Proxy APIs vs proxy lists for scraping, which one better?

invalid@example.com (Ambush), Ambush
Fri, 06 Feb 2026 01:32:48 +0000
Proxies

so I've been messing around with both proxy APIs and just using plain proxy lists for scraping stuff and I gotta say I'm confused which way to go long term. The API route seems like it offers more stability and less hassle but it's usually pricier and kinda limited on how many requests I can do w/o getting slapped. On the other hand, grabbing a big list of proxies and rotating manually is way cheaper but I keep running into dead proxies or IPs that get flagged super quick. Anyone here have...