hardware per customer, real carrier IPs from physical devices, instant IP rotation, unlimited API access, and full request logging. No shared pools. No SDK consent chains. No third-party residential devices in the mix. [View pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing) or review our [Terms of Service](https://www.illusory.io/terms-of-service) — and choose the proxy vendor your legal team will actually approve. Latest Blogs --- ### Best Mobile Proxy Providers 2026 Comparison URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/best-mobile-proxy-providers-2026-comparison Summary: Illusory makes it easier to retrieve online data and perform complex tasks. Train AI language models, conduct market research, or run mission-critical operations with our powerful, bare metal mobile proxies. Best Mobile Proxy Providers 2026 Comparison Insight # Best Mobile Proxy Providers 2026 Comparison Compare the 10 best mobile proxy providers in 2026. Pricing, features, pool sizes, and use cases for Oxylabs, Bright Data, SOAX, Illusory, Aluvia, and more. Compare the 10 best mobile proxy providers in 2026. Pricing, features, pool sizes, and use cases for Oxylabs, Bright Data, SOAX, Illusory, Aluvia, and more. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 18, 2026 February 18, 2026 Mobile proxies are the highest-trust proxy type available. They route traffic through real carrier IPs assigned to physical devices on 3G, 4G, 5G, and LTE networks, making them virtually indistinguishable from genuine mobile users. For web scraping, social media management, ad verification, and AI data pipelines, that trust score difference is the gap between 99% success rates and constant blocks. But not all mobile proxy providers are built the same. Some offer massive shared pools. Others run dedicated hardware. Pricing models range from per-GB metering to flat monthly rates with unlimited bandwidth. Choosing the wrong provider burns budget and tanks success rates. We evaluated ten mobile proxy providers across pool size, infrastructure type, pricing, rotation methods, geographic coverage, and real-world use cases. This is the comparison we wanted when building our own [AI data pipelines](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping). ## Quick Comparison: Best Mobile Proxy Providers in 2026 Provider Mobile IP Pool Network Types Starting Price Rotation Best For Oxylabs 20M+ 3G/4G/5G/LTE $9/GB Auto per-request, sticky 30 min Enterprise scraping at scale Bright Data 7M+ 3G/4G/5G $8/GB (PAYG) Auto + custom intervals Full-stack data platform SOAX 33M+ 3G/4G/5G/LTE $4/GB (PAYG) Per-request, interval up to 1 hr Mid-range versatility Decodo (Smartproxy) 10M+ 3G/4G/5G $4/GB (PAYG) Auto per-request, sticky Budget-friendly with strong tooling IPRoyal 4.5M+ 3G/4G/5G ~$10/day (unlimited BW) On-demand + timed auto Unlimited bandwidth flat-rate Illusory Dedicated per-customer 5G $1/hr Instant via API/dashboard Dedicated bare-metal 5G ProxyEmpire 5M+ 4G/5G $9/GB Auto rotating, sticky Rollover bandwidth, carrier targeting NetNut 5M+ 3G/4G/5G/LTE $3.82/GB Auto + custom ISP-direct architecture NodeMaven 250K+ (2-in-1 pool) 4G/5G $7/GB (PAYG) Auto + 24hr sticky Clean IP quality filtering Aluvia Millions (shared) 4G/LTE $3/GB Auto, 5-10 min sessions AI agents, budget automation Pricing and pool sizes reflect publicly available data as of February 2026. Verify current rates on each provider's website before purchasing. ## 1. Oxylabs: Best Mobile Proxies for Enterprise Scale [Oxylabs](https://oxylabs.io/products/mobile-proxy) consistently ranks as the top mobile proxy provider for large-scale operations. With 20M+ mobile IPs spanning 140+ countries and support for 3G, 4G, 5G, and LTE connections, it has the largest dedicated mobile pool of any premium provider. Performance benchmarks back the premium positioning. According to Proxyway's 2025 Research report, Oxylabs achieved a 99.94% infrastructure success rate and a 0.57-second average response time on mobile proxies, both industry-leading numbers. The service supports automatic rotation on every request plus sticky sessions up to 30 minutes for tasks requiring session persistence. Targeting is granular: country, state, city, coordinates, and ASN-level selection. For teams running [IP rotation at scale](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026), Oxylabs delivers the breadth and reliability to match. **Pricing:** Starts at $9/GB with pay-as-you-go. Volume discounts and custom enterprise plans available. A 7-day free trial is offered for businesses. **Pros:** Largest mobile pool, highest success rates, excellent documentation, SOCKS5 support. **Cons:** Premium pricing. Mobile proxies cost significantly more per GB than residential. Not ideal for small teams or budget-constrained projects. **Best for:** Enterprise data teams, large-scale web scraping, market research firms needing 99.9%+ uptime. ## 2. Bright Data: Most Complete Data Platform with Mobile Proxies [Bright Data](https://brightdata.com/pricing/proxy-network/mobile-proxies) is less a pure proxy provider and more an end-to-end data collection platform. Its mobile proxy pool includes 7M+ IPs across 195 countries, backed by an ecosystem of scraping browsers, unlocker APIs, SERP APIs, and pre-built datasets. The mobile IPs are distributed by ISPs through 3G, 4G, and 5G connections. Bright Data reports 99.99% success rates across its proxy infrastructure, though this figure covers all proxy types, not just mobile. What sets Bright Data apart is the tooling: the Scraping Browser renders JavaScript-heavy sites through their proxy network, and the Web Unlocker handles CAPTCHAs and anti-bot systems automatically. For teams building [AI data pipelines](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping), Bright Data now offers datasets pre-formatted for RAG pipelines, which cuts out the scraper-building step entirely. **Pricing:** Mobile proxies start at $8/GB pay-as-you-go. Committed plans from $7/GB ($499/mo minimum). **Pros:** Unmatched tooling ecosystem, 150M+ residential IPs alongside mobile, strong compliance framework, dataset marketplace. **Cons:** Complexity. The platform has a steep learning curve. Pricing can be confusing across the many product tiers. Overkill for simple proxy needs. **Best for:** Data engineering teams that need a full scraping stack, AI/ML training pipelines, compliance-sensitive enterprises. ## 3. SOAX: Best Mid-Range Mobile Proxy Provider [SOAX](https://soax.com/proxies/mobile) has rapidly scaled its mobile proxy network to 33M+ IPs, making it the largest mobile pool by raw number. Founded in 2020, the UK-based provider has focused on clean, ethically sourced IPs with precise geo-targeting down to city, ASN, and ISP levels. SOAX's performance numbers are strong: 99.95% success rates, 0.55-second response times, and minimal CAPTCHA triggers. All proxy types (residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter) are bundled under unified subscription plans, so you can switch between them without managing separate accounts. The pay-as-you-go option at $4/GB makes SOAX accessible for testing, while subscription plans scale to enterprise volumes. Mobile proxy rotation supports both per-request changes and timed intervals up to one hour. **Pricing:** Pay-as-you-go from $4/GB. Subscription plans from $90/month (25 GB Starter). A $1.99 trial with 400 MB is available for three days. **Pros:** Massive mobile pool, competitive pricing, unified plans across proxy types, AI-powered Web Unblocker, strong city-level targeting. **Cons:** Younger company with less track record than Oxylabs or Bright Data. Some users report the dashboard takes getting used to. **Best for:** Mid-market teams, social media management, ad verification, SEO monitoring, and ecommerce intelligence. ## 4. Decodo (Formerly Smartproxy): Best Value Per-GB Mobile Proxies [Decodo](https://decodo.com/proxies/mobile/pricing) rebranded from Smartproxy in April 2025, but the underlying infrastructure remains one of the most reliable in the market. The mobile proxy pool covers 10M+ IPs from 700+ carriers across 160+ locations, with sub-0.5-second response times that earned it Proxyway's fastest mobile proxy designation. Decodo's strength is accessibility. The dashboard is designed for quick onboarding, the documentation is thorough, and 24/7 support is included on all plans. Mobile proxies support HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 protocols with both rotating and sticky session modes. The broader Decodo ecosystem now includes a site unblocker, scraping APIs, an AI parser, and integrations with automation tools like n8n and LangChain. If you're looking for a self-service mobile proxy that works out of the box, Decodo is the benchmark. **Pricing:** Mobile proxies from $4/GB pay-as-you-go. Subscription plans from $3.75/GB with 50% promotional discount. 14-day money-back guarantee. **Pros:** Fastest response time, beginner-friendly, excellent support (G2: 4.7/5), broad carrier coverage, 700+ ASNs. **Cons:** Mobile-specific plans favor heavier users. Smaller mobile pool than Oxylabs or SOAX. The rebrand still causes confusion in some integrations. **Best for:** SMBs, social media automation, price monitoring, teams prioritizing ease of use over raw pool size. ## 5. IPRoyal: Best Unlimited Bandwidth Mobile Proxies [IPRoyal](https://iproyal.com/mobile-proxies/) takes a different approach to mobile proxy pricing: flat daily or monthly rates with unlimited bandwidth. Instead of per-GB metering, you rent a dedicated mobile device with a real SIM card. The pool includes 4.5M+ ethically sourced mobile IPs from actual carrier networks. This model is a strong fit for bandwidth-heavy operations. When you need to push significant traffic through mobile IPs without watching a usage meter, IPRoyal removes the mental overhead. Response times average ~0.8 seconds with 99% uptime, and the service supports 5G, 4G, and 3G connections. IP changes happen on demand through the dashboard or API. Country-level targeting is supported, though city-level granularity is more limited than Oxylabs or SOAX. **Pricing:** Mobile proxies from ~$10/day with unlimited bandwidth. No per-GB charges. Plans available for 1, 30, 60, or 90 days. **Pros:** Unlimited bandwidth eliminates cost surprises, real device-based IPs, ethically sourced pool, simple pricing model. **Cons:** Smaller mobile pool than premium competitors. Less precise geo-targeting. Response time slightly slower than top-tier options. **Best for:** High-bandwidth operations, sneaker/retail bots, social media management at volume, teams that prefer flat-rate pricing. ## 6. Illusory: Best Dedicated 5G Mobile Proxy Infrastructure [Illusory](https://www.illusory.io/) operates on a fundamentally different model than the providers above. Instead of shared pools aggregated from SDK-based peer-to-peer networks, Illusory runs bare-metal 5G hardware: real SIM-equipped mobile devices on major US carrier networks, with dedicated single-tenant infrastructure per customer. This matters for operations where IP provenance is critical. Every IP comes from a physical device on a real carrier network, not from an app running in the background of someone's phone. The single-tenant model means your proxy hardware is not shared with other customers, which eliminates the risk of IP contamination from other users' activities. Illusory proxies support instant IP rotation via API or dashboard, 1,000 concurrent threads per proxy, and unlimited bandwidth. 5G throughput reaches up to 200 Mbps depending on location, though speeds vary by city and network conditions. The infrastructure is US-based, strategically positioned in American cities to exploit strong ISP backbone connections. For teams that need [5G mobile proxies to bypass anti-bot systems](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026), the combination of genuine carrier IPs and dedicated hardware produces consistently high success rates against sophisticated detection. Real-world speed tests taken at random across Illusory's proxy fleet, February 2026: Network City Download 5G Austin, TX 186 Mbps 5G New York, NY 179 Mbps 5G New York, NY 173 Mbps 5G Seattle, WA 163 Mbps 5G Los Angeles, CA 140 Mbps *Tested via speedtest-go and Cloudflare Speed Test. Speeds vary by location and network conditions.* **Pricing:** $200/month per proxy. Custom pricing for bulk orders and private IP range deployments. Hourly ($1/hr), daily ($15/day), and weekly ($80/wk) options available for testing. **Pros:** True bare-metal 5G, dedicated single-tenant hardware, real carrier IPs (not P2P), unlimited bandwidth, instant rotation, developer-first API and docs. **Cons:** US-focused coverage (not 195 countries). Higher per-proxy cost than shared pool providers. Not designed for massive pool rotation across dozens of geos. **Best for:** AI training data collection, mission-critical scraping where IP quality matters more than pool breadth, DevOps teams needing dedicated infrastructure, [agentic scraping pipelines](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping). ## 7. ProxyEmpire: Best for Rollover Bandwidth [ProxyEmpire](https://proxyempire.io/) provides 5M+ mobile IPs across 170+ countries with both rotating and dedicated mobile proxy options. The standout feature is unlimited bandwidth rollover: unused data carries over to the next billing cycle indefinitely, so you never lose what you paid for. Mobile proxy targeting is granular, covering country, region, city, and mobile carrier filtering. The service supports HTTP and SOCKS5 protocols, integrates with popular anti-detect browsers (Multilogin, Dolphin Anty, GoLogin), and includes a browser extension for quick proxy switching. ProxyEmpire sits in the mid-tier pricing range. It's not the cheapest, but the rollover feature can deliver effective savings for teams with variable or seasonal usage patterns. **Pricing:** Rotating mobile from $9/GB. Dedicated mobile available in 50+ locations. A $1.97 trial with 50 MB lets you test before committing. **Pros:** Unlimited bandwidth rollover, carrier-level targeting, good integration ecosystem, transparent pricing with no hidden fees. **Cons:** Mobile proxies cost 119% more than residential ($9 vs $1.60/GB). Smaller pool than SOAX or Oxylabs. Mid-pack performance metrics. **Best for:** Teams with fluctuating proxy needs, multi-account management, agencies managing seasonal campaigns. ## 8. NetNut: Best ISP-Direct Mobile Proxy Architecture [NetNut](https://netnut.io/) differentiates through infrastructure: instead of P2P-sourced IPs, its residential proxies connect directly through ISP partnerships via DiviNetworks, offering one-hop connectivity that reduces latency. The mobile pool includes 5M+ 3G/4G/5G/LTE IPs across 100+ countries. The ISP-direct model means better IP consistency and availability. Where P2P networks depend on end-user devices being online, NetNut's architecture provides 24/7 IP access. The company also offers dedicated proxy pools optimized per target site, which can boost success rates for specific scraping targets. NetNut recently equalized pricing with top competitors after rate cuts in 2024 and 2025, making it more competitive for mid-to-large volume users. Mobile proxies start from $3.82/GB. **Pricing:** Mobile proxies from $3.82/GB across six pricing tiers. Free trial available. Custom enterprise plans with dedicated account managers. **Pros:** ISP-direct architecture, dedicated proxy pools per target, fast static proxies, strong enterprise support, 85M+ residential IPs alongside mobile. **Cons:** Higher entry prices for lower volumes. Dashboard and documentation less polished than Decodo or Oxylabs. Mobile pool smaller than leaders. **Best for:** Enterprise scraping with ISP-direct speed, SEO monitoring, price intelligence at scale, teams needing dedicated optimized pools. ## 9. NodeMaven: Best for IP Quality Filtering [NodeMaven](https://nodemaven.com/) takes a quality-over-quantity approach. Its combined residential and mobile pool includes 30M+ residential IPs and 250K+ mobile IPs, and what makes it unique is the proprietary IP Quality Filter: an algorithm that evaluates each IP's reputation before assigning it to a user, ensuring 95%+ clean addresses. The 2-in-1 pricing model is notable: mobile and residential proxies are included in the same plan at no extra cost. You can switch between proxy types based on your use case without managing separate subscriptions. Sticky sessions last up to 24 hours, which is among the longest in the industry and valuable for tasks requiring persistent sessions. NodeMaven's SDK is developer-friendly, with packages for Python, JavaScript, PHP, and Go. The focus on quality makes it a strong choice for multi-account management where flagged IPs mean banned accounts. **Pricing:** From $7/GB pay-as-you-go. Volume discounts and promotional codes can reduce costs significantly. Trial available at $3.99 for 1 GB. Traffic rolls over between billing periods. **Pros:** IP Quality Filter for clean IPs, 2-in-1 pricing (mobile + residential), 24-hour sticky sessions, multi-language SDKs, traffic rollover. **Cons:** Smaller mobile pool (250K vs millions for competitors). Younger company (founded 2023). Less geographic coverage for mobile-specific targeting. **Best for:** Multi-account managers, quality-sensitive automation, sneaker bots, teams that prioritize clean IPs over pool breadth. ## 10. Aluvia: Best Budget Mobile Proxy for AI Agents [Aluvia](https://www.aluvia.io/) targets a specific niche: affordable mobile proxies purpose-built for AI agents and autonomous workflows. At $3/GB pay-as-you-go with no contracts or minimums, it undercuts most shared pool providers on per-GB mobile pricing. The service accepts only cryptocurrency payments, which streamlines onboarding for pseudonymous accounts but limits accessibility for organizations requiring traditional invoicing. The infrastructure runs on real mobile devices with authentic SIM cards on major US carrier networks, operated directly by Aluvia rather than sourced through a P2P network. That said, it's a shared pool, meaning multiple customers route traffic through the same devices. Developer tooling is strong for a newer provider. The [@aluvia/sdk](https://www.aluvia.io/) ships with adapters for Playwright, Puppeteer, Selenium, Axios, got, and Node fetch. Two official [OpenClaw skills on ClawHub](https://www.aluvia.io/) (aluvia-web-proxy for browser-based automation and aluvia-web-unblock for HTTP-only requests) make Aluvia the most plug-and-play