Best Proxy Services for Web Scraping in 2026 (Tested & Ranked)

Web scraping at scale requires reliable proxies. After testing dozens of proxy services for various scraping projects throughout 2025-2026, I've compiled this honest comparison of the top providers — what works, what doesn't, and which service fits your specific use case. Why You Need Proxies for Web Scraping If you're scraping more than a few hundred pages, you'll get blocked. Period. Websites use IP fingerprinting, rate limiting, and behavioral analysis to detect scrapers. Proxies rotate your IP address so each request appears to come from a different user. But not all proxy services are equal. Some excel at e-commerce scraping, others at search engines, and some are just overpriced middlemen. Here's my honest breakdown. Quick Comparison Table Service Starting Price Proxy Types Best For Free Trial ThorData $0.60/GB Residential, DC, ISP Budget-conscious scrapers Yes ScraperAPI $49/mo Managed rotation API-first developers 5,000 free credits Bright Data $8.40/GB All types Enterprise tea