IPRoyal vs. Bright Data – An In-depth Feature Comparison

IPRoyal and Bright Data are some of the most popular proxy providers out there, catering to individuals and companies looking to protect their online privacy and data, unlock online content, scrape data, and so much more.

But how to choose one over the other? The key is to know what each provider offers so that you can pick the one that works for you best. This is exactly what we do in this post, analyzing and comparing their features, pricing, support, and everything else you need to make the right decision.

Note: All data collected on August 2023 from the official company websites and bestproxyfinder.com.

IPRoyal vs. Bright Data – Who Are They Built For?

Both companies offer proxy solutions for people and businesses around the world. While IPRoyal offers proxy servers exclusively, Bright Data’s product catalog includes scraping solutions as well.

Here’s a brief overview of IPRoyal and Bright Data’s features and pricing.

Check out our other page on Bright Data alternatives .

Residential Proxies

Whether you use IPRoyal or Bright Data’s residential proxies, you can rest assured they are sourced ethically from real users. Both companies cover 195 countries worldwide with the option for city-level targeting.

As a user, you’ll get unlimited concurrent sessions, 24/7 customer support, and a pay-as-you-go option with no limitations on your usage.

But enough about the similarities. Let’s discuss the differences between the two residential proxy services .

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IPRoyal

What sets IPRoyal apart is the non-expiring residential traffic , meaning you can buy your traffic now and use it whenever you want. This way, you don’t have to worry about losing any unused traffic, so you can feel free to order more when you’re not sure how much data you need.

And for those worried about service interruptions due to traffic use up, the auto top-up feature allows adding more traffic as needed. The precise sticky session control is another thing worth mentioning, allowing you to keep the same IP from 1 second up to 7 days . You can also take advantage of the high-end pool option to get the fastest IPs in the desired location.

IPRoyal requires no contracts or monthly minimums to use its residential proxy service. The pay-as-you-go option allows you to pay only for the traffic you use. And if you buy traffic in bulk, you’ll get amazing discounts , getting the price per GB down from $7 to only $1.75.

Business clients can also get special deals. The affordable prices and great bulk discounts make the service an excellent choice for both individuals on a budget and companies of all sizes.

Bright Data

According to Bright Data, their residential proxy pool comprises over 72 million IPs worldwide. The service offers precise geo-targeting, allowing you to filter the proxies up to city and ZIP code level.

The proxies are rotating and come with limited session control , allowing you to keep the same IP only for 1 minute . Although they support the SOCKS5 protocol, there are two conditions - to use the proxy manager and contact the support team to open more ports.

Besides the differences in proxy pool size, sticky session control, geo-targeting, and SOCKS5 support, the companies differ in pricing models. Bright Data allows you to use the service without commitment or get a plan . The pay-as-you-go option starts at $8.4 per GB , while the plans offer a lower rate per GB:

• Growth - $500/month, 70 GB - $7.14/GB
• Business - $1000/month, 158 GB - $6.3/GB
• Enterprise – custom price per GB

Features like city targeting come at an extra cost .

Check out the key differences between IPRoyal and Bright Data:

Datacenter Proxies

When it comes to datacenter proxy servers, IPRoyal offers dedicated proxies only, ensuring the proxies you get are reserved just for you. On the other hand, Bright Data gives you the option to choose between shared and dedicated datacenter IPs.

Whether you go with IPRoyal or Bright Data’s datacenter proxies, you can expect high speeds, high uptime, unlimited threads, and API support.

However, there are a few important differences between the services you need to be aware of, such as the SOCKS5 support, bandwidth limitations, and pricing.

IPRoyal

IPRoyal offers datacenter IPs from over 30 locations worldwide. The pricing is the same no matter the IP location, and you can order as little as 5 proxies. You can choose between 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day plans according to your needs.

Pricing starts at $9 for 5 dedicated datacenter proxies a month. However, the more proxies you order and the longer the plan duration, the lower the price per proxy. This way, you can get a dedicated datacenter proxy for as little as $1.39.