option for teams building agentic scraping pipelines. Aluvia has announced a planned Smart Routing feature that will automatically route requests between mobile and datacenter proxies based on target requirements, though this is not yet live as of February 2026. The trade-offs are real. Coverage is US-only with international expansion planned. Network is primarily 4G/LTE despite 5G being mentioned on the specs page, with Aluvia citing 10 Mbps minimum throughput. Sticky sessions last 5-10 minutes depending on carrier behavior, which is substantially shorter than the 30-minute to 24-hour sessions offered by providers like Oxylabs and NodeMaven. And the shared pool model means your IPs carry the reputation footprint of every other Aluvia customer. **Pricing:** $3/GB pay-as-you-go for mobile IPs. No contracts, no minimums. Cryptocurrency payments only. **Pros:** Lowest per-GB mobile proxy pricing at $3/GB, developer-first SDK with automation adapters, official OpenClaw skills, no KYC or use case restrictions, planned smart routing feature for future cost optimization. **Cons:** Primarily 4G/LTE despite 5G mentioned on specs page, US-only coverage, shared pool with IP contamination risk from other customers, short sticky sessions (5-10 minutes vs competitors' 30 min-24 hr), cryptocurrency payments only (no traditional invoicing), zero third-party reviews on Trustpilot, G2, or any major platform as of February 2026. **Best for:** AI agents and autonomous workflows, budget-conscious automation, OpenClaw integrations, teams that need low-cost mobile IPs without KYC requirements. ## How to Choose a Mobile Proxy Provider by Use Case The right mobile proxy provider depends on what you're building. Here's a breakdown by the most common use cases: ### Web Scraping and Data Collection Large-scale scraping demands massive pools, fast rotation, and high success rates. **Oxylabs** and **Bright Data** lead here with the largest infrastructure and most sophisticated anti-detection tooling. If you're scraping at enterprise volume across multiple geographies, these two justify their premium pricing. For mid-range budgets, **SOAX** offers a strong balance of pool size and cost. When scraping targets deploy aggressive bot detection, the quality of the IP source matters as much as pool size. Providers running bare-metal hardware with real carrier IPs, like **Illusory**, produce higher per-IP success rates against sophisticated fingerprinting systems. Read more about [how 5G mobile proxies bypass anti-bot systems](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026) to understand why infrastructure architecture matters. ### Social Media Management Multi-account management on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook requires clean IPs with long session persistence. **NodeMaven**'s IP Quality Filter and 24-hour sticky sessions are purpose-built for this. **Decodo** and **IPRoyal** are strong alternatives with broader carrier coverage. ### Ad Verification Verifying ad placements across geographies and devices requires precise geo-targeting and real mobile fingerprints. **SOAX** (city + ASN targeting), **ProxyEmpire** (carrier-level targeting), and **Oxylabs** (coordinate-level precision) excel here. ### Sneaker and Retail Automation Speed, unlimited bandwidth, and clean IPs determine success in retail drops. **IPRoyal**'s unlimited bandwidth flat-rate model eliminates data caps during high-traffic events. **NodeMaven**'s quality filtering reduces the risk of pre-flagged IPs. For dedicated 5G speed on US retail targets, **Illusory**'s bare-metal infrastructure delivers the throughput and trust scores these platforms require. ### AI Training and RAG Pipelines Collecting training data for LLMs and building RAG pipelines at scale requires high-trust IPs, unlimited bandwidth, and [compliance with web scraping regulations](https://www.illusory.io/blog/web-scraping-compliance-2026-legal-ethical-proxy). **Bright Data** offers pre-built RAG-ready datasets. **Illusory**'s dedicated 5G infrastructure provides the clean, single-tenant environment that compliance-conscious AI teams need. **Oxylabs** combines scale with ethical sourcing certifications. ### AI Agents and Autonomous Workflows AI agents — whether running on OpenClaw, custom automation frameworks, or agentic workflow platforms — typically execute from cloud or datacenter IP addresses. These are the first addresses anti-bot systems flag. Agents hit 403 errors, CAPTCHAs, and rate limits within minutes of sustained scraping because datacenter IP ranges are well-known and heavily monitored. Mobile proxies solve this by giving agents human-trust-level IPs that websites cannot block without affecting real mobile users. The question is which provider architecture fits your agent workload. **Aluvia** is purpose-built for this use case. At $3/GB with an SDK that includes Playwright and Puppeteer adapters and two official OpenClaw skills on ClawHub, it offers the lowest per-GB cost for agent-driven automation. The no-KYC signup and crypto-only payments reduce friction for teams deploying agents at scale. **Illusory** provides dedicated 5G infrastructure for agent workflows where IP quality is non-negotiable. The single-tenant model means no IP contamination from other customers' traffic — critical for agents targeting platforms with aggressive fingerprinting. The unlimited bandwidth and instant API-based rotation integrate cleanly with headless browser pipelines. For teams building agentic scraping pipelines that combine LLM-driven navigation with data extraction, see our guide on [AI data pipelines with 5G mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping). ## Mobile Proxy Provider Decision Framework Priority Top Pick Runner-Up Largest mobile IP pool SOAX (33M+) Oxylabs (20M+) Lowest per-GB cost Aluvia ($3/GB) SOAX ($4/GB) Best full-stack platform Bright Data Oxylabs Unlimited bandwidth IPRoyal Illusory Dedicated 5G hardware Illusory IPRoyal IP cleanliness NodeMaven Illusory Easiest setup Decodo SOAX Enterprise compliance Bright Data Oxylabs Variable/seasonal usage ProxyEmpire NodeMaven AI agent automation Aluvia Illusory For a deeper analysis of how infrastructure type affects mobile proxy performance, see our [authority guide to choosing the best mobile proxy for data operations](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is a mobile proxy and how is it different from a residential proxy? A mobile proxy routes your internet traffic through an IP address assigned by a mobile carrier to a real cellular device. A residential proxy uses an IP assigned by a home ISP to a Wi-Fi-connected device. Mobile IPs carry higher trust scores because mobile carriers use CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT), meaning thousands of real users share the same IP ranges. Websites are far less likely to block mobile IPs because doing so would affect legitimate mobile users. ### Are 5G mobile proxies faster than 4G? Yes, but speed depends on the provider's infrastructure. 5G networks can deliver download speeds of 100-200+ Mbps compared to 10-50 Mbps on 4G. However, the proxy provider's server infrastructure, routing efficiency, and geographic placement matter more than the raw network generation. A well-optimized 4G proxy can outperform a poorly architected 5G one. Providers like Illusory (up to 200 Mbps depending on location and network conditions) and IPRoyal that use dedicated hardware on 5G networks typically deliver the highest throughput. ### How much do mobile proxies cost compared to residential proxies? Mobile proxies generally cost 2-5x more than residential proxies. Residential proxies range from $1.50-$4/GB, while mobile proxies range from $3-$14/GB depending on the provider and volume. The premium reflects the higher trust scores, lower block rates, and more limited supply of genuine mobile IPs. Some providers like IPRoyal and Illusory use flat-rate pricing with unlimited bandwidth, which can be more cost-effective for high-traffic operations. ### Can mobile proxies be detected? All proxies can theoretically be detected, but mobile proxies are the hardest to flag. Websites that block mobile carrier IP ranges risk blocking millions of legitimate users. The detection risk increases with shared pool providers where many customers cycle through the same IPs. Dedicated mobile proxy infrastructure, where your traffic doesn't share IPs with other customers, further reduces detection risk. Our guide on [how 5G mobile proxies bypass anti-bot systems](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026) covers the technical details. ### Which mobile proxy provider should I choose for web scraping in 2026? It depends on your scale and requirements. For enterprise-scale scraping across many geographies, Oxylabs or Bright Data offer the largest pools and most mature tooling. For mid-range budgets, SOAX and Decodo deliver strong performance at lower price points. For operations where IP quality and dedicated infrastructure matter more than pool size, such as scraping sites with aggressive anti-bot defenses, a bare-metal provider like Illusory is worth evaluating. See our [IP rotation services roundup](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026) for more on managing rotation across providers. ## Start Building with Mobile Proxies Every provider in this comparison solves a different slice of the mobile proxy problem. The right choice depends on whether you need massive pool breadth, budget efficiency, full-stack tooling, or dedicated infrastructure. If your operations require dedicated 5G mobile proxies built on bare-metal hardware with real carrier IPs, no shared pools, and unlimited API access, [explore Illusory's pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing) or [read the documentation](https://www.illusory.io/docs) to see how our infrastructure integrates with your existing stack. For teams already running proxies and looking to optimize their rotation strategy, our guide to [IP rotation services for data engineers](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026) covers the tactical side of multi-provider proxy management. Latest Blogs --- ### Best Mobile Proxies for AI Agents in 2026 URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-ai-agents-2026 Summary: Illusory makes it easier to retrieve online data and perform complex tasks. Train AI language models, conduct market research, or run mission-critical operations with our powerful, bare metal mobile proxies. Best Mobile Proxies for AI Agents in 2026 Insight # Best Mobile Proxies for AI Agents in 2026 Compare the best mobile proxies for AI agents in 2026. Bright Data, Oxylabs, Aluvia, and Illusory rated for autonomous agent workloads with honest trade-offs. Compare the best mobile proxies for AI agents in 2026. Bright Data, Oxylabs, Aluvia, and Illusory rated for autonomous agent workloads with honest trade-offs. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards February 24, 2026 February 24, 2026 If you're building AI agents that browse the web, you've probably already hit the wall. Your agent works fine in local testing, then fails in production with 403s, CAPTCHAs, and blank responses. The problem isn't your code. It's your IP address. Most AI agents run on cloud infrastructure — AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner — and those datacenter IPs are the first thing anti-bot systems flag. Mobile proxies fix this by routing agent traffic through real carrier IPs that can't be blocked without also cutting off thousands of legitimate mobile users. This guide compares the four mobile proxy providers that actually make sense for AI agent workloads in 2026, with honest trade-offs for each. If you want a broader breakdown that includes residential and datacenter options, see our [full 2026 mobile proxy provider comparison](https://www.illusory.io/blog/best-mobile-proxy-providers-2026-comparison). ## Why AI agents get blocked (the datacenter IP problem) Every cloud provider operates from known IP ranges. AWS publishes theirs. DigitalOcean, Hetzner, GCP, all the same. Anti-bot systems maintain databases of these ranges and treat traffic from them with maximum suspicion. When your AI agent runs on a VPS, its requests arrive from one of these flagged ranges. The symptoms are things you've probably already seen: HTTP 403 responses, CAPTCHA challenges on every page load, empty response bodies where the HTML is technically valid but the actual content was withheld, or aggressive 429 rate limits that throttle your agent after a handful of requests. Some sites go further and serve entirely different content to datacenter IPs, so your agent scrapes the sanitized version while real browsers see the actual page. If your agent suddenly started returning garbage data and you can't figure out why, check the IP it's running on first. There's a trust hierarchy at work here. Datacenter IPs sit at the bottom. Residential IPs (assigned to home ISP connections) earn more trust because they're tied to real households. Mobile carrier IPs sit at the top because of how cellular networks work: carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) means each mobile IP address is shared by thousands of real phone users simultaneously. Blocking a mobile IP means blocking all those legitimate users too. Most anti-bot systems won't take that risk. For a technical breakdown of this mechanism, see our guide on [how 5G mobile proxies bypass modern anti-bot systems](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026). This isn't a niche concern anymore. [Browser Use](https://docs.browser-use.com/customize/browser/all-parameters) has 78K+ GitHub stars as of early 2026, and agents running at scale regularly report blocking issues. [AWS shipped first-party proxy configuration for Bedrock AgentCore Browser](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/machine-learning/customize-ai-agent-browsing-with-proxies-profiles-and-extensions-in-amazon-bedrock-agentcore-browser/) in February 2026, letting enterprise customers route agent traffic through their own proxy infrastructure. [Bright Data launched an Agent Browser](https://brightdata.com/ai/agent-browser) product purpose-built for autonomous agents. When AWS and Bright Data both ship agent-proxy products in the same quarter, it's not speculative demand anymore. ## Quick comparison: mobile proxies for AI agents Provider IP Type Coverage Mobile IP Pool Agent Integration Pricing Best For [Bright Data](https://brightdata.com/ai/agent-browser) Mobile (3G/4G/5G) 195 countries 7M+ Agent Browser, Puppeteer/Playwright/Selenium $8/GB PAYG, $499/mo committed Enterprise, global coverage [Oxylabs](https://oxylabs.io/products/mobile-proxies) Mobile (3G/4G/5G) 140+ countries 20M+ Single endpoint, API dashboard $9/GB PAYG, $99/mo committed Large IP pool, geo-targeting [Aluvia](https://www.aluvia.io/) Mobile (4G) US only Shared pool Browser Use SDK, OpenClaw skills $3/GB PAYG, crypto only Budget mobile, agent-native [Illusory](https://www.illusory.io/pricing) Mobile (5G) US (multi-city) Dedicated per customer API-first, HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 $1/hr or $200/mo, unlimited bandwidth Dedicated infrastructure ## 1. Bright Data: enterprise mobile proxies with Agent Browser [Bright Data](https://brightdata.com/ai/agent-browser) is the largest proxy provider in the market, and their mobile proxy network reflects that scale: 7M+ mobile IPs across 195 countries with 3G/4G/5G connections. For AI agent developers specifically, they've shipped an Agent Browser product that combines their proxy infrastructure with a hosted browser runtime. It supports Puppeteer, Playwright, and Selenium, handles CAPTCHA solving and anti-bot bypass automatically, and can scale to unlimited concurrent sessions. Mobile proxy pricing starts at $8/GB on pay-as-you-go with no monthly commitment. Committed plans start at $499/mo ($7/GB for 71GB included) and scale down to $5/GB at the $1,999/mo tier. They also offer a Web Unlocker product that handles CAPTCHAs, fingerprinting, and retries as a managed service on top of their proxy network, which may be a better fit than raw mobile proxies for agent workloads where you just need the data and don't want to manage unblocking logic yourself. On credibility, Bright Data is hard to argue with. 4.4/5 Trustpilot from 942 reviews, 20,000+ customers, and a compliance program that's been through enough scrutiny that enterprise procurement teams actually approve it. Their Proxy Manager dashboard gives you granular control over rotation, session management, and targeting. SOCKS5 is available through Proxy Manager. Where it gets annoying: KYC is required before you can access mobile proxies, which adds friction if you just want to test quickly. The $499/mo minimum on committed mobile plans prices out smaller projects, and $8/GB on PAYG adds up fast for bandwidth-heavy agents. The platform itself has a learning curve. Mobile proxies, Agent Browser, Web Unlocker, Scraping Browser — there's meaningful overlap between these products, and it takes a while to figure out which one you actually need. ## 2. Oxylabs: 20M+ mobile IP pool with precise geo-targeting [Oxylabs](https://oxylabs.io/products/mobile-proxies) operates one of the largest mobile proxy pools in the market at 20M+ IPs across 140+ countries. Their mobile proxies support 3G/4G/5G/LTE connections with automatic rotation and 30-minute sticky sessions when you need to maintain the same IP. The geo-targeting is where Oxylabs pulls ahead. You can filter by continent, country, state, city, GPS coordinates, and ASN at no extra cost. Need your agent to see localized content from a specific city or carrier? That level of targeting is available out of the box. Oxylabs also advertises 1.1-second average response time and 99.9% uptime, which matters when agents need to process pages quickly without stalling on proxy latency. Pricing is $9/GB PAYG (up to 50GB/month), dropping to $8.25/GB on the Micro plan ($99/mo for 12GB) and $7.50/GB on the Advanced plan ($600/mo for 80GB). They're ISO 27001 certified and carry a Trustpilot rating of 4.0/5 from 702 reviews. At $9/GB PAYG, Oxylabs is the most expensive per-GB option here. There's no agent-specific product like Bright Data's Agent Browser — you're working with standard proxy infrastructure and building your own automation around the API. KYC is required, and the $99/mo entry plan only includes 12GB, which most agents burn through fast. The dashboard is well-designed for monitoring