Datacenter, ISP, residential, mobile. Four types that look similar on paper but behave completely differently in practice. This guide explains each one honestly — including what providers don’t tell you.
■ Datacenter◆ ISP● Residential○ Mobile
Type 1
Datacenter proxies
Fast, cheap, and easily detected. The right tool for low-protection targets — the wrong one for everything else.
| Speed |
Very high |
Pool size |
Detection risk |
| Very fast |
Cost |
Medium |
Cheapest |
How datacenter proxies work
Datacenter proxies run on servers rented from cloud hosting companies — AWS, OVH, Hetzner, DigitalOcean, and others. Your request routes through one of these servers, so the website sees an IP address belonging to that cloud provider’s network range.
The problem is that websites can look up any IP address and instantly see that it belongs to AWS us-east-1 or Hetzner GmbH rather than a home ISP. No real person browses the internet from a data centre. Sites that care about blocking bots have already hard-blocked entire cloud hosting IP ranges — in many cases, all of them.
| Pros |
Cons |
| Fastest proxy type — typically under 100ms latency |
Instantly identifiable as non-human traffic by any IP lookup |
| Cheapest — often $0.50–$2/GB or a few cents per IP per month |
Major platforms (Amazon, Nike, Instagram) block entire datacenter IP ranges |
| Very high uptime and reliability (data centre infrastructure) |
IPs from shared pools burn quickly — one bad actor affects everyone |
| Unlimited bandwidth plans available from most providers |
Useless for anything requiring a “real user” appearance |
| Easy to scale to thousands of concurrent connections |
Cloudflare and similar services block them by default |
| Best for |
|
| Public APIs with no bot protection |
High-volume scraping of unprotected sites |
| Internal testing and development |
Speed-critical tasks where detection risk is low |
| Sneakers and limited retail drops |
Any Cloudflare-protected site |
The shared pool problem
Most datacenter proxy plans pool IPs across many customers. If another customer on the same IP range runs aggressive or abusive scraping, that IP — and sometimes the entire subnet — gets burned for everyone. Private dedicated datacenter IPs cost more but avoid this. If your success rate drops suddenly with no change on your end, a shared pool neighbour is often the cause.
Type 2
ISP proxies
The speed of a datacenter with the appearance of residential. Best performance-to-trust ratio for most mid-tier targets.
| Speed |
Detection risk |
Cost |
Pool size |
| Fast |
Medium |
Mid-range |
Medium |
How ISP proxies work
ISP proxies are a hybrid. The servers are hosted in data centres — giving you datacenter-level speed and reliability — but the IP addresses are leased from real internet service providers like Comcast, BT, or Vodafone. When a website checks the IP, it sees an IP registered to a household ISP rather than AWS.
This is the key distinction: websites don’t just check where the server is physically located. They check who the IP is registered to. An IP registered to Comcast looks like a real home user regardless of where the proxy server sits. Most ISP proxy providers buy or lease blocks of IP addresses directly from ISPs and run traffic through them from their own infrastructure.
Best for
| Sneaker and retail drops (Nike, Adidas, Supreme) |
Streaming unblocking |
Mid-tier e-commerce scraping |
| Tasks needing residential appearance at speed |
Social media (works on some platforms, not all) |
Account management (check provider’s sticky session stability) |
| Highest-protection social platforms (Meta, TikTok) |
Account management (check provider’s sticky session stability) |
|
✓ The sweet spot for most users
ISP proxies hit the best balance of trust, speed, and cost for the majority of use cases. If you’ve been using datacenter proxies and getting blocked, ISP proxies are usually the right next step before paying residential prices. Try them on your target before assuming you need residential.
Type 3
Residential proxies
Real home connections, the hardest to block. The standard for high-protection targets — but expensive and slower than you might expect.
| Speed |
Detection risk |
Cost |
Pool size |
| Moderate |
Low |
Expensive |
Largest |
How residential proxies work
Residential proxies route your traffic through real devices on real home internet connections — actual laptops and phones belonging to real people, connected through their own household ISP. When a website checks the incoming IP, it sees an IP registered to a household in a specific city, on a specific ISP like Comcast or Vodafone. Indistinguishable from a regular visitor.
These devices join a peer-to-peer network run by the proxy provider, usually through an app or SDK that the device owner has consented to install in exchange for something (a free VPN service, rewards points, etc.). Your request hops through one of these peers before reaching the target. The peer’s device forwards the request using its own IP — the website sees that home IP address.