You can also buy the datacenter proxies using self-service . Once you make an order and get a confirmation, you can start using the IPs within a minute.

Another thing that sets IPRoyal’s datacenter proxies apart is the SOCKS5 support . In terms of bandwidth limitations, the company offers unlimited bandwidth regardless which plan you choose.

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Bright Data

Bright Data offers dedicated datacenter proxies from around 95 countries worldwide. Unlike IPRoyal, this service comes with city-level targeting . The company also offers this option for its shared datacenter proxies, but only if you choose to pay per IP .

The pay-per-usage option doesn’t allow you to specify the country or the city you want your shared datacenter IPs to be from.

Both shared and dedicated datacenter proxies from Bright Data allow you to choose the paid unlimited bandwidth option from the dashboard if you don’t pass the 100 GB per month limit . If you pass these limits, you’ll pay an additional $0.11 per GB. Keep in mind that selecting unlimited bandwidth significantly increases the price.

In addition, you can also define the domains for which you plan to use your dedicated datacenter proxies. Also, there’s a toggle called “ 100% uptime ” that ensures you’ll get a new IP if a proxy goes down.

Bright Data’s datacenter proxies support only HTTP and HTTPS protocols by default, though you can use SOCKS5 with their proxy manager.

Pricing starts at $0.11 per GB plus $0.8 per IP if you use the pay-as-you-go plan. The commitment plans start at $500 per month , where one GB costs $0.094 and 1 IP costs $0.68.

Let’s take a look at the key differences between the two datacenter proxy services:

User Experience

Ease of use simplifies the process of using a proxy service, so it’s an important factor to consider when choosing a provider. While both IPRoyal and Bright Data’s proxies are relatively easy to use, here’s what to expect from each service.

IPRoyal

Making an account on IPRoyal is a no brainer. You just need to enter your email address and verify it . Then, you can start making orders and use the service. While the KYC policy may limit these orders, it contributes to a safer, more reliable, and more trusted proxy service ecosystem.

IPRoyal users love the user-friendly dashboard . There are shortcuts to all products, documentation, quick-start guides, proxy configuration, and other information that will help you use the service to the fullest and without any hurdles.

You’ll get a confirmation email as soon as you place an order, allowing you to use the proxies within a minute .

Bright Data

Registering with Bright Data requires entering your name, work email, and company size . You’ll get two emails to verify your email address, the second containing a verification token. Once you’re in, you’ll see the comprehensive dashboard that you can use for almost anything.

You can use it to set up and authorize proxies, add money to your account, view usage statistics, contact support agents, and more. The network status is another great feature, revealing the uptime of each service in real time.

There are so-called “zones” that work like plans. Once you choose the IP type and enable certain additional permissions and advanced options like ports, you enter your billing info and select the preferred payment method. The feature-rich dashboard may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll use it without a problem.

Support

Reliable and responsive customer assistance ensures seamless and efficient proxy usage. Both IPRoyal and Bright Data offer 24/7 customer support with fast and useful responses.

They also provide guides, ample documentation, integration tutorials, and FAQ sections that answer all the basic questions about their services.

Let’s see how the two providers differ in terms of the support they offer.

IPRoyal

IPRoyal has live chat support that will help you get the answers you need exactly when you need them. The support team is always on hand to help you clear up any questions and solve any issues you may encounter while using their service.

Other ways to reach the support agents include email, Discord, although the live chat option is the preferred method of communication for most users.

There’s also a great Help Center page where you can find answers to some of the most common questions and solutions to the most common problems.

The provider offers free Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome proxy extensions that work with all proxy servers that have a username and a password. You can create profiles, use separate proxy servers for particular traffic (FTP, HTTPS, HTTP, and a fallback proxy), and change between them with a click of a button.

IPRoyal offers a free Windows-based proxy tester as well, letting you test proxy lists with the target website, export the ones that work, or pick the fastest proxies for deployment.