and zone management, but if you want a drop-in agent integration, you won't find one here. ## 3. Aluvia: budget mobile proxy with agent SDK [Aluvia](https://www.aluvia.io/) is the cheapest mobile proxy for AI agents at $3/GB flat, with 4G IPs across 30+ US cities. They've built specifically for the agent ecosystem: Browser Use SDK integration, OpenClaw skills for browser and HTTP proxying, auto block detection that scores responses and triggers Cloudflare/DataDome/PerimeterX bypass, and hostname-based routing rules so you only proxy the domains that need it. Their smart routing feature automatically falls back to $0.30/GB datacenter proxies for unprotected domains, which can meaningfully cut costs for mixed workloads. The catch: crypto-only payments (no credit cards, no invoicing), US-only coverage, 10-minute max sticky sessions, and no SOCKS5. Zero reviews on Trustpilot, G2, or Capterra as of February 2026. The $5 minimum deposit makes them trivially easy to test, but you're betting on a brand-new product with no third-party validation yet. The shared pool also means other customers' scraping behavior can affect your IP reputation, though that's the case with any shared-pool provider including Bright Data and Oxylabs. ## 4. Illusory: dedicated 5G mobile proxy infrastructure Illusory runs bare-metal 5G hardware with single-tenant infrastructure. Each customer gets their own physical proxy device on major US carrier networks. No shared pools. No SDK-sourced IPs from residential devices. These are actual 5G modems in US data centers, and you're the only one using yours. Pricing is $1/hr or $200/mo per proxy with unlimited bandwidth and support for 1,000 concurrent threads per proxy. HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 are all available, with instant [IP rotation](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026) via API. For agent fleets, the practical benefit is isolation. With shared-pool providers, another customer's aggressive scraping can get an IP flagged before your agent ever touches it. That doesn't happen here. Your proxy's reputation is entirely determined by your own usage. Combined with carrier CGNAT IPs that anti-bot systems inherently trust, this produces consistent unblocking performance that doesn't degrade based on what other users are doing. For [compliance-sensitive operations](https://www.illusory.io/blog/web-scraping-compliance-2026-legal-ethical-proxy) where you need to know exactly where your traffic originates and who else is sharing that infrastructure, dedicated single-tenant proxies matter. The honest trade-offs: Illusory is the most expensive option per-proxy on this list. At $200/mo, it costs far more than the per-GB pricing on Bright Data, Oxylabs, or Aluvia for low-volume workloads. However, the unlimited bandwidth means high-volume agents come out ahead on a per-GB basis. An agent transferring 100GB/month pays effectively $2/GB on Illusory versus $3/GB on Aluvia or $8-9/GB on Bright Data and Oxylabs. Coverage is US-focused with multi-city availability, so global coverage requires pairing with Bright Data or Oxylabs. For a deeper technical look at the 5G advantage, see our guide on [how 5G mobile proxies bypass anti-bot systems](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026). ## How to choose a mobile proxy for your AI agent The right choice depends on your agent's workload, budget, and where it needs to operate: Your Situation Best Choice Why High-volume enterprise, global coverage needed Bright Data 7M+ mobile IPs, 195 countries, Agent Browser product Large IP pool, precise geo-targeting by city/ASN Oxylabs 20M+ mobile IPs, 140+ countries, ASN-level targeting Budget automation, US-only, comfortable with crypto Aluvia Cheapest mobile per-GB at $3, agent SDK included Mission-critical agent fleet, need dedicated IPs Illusory Single-tenant 5G hardware, unlimited bandwidth, no shared pool These aren't mutually exclusive. Some teams use a shared-pool provider like Bright Data or Aluvia for routine scraping and reserve dedicated Illusory proxies for the targets where consistency and isolation matter most. Whether you're building [AI data pipelines for RAG](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping) or running autonomous browsing agents, matching the proxy tier to the workload keeps costs reasonable without sacrificing reliability where it counts. One pattern we see often: teams start with the cheapest option that works, then upgrade when they hit reliability issues at scale. An agent running 10 requests/day doesn't need dedicated infrastructure. An agent fleet making 50,000 requests/day across protected sites probably does. Let the workload dictate the spend, not the marketing copy. For more on matching proxy types to specific workloads, see our [authority guide to choosing a mobile proxy for data operations](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops). ## Setting up mobile proxies with AI agent frameworks Every provider in this comparison supports standard HTTP proxy configuration, which means setup looks nearly identical regardless of which one you pick. Bright Data and Oxylabs use a single rotating endpoint (you authenticate via username:password and the proxy rotates IPs automatically). Aluvia works the same way. Illusory gives you a dedicated endpoint per proxy with API-driven rotation. In all cases, your agent framework just needs a proxy URL and credentials. ### Browser Use (Python) Browser Use accepts proxy configuration through its Browser class (renamed from BrowserConfig in v0.5.4). Pass a ProxySettings object with your server URL, username, and password: from browser_use import Browser, ProxySettings browser = Browser( proxy=ProxySettings( server="http://your-proxy-host:port", username="user", password="pass", ) ) from browser_use import Browser, ProxySettings browser = Browser( proxy=ProxySettings( server="http://your-proxy-host:port", username="user", password="pass", ) ) from browser_use import Browser, ProxySettings browser = Browser( proxy=ProxySettings( server="http://your-proxy-host:port", username="user", password="pass", ) ) from browser_use import Browser, ProxySettings browser = Browser( proxy=ProxySettings( server="http://your-proxy-host:port", username="user", password="pass", ) ) See the [full Browser Use parameter reference](https://docs.browser-use.com/customize/browser/all-parameters) for additional options like allowed_domains and viewport configuration. ### Playwright (Node.js / Python) Playwright supports proxy configuration at browser launch. The proxy applies to all pages created from that browser instance: const browser = await chromium.launch({ proxy: { server: 'http://your-proxy-host:port', username: 'user', password: 'pass', }, }); const browser = await chromium.launch({ proxy: { server: 'http://your-proxy-host:port', username: 'user', password: 'pass', }, }); const browser = await chromium.launch({ proxy: { server: 'http://your-proxy-host:port', username: 'user', password: 'pass', }, }); const browser = await chromium.launch({ proxy: { server: 'http://your-proxy-host:port', username: 'user', password: 'pass', }, }); ### General pattern Any AI agent framework that uses Playwright, Puppeteer, or CDP under the hood accepts standard proxy configuration. If your framework wraps one of these libraries, look for a proxy or proxySettings parameter in its browser or session config. The format is nearly universal: a server URL plus optional authentication credentials. For agents making direct HTTP requests (no browser automation), configure your HTTP client to use the proxy as an HTTP/HTTPS endpoint. All four providers in this comparison expose standard HTTP proxy endpoints that work with any HTTP library, from Python's requests to Node's axios. Illusory, Bright Data, and Oxylabs also support SOCKS5 for lower-level connection control. Match your rotation strategy to the workload. Illusory offers instant rotation via API call. Oxylabs provides 30-minute sticky sessions with automatic rotation between them. Aluvia caps sticky sessions at 10 minutes. If your agent hits the same domain repeatedly, sticky sessions help avoid rate limits. If it crawls across many domains, rotating per request works better. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do I need a mobile proxy for my AI agent? It depends on what your agent accesses. If you're hitting public APIs or sites without anti-bot protection, a datacenter IP or basic residential proxy works fine. If your agent runs into CAPTCHAs, 403 errors, or empty responses on sites protected by Cloudflare, DataDome, or similar systems, mobile proxies are the most reliable fix. The CGNAT mechanism behind mobile carrier IPs means anti-bot systems can't block them without also blocking thousands of real phone users, which makes mobile the highest-trust proxy type available. ### What's the difference between residential and mobile proxies for AI agents? Both use real consumer IP addresses instead of datacenter IPs. Residential IPs are assigned to home internet connections by ISPs. Mobile IPs are assigned by cellular carriers and shared across thousands of users through carrier-grade NAT. Anti-bot systems assign mobile IPs higher trust because blocking them affects many real users. In practice, mobile proxies get blocked less frequently than residential, particularly on sites with aggressive detection like major social platforms and e-commerce sites. ### Can I use a free proxy with my AI agent? You can try, but you'll regret it in production. Free proxies are slow, unreliable, and usually already blacklisted by any site worth scraping. You're also routing your agent's traffic (potentially including auth tokens) through unknown infrastructure, which is a security problem. For quick testing against unprotected sites, maybe. For anything real, no. ### How do mobile proxies help with CAPTCHAs? They don't solve CAPTCHAs — they prevent them from appearing in the first place. Anti-bot systems decide whether to present challenges partly based on IP reputation. Datacenter IPs get challenged constantly. Mobile carrier IPs carry high trust scores, so the challenge rate drops significantly. Your agent will still see occasional CAPTCHAs, but far fewer than on datacenter or residential IPs. ### What's the cheapest mobile proxy for AI agents? Aluvia at $3/GB is the cheapest per-GB option, though it's US-only and crypto-only. Bright Data starts at $8/GB PAYG, and Oxylabs at $9/GB. For high-volume workloads, Illusory's unlimited bandwidth at $200/mo can be the cheapest per-GB if you're transferring over 67GB/month ($200 / $3 breakeven vs. Aluvia). The right answer depends on volume, geography, and whether you need shared or dedicated infrastructure. If your agents need the highest-trust mobile IPs with dedicated infrastructure and unlimited bandwidth, [see Illusory's pricing](https://www.illusory.io/pricing). Each proxy runs on bare-metal 5G hardware assigned exclusively to your account, with instant IP rotation via API. We're also building native SDK and MCP server integrations for popular AI agent frameworks. More on that soon. For now, any framework that supports standard proxy configuration works out of the box with Illusory's HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 endpoints. For the full breakdown of mobile proxy providers including detailed feature comparisons, see our [2026 mobile proxy provider comparison](https://www.illusory.io/blog/best-mobile-proxy-providers-2026-comparison). Latest Blogs --- ### Why AI Agents Need Mobile Proxies (and How OpenClaw Handles It) URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-agents-mobile-proxies-setup-guide Summary: Illusory makes it easier to retrieve online data and perform complex tasks. Train AI language models, conduct market research, or run mission-critical operations with our powerful, bare metal mobile proxies. Why AI Agents Need Mobile Proxies (and How OpenClaw Handles It) Guide # Why AI Agents Need Mobile Proxies (and How OpenClaw Handles It) AI agents get blocked because of their IP, not behavior. Learn why mobile proxies work on protected sites and how to configure proxy support in OpenClaw. AI agents get blocked because of their IP, not behavior. Learn why mobile proxies work on protected sites and how to configure proxy support in OpenClaw. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards March 3, 2026 March 3, 2026 If you've deployed an AI agent that browses the web, you've probably watched it work in development and break in production. The agent hits a Cloudflare challenge or gets a flat 403 instead of the data it needs. Your pipeline stops cold. Most people blame the agent framework or the browser automation library. Almost always, the root cause is simpler: the IP address. Anti-bot systems decide whether to block a request based on where it comes from before they ever look at browser behavior or JavaScript execution. This guide walks through what's actually happening at the network level when your agent gets blocked, which proxy type works against modern anti-bot systems, and how to wire it all up in [OpenClaw](https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/browser). ## Why AI agents trigger anti-bot systems at higher rates AI agents don't browse like humans. The specific ways they differ are what trigger detection. A human opens a page, scrolls around, maybe reads for 30 seconds before clicking a link. An AI agent navigates directly to a target URL, extracts content, and moves on. Time between page loads is 1-2 seconds instead of 15-30. No mouse movement, no natural scroll behavior. The browsing pattern looks mechanical because it is. But the behavioral stuff is secondary. Anti-bot systems don't start with mouse tracking. They start with the IP address. The evaluation order for most detection systems (Cloudflare Bot Management, DataDome, Akamai Bot Manager) looks roughly like this: 1. IP reputation and [ASN classification](https://ip2geoapi.com/docs/how-to-detect-bot-traffic-using-asn-patterns)2. TLS fingerprint (JA3/JA4 hash)3. HTTP header order and consistency4. JavaScript execution environment5. Behavioral analysis (mouse movement, scroll patterns, timing) If the IP fails at step 1, the request never reaches behavioral analysis. This is why a perfectly configured Playwright browser still gets blocked when it runs from an AWS instance. The IP address tells the anti-bot system what it needs to know before it checks anything else. Traditional scrapers send isolated HTTP requests and rotate IPs per request. AI agents are different. They maintain [sessions across multiple page loads](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026), fill forms, click buttons, and navigate multi-step flows. That longer interaction window gives anti-bot systems more signal to work with, which makes your IP choice matter even more. ## The proxy hierarchy: datacenter, residential, and mobile The proxy type you choose affects your success rate more than any other single variable. The differences are bigger than most people expect. ### Datacenter proxies Datacenter proxies route traffic through servers at cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Hetzner. These IPs belong to well-known Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) that anti-bot systems maintain blocklists for. AS16509 is Amazon. AS15169 is Google. AS24940 is Hetzner. When a request arrives from one of these ASNs, it gets flagged before behavioral analysis starts. The network identity alone classifies the traffic as automated. In testing across multiple protected targets, datacenter proxies succeed on less than 10% of Cloudflare-protected sites and under 5% on DataDome targets. They're fine for hitting unprotected APIs, but any site with anti-bot protection rejects them on sight. ### Residential proxies Residential proxies route traffic through real ISP connections. Home broadband users opt into proxy networks (usually in exchange for a free VPN or app credits), and their IPs get shared with proxy customers. The IPs belong to ISP ASNs like Comcast (AS7922) or AT&T (AS7018), which anti-bot systems treat as lower risk than datacenter ranges. Against Cloudflare's default settings, residential proxies see 50-70% success rates. The problem is pool contamination. Thousands of proxy customers share the same IP pool, and aggressive scraping by some users poisons individual IPs for everyone. Against tighter detection like DataDome or PerimeterX, shared residential pools drop to 30-50% success. ### Mobile carrier proxies and CGNAT Mobile carrier proxies route traffic through real 4G/5G SIM cards on physical devices connected to carriers like T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T. They outperform everything else, and the reason is [Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT)](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026). CGNAT is how mobile carriers conserve IPv4 addresses. Instead of assigning one public IP per phone, they route hundreds or thousands of devices through a single public IP. When your AI agent uses a mobile proxy, its traffic shares an IP address with thousands of real phone users who are scrolling social media and checking email. This creates a problem that anti-bot systems can't solve cleanly. Blocking a mobile carrier IP means blocking every device behind that CGNAT pool, potentially thousands of paying customers. Anti-bot vendors learned this the hard way and backed off. They now give mobile carrier ASNs (T-Mobile's AS21928, Verizon's AS6167) far more latitude than datacenter or residential ranges. The result: mobile carrier proxies consistently achieve 85-95% success rates against Cloudflare, Akamai, and DataDome. They're not immune to detection. Behavioral analysis can still flag obviously non-human browsing patterns. But the IP layer stops being the reason your agent gets blocked. **Proxy type** **Cloudflare success** **DataDome success** **Typical cost/GB** **Best for** Datacenter 5-10% <5% $0.50-2 Unprotected APIs only Residential (shared) 50-70% 30-50% $5-15 Moderate protection Mobile (shared pool) 75-85% 60-75% $15-30 General web scraping Mobile (dedicated) 90-98% 85-95% $20-50+ High-value protected targets A note on cost: running 1,000 requests through datacenter proxies at $1/GB with 5% success gives you 50 usable responses. Running them through [mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-ai-agents-2026) at $25/GB with 90% success gives you 900 usable responses. The per-successful-request cost is