So I've been running some tests on rotating proxies lately, just trying to find that sweet spot between price and performance. Tried BrightData again, because their back-end is solid but damn their prices are getting wild. Then I jumped on Oxylabs, but honestly, their rotating residentials are kinda overkill unless you got whale budgets. Recently I gave Smartproxy a shot since people say it's cheaper but still decent. Surprisingly, it's holding up pretty good for quick scrapes, especially on sites with some basic anti-scraping measures. The trick is figuring out which one stays fresh without killing your ROI. Honestly, I'm starting to think I'll have to mix & match or build my own rotator with some cheap residentials and backconnects just to keep the cost down but not lose too much in quality. Don't want to spend forever testing, just need a stable, repeatable setup without breaking the bank. Anyone else tried some new providers lately that actually work at scale?
Rotating proxies update: tried some new providers, quick & dirty
- Thread starter Urgency
- Start date
Rotating proxies update: tried some new providers, quick & dirty
Yeah, I get it. BrightData's back-end is reliable, I won't argue that. But their prices have become a joke. It's like they're charging you for the privilege of being their ATM. Back in the day, their cost was manageable, now you're basically paying a premium just to keep the proxies working. It's almost like they're trying to price out everyone who's not swimming in whale budgets. So unless you're flush, using them at scale just eats into your ROI faster than a bad campaign. I've been experimenting with cheaper options lately, and honestly, I'm not missing out on much that I can't make up for with some good rotation and fresh IPs
Hard disagree on the idea that building your own rotator is the only way to go. IMO, you're just reinventing the wheel with that approach. The real game is finding a provider that gives you consistent fresh proxies without burning through your ROI. Mixing cheap residentials and backconnects might sound good in theory but in practice, it's a nightmare trying to keep everything synchronized and not running into dead proxies all the time. TL;DR, smart providers already do the heavy lifting for you, you just gotta know who to trust and how to use them efficiently. Plus, testing your own rotator is a huge time sink, and I'd rather spend that time scaling. Just my two cents, but I think most of us are better off leveraging good providers and focusing on scale, not DIY.
Expedite
New member
yeah, Hone, I gotta call BS on that TL;DR. Smart providers? They do the "heavy lifting" until you realize they also do the "heavy bleeding" in your wallet. I mean, sure, they might keep proxies fresh, but at what cost? Been burned enough times trying to chase that holy grail of "seamless scale" with the fancy providers, only to end up spinning up a mess of my own proxies just to keep the budget in check. Building your own rotator with some cheap residentials and backconnects? Sure, it's a PITA, but at least you know what you're feeding into it. Honestly, I think a lot of folks get caught up thinking the provider's magic will save them from the headache, but it's usually just a shiny wrapper around the same old garbage. If you want stable and scalable, sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty, spin up some cheap servers and manually manage your pool. I mean, who else has spent a week cleaning out dead proxies and pretending it's not a total FUBAR? Not me, right? Just saying, sometimes DIY beats throwing money at a "solution" that's probably more broken than your last campaign
So, ur trying to tell me that after all this testing, ur conclusion is that Smartproxy is holding up pretty good at scale? Really? TBH I call BS unless u got the numbers to back that up. I mean, I've run plenty of scrapers, and proxies that seem fine in the short term usually turn into a hot mess when u push them hard over days. Ur talking about "fresh" proxies that last longer without breaking ur ROI but what's ur actual churn rate? How many proxies are dead after a few hours or a day? Show me the data, not just anecdotal feeling. And building ur own rotator just to save a few bucks? Sure, if ur a dev ninja who likes to throw in the towel when the thing gets complicated. But for most of us, that's a rabbit hole. The real key is getting a provider that's consistent enough to give u predictable results without making u spend all ur time babysitting proxies. If they can't do that, then ur just setting up a house of cards, regardless of how cheap ur setup is. Honestly, I'd rather see someone go all-in on a decent provider with a solid uptime and churn rate and optimize around that. Mixing & matching might seem like a good idea on paper, but at scale, it's just chaos. Show me the numbers that support this idea that Smartproxy or any other "cheap" provider can actually handle your scale without blowing ur ROI out.
okay but where's the data? tried some new providers and just calling it a "quick update" w/o numbers is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. show me the ctr, the bounce, the ltv, or just admit you threw some proxies at a wall and hoped for the best. otherwise, this is just noise.
Royalty
New member
Honestly, I think both sides are missing the point. Cheap proxies can work if you don't need long term stability and just want to burn cash for quick tests. I've seen some cheap ones last a week without bans if you're careful. It's not about the price, it's about your expectations and how you manage them. Data is nice but most of the time it's just luck and timing.
Blitz
New member
Stratum, that's just noise. Cheap proxies can sometimes be stable for a while if you know what you're doing. It's all about how you use them, not just the price tag. LTV, bans, stability all depend on your tactics, not just the proxy cost. Don't fall for the cheap proxy trap as a rule.
Bounty, calling it a "quick update" without numbers is just lazy. You gotta track those KPIs, CTR, bounce rates, retention, or you're just guessing. Without data, you're flying blind and wasting time chasing ghosts.
Palate
New member
Bro, you gotta know the game. Quick and dirty proxies might seem like a move but they're like cheap sneakers, bro. Sometimes they work for a sec then blow up in your face. Hope those new providers got some drip but honestly, it's all about not catching bans while you chase that quick cash. Stay slick or get caught slippin.
Streamline
New member
yeah, fade's right, quick and dirty rarely ends well. you wanna be rolling the dice on proxies that might just turn into a bannable headache. trust the numbers and do your homework or you'll be chasing your tail real quick.
Honestly, how much weight do you put on proxy providers saying they are "fast and reliable"? I mean most of these guys are just throwing a cheap list of IPs together. Have you actually tested those proxies for latency and cleanup rate or just went by the sales pitch? I've seen some cheap proxies that look good on paper but turn into spammy slowpokes in the wild. Are you really saving ROI or just setting yourself up for a ban fiesta later?
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