Residential and web-scraping proxies
Bright Data review
Bright Data is the biggest, most capable residential network on the market, and it prices like it. If you need maximum coverage and a managed toolbox to match, this is the one. If you are price-sensitive or just starting out, it is probably more than you need. I pay for it and reach for it on the hard jobs.
| Starting price | from $4.00/GB |
|---|---|
| Pricing model | per-GB |
| Pool size | 400M+ |
| Free trial | 7-day trial for businesses |
| Best for | web-scraping, ad-verification, enterprise |
Pricing checked 2026-06-21 from the official pricing page. Entry rate shown is a current 50% promo (code RESIGB50). List price is about double.
Pricing
Residential lists at $8/GB, dropped to $4/GB for three months under the RESIGB50 promo, billed pay-as-you-go with no commitment. Committed plans run $499, $999 and $1999 a month and take the rate toward $2.50/GB. The standout is that it is genuine pay-as-you-go: most premium rivals make you commit to a monthly minimum, Bright Data does not. There is also a first-deposit match up to $500.
Performance
Here is the honest caveat. Bright Data skipped Proxyway's 2026 testing, so there is no current independent success-rate number for it. Its last clean third-party test was March 2024: 98.96% on an easy endpoint and 84.63% on hard targets. Anyone quoting a 2026 Bright Data success rate is inventing it. The network is strong in practice, but you are trusting reputation and your own testing rather than a fresh benchmark.
Pool and targeting
Bright Data claims the largest pool going, 400M+ monthly residential IPs across 195 countries, with free city, state, ZIP and ASN targeting. That figure is a vendor self-report counting monthly rather than concurrent IPs, so treat it as scale, not gospel. Coverage is its real strength: for obscure geographies or very high concurrency, few rivals match it.
Tooling
This is where the price goes. Web Unlocker, a Scraping Browser, SERP and Scraper APIs, and prebuilt datasets. If you would rather buy unblocking as a service than build and maintain it, the toolbox is the deepest in the market. If you only want raw proxies, you are paying for tools you will not touch.
Getting in
Two tiers. Immediate Access needs no KYC but is fenced in: no restricted domains, GET requests only, throttled. Full Access runs business verification (company details, sometimes ID, occasionally a video call) and can take a few days. The no-KYC tier means you can start today without a business entity, which most premium rivals do not allow.
Where it fits
web-scrapingad-verificationenterprise
The verdict
Bright Data is the proxy you buy when coverage, tooling, or true pay-as-you-go matter more than the invoice. It is genuinely top-tier, with two honest asterisks: the price is steep once the promo lapses, and it has no current independent benchmark because it sat 2026 testing out.
If your jobs are standard or your budget is tight, Decodo or Webshare will serve you for less. If your targets fight back, Bright Data is worth it.
See verified Bright Data coupon codes (checked 2026-06-21)
FAQ
How much does Bright Data cost?
Residential lists at $8/GB, or $4/GB for three months on the RESIGB50 promo, billed pay-as-you-go. Committed monthly plans ($499 and up) bring it toward $2.50/GB.
Does Bright Data require KYC?
For Full Access, yes (business verification). But its Immediate Access tier needs no KYC and lets you start with limits, so it is one of the few premium networks you can use without a business entity.
Is Bright Data's success rate good?
Its network is well-regarded, but there is no 2026 independent number because Bright Data declined testing. The last clean benchmark was March 2024 (98.96% easy, 84.63% hard). Test it on your own targets.