actually lower with mobile proxies despite the higher price per gigabyte. ## Configuring proxy support in OpenClaw OpenClaw has over 254,000 GitHub stars and is the most widely used AI agent platform. Its browser tool gives agents real browser automation: navigation, clicking, form filling, screenshot capture, all through a managed Chromium instance. The gap has been proxy support. Until recently, there was no built-in way to route the browser tool's traffic through a proxy server. Native proxy support is coming to OpenClaw's browser tool, adding HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 proxy configuration directly in the browser settings. ### What native proxy config will look like Once native support lands, you'll configure it in your OpenClaw settings file: // ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json { "browser": { "proxy": "http://username:password@proxy.example.com:8080" } } // ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json { "browser": { "proxy": "http://username:password@proxy.example.com:8080" } } // ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json { "browser": { "proxy": "http://username:password@proxy.example.com:8080" } } // ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json { "browser": { "proxy": "http://username:password@proxy.example.com:8080" } } Per-profile proxy overrides will also be supported, so you can route different browser profiles through different proxy providers: { "browser": { "profiles": { "scraping": { "proxy": "http://user:pass@mobile-proxy.example.com:8080" }, "general": { "proxy": "socks5://user:pass@residential-proxy.example.com:1080" } } } } { "browser": { "profiles": { "scraping": { "proxy": "http://user:pass@mobile-proxy.example.com:8080" }, "general": { "proxy": "socks5://user:pass@residential-proxy.example.com:1080" } } } } { "browser": { "profiles": { "scraping": { "proxy": "http://user:pass@mobile-proxy.example.com:8080" }, "general": { "proxy": "socks5://user:pass@residential-proxy.example.com:1080" } } } } { "browser": { "profiles": { "scraping": { "proxy": "http://user:pass@mobile-proxy.example.com:8080" }, "general": { "proxy": "socks5://user:pass@residential-proxy.example.com:1080" } } } } ### Current workaround: Playwright proxy settings While you wait for native support, you can configure proxy settings through Playwright directly. OpenClaw's managed browser connects to Chromium via CDP, and Playwright accepts proxy configuration at launch: # Using Playwright's proxy support with any agent framework from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright with sync_playwright() as p: browser = p.chromium.launch( proxy={ "server": "http://proxy.example.com:8080", "username": "your_username", "password": "your_password" } ) page = browser.new_page() page.goto("https://target-site.com") content = page.content() browser.close() from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright with sync_playwright() as p: browser = p.chromium.launch( proxy={ "server": "http://proxy.example.com:8080", "username": "your_username", "password": "your_password" } ) page = browser.new_page() page.goto("https://target-site.com") content = page.content() browser.close() from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright with sync_playwright() as p: browser = p.chromium.launch( proxy={ "server": "http://proxy.example.com:8080", "username": "your_username", "password": "your_password" } ) page = browser.new_page() page.goto("https://target-site.com") content = page.content() browser.close() from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright with sync_playwright() as p: browser = p.chromium.launch( proxy={ "server": "http://proxy.example.com:8080", "username": "your_username", "password": "your_password" } ) page = browser.new_page() page.goto("https://target-site.com") content = page.content() browser.close() This approach works with any agent framework that uses Playwright under the hood, including Browser Use and similar tools. ### HTTP proxy for non-browser agent tools For agents that use HTTP fetching instead of a full browser (like OpenClaw's web_fetch tool or LangChain's web loader), configure the proxy at the HTTP client level: import httpx # For Python-based agent frameworks client = httpx.Client( proxy="http://user:pass@proxy.example.com:8080", timeout=30.0, follow_redirects=True ) response = client.get("https://target-site.com") print(response.status_code) import httpx client = httpx.Client( proxy="http://user:pass@proxy.example.com:8080", timeout=30.0, follow_redirects=True ) response = client.get("https://target-site.com") print(response.status_code) import httpx client = httpx.Client( proxy="http://user:pass@proxy.example.com:8080", timeout=30.0, follow_redirects=True ) response = client.get("https://target-site.com") print(response.status_code) import httpx client = httpx.Client( proxy="http://user:pass@proxy.example.com:8080", timeout=30.0, follow_redirects=True ) response = client.get("https://target-site.com") print(response.status_code) Note that environment variables like `HTTP_PROXY` and `HTTPS_PROXY` work for HTTP client libraries but do not affect browser instances launched by OpenClaw. For the browser tool, you need either the upcoming native proxy config or the Playwright approach above. ## Session management and request pacing The right proxy type gets your agent through the door. Session management keeps it from getting thrown out. Anti-bot systems track sessions: the combination of IP address, browser fingerprint, cookies, and behavioral patterns across multiple requests. How you manage proxy sessions matters as much as which proxy you use. ### Sticky sessions vs rotating IPs For [AI agent workflows](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping), sticky sessions are usually the right default. A sticky session keeps the same IP address for a set period (5-30 minutes, depending on the task), so the agent's browsing looks like a single user navigating a site. IP rotation per request is better for bulk data collection where each request stands alone. But AI agents that log in, navigate multi-step flows, or maintain state across pages shouldn't rotate IPs mid-session. A real user doesn't change IP addresses between clicking "Next Page" and loading results. Anti-bot systems know this and flag session-level IP changes as a strong indicator of automation. ### Request pacing AI agents can fire requests fast. A human takes 15-30 seconds between page loads. An agent can do it in under a second. Add deliberate delays: 2-5 seconds for normal browsing, 5-10 seconds for high-security targets. One thing that works in your favor here is the agent's natural processing time. The 1-3 seconds the LLM spends reading the page and deciding what to do next is free pacing you don't have to fake. Still, for high-volume tasks, add explicit jitter on top of the LLM latency. Random delays between 2-7 seconds are harder for anti-bot systems to fingerprint than a fixed 3-second wait. ### Fingerprint consistency Your proxy and browser fingerprint need to tell the same story. If your IP geolocates to Dallas on a T-Mobile ASN, the browser's timezone should be Central Time, the language should be en-US, and the screen resolution should match a device you'd expect on that network. Mismatches between IP metadata and browser fingerprint are a strong detection signal. Most mobile proxy providers offer geo-targeting by city or region. Match your browser configuration to the proxy's location. Illusory's [5G mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-web-scraping-mobile-proxies) use real carrier infrastructure, which means the IP metadata (ASN, geolocation, carrier name) is authentic rather than spoofed, reducing fingerprint mismatches. ## Production checklist for web-facing AI agents Before you deploy an AI agent that touches the public web, run through this list: **1. Proxy infrastructure is configured and tested.** Mobile carrier proxies for protected sites, residential for moderate targets. Test against your actual target sites, not just example.com. **2. Sticky sessions are enabled.** 5-10 minute session duration for multi-step workflows. Longer for login-protected flows. **3. Request pacing is implemented.** Minimum 2-5 seconds between page loads. Add random jitter (not fixed intervals). **4. Browser fingerprint matches proxy metadata.** Timezone, language, and screen resolution should be consistent with the proxy IP's geolocation and network type. **5. TLS fingerprint is realistic.** Use a stealth browser (Camoufox, Nodriver) or a patched Playwright build. Stock Playwright and Puppeteer produce detectable JA3/JA4 hashes. **6. Error handling covers anti-bot responses.** Detect 403s, CAPTCHA redirects, and empty responses. Retry with exponential backoff and IP rotation on failure. **7. Success rate monitoring is in place.** Track your success rate per target site. Alert when it drops below 80%. A sudden drop usually means the target site updated its anti-bot rules or your proxy pool's reputation degraded. **8. Fallback proxy pool is configured.** If your primary proxy fails, the agent should be able to switch to a backup provider or pool without manual intervention. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do I need mobile proxies if my AI agent only accesses public APIs? If the API has no rate limiting or IP-based blocking, no. But most production APIs enforce rate limits, and many sit behind Cloudflare or similar protection. Test without a proxy first. If you hit 403 responses or rate limit errors under normal load, you need proxy infrastructure. ### What's the difference between shared and dedicated mobile proxies? Shared mobile proxy pools route multiple customers through the same set of SIM cards and IPs. Dedicated mobile proxies assign specific hardware (physical SIM cards on bare-metal 5G devices) to a single customer. Shared pools are cheaper but carry the same pool contamination risk as residential proxies. Dedicated infrastructure gives you clean IPs that only your traffic touches, which is why success rates are 10-15% higher on aggressive anti-bot targets. ### Can I use free proxies with my AI agent? Free proxies are almost always datacenter IPs with burned reputation. They fail on any protected site and frequently inject tracking or ads into the traffic passing through them. For anything beyond testing, paid proxies with maintained IP pools are the minimum. ### How do I check if a website uses anti-bot protection? Check response headers. Cloudflare adds a `cf-ray` header. DataDome sets a `datadome` cookie. Akamai uses `akamai-grn` headers. PerimeterX sets `_px` cookies. You can also check if the initial page load serves a JavaScript challenge (a brief loading screen before the real content appears) rather than the actual HTML content. ## Getting started None of the agent logic matters if the agent can't reach the target site. The proxy layer is what makes web access work for autonomous agents in production. If you're building agents that need reliable access to protected websites, Illusory provides dedicated 5G mobile proxy infrastructure built on bare-metal hardware with real carrier SIM cards. Each customer gets single-tenant devices, real mobile carrier IPs that anti-bot systems treat as legitimate mobile traffic, and instant IP rotation via API with unlimited bandwidth. [Check pricing and plans](https://www.illusory.io/pricing) or [read the integration docs](https://docs.illusory.io) to connect your AI agent framework. Latest Blogs --- ### 10 Key Differences Between Residential and Mobile Proxies URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/residential-vs-mobile-proxies-key-differences Summary: Illusory makes it easier to retrieve online data and perform complex tasks. Train AI language models, conduct market research, or run mission-critical operations with our powerful, bare metal mobile proxies. 10 Key Differences Between Residential and Mobile Proxies Guide # 10 Key Differences Between Residential and Mobile Proxies Compare mobile proxies vs residential proxies across 10 key dimensions: trust level, cost, IP rotation, performance, scalability, and use cases for 2026. Compare mobile proxies vs residential proxies across 10 key dimensions: trust level, cost, IP rotation, performance, scalability, and use cases for 2026. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards March 9, 2026 March 9, 2026 Residential and mobile proxies both route traffic through real consumer IP addresses, but the similarities stop there. The underlying infrastructure, trust signals, cost models, and operational trade-offs differ enough that picking the wrong type can tank a project's ROI or get your requests blocked at scale. This guide breaks down 10 specific differences between residential and mobile proxies based on how they actually perform in production. We cover the technical details that matter for data engineers, AI agent developers, and infrastructure teams making architecture decisions. ## Illusory 5G mobile proxy infrastructure overview Before comparing proxy types, it helps to understand what dedicated mobile proxy infrastructure actually looks like. At [Illusory](https://www.illusory.io), we build and operate bare-metal 5G mobile proxy hardware using real SIM cards on major US carrier networks. Each customer gets single-tenant devices that no one else shares. That last point matters more than it sounds. Most mobile proxy providers run shared pools where hundreds of customers cycle through the same IP addresses. Shared pools mean contaminated IPs, unpredictable ban rates, and no way to isolate your traffic. Our per-customer hardware isolation eliminates that problem entirely. The technical specs: Feature Specification Hardware Bare-metal 5G devices with physical SIM cards Carriers Major US mobile carriers (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon) Tenancy model Single-tenant (dedicated per customer) Concurrent threads 1,000 per proxy Bandwidth Unlimited, no per-GB metering IP rotation Instant via API or dashboard Protocols HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5 Throughput Up to 200 Mbps (varies by location and carrier conditions) Coverage US-based, major cities Pricing From $1/hr, $15/day, or $200/month per proxy The trade-offs are real: Illusory does not cover 195 countries, and per-proxy pricing is higher than shared-pool residential services charging $2-4/GB. What you get in return is zero IP contamination, carrier-grade trust scores, and infrastructure you can treat as your own. We compared the leading providers side by side in our [2026 mobile proxy provider comparison](https://www.illusory.io/blog/best-mobile-proxy-providers-2026-comparison). ## 1. IP source and identity differences The most fundamental difference is where the IP addresses come from. Residential proxies use IP addresses assigned by internet service providers (ISPs) to home broadband connections. These IPs are tied to DSL, cable, or fiber lines at physical home addresses. Most residential proxy networks source these IPs through SDK partnerships with consumer apps like free VPNs and utility tools. Users opt in (sometimes buried in terms of service) to share their idle bandwidth, and the proxy provider routes customer traffic through those home connections. Mobile proxies use IP addresses assigned by cellular carriers (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone) to SIM-equipped devices on 3G, 4G, or 5G networks. The IPs come from the carrier's mobile address pool and are associated with mobile ASNs rather than residential ISP ranges. Attribute Residential proxies Mobile proxies IP source Home ISP connections (DSL, fiber, cable) Cellular carrier networks (4G/5G towers) Network origin Residential ISP ASN Mobile carrier ASN (e.g., AS21928 for T-Mobile) Device type Home routers, consumer PCs Smartphones, dedicated modems with SIM cards IP assignment Typically one public IP per household Shared via CGNAT (thousands of users per IP) Sourcing model SDK/P2P through consumer apps Physical SIM hardware or carrier partnerships The IP source distinction drives every other difference covered below. How a target site classifies the ASN and network type behind an incoming request determines trust scoring, blocking behavior, and fingerprint risk. Our [comprehensive proxy guide](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-comprehensive-guide-to-how-proxies-work) covers the full range of proxy architectures if you want the broader picture. ## 2. Trust level and ban resistance Mobile proxies consistently score higher on IP trust and reputation metrics than residential proxies. The reason is structural, not marketing. Mobile carrier IPs sit behind Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), defined in [RFC 6598](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6598). CGNAT means a single public IPv4 address is shared by 1,000 to 10,000 or more real mobile users simultaneously. When Instagram or Amazon sees a request from a T-Mobile IP, that same IP is already serving tens of thousands of legitimate smartphone users browsing, shopping, and scrolling. Blocking it means blocking all of them. No platform will accept that collateral damage. Residential IPs, by contrast, are typically assigned one-to-one to a single household. If a site detects suspicious behavior from a residential IP, blocking it only affects one connection. Residential IPs are far easier to blacklist as a result, and providers need massive pools (40-80M+ IPs) specifically because individual addresses burn out regularly. Trust metric Residential proxies Mobile proxies Trust score range 70-85 out of 100 90-99 out of 100 CAPTCHA trigger rate Moderate (15-30% on protected sites) Low (3-8% on protected sites) Success rate on Cloudflare-protected sites 60-75% 88-95% Blacklist risk Medium (individual IPs get flagged) Very low (CGNAT makes blocking impractical) IP sharing model 1 user per IP (easy to isolate and block) 1,000-10,000+ users per IP (blocking is collateral damage) Dedicated mobile proxy providers like Illusory add another layer here. Because each customer gets their own hardware, there is zero risk of another customer's bad behavior contaminating your IP reputation. Shared-pool mobile services do not offer this guarantee. We wrote about the structural reasons [mobile proxies outperform other types](https://www.illusory.io/blog/the-edge-of-mobile-proxies-over-others) in a separate analysis. ## 3. Cost model and pricing structures Mobile