Datacenter Proxies: The Cheapest

What is a datacenter proxy?

Datacenter proxy runs on a server in datacenter (hence the name) and uses hoster ASN instead of a customer one. Because of this - it's a viable option only for website without any or with minimal protection. This is the cheapest option among proxies, usually sold by IP per month and have unlimited bandwidth.

What are datacenter proxies used for?

Datacenter proxies are used when you need a lot of cheap, fast requests and your target doesn't mind server IPs. Common uses:

• Web scraping of sites with little or no protection - usually small or local directories.
• Downloads and traffic-heavy tasks - unlimited bandwidth makes them cheap at scale.
• Accessing geo-restricted content from a specific country, if the site doesn't block hosting IPs.

Datacenter vs residential

Datacenter proxies are used for easiest targets where all you need is to have different IP. Residential proxies are hosted on real user devices, have a ton of different locations, used on hardest targets and cost significantly more. They are also slower and less reliable than datacenter ones, so if you don't need real home IP and variety of locations - pick cheaper datacenter.

How do I choose a datacenter proxy provider?

Since we're talking about static IPs - we should rank them based on what matters for long-time proxy:

• Locations - country and city coverage, you can save few ms of latency just by being closer to the target.
• Dedicated or shared - dedicated IPs are used only by you, shared can be banned because of another user.
• Subnets - websites often block whole hosting subnet, so it's good to know if provider has multiple subnets.
• Bandwidth - while most static proxies have unlimited bandwidth, there still could be soft limits.
• Rotation - most datacenter proxies are static, but there are rare rotating options priced by Gb.
• Features availability - protocols, UDP, IPv6 support etc.
• Free Trial - a good way to test the proxy against your target. You can find such providers on the providers with a free trial page.

You can filter all of these on the datacenter proxies list. For example, take a look at our top-rated providers: Proxyon, Proxy-Seller, Fleet Proxy.

How much do datacenter proxies cost?

Datacenter proxies are the cheapest proxy type - based on our data, the median is around $2.00 per month for an IP, with larger orders and longer periods getting cheaper. Plans billed per GB have a median of about $0.85/GB on the smallest plan. The common payment models:

• IP per month - the most common model, with discounts for more IPs or longer periods.
• Shorter rentals - some providers rent for a day or a week.
• Pay per GB - usually a rotating endpoint with country scope targeting.
• Unlimited bandwidth - most per-IP plans have no traffic limit. See unlimited bandwidth proxies.

What is IPv4 proxy?

IPv4 proxy is a proxy that hands you an address in the standard format (like 203.0.113.5) and connects to sites over IPv4 protocol, which is the default for nearly every proxy, but usually used when talking about datacenter proxies.

Shared vs dedicated datacenter proxies

Shared proxies are used by several users at the same time and one user's spam or scraping can get the IP banned for everyone. Dedicated (private) proxies are assigned to you only, cost more, and are the better choice for any long-term task since nobody except you can lower IP reputation. About 3/4 of plans in our database claim to be private. Keep in mind that it can't be verified, so choose a provider with a good rating. Check the private proxies list if you need a dedicated one.

Why are datacenter proxies blocked so often?

Websites can look up the ASN of an IP and see it belongs to a hosting company. Since real users rarely browse from a datacenter, many sites with anti-bot protection block or challenge those ranges, often a whole subnet at once. They still work well on targets without strict protection and are a good budget choice.

Are datacenter proxies rotating?

Usually they are static - you rent an IP and keep it until the plan expires. There are also rotating datacenter plans, where a single endpoint gives you a new IP from a pool on every request or after a set time. You can find them on the rotating proxies page, or by selecting the automatic rotation feature and the datacenter type.

Do datacenter proxies have unlimited bandwidth?

Most time-based plans do have unlimited bandwidth, but some providers apply fair usage limits or throttle speed after a certain amount, so check the plan details.

Are there IPv6 datacenter proxies?

Yes, IPv6 is where datacenter proxies are the cheapest, because providers have huge ranges to sell. Keep in mind that some IPv6 proxies don't have ipv4 endpoint, so check your software ipv6 support first. Also it only makes sense when your target supports IPv6, and many sites don't support it. You can check the IPv6 proxies page to find such plans.

Is there a free datacenter proxy?

Public lists of free proxies exist, but most of them are dead or shared with thousands of people. A better alternative is providers with a free trial, some of them give you a datacenter IP for a day or an hour to test.

Are datacenter proxies legal?

Yes, buying and using them is legal. They're also the least problematic type when it comes to sourcing, since the IPs belong to a hosting provider. You still have to follow your country laws and the provider's ToS.

Can datacenter proxies be detected?

Yes, that's their main weakness. A simple ASN lookup shows that the IP belongs to a hosting company, and IP quality services keep lists of known datacenter subnets. If your target does this check, you'll need ISP, residential or mobile proxies.