Bright Data

Unlike IPRoyal, Bright Data doesn’t have a live chat option but a ticket system that will help you get the answers via email within minutes, no matter the time of the day or night. You can also contact them via Telegram, WhatsApp, and even a phone .

Bright Data offers a browser extension that works with Firefox, Chrome, and Edge . It also has a proxy manager to help you control the proxies and enable SOCKS5 if needed, as Bright Data’s proxies don’t support SOCKS by default.

The company offers several scraping solutions , including a scraping browser, web scraper IDE, SERP API, and Web Unlocker. Besides scraper APIs, it also offers pre-collected data sets , making it an attractive option for developers and companies around the world – hence the higher pricing .

Pricing

Last but not least, let’s discuss pricing. Both providers offer pay-as-you-go options and monthly plans for certain services but with significant differences.

Let’s find out more about the pricing structure of each provider.

IPRoyal

IPRoyal uses the pay-as-you-go method for their residential proxies. You can order as much traffic as you want without monthly minimum or long-term contracts. The residential traffic you buy doesn’t expire , so you can buy it today and use it the next week, month, or year.

The proxies have below-average prices, but they can get even cheaper if you order them in bulk. The bulk discounts and the never-expiring traffic make IPRoyal one of the most budget-friendly options on the market.

For example, ordering 50 GB of traffic would cost $245 (at $4.90/GB) with no expiration date.

IPRoyal’s datacenter proxies start at $9 for 5 IPs a month , which is inexpensive for dedicated datacenter proxy servers. You can choose between 30-day, 60-day, or 90-day plans , each coming with a nice discount depending on the number of IPs and plan duration. For example, if you go with the 90-day plan, you’ll pay only $1.39 per dedicated datacenter proxy, which is a great deal.

With IPRoyal, you get an account balance, a low risk of payment failures, excellent management, and fast transactions.

Besides the traditional payment methods like credit cards, PayPal, iDEAL, EPS, Banconnect, and Giropay, IPRoyal also supports payments in over 25 cryptocurrencies . This makes it a great choice for privacy-conscious users.

Bright Data

When it comes to Bright Data’s residential proxies , you can choose between pay-as-you-go and fixed plans. The pay-as-you-go option starts at $8.4 per GB, while the fixed plans are available at $500 and $1,000 per month or year . There’s also an enterprise plan offering a custom price per GB so clients can get a better deal.

For example, subscribing to the $500 monthly plan provides you with 70 GBs or paying $7.14 per GB. The prices reduce if you go with the annual subscriptions. However, the traffic expires at the end of the month or year, so you should be careful when deciding how much traffic you need.

The datacenter proxies from this provider are also available as part of the pay-as-you-go or fixed monthly and yearly plans. The pay-as-you-go rate is $0.11 per GB plus $0.80 per IP. The fixed monthly and yearly plans are available at $500 and $1,000 , along with an enterprise plan that lets clients get better prices.

For example, if you subscribe to the $500 monthly plan, one GB would cost $0,094 and one IP $0.68.

Unlike IPRoyal, Bright Data provides unlimited bandwidth at an additional cost . Also, it doesn’t support cryptocurrencies . It only supports payments carried out through Wire transfer, PayPal, Payoneer, and credit cards.

IPRoyal vs. Bright Data: Final Thoughts

Both companies are worth considering if you’re looking for a reliable proxy service. However, there are certain differences in their features and pricing models that can make one of them a better option for you than the other.

IPRoyal offers affordable pricing and unique features like non-expiring traffic and the ability to hold the same IP for up to 7 days. The service is easy to use, and customer support is available 24/7. It’s a great choice for budget-conscious users looking for high-quality proxy service.

On the other hand, Bright Data has a massive proxy network, multiple scraping solutions, and a pay-as-you-go option for its datacenter proxy service. It’s a good fit for businesses and enterprises with big budgets.