proxies cost more than residential proxies. That is not debatable. The question is whether the higher cost is justified for your specific workload. Residential proxy pricing is almost always per-GB. Entry prices sit around $3-5/GB for small volumes, dropping to $0.80-2/GB at 500GB+ monthly commitments through providers like DataImpulse or Decodo. This makes residential proxies the default choice for high-bandwidth operations where moderate trust is good enough. Mobile proxy pricing varies more. Shared-pool mobile providers charge $4-12/GB. Dedicated mobile proxy services use per-port or per-device pricing. Illusory charges $200/month per proxy with unlimited bandwidth, which works out to an effective cost of $0 per GB after the fixed fee. If you transfer 500GB per month through a single proxy, that is $0.40/GB effective cost on dedicated 5G hardware. Pricing dimension Residential proxies Mobile proxies (shared pool) Mobile proxies (dedicated, e.g., Illusory) Billing model Per-GB Per-GB Per-proxy (flat monthly) Entry price $3-5/GB $4-8/GB $200/month per proxy High-volume price $0.80-2/GB (500GB+) $4-6/GB $200/month (unlimited bandwidth) 100GB monthly cost $200-500 $400-800 $200 (one proxy, unlimited data) Hidden costs Bandwidth wasted on retries and blocks Bandwidth wasted on retries None (flat rate) The effective cost calculation matters more than the sticker price. A residential proxy at $3/GB with a 40% failure rate on a Cloudflare-protected target wastes $1.20 of every $3 on blocked requests. A mobile proxy with a 5-10% failure rate wastes far less. On heavily protected targets, mobile proxies often deliver more successful requests per dollar despite the higher headline price. ## 4. IP rotation and churn dynamics IP rotation works differently at the protocol level for each proxy type, and the distinction affects both stealth and session management. Mobile proxies benefit from natural IP churn driven by carrier infrastructure. CGNAT pools rotate IP assignments as devices reconnect, change towers, or as carriers rebalance their networks. A single modem cycling through airplane mode gets a fresh carrier IP in 5-10 seconds. This rotation pattern is indistinguishable from normal mobile user behavior because it *is* normal mobile user behavior. Residential proxies rotate through managed pools maintained by the provider. The provider selects a different IP from their pool for each request (rotating mode) or holds one IP for a set duration (sticky mode). The rotation is artificial and managed at the gateway level rather than happening naturally at the network layer. Rotation characteristic Residential proxies Mobile proxies Rotation mechanism Provider-managed pool rotation Carrier CGNAT + DHCP lease cycling Rotation trigger Per-request or timed interval via gateway Airplane mode toggle, carrier rebalancing, DHCP renewal Rotation speed Instant (large pool) 5-10 seconds per hardware rotation Naturalness Artificial (gateway-managed) Natural (matches real mobile device behavior) Available pool size 40-80M+ IPs globally 10-50M IPs globally Illusory exposes IP rotation through a REST API endpoint. Call the rotation endpoint and get a fresh carrier IP from the CGNAT pool within seconds. This is hardware-level rotation happening on the physical modem, not software-level pool switching. For teams building automated pipelines, the difference matters because the resulting IP has no connection to previous requests at the carrier level. Our [roundup of IP rotation services for data engineers](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-9-ip-rotation-services-every-data-engineer-should-know-in-2026) compares how different providers handle rotation, and our guide on [mobile proxies for AI agents](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-ai-agents-2026) covers rotation strategies in more depth. ## 5. Performance, speed, and latency Performance profiles depend heavily on the underlying network connection, and neither proxy type wins outright. Residential proxies route through home broadband connections, which typically offer stable speeds on fiber or cable. However, the actual throughput depends on the home user's connection quality and how much bandwidth the SDK is allowed to consume. In practice, residential proxy speeds vary widely since you are borrowing bandwidth from someone's home network. Mobile proxies route through cellular networks, where speeds depend on signal strength, carrier congestion, and radio technology. 4G connections average 20-50 Mbps. 5G connections can push significantly higher. Illusory's 5G infrastructure delivers up to 200 Mbps throughput per proxy on dedicated hardware, though real-world speeds vary by city and time of day. Performance metric Residential proxies Mobile proxies (4G) Mobile proxies (5G dedicated) Typical throughput 10-100 Mbps (varies by home connection) 20-50 Mbps Up to 200 Mbps Latency 50-150ms 40-100ms 30-80ms on 5G Consistency Depends on home user's connection load Varies with signal and congestion More consistent on dedicated hardware Bandwidth limits Per-GB billing (usage capped by budget) Per-GB or unlimited depending on provider Unlimited on dedicated plans For latency-sensitive workloads like real-time price monitoring or API verification, 5G mobile proxies have an edge. For bulk scraping where raw throughput matters more than latency, residential proxies on fast fiber connections can match or exceed 4G mobile speeds at lower cost per GB. ## 6. Geographic coverage and targeting granularity Residential proxies win on geographic breadth. The major residential networks (Bright Data, Oxylabs, Decodo) maintain pools of 40-80 million IPs spanning 195+ countries with city-level targeting. If you need IPs from Nairobi, Santiago, and Bangkok in the same workflow, residential is your only realistic option. Mobile proxies are geographically concentrated. Most mobile proxy infrastructure exists in the US, UK, Germany, and a handful of other mature markets. Coverage follows carrier infrastructure and SIM availability. Illusory focuses on US coverage across major cities. Providers like PROXIES.SX cover 15+ countries but with thinner pools. Coverage dimension Residential proxies Mobile proxies Global reach 195+ countries 15-30 countries (concentrated in US, UK, EU) Total IP pool 40-100M+ IPs 5-50M IPs City-level targeting Widely available Limited to major cities with carrier presence Best for Global SERP testing, multi-region price monitoring US/EU focused work, carrier-specific targeting Geographic breadth is where residential proxies have an unambiguous lead. If your workload requires global diversity, start with residential and escalate to mobile only for high-trust targets in supported regions. ## 7. Scalability and infrastructure constraints Scaling residential proxies is straightforward. Buy more bandwidth from your provider, and their pool of millions of IPs handles the load. Going from 50GB to 500GB per month is a billing change, not an infrastructure change. The per-GB economics improve with volume, and most providers handle the pool management entirely. Scaling mobile proxies depends on the provider model. Shared-pool mobile providers scale similarly to residential, but dedicated mobile infrastructure requires physical hardware for each proxy port. Each additional proxy means another modem, another SIM card, and another carrier data plan. This physical constraint means you cannot spin up 10,000 mobile proxy ports overnight the way you can buy 10,000 residential IPs. Illusory addresses the concurrency constraint differently. Each dedicated proxy supports 1,000 simultaneous threads, so a single $200/month proxy can handle workloads that would require dozens of lower-concurrency ports elsewhere. For AI agent pipelines that need high parallelism on a single clean IP, this is a more cost-effective scaling path than adding ports. See our guide on [building AI data pipelines with 5G mobile proxies](https://www.illusory.io/blog/ai-data-pipelines-5g-mobile-proxies-rag-agentic-scraping) for architecture patterns. ## 8. Use-case suitability and workload fit Neither proxy type is universally better. The right choice depends on what you are trying to do and how aggressively the target site defends against automation. ### Residential proxy sweet spots Residential proxies are the better choice for high-volume, cost-sensitive workloads targeting moderately protected sites: SEO rank tracking across dozens of geolocations. Price monitoring on e-commerce catalogs with basic bot protection. Large-scale web scraping where moderate trust is sufficient (news sites, public databases, product listings). Ad verification across broad geographic regions. ### Mobile proxy sweet spots Mobile proxies justify their premium when detection means failure and failure is expensive: Social media account management on mobile-first platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook). Account creation and verification on platforms with IP reputation scoring. Bypassing Cloudflare, DataDome, and PerimeterX on high-value targets. Ad verification on social platforms that fingerprint proxy traffic. AI agent workflows that need consistent, high-trust connections over extended sessions. Our [guide to choosing mobile proxies for data operations](https://www.illusory.io/blog/authority-guide-choosing-the-best-mobile-proxy-for-data-ops) goes deeper on matching proxy architecture to specific AI and scraping workloads. ## 9. Session stability and IP stickiness Session persistence refers to holding the same IP address across multiple sequential requests. This matters for login-based workflows, multi-step form submissions, and any process where the target site expects consistent identity. Residential proxies typically offer configurable sticky sessions through the provider's gateway. You can hold the same IP for 1-30 minutes (varies by provider), which works well for sequential scraping or maintaining logged-in sessions. The underlying home connection is stable since it is a fixed broadband line. Mobile proxy session behavior depends entirely on the provider model, and this is where the shared-pool vs. dedicated distinction matters most. Shared-pool mobile providers rotate IPs across customers constantly. Your session might get a different IP because another customer triggered a rotation, or because the provider's pool management cycled your connection. Session hold times are less predictable because you do not control the underlying hardware. Dedicated mobile proxies work differently. On Illusory's infrastructure, your IP is **static by default**. The carrier assigns an IP to your dedicated SIM, and it stays there until you explicitly rotate it via the API or dashboard. There is no automatic rotation, no pool cycling, and no other customer's activity affecting your IP. In practice, a dedicated mobile proxy IP can hold for weeks or longer. Carrier-side reassignment can theoretically happen due to network maintenance or infrastructure changes, but this is rare and typically months apart rather than hours or days. Session attribute Residential proxies Mobile proxies (shared pool) Mobile proxies (dedicated, e.g., Illusory) Default IP behavior Rotating (provider-managed pool) Rotating (shared pool cycling) Static (IP holds until user rotates) Sticky session support Yes, 1-30 minutes typical Yes, but less predictable duration Static by default, no time limit Session consistency High (fixed broadband connection) Variable (carrier + pool churn) Very high (dedicated SIM, single tenant) IP rotation trigger Automatic per-request or timed Automatic (pool rotation + carrier) Manual only (API call or dashboard) Best for long sessions Strong (stable connection) Moderate (unpredictable churn) Excellent (static IP for weeks+) Best for fast rotation Good (large pool) Good (pool cycling) Good (API rotation in seconds) This distinction flips the conventional wisdom about mobile proxy sessions. If you are using a shared-pool mobile provider, session stickiness is genuinely less predictable than residential. But on dedicated infrastructure, mobile proxies offer *better* session stability than residential because you own the IP until you decide to change it. For login-based workflows, long-running scrape sessions, or AI agents that maintain state across hundreds of requests, dedicated mobile proxies eliminate the session drop risk entirely. ## 10. Operational complexity and management overhead Residential proxy integration is operationally simple. You get an API key, configure your HTTP client with the proxy endpoint, and the provider handles everything else: pool management, rotation logic, geographic routing, and IP health monitoring. Most residential providers have mature client libraries and dashboard tools. Mobile proxy operations vary by provider model. Shared-pool mobile providers are similarly straightforward to integrate. Dedicated mobile infrastructure is more complex because you are working with physical hardware. Someone has to manage SIM cards, monitor device health, handle carrier issues, and maintain the modems. With a managed dedicated provider like Illusory, the physical infrastructure management is handled for you. You interact with the proxy through standard HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 protocols and control IP rotation through the API. The operational overhead is comparable to a residential proxy service, but with dedicated hardware underneath. For teams that want to own their own hardware, self-managed mobile proxy setups require significantly more engineering time and carrier relationships. ## Combining residential and mobile proxies Most production proxy architectures use both types. The standard pattern is to default to residential proxies for the bulk of your traffic and escalate to mobile for high-value targets or when residential requests start failing. ### A practical escalation model Start with residential proxies for initial data collection and reconnaissance. Route traffic to mobile proxies when you hit Cloudflare challenges, CAPTCHAs, or block rates above 20-30%. Use mobile proxies from the start for mobile-first platforms (Instagram, TikTok) and account operations. Reserve dedicated mobile infrastructure (like [Illusory's 5G proxies](https://www.illusory.io/pricing)) for mission-critical workflows where IP contamination would be costly. The tiered approach keeps costs down while maintaining high success rates across target difficulty levels. If you are building these workflows in a regulated industry, our [mobile proxies and privacy guide](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-and-privacy-safeguarding-your-digital-footprint) covers the compliance side. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What factors influence the trustworthiness of residential versus mobile proxies? Trust depends on how the target site classifies the incoming IP. Mobile carrier IPs score higher because they are associated with mobile ASNs (like T-Mobile's AS21928 or Verizon's AS22394) and sit behind CGNAT, where thousands of real users share the same address. Blocking a mobile IP means blocking real customers, so platforms rarely do it. Residential IPs are trusted more than datacenter IPs but can be flagged individually since they map one-to-one to a household. ### How does IP rotation differ between residential and mobile proxies? Residential proxies rotate through managed pools at the provider's gateway layer, selecting different IPs per request or on timed intervals. Mobile proxies rotate through carrier CGNAT pools via DHCP lease cycling or hardware-level reconnection (airplane mode toggle on the modem). Mobile rotation produces IPs that are genuinely new at the carrier level rather than simply switching which existing pool address is assigned to your session. ### When should I prioritize mobile proxies over residential proxies for AI agents? Use mobile proxies for AI agent workflows that target mobile-first platforms, perform account creation, or run long-session automation against sites with aggressive anti-bot systems. AI agents benefit from the high concurrency that dedicated mobile providers like Illusory offer (1,000 threads per proxy), combined with the trust level that keeps sessions alive longer before hitting challenges. ### Are mobile proxies always worth the higher cost compared to residential proxies? No. For bulk scraping of lightly protected sites, residential proxies deliver better cost efficiency at $1-5/GB versus $4-12/GB for shared mobile. Mobile proxies justify the premium on protected targets where failure rates with residential IPs exceed 25-30%, since the bandwidth wasted on retries and blocks erodes the per-GB savings. Calculate effective cost per successful request, not just the sticker price per GB. ### What are common challenges in managing mobile proxy infrastructure? Self-managed mobile proxy setups require ongoing SIM management, carrier contract maintenance, modem firmware updates, and physical hardware monitoring. Signal strength and carrier congestion can affect performance unpredictably. Managed providers like Illusory handle this complexity, but the trade-off is higher per-proxy cost compared to running your own hardware. Geographic coverage is also more limited than residential networks since mobile proxies depend on physical carrier infrastructure in specific locations. Latest Blogs --- ### Bright Data Sunsets Mobile Proxies: What It Means and What's Next URL: https://www.illusory.io/blog/bright-data-sunset-mobile-proxies-2026 Summary: Bright Data is sunsetting mobile proxies for new customers as of April 2026. Product page removed, pricing page gone. What happened, why it matters, and the mobile proxy alternatives available now. Bright Data Sunsets Mobile Proxies: What It Means and What's Next - Insight # Bright Data Sunsets Mobile Proxies: What It Means and What's Next Bright Data is sunsetting mobile proxies for new customers as of April 2026. Here's what happened, why it matters, and the best alternatives available. Bright Data is sunsetting mobile proxies for new customers as of April 2026. Here's what happened, why it matters, and the best alternatives available. Josiah Richards Josiah Richards April 15, 2026 April 15, 2026 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, why it's happening, and what the options look like going forward. ## What Happened We confirmed this through multiple channels: Visiting [brightdata.com/proxy-types/mobile-proxies](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/mobile-proxies) returns a 301 redirect to [/proxy-types](https://brightdata.com/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 This isn't just another provider trimming a product line. Bright Data shapes how the market thinks about proxies, and that influence extends into the AI recommendation layer. Bright Data is one of the most frequently recommended proxy providers across AI assistants, comparison sites, and industry roundups. When you ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews for mobile proxy recommendations, Bright Data appears in the majority of responses. They're the default answer for most buyers who start their research online. When the second most-recommended provider in a category stops selling that product, the confusion is real. 