This is why residential proxies are so effective and so expensive. The infrastructure is real households, not servers. And because each IP belongs to a genuine residential connection, blocking it risks also blocking real users on the same ISP.
| Pros |
Cons |
| Hardest to detect and block — looks exactly like a real user |
Slower — 500ms to 2s typical, depends on the peer’s connection |
| Largest IP pools — tens of millions of IPs available |
Expensive — typically $5–$15/GB, adds up fast at scale |
| Excellent geo diversity including city-level targeting |
Variable performance — peer can go offline mid-session |
| Required for the highest-protection targets (social media, streaming) |
Ethical questions around how some peer networks are recruited |
| IPs rarely appear on blocklists (blocking them catches real users too) |
Some providers inflate pool numbers with low-quality or inactive peers |
Best for
| Social media automation and account management |
Highly protected e-commerce scraping |
Sneakers (works, but ISP is often faster and cheaper) |
| Geo-restricted content and streaming |
Ad verification and market research |
High-volume scraping (cost adds up fast) |
| Speed-critical tasks (too slow) |
Real-time pricing (latency is unpredictable) |
|
Ask how peers are recruited
Residential proxy networks vary significantly in ethics. Reputable providers pay peers transparently and give them clear opt-in/opt-out controls. Less reputable ones bundle their SDK into free apps without making the proxy participation obvious. If you’re buying residential proxies, it’s worth checking whether the provider has a published consent policy for their peer network. This matters legally in some jurisdictions.
Type 4
Mobile proxies
The highest-trust proxy type. Carrier IPs are nearly impossible to block without collateral damage — but you pay for that privilege.
| Speed |
Detection risk |
Cost |
Pool size |
| Variable |
Very low |
Most expensive |
Smaller |
How mobile proxies work
Mobile proxies route traffic through real 4G and 5G mobile devices — actual SIM cards connected to carrier networks like Verizon, T-Mobile, EE, or Telstra. Your request travels through a mobile device, exits via the carrier’s network, and the website sees a carrier IP address.
Two things make mobile IPs uniquely trusted. First, carrier-grade NAT: hundreds of real mobile users often share a single IP address because carriers use NAT to conserve IP addresses. Blocking that IP would block all those real users — so sites rarely do it. Second, mobile IPs are associated with carrier-grade networks that have bulletproof legitimacy. No fraud detection system built to protect real users will nuke a T-Mobile IP.
The trade-off: mobile infrastructure is expensive, pools are smaller, and speeds depend on cellular signal strength and carrier congestion.
| Pros |
Cons |
| Highest trust level of any proxy type |
Most expensive — typically $15–$40/GB or more |
| Carrier IPs are almost never blocked (collateral damage too high) |
Smallest pools — fewer IPs to rotate through |
| Carrier-grade NAT means one IP is shared by many real users — natural cover |
Speed depends on cellular signal — inconsistent |
| Essential for apps and platforms that fingerprint device type |
Overkill for most use cases — you’re paying for trust you don’t need |
| Works on every target that residential works on, and then some |
Geo targeting is less granular than residential |
| Best for |
|
| Highest-security platforms (TikTok, Instagram, banking apps) |
App-based platforms that detect non-mobile traffic |
| Targets that have blocked all residential IPs |
Sneakers (overkill but works) |
| Social media (works, but residential is usually sufficient) |
High-volume tasks (too expensive at scale) |
! Don’t start here
Mobile proxies are a last resort, not a starting point. If residential proxies work for your target, mobile is a significant cost increase for marginal gain. Start with ISP or residential and only escalate to mobile if you’re still getting blocked after optimising your setup.
All types
Side-by-side comparison
Every major dimension, all four types, in one place.
| Dimension |
Datacenter |
ISP |
Residential |
Mobile |
| IP source |
Cloud hosting (AWS, OVH) |
ISP ranges, DC-hosted |
Real home connections |
Real SIM cards, carrier network |
| Detection risk |
Very high |
Medium |
Low |
Very low |
| Typical latency |
<100ms |
<300ms |
500ms – 2s |
300ms – 3s |
| Cost per GB |
$0.50 – $2 |
$2 – $6 |
$5 – $15 |
$15 – $40+ |
| Pool size |
Medium |
Medium |
Very large |
Smaller |
| Stability |
Very stable |
Stable |
Variable (peer-dependent) |
Variable (signal-dependent) |
| Geo targeting |
Country/city |
Country/city |
Country/city/ISP |
Country/carrier |
| Sticky sessions |
Easy |
Easy |
Supported but varies |
Supported but varies |
| Best use case |
Low-protection scraping |
Sneakers, mid-tier e-comm |
Social, high-protection scraping |
Highest-security targets |
Decision guide
Which type do you actually need?
Answer these questions — each one narrows it down.