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 market just shifted overnight. The product most frequently referenced by AI models and comparison sites no longer exists for new customers. And for teams that already integrated Bright Data's mobile proxies into production workflows, there's a harder question: even if your existing subscription keeps working, 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. Feature Mobile Proxies Residential Proxies ISP Proxies IP Source Mobile carriers (3G/4G/5G) Home ISP connections Datacenter IPs with ISP ASNs ASN Type Mobile carrier ASN Residential ISP ASN ISP ASN (static) IP Rotation CGNAT-based, frequent Session-based Static (no rotation) Mobile Fingerprint Yes No No Best For Mobile verification, carrier-specific content General scraping, geo-targeting Speed, session persistence 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](https://www.illusory.io/blog/how-5g-mobile-proxies-bypass-anti-bot-systems-2026), 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. The honest take: 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](https://www.illusory.io/blog/residential-vs-mobile-proxies-key-differences). ## 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 with wide geographic coverage and a well-documented API. Shared pool model, like Bright Data's was. If you want the closest analog to Bright Data's former product, Oxylabs is the first place to look. **Decodo** (formerly Smartproxy) has been expanding their mobile offering with competitive pricing, though pool size trails Oxylabs. A solid mid-tier option. **SOAX** offers carrier-level and country-level targeting with a management dashboard that has improved over the past year. Granular geo-targeting is a strong point. **IPRoyal** is the budget-friendly option. Solid for lower-volume operations, though the IP pool depth 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. A different model than the large-pool providers above, built for teams that prioritize IP quality and consistency over pool size. For a detailed side-by-side of all these providers, see our [mobile proxy provider comparison for 2026](https://www.illusory.io/blog/best-mobile-proxy-providers-2026-comparison). ## 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](https://www.illusory.io/blog/mobile-proxies-ai-agents-2026). SOAX and Decodo are also competitive. See our [2026 provider comparison](https://www.illusory.io/blog/best-mobile-proxy-providers-2026-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](https://www.illusory.io/blog/residential-vs-mobile-proxies-key-differences). 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 available evidence, the likely factors include a strategic shift toward higher-margin API products (Web Unlocker, Browser API, SERP API), growing compliance burden from the SDK-sourced mobile IP model, and tightening app store policies from Apple and Google around network-sharing SDKs. ## 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](https://www.illusory.io/blog/top-ip-rotation-practices-for-ai-agents-in-2026), 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](https://www.illusory.io/), check [pricing](https://www.illusory.io/#pricing), or read the [API documentation](https://docs.illusory.io/) to see how it works. Latest Blogs --- ## Documentation > Technical documentation for the Illusory proxy platform — API reference, connection guides, proxy management, and authentication. - [Full docs llms.txt](https://www.illusory.io/docs/llms.txt): Complete LLM-optimized index of all documentation pages. - [Docs sitemap](https://www.illusory.io/docs/sitemap.xml): XML sitemap for all documentation pages. ### Getting Started #### Add Funds - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/account/add-funds Description: Purchasing on Illusory platform. Getting Started # Add Funds Purchasing on Illusory platform. Funds are used to purchase proxies and other services on Illusory platform. Adding funds also allows you to use Auto-Renew feature, which automatically renews your proxies when they expire. Visit [Illusory App](https://app.illusory.io/funds) to add funds to your account. Illusory uses Stripe and SellApp to process payments. We do not store any of your payment information on our servers. Add Funds Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/ZgOncOIgTGnSHW5ROlcK). #### Member Discount - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/account/member Description: Generous offerings from Illusory. Getting Started # Member Discount Generous offerings from Illusory. Illusory offers special discounts for users who are members of our forum partners. Below illustrates how to enable Member Discounts. Enable Member Discount Setting Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/xZpDzJyAXgdz0zA6MOSP). #### Introduction - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/introduction Description: Illusory is a modern mobile proxy solution. Getting Started # Introduction Illusory is a modern mobile proxy solution. Platform ## Add Funds Top-up your Illusory Wallet ## Member Discount Take advantage of reduced pricing Connect ## iOS Connect to your proxy using iOS ## macOS Connect to your proxy using macOS ## Android Connect to your proxy using Android ## Mozilla Connect to your proxy using Mozilla Proxy Settings ## Basic Authentication Set a username and password for your proxy ## Whitelist Authentication Update your whitelisted IPs for authorization Proxy Actions ## Change IP Automatically Schedule proxies to change IPs automatically ## Change IP via Link Trigger a proxy to change IPs via a link Proxy Expiration ## Auto Renewal Add new proxies to your account ## Extend Manually Swap a proxy with another proxy Proxy Management ## Add Add new proxies to your account ## Swap Swap a proxy with another proxy ### API Reference #### Delete Plant - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/delete #### Introduction - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/introduction Description: Understand general concepts, response codes, and authentication strategies. # Introduction Understand general concepts, response codes, and authentication strategies. Base URL The Illusory API is built on REST principles. We enforce HTTPS in every request to improve data security, integrity, and privacy. The API does not support HTTP. All requests contain the following base URL: ``` https://cmd.illusory.io ``` Authentication To authenticate you need to add an Authorization header with the contents of the header being `Bearer zpka_12345` where `zpka_12345` is your [API Key](https://app.illusory.io/settings/developers). ``` Authorization: Bearer zpka_12345 ``` Types of API Keys API keys come in two types: - `Master` - `Limited` Each key type is designed with certain permissions, enabling or restricting it from executing particular tasks. Here’s a breakdown of the capabilities associated with each key type. TypeScopeDescriptionMaster`account.all`, `proxies.all`Full access to all endpointsLimited`proxies.change_ip`Can change IP of proxies Rate Limiting Different endpoints have different rate limits. If you exceed the rate limit you will receive a `429` response code. #### Get Funds - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/platform/funds-get Description: Retrieves the user's Illusory Wallet balance. Platform # Get Funds Retrieves the user’s Illusory Wallet balance. GET / v1 / funds Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request GET \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/funds \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' ``` 200 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Retrieved funds successfully.", "data": { "funds": 40, "upcoming": { "renewing": { "count": 1, "amount": 5 }, "expiring": { "count": 1, "amount": 5 }, "total": { "renewal_required": 0, "total_required": 0, "total_commitment": 10 } } } } ``` #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Retrieved funds successfully."` data object An object containing the user's funds Show child attributes #### Get Price - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/platform/price-get Description: Retrieves the pricing details for one or more proxies. Platform # Get Price Retrieves the pricing details for one or more proxies. POST / v1 / price Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/price \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "proxies": [ [ { "isp": "Verizon", "location": "Austin", "interval": 1, "period": "weekly" }, { "isp": "Verizon", "location": "Austin", "interval": 1, "period": "monthly" }, { "isp": "AT&T", "location": "Cleveland", "interval": 2, "period": "monthly" } ] ] } ' ``` 200 400 422 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Retrieved pricing details successfully.", "data": { "member": true, "periods": { "weekly": { "individual": { "VR-AU-D03C11FA": { "interval": 1, "standard": 99, "member": 89, "total": 89 } }, "bulk": { "individual": 1, "price": null }, "total": { "standard": 99, "member": 89, "due": 89 } }, "monthly": { "individual": { "VR-AU-29A225F3": { "interval": 1, "standard": 279, "member": 229, "total": 219 }, "AT-CL-4AABB4B5": { "interval": 2, "standard": 279, "member": 229, "total": 438 } }, "bulk": { "individual": 2, "price": 219 }, "total": { "standard": 837, "member": 687, "due": 657 } } }, "savings": { "member": { "weekly": { "individual": 10, "total": 10 }, "monthly": { "individual": 50, "total": 150 } }, "bulk": { "weekly": { "individual": 0, "total": 0 }, "monthly": { "individual": 10, "total": 30 } }, "interval": 18, "total": 208 }, "total": { "standard": 936, "member": 776, "due": 728 } } } ``` #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Body application/json Pricing details proxies object[] required List of proxies to retrieve pricing for. Each item should include `isp`, `location`, `interval` and `period`. Show child attributes #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Retrieved pricing details successfully."` data object Show child attributes Example: ``` { "member": true, "periods": { "weekly": { "individual": { "VR-AU-D03C11FA": { "interval": 1, "standard": 99, "member": 89, "total": 89 } }, "bulk": { "individual": 1, "price": null }, "total": { "standard": 99, "member": 89, "due": 89 } }, "monthly": { "individual": { "VR-AU-29A225F3": { "interval": 1, "standard": 279, "member": 229, "total": 219 }, "AT-CL-4AABB4B5": { "interval": 2, "standard": 279, "member": 229, "total": 438 } }, "bulk": { "individual": 2, "price": 219 }, "total": { "standard": 837, "member": 687, "due": 657 } } }, "savings": { "member": { "weekly": { "individual": 10, "total": 10 }, "monthly": { "individual": 50, "total": 150 } }, "bulk": { "weekly": { "individual": 0, "total": 0 }, "monthly": { "individual": 10, "total": 30 } }, "interval": 18, "total": 208 }, "total": { "standard": 936, "member": 776, "due": 728 } } ``` #### Get Stock - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/platform/stock-get Description: Retrieves the Illusory product stock. Platform # Get Stock Retrieves the Illusory product stock. GET / v1 / stock Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request GET \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/stock \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer ' ``` 200 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Retrieved stock successfully.", "data": [ { "city": "Austin", "state": "TX", "att": 0, "verizon": 39, "tmobile": 0, "status": "available", "open": true, "visible": true }, { "city": "Cleveland", "state": "OH", "att": 0, "verizon": 1, "tmobile": 0, "status": "available", "open": true, "visible": true }, { "city": "Los Angeles", "state": "CA", "att": 0, "verizon": 0, "tmobile": 0, "status": "out", "open": true, "visible": true }, { "city": "New York", "state": "NY", "att": 0, "verizon": 0, "tmobile": 0, "status": "coming", "open": false, "visible": true } ] } ``` #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Retrieved stock successfully."` data object[] An array of stock details Show child attributes #### Allocate Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-allocate Description: Allocates time to extend the expiration of one or more proxy servers. Proxy Management # Allocate Proxies Allocates time to extend the expiration of one or more proxy servers. POST / v1 / proxies / allocate Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/allocate \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "proxies": { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "interval": 1, "period": "weekly" }, { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9998", "interval": 2, "period": "monthly" } ] } } ' ``` 202 400 402 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Sent proxy expiration update successfully.", "data": { "proxies": { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9999", "period": "hourly", "interval": 1, "individual_total": 5 } ] }, "total": 5 } } ``` Allocates time to a proxy server to extend its expiration date. Providing `period` and `interval` will extend the proxy’s expiration date by the specified amount of time. When allocating time to a proxy, funds will be deducted from your Illusory Wallet. Ensure you have sufficient funds before allocating. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Body application/json Allocate proxy details proxies object required Object containing a list of proxies to allocate. Show child attributes Example: ``` { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "interval": 1, "period": "weekly" }, { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9998", "interval": 2, "period": "monthly" } ] } ``` #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Sent proxy expiration update successfully."` data object Show child attributes Example: ``` { "proxies": { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9999", "period": "hourly", "interval": 1, "individual_total": 5 } ] }, "total": 5 } ``` #### Update Proxies Renew - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-allocate-renew Description: Updates the auto-renew settings of one or more proxy servers. Proxy Management # Update Proxies Renew Updates the auto-renew settings of one or more proxy servers. PATCH / v1 / proxies / allocate / renew Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request PATCH \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/allocate/renew \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "proxies": { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9999", "auto_renew": true, "interval": 1 }, { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9998", "auto_renew": true, "interval": 1 } ] } } ' ``` 202 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Sent proxy allocation renew settings successfully.", "data": { "proxies": { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9999", "auto_renew": true, "interval": 1 } ] } } } ``` You can specify whether you want specific proxies to automatically allocate time when they expire. If enabled, the proxy will automatically renew for the same amount of time as the current period. If disabled, the proxy will expire and be removed from your account unless you manually allocate time it. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Body application/json Allocate proxy details proxies object required Object containing a list of proxies to allocate. Show child attributes Example: ``` { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9999", "auto_renew": true, "interval": 1 }, { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9998", "auto_renew": true, "interval": 1 } ] } ``` #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Sent proxy allocation renew settings successfully."` data object Show child attributes Example: ``` { "proxies": { "time": [ { "proxy_name": "IL-US-AU1-9999", "auto_renew": true, "interval": 1 } ] } } ``` #### Update Proxy Basic - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-auth-basic Description: Updates the basic authentication details of a proxy server. Proxy Authentication # Update Proxy Basic Updates the basic authentication details of a proxy server. PATCH / v1 / proxies / auth / basic / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request PATCH \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/auth/basic/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "username": "john", "password": "wick05" } ' ``` 200 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Both username and password were updated.", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "last_auth_change": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00", "username": "john", "password": "wick05" } } ``` `Basic authentication` secures your proxy with a `username` and `password`. By default, all proxies upon deployment utilize a randomly generated basic authorization in the format of `username:password`. Whitelist authorization will be disabled upon successfully updating basic authorization. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Body application/json Basic authentication details username string Username for authentication e.g., `john`. If `null`, a random username will be generated. Example:`"john"` password string Password for authentication e.g., `wick05`. If `null`, a random password will be generated. Example:`"wick05"` #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Both username and password were updated."` data object Show child attributes #### Update Proxy Whitelist - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-auth-whitelist Description: Sets the whitelisted IP addresses authorized for a proxy server. Proxy Authentication # Update Proxy Whitelist Sets the whitelisted IP addresses authorized for a proxy server. PATCH / v1 / proxies / auth / whitelist / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request PATCH \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/auth/whitelist/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "authorize_ip": "123.123.23,456.456.56/24,789.789.89" } ' ``` 200 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Successfully updated and enabled the whitelist IP(s).", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "last_auth_change": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00", "whitelist": "123.123.23,456.456.56/24,789.789.89" } } ``` `Whitelist Authentication` is a method of restricting access to a proxy server based on the client’s `IP address`. This is a useful method of restricting access to a proxy server to only those who need it. By default, all proxies upon deployment utilize a randomly generated basic authorization in the format of `username:password`. You can disable this basic authorization by updating the proxy’s whitelisted IPs authorized to access the proxy server. Basic authorization will be disabled upon successfully updating whitelist authorization. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Body application/json Whitelist authentication details authorize_ip string required Set the IP address to authorize. Use commas to specify multiple IP addresses. e.g. `123.123.23,456.456.56/24,789.789.89`. Example:`"123.123.23,456.456.56/24,789.789.89"` #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Successfully updated and enabled the whitelist IP(s)."` data object Show child attributes #### Change Proxy IP - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-change-ip Description: Changes the external mobile IP of a proxy server that is visible to target sites. Proxy Actions # Change Proxy IP Changes the external mobile IP of a proxy server that is visible to target sites. POST / v1 / proxies / changeip / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/changeip/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' ``` 202 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Reset proxy command sent to device successfully.", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "last_ip_change": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00" } } ``` You may change your proxy IP once every minute. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Reset proxy command sent to device successfully."` data object Show child attributes #### Change Proxy IP Automatically - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-change-ip-auto Description: Sets auto change external IP settings of the proxy server. Proxy Actions # Change Proxy IP Automatically Sets auto change external IP settings of the proxy server. POST / v1 / proxies / autochangeip / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/autochangeip/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "enable": true, "rate": 10 } ' ``` 200 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Auto Change updated for ILL-US-AU1-9999 successfully.", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "next_ip_change": "2050-12-04T19:43:16.407+00:00", "auto_change": true, "auto_change_time": 10 } } ``` Changes the auto-change settings for of a proxy. Auto-change controls whether a proxy automatically changes its external IP on a regular schedule. Once set, the proxy will automatically change its IP every `rate` minutes. You can set a proxy’s change `rate` (the rate at which it automatically changes IPs) for every `1` to `1440` minutes.` #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Body application/json Auto change external IP settings enable boolean required Auto change external IP status value. If `enable` = `true`, then the proxy will have auto change external IP enabled. Default: `false` Example:`true` rate integer Time interval for automatic IP change, in minutes. Default: `10` Example:`10` #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Auto Change updated for ILL-US-AU1-9999 successfully."` data object Show child attributes #### Change Proxy IP by Link - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-change-ip-link Description: Changes the external mobile IP using a link and Limited API key. Proxy Actions # Change Proxy IP by Link Changes the external mobile IP using a link and `Limited` API key. GET / v1 / proxies / changeip / {limitedApiKey} / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request GET \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/changeip/{limitedApiKey}/{proxyName} ``` 202 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Reset proxy command sent to device successfully.", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "last_ip_change": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00" } } ``` This endpoint is intended for use with `Limited` API keys and is less secure than the `POST` method, as the API key is exposed in the URL. For a more secure method, follow the instructions here: [Change IP](/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-change-ip). #### Path Parameters limitedApiKey string required Replace `{limitedApiKey}` in the url path with `YOUR_LIMITED_API_KEY`. proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Reset proxy command sent to device successfully."` data object Show child attributes #### Deploy Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-deploy Description: Deploys one or more proxy servers. Proxy Management # Deploy Proxies Deploys one or more proxy servers. POST / v1 / proxies / deploy Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/deploy \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer ' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "proxies": [ [ { "isp": "Verizon", "location": "Austin", "interval": 1, "period": "weekly" }, { "isp": "AT&T", "location": "Cleveland", "interval": 2, "period": "monthly" } ] ] } ' ``` 202 400 422 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Sent deploy request successfully. Your proxies should be deployed shortly to your dashboard.", "data": { "user_id": "user_1234567890", "total": 25 } } ``` Adds a new proxy server to your account. You can deploy a proxy server in any of the available locations. When deploying a proxy, funds will be deducted from your Illusory Wallet. Ensure you have sufficient funds before deploying. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Body application/json Deploy proxy details proxies object[] required List of proxies to deploy. Each item should include `isp`, `location`, `interval` and `period`. Show child attributes #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Sent deploy request successfully. Your proxies should be deployed shortly to your dashboard."` data object Show child attributes #### Get Proxy - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-get Description: Retrieves the details of a proxy server. Proxy Management # Get Proxy Retrieves the details of a proxy server. GET / v1 / proxies / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request GET \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' ``` 200 400 ``` { "ok": true, "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "nickname": null, "isp": "Verizon", "period": "weekly", "auto_renew": false, "auto_renew_interval": 1, "added_at": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00", "expires_at": "2050-12-14T23:23:09.792+00:00", "network_status": "online", "server_ip": "198.765.543.21", "h_port": 12345, "s_port": 67890, "auth_method": "basic", "username": "john", "password": "wick05", "whitelist": null, "auto_change": false, "auto_change_time": 0, "last_ip_change": "2050-12-04T17:51:40.339+00:00", "last_reboot": "2050-12-04T17:51:40.339+00:00", "traffic": 60156561622, "h_threads": 99, "s_threads": 0, "city": "Austin", "state": "TX" } } ``` #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` data object Show child attributes #### Toggle Proxy IPv4 - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-ipv4 Description: Updates the IPv4 status of the proxy server. Proxy Actions # Toggle Proxy IPv4 Updates the IPv4 status of the proxy server. POST / v1 / proxies / ipv4 / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/ipv4/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "enable": "true" } ' ``` 202 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "IPv4 update status command sent to device successfully.", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "last_ipv4_update": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00", "ipv4": true } } ``` IPv4 addresses can be toggled on and off for a proxy. When toggled off, the proxy will only be assigned an IPv6 and no IPv4 will be assigned. Some sites may be unreachable with IPv6 only enabled. Please test your site with IPv6 before disabling IPv4. To test the target site for IPv6 readiness, you can use a service like [Domsignal](https://domsignal.com/ipv6-test). #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Body application/json Updates the IPv4 status of the specified proxy enable boolean required IPv4 status value. If `enable` = `true`, then the proxy will have IPv4 enabled. Default: `true` Example:`"true"` #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"IPv4 update status command sent to device successfully."` data object Show child attributes #### List Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-list Description: Lists all proxy servers belonging to the account. Proxy Management # List Proxies Lists all proxy servers belonging to the account. GET / v1 / proxies Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request GET \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' ``` 200 400 ``` { "ok": true, "data": [ { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "nickname": null, "isp": "Verizon", "period": "weekly", "auto_renew": false, "auto_renew_interval": 1, "added_at": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00", "expires_at": "2050-12-14T23:23:09.792+00:00", "network_status": "online", "server_ip": "198.765.543.21", "h_port": 12345, "s_port": 67890, "auth_method": "basic", "username": "john", "password": "wick05", "whitelist": null, "auto_change": false, "auto_change_time": 0, "last_ip_change": "2050-12-04T17:51:40.339+00:00", "last_reboot": "2050-12-04T17:51:40.339+00:00", "traffic": 60156561622, "h_threads": 99, "s_threads": 0, "city": "Austin", "state": "TX" } ] } ``` #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Response 200 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` data object[] An array of proxy details Show child attributes #### Power Cycle Proxy - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-power-cycle Description: Hard reboots a proxy server. Proxy Actions # Power Cycle Proxy Hard reboots a proxy server. POST / v1 / proxies / reboot / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/reboot/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' ``` 202 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Power cycle command sent to device successfully.", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "last_reboot": "2050-12-04T17:43:16.407+00:00" } } ``` Rebooting a proxy server will restart the proxy server and all of its services. This is useful if you are experiencing issues with your proxy server. You may reboot a proxy server once every 5 minutes. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Power cycle command sent to device successfully."` data object Show child attributes #### Remove Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-remove Description: Removes one or more proxy servers from the account. Proxy Management # Remove Proxies Removes one or more proxy servers from the account. DELETE / v1 / proxies / remove Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request DELETE \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/remove \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "proxies": [ [ "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "ILL-US-AU1-9998" ] ] } ' ``` 202 400 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Requested proxy removal successfully. The proxy will be removed shortly.", "data": { "proxies": [ [ "ILL-US-AU1-9999", "ILL-US-AU1-9998" ] ] } } ``` Removes the specified proxy servers from your account. This action is irreversible. Once removed, you will not be able to recover the proxy servers unless you purchase them again. Use this action with caution. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Body application/json Remove proxy details proxies string[] required List of proxy names to remove #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Requested proxy removal successfully. The proxy will be removed shortly."` data object Show child attributes #### Swap Proxy - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-swap Description: Swaps the proxy server with another proxy server. Proxy Management # Swap Proxy Swaps the proxy server with another proxy server. POST / v1 / proxies / swap / {proxyName} Try it cURL cURL ``` curl --request POST \ --url https://cmd.illusory.io/v1/proxies/swap/{proxyName} \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \ --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \ --data ' { "isp": "Verizon", "location": "Austin", "copy_settings": true } ' ``` 202 400 422 ``` { "ok": true, "message": "Proxy swap command sent to device successfully.", "data": { "proxy_name": "ILL-US-AU1-9999" } } ``` Swap a proxy server for a new one from any available ISP and location. This will remove the old proxy server and replace it with a new one. The name of the proxy and port will change after swapping. The server IP may change as well. You have the option to use `copy_settings` to transfer configurations like: `auto_change`, `auto_change_time`, `auth_method`, `username`, `password` and `whitelist`. #### Authorizations Authorization string header required The `Authorization` header is used to authenticate with the API using your `Master` API key. Value is of the format `Bearer YOUR_KEY_HERE`. #### Path Parameters proxyName string required Replace `{proxyName}` in the url path with `YOUR_PROXY`. #### Body application/json Swap proxy details isp string required Name of the Internet Service Provider e.g. `Verizon` Example:`"Verizon"` location string required City of the proxy server e.g. `Austin` Example:`"Austin"` copy_settings boolean Indicates whether to copy the settings of the proxy being swapped with. Default: `false` Example:`true` #### Response 202 application/json Server response ok boolean Indicates whether the request was successful e.g., `true` message string Success message Example:`"Proxy swap command sent to device successfully."` data object Show child attributes ### Proxy Actions #### Auto Change IP - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-actions/change-ip/change-ip-automatically Description: Illusory proxy controls and actions. Proxies # Auto Change IP Illusory proxy controls and actions. You can set your Illusory proxy to automatically change IPs every 1-1440 minutes. Automatically Change Proxy IP from Dashboard Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/jYZnICaSXzwMY8t6p2gB). #### Change IP by Link - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-actions/change-ip/change-ip-link Description: Illusory proxy controls and actions. Proxies # Change IP by Link Illusory proxy controls and actions. You can easily change your proxy’s IP by visiting a unique page (a `GET` request), specifically designed to send a proxy IP change command from the browser or automation. This endpoint is intended for use with `Limited` API keys and is less secure than the `POST` method, as the API key is exposed in the URL. For a more secure method, follow the instructions here: [Change IP API](/docs/api-reference/proxies/proxy-change-ip), [Change IP Dashboard](/docs/proxy-actions/change-ip/change-ip-link). Retrieve the Change IP Link Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/8hIzlf77C9QGvR4dxlVQ). #### Change IP Manually - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-actions/change-ip/change-ip-manually Description: Illusory proxy controls and actions. Proxies # Change IP Manually Illusory proxy controls and actions. You can change the IP of your Illusory proxies manually in the Illusory dashboard. You may only reset your proxy’s IP every 15 seconds. Change Proxy IP via Proxy Modal Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/8hIzlf77C9QGvR4dxlVQ). Change IP via Proxy Card Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/ftvjoBmF0bluzgJ1e2vP). It is not possible to change a proxy’s IP manually while “Auto IP Rotation” is enabled. You must disable “Auto IP Rotation” first. #### Power Cycle - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-actions/power-cycle Description: Illusory proxy controls and actions. Proxies # Power Cycle Illusory proxy controls and actions. Rebooting a device can be good practice after heavy use of a proxy or when you’re experiencing technical difficulties. There are multiple ways to perform this action. Methods to power cycle devices - Proxy Modal - API Method 1: Power Cycle Device via Dashboard Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/eXhDQv1x5867qa299wee). ### Proxy Authentication #### Introduction - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-authentication/introduction Description: Proxy authentication methods. # Introduction Proxy authentication methods. Can’t find proxy connection details? [Connect](/docs/connect/introduction). Authentication methods There are two types of authentication methods to secure your proxy - Basic (Username & Password) - Whitelist (IP Address) Basic authentication is the default authentication method. When enabling one, the other will be disabled. Guides Learn how to set up your proxy authentication method. ## Basic Authentication Set a username and password to access your proxy ## Whitelist Authentication Update your whitelisted IPs for authorization #### Basic Authentication - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-authentication/proxy-auth-basic Description: Secure Illusory proxies with username and passwords. Proxies # Basic Authentication Secure Illusory proxies with username and passwords. Basic authentication allows you to add security to your proxy in the form of a username and password. Only someone who has access to your username and password will be able to connect to the proxy. Can’t find proxy connection details? [Connect](/docs/connect/connection-details). Update Username & Password Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/KsUVtnpq5tV1hNivKtVo). #### Whitelist Authentication - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-authentication/proxy-auth-whitelist Description: Secure Illusory proxies with IP address authorization. Proxies # Whitelist Authentication Secure Illusory proxies with IP address authorization. Whitelist authentication allows you to add security to your proxy in the form of an IP address. Only machine IPs that have been authorized will be able to connect to the proxy. Once you determine the IP of your machine(s), you may add it to the authorized list. You may add multiple proxies to the list by using commas to separate each individual proxy. Update Whitelist Authentication Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/1TfjcT9XIrtLGyIJ8khr). ### Proxy Management #### Deploy Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-management/proxy-deploy Description: Purchase new proxies for your Illusory account. Proxies # Deploy Proxies Purchase new proxies for your Illusory account. You may deploy as many proxies as you like from any available ISP and location. Visit [proxies.new](https://proxies.new) to get started. In order to add proxies, you must first have funds in your account. Read [Add Funds](/docs/app) documentation to find out more. Add Proxies Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/E6EgiEUTDJ2z2qmucW69). #### Remove Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-management/proxy-remove Description: Manage your Illusory proxies. Proxies # Remove Proxies Manage your Illusory proxies. Removing a proxy can be helpful if you want to better manage your proxy inventory or no longer have use for a proxy. There are multiple ways to perform this action. Methods to remove proxies - Dashboard - Time Management - API Once you remove a proxy, it will no longer be in your Illusory account. Method 1: Remove Proxy via Dashboard Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/KrJk8QbfVM3szAMKV1sD). Method 2: Remove Proxy via Time Management Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/gorJKYAdB4tl443jLBO9). #### Swap Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-management/proxy-swap Description: Manage your Illusory proxies. Proxies # Swap Proxies Manage your Illusory proxies. Illusory allows you to swap proxies by ISPs and locations whenever you need. The process is simple and fast. There are multiple ways to perform this action. Methods to swap proxies - Proxy Modal - Time Management - API Method 1: Swap Proxies via Dashboard Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/nwpBe73BSsL2fCBAIbzN). Method 2: Swap Proxies via Time Management Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/dEIG1ftZQQ8mCpwJL4pN). ### Proxy Expiration #### Introduction - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-expiration/introduction Description: Extend your proxies to keep them active # Introduction Extend your proxies to keep them active Expiration methods All proxies can be purchased for a set amount of time. The expiration length is decided by you and is based on the period and interval you select upon deploying proxies. You may extend the proxies at hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly periods. Each period can be multiplied by preset intervals. To keep a proxy active, you must extend the expiration time. This ensures the proxy does not deactivate. If a proxy expires before it is extended, the proxy will be removed from your account. Guides Learn how to set up proxy extensions. ## Automatic Renewal The recommended way to extend your proxies ## Extend Manually Specify the amount of time to extend #### Extend Expiration - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-expiration/proxy-extend Description: Prevent your proxies from expiring Proxies # Extend Expiration Prevent your proxies from expiring All proxies can be purchased for a set amount of time. The expiration length is decided by you and is based on the period and interval you select upon deploying proxies. You may extend the proxies at hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly periods. Each period can be multiplied by preset intervals. To keep a proxy active, you must extend the expiration time. This ensures the proxy does not deactivate. If a proxy expires before it is extended, the proxy will be removed from your account. You can manually extend your proxy at any time. The longer you extend your proxy, the bigger the potential discount may be. Extend Proxies via Time Management Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/KrJk8QbfVM3szAMKV1sD). #### Auto Renew - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/proxy-expiration/proxy-renew Description: Prevent your proxies from expiring. Proxies # Auto Renew Prevent your proxies from expiring. Automatic Renewal is the recommended extension method for proxies. It ensures you don’t lose your proxies, provided you have enough funds in your wallet. Extend Proxies via Auto Renew Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/ZiRp6m12BlYZt5Ag8tdZ). ### Connection #### Android Mobile Network - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/connect/android/android-mobile-network Description: Using Illusory with Android. Connect # Android Mobile Network **Copy page Using Illusory with Android. Can’t find proxy connection details? [Connect](/docs/connect/introduction). Configure Android Mobile Network You can forward your Android device’s mobile network traffic through Illusory. This will change your IP address and location. Here’s how to set it up: 1 [ ](#) Find Mobile Network Go to the `Settings` app and select `Network & Internet. 2 [ ](#) Select Mobile Network Tap on `Mobile Network`. 3 [ ](#) Advanced Network Settings Navigate to the `Advanced` settings of your mobile network 4 [ ](#) Access Point Names Find Access Point Names 5 [ ](#) Select APN Tap on the APN you are currently using 6 [ ](#) Add proxy details Enter the proxy `Server IP` and `Port` found in your dashboard under Connect**. If you’re using Whitelist IP (recommended) then you can skip adding a username and password. 7 [ ](#) Apply APN Settings Click the 3 dots at the top of the screen and `Save`. 8 [ ](#) Authenticate Enter the proxy `Server IP` and `Port` found in your dashboard under **Connect**. Unlike iOS, Android devices don’t have fields for authenticating the proxy server in the settings. Instead, you’ll be asked to authenticate when you open your web browser. There, simply enter your credentials: username and password. If you’ve authenticated by whitelisting your IP address, you don’t need to enter the credentials. We recommend using whitelist IP for Android and iOS connections for ease of use. 9 [ ](#) Test Go to [What Is My IP Address](https://whatismyipaddress.com/) to see if your IP address and location have changed. #### Android WiFi - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/connect/android/android-wifi Description: Using Illusory with Android. Connect # Android WiFi **Copy page Using Illusory with Android. Can’t find proxy connection details? [Connect](/docs/connect/introduction). Configure Android WiFi You can forward your Android device’s WiFi internet requests through Illusory proxies. Here’s how to set it up: 1 [ ](#) Find WiFi Network Go to the `Settings` app and select Wifi & Internet. Find your Wi-Fi network. If you’re currently connected to it, it should be the topmost option. 2 [ ](#) Modify Network Select the Gear icon on the right side and tap `Modify`. This will open a preferences popup. If you can’t see the Gear icon, touch and hold the network name and tap Modify Network. 3 [ ](#) Select Manual Within the proxy modification menu, select `Manual`. This means that you’ll enter your proxy server’s settings. 4 [ ](#) Add proxy details Enter the proxy `Server IP` and `Port` found in your dashboard under Connect**. 5 [ ](#) Authenticate Enter the proxy `Server IP` and `Port` found in your dashboard under **Connect**. Unlike iOS, Android devices don’t have fields for authenticating the proxy server in the settings. Instead, you’ll be asked to authenticate when you open your web browser. There, simply enter your credentials: username and password. If you’ve authenticated by whitelisting your IP address, you don’t need to enter the credentials. We recommend using whitelist IP for Android and iOS connections for ease of use. 6 [ ](#) Test Go to [What Is My IP Address](https://whatismyipaddress.com/) to see if your IP address and location have changed. #### Connection Details - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/connect/connection-details Description: Connect to Illusory proxies Connect # Connection Details Connect to Illusory proxies You can connect to Illusory proxies using any software or OS that supports HTTP or SOCKS5 proxies. This includes browsers, command line tools, and applications and more. Connect Details Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/ySkZOgFvSeY3GgPETFD4). Guides Learn how to set up your proxy authentication method. ## Basic Authentication Set a username and password to access your proxy ## Whitelist Authentication Update your whitelisted IPs for authorization Learn how to connect to your proxy. ## iOS Connect to your proxy using iOS ## macOS Connect to your proxy using macOS ## Android Connect to your proxy using Android ## Mozilla Connect to your proxy using Mozilla #### iOS WiFi and iPhone Apps - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/connect/ios/ios-wifi-apps Description: Using Illusory with iOS. Connect # iOS WiFi and iPhone Apps Using Illusory with iOS. Can’t find proxy connection details? [Connect](/docs/connect/introduction). Method 1: Configure iPhone apps (Recommended) Most popular apps: - [Shadowrocket](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/shadowrocket/id932747118) (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) - [Surge](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/surge-4/id1442620678) (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) - [Stash](https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/stash-rule-based-proxy/id1596063349?platform=iphone) (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) Once you download those, you can follow their guides on adding a proxy. Method 2: Configure iPhone Wi-Fi settings 1 [ ](#) Wi-Fi Settings Go to Settings and select Wi-Fi.Tap the `i` icon next to the Wi-Fi network you want to enable the proxy server for. 2 [ ](#) Add Proxy Details Scroll to HTTP Proxy and tap `Configure Proxy`.Select `Manual`.Tap `Server` and enter the proxy server address. If you’ve authenticated by whitelisting your IP address, you don’t need to enter the credentials. We recommend using whitelist IP for Android and iOS connections for ease of use. Tap `Save` to enable the setting. 3 [ ](#) Test Go to [What Is My IP Address](https://whatismyipaddress.com/) to see if your IP address and location have changed. #### macOS WiFi - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/connect/macos/macos-wifi Description: Using Illusory with macOS. Connect # macOS WiFi Using Illusory with macOS. Can’t find proxy connection details? [Connect](/docs/connect/introduction). You can use Illusory with macOS by using the built-in proxy settings. This is the easiest way to use Illusory with macOS. Head to `System Settings` to get started. Configure macOS Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/a4TpN0qfdYci0yS4DQHD). #### FoxyProxy - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/connect/mozilla/macos-foxyproxy Description: Using Illusory with Mozilla. Connect # FoxyProxy Using Illusory with Mozilla. Can’t find proxy connection details? [Connect](/docs/connect/introduction). You can use Illusory with Mozilla Firefox. This guide will show you how to configure Mozilla Firefox extension [FoxyProxy](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/foxyproxy-standard/) to use Illusory. Configure FoxyProxy Watch the visual guide below. For fullscreen [click here](https://app.arcade.software/share/jMLjWHw3Hw3KaBYCz7yk). ### Updates #### Dual-ISP Proxies - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/updates/beta/dual-isp-proxies Description: Change IPs & Carriers Simultaneously Beta Features # Dual-ISP Proxies Change IPs & Carriers Simultaneously **What are Dual-ISP Proxies?** Our Dual-ISP Proxies allow you to change both your IP address and Internet Service Provider (ISP) with a single action. When you reset your proxy’s IP, it will automatically switch to a different carrier network, giving you: - **Enhanced Anonymity**: Switch between completely different network infrastructures - **Better Success Rates**: If one carrier is blocked or rate-limited, instantly switch to another - **Greater Flexibility**: Toggle between Verizon and T-Mobile networks on demand **How It Works** When you trigger an IP change on a Dual-ISP proxy, the system will: - Switch to the alternate carrier (Verizon ↔ T-Mobile) - Obtain a fresh IP address from the new network - Complete the transition seamlessly without manual intervention See it in action Your browser does not support the video tag. **Join the Beta** Dual-ISP Proxies are currently in beta testing. If you’re interested in trying this feature, please reach out to our support team to request access. We’re looking for users who can provide feedback and help us refine this capability before general release. **To Request Beta Access:** - Contact our support team via [help@illusory.io](mailto:help@illusory.io) - Include “Dual-ISP Beta Request” in your message - Let us know your use case and expected volume **No Integration Changes Required** The best part? Your existing integration remains unchanged. The same `/proxies/{proxy_name}/change-ip` endpoint will handle carrier switching automatically for beta-enabled proxies. **Limited Beta Availability** As this is a beta feature, we’re rolling it out gradually to ensure optimal performance and gather valuable feedback. Spots are limited, so request access today if you’re interested! #### Changelog - Illusory URL: https://www.illusory.io/docs/updates/changelog Description: Recently shipped features. # Changelog Recently shipped features. May 26 2025 Introducing Dual-ISP Proxies (Beta) What are Dual-ISP Proxies? Our Dual-ISP Proxies allow you to change both your IP address and Internet Service Provider (ISP) with a single action. When you reset your proxy’s IP, it will automatically switch to a different carrier network, giving you: - **Enhanced Anonymity**: Switch between completely different network infrastructures - **Better Success Rates**: If one carrier is blocked or rate-limited, instantly switch to another - **Greater Flexibility**: Toggle between Verizon and T-Mobile networks on demand How It Works When you trigger an IP change on a Dual-ISP proxy, the system will: - Switch to the alternate carrier (Verizon ↔ T-Mobile) - Obtain a fresh IP address from the new network - Complete the transition seamlessly without manual intervention See it in action Your browser does not support the video tag.**Join the Beta**Dual-ISP Proxies are currently in beta testing. If you’re interested in trying this feature, please reach out to our support team to request access. We’re looking for users who can provide feedback and help us refine this capability before general release.**To Request Beta Access:** - Contact our support team via [help@illusory.io](mailto:help@illusory.io) - Include “Dual-ISP Beta Request” in your message - Let us know your use case and expected volume **No Integration Changes Required**The best part? Your existing integration remains unchanged. The same `/proxies/{proxy_name}/change-ip` endpoint will handle carrier switching automatically for beta-enabled proxies.**Limited Beta Availability**As this is a beta feature, we’re rolling it out gradually to ensure optimal performance and gather valuable feedback. Spots are limited, so request access today if you’re interested! May 23 2025 T-Mobile Returns to Illusory T-Mobile is back in the Illusory network! T-Mobile proxies are now available in limited quantities After significant demand, we’ve managed to bring back our T-Mobile proxies with improved stability and performance. For the sake of quality assurance, we’re rolling them out gradually to ensure quality and reliability. Why T-Mobile proxies? - Unique IP range with high success rates on major platforms - Excellent for multi-accounting and verification workflows - Mobile carrier IPs for realistic user profiles - Strong performance for various automation tasks Limited stock available now We have a small initial batch ready for our most dedicated users. If you’re interested in securing one of these limited T-Mobile proxies, please reach out to us directly.We’re handling this initial release personally to ensure the best experience.We’ll be increasing inventory over the coming weeks, but we wanted our most active users to have first access.Thanks for your continued support. May 19 2025 Max Connections Increased We’ve upgraded our server capacity by increasing the maximum concurrent connections per-proxy by 400%. - Increased maximum concurrent connections from 200 → 1000 - Expanded server resources now available immediately - No configuration changes required on your end - Performance improvements expected across all proxy operations Let us know if you experience any performance improvements. May 11 2025 New Cryptocurrency Options A revamped experience for adding funds to your Illusory Wallet - we’ve brought back numerous cryptocurrencies!You now have the flexibility to add funds using any of these cryptocurrencies: - **Litecoin (LTC)**: Known for faster transaction times and lower fees - **Bitcoin (BTC)**: The original and most widely recognized cryptocurrency - **Ethereum (ETH)**: The leading smart contract platform - **Tether (ETH-USDT)**: A stablecoin pegged to the US dollar on the Ethereum network - **USD Coin (ETH-USDC)**: A regulated stablecoin backed by US dollars - **Monero (XMR)**: Privacy-focused cryptocurrency with enhanced transaction security How It Works Adding funds is simple: - Navigate to “Add Funds” in your Illusory dashboard - Specify the amount - Select your preferred cryptocurrency - That’s it! Funds will appear in your Illusory Wallet once confirmed. This update gives you more control and flexibility over how you manage your Illusory services while maintaining the privacy and security you expect.If you have any questions or need assistance with cryptocurrency payments, our support team is ready to help.