Not Sure How Many Proxies to Buy? Start Here
The question newcomers ask us most is "How many proxies do I need?", and the honest answer starts by changing the question. Every plan is billed by bandwidth, meaning the amount of data that passes through, counted in gigabytes (GB). On the rotating pools, IPs are handed out from a large pool as you go, so you aren't buying a fixed number of them. The better questions to ask are: how much data will my project move, and do I need lots of requests at once, or particular locations?
Below you'll learn to plan by data instead of by counting IPs, and to turn that plan into a price with the proxy calculator. We're assuming, as everywhere on this site, that you use proxies legitimately and within each site's terms of service.
Written and kept up to date by the people who run Budget Proxies. If a step no longer matches what you see on your screen, let us know through the contact page.
What this guide walks you through
- Why counting IPs is the wrong place to start
- A simple sum for your data use
- How much data do typical projects use?
- What about speed and locations?
- Pricing it up in three steps
Why counting IPs is the wrong place to start
Take the rotating residential, mobile and premium pools: your requests are shared out automatically across a big pool of IPs, and one gigabyte of traffic might use thousands of different addresses. That's why you size an order by the amount of data your project moves, not by counting addresses.
What if you need an address that stays the same? That's a static IP. When it's registered to a home internet provider it's also called an ISP proxy, and with us those come through the Residential Premium pool rather than a separate plan. Here it helps to count how many steady addresses you want at once, usually one per account or task. That count is for planning only: there's no per-IP charge, and the bill is still worked out per GB.
A simple sum for your data use
Here's the sum: pages you'll fetch × average size of a page = data used. Two things decide most of the answer:
- How you fetch each page. Fetched with plain HTTP, a text-only HTML page might weigh in at tens of kilobytes. Open the same page in a headless browser (a real browser running without a window) and everything loads, images and scripts included, which can come to several megabytes: often 10× as much, sometimes more.
- Only what you need. Fetch just the HTML you'll actually read and skip images you won't use, and your data use drops sharply.
Do the sum, add a bit on top for failed requests you'll retry, and you've got a sensible GB figure to work with.
How much data do typical projects use?
The table gives rough monthly data for common kinds of project. Treat the figures as a starting point and fine-tune them with the proxy calculator.
| Project | Method | Rough data a month |
|---|---|---|
| Checking a few search rankings | Plain HTTP | Under 1 GB |
| Medium-sized price tracking | Plain HTTP | A few GB |
| Scraping a large catalogue | Plain HTTP | Tens of GB |
| Scraping with a headless browser | Headless browser | A lot more: often 10× plain HTTP |
What about speed and locations?
Two things sit alongside the amount of data:
- Concurrency, which means running several requests at the same time. Your total data stays about the same; the job just gets done quicker. Our pools support high concurrency, so you don't need to buy extra IPs to run things in parallel.
- Locations. Needing particular countries or cities affects which pool you pick, not the number of IPs. There are 55+ countries to choose from.
If your work needs a steady address, also jot down how many static IPs you want running side by side, so you can plan your setup. You still pay per GB.
Pricing it up in three steps
Step one: put your numbers into the proxy calculator to get a GB figure. Step two: look up what a gigabyte costs on the pricing page; it starts at $2.49 for datacenter, $3.98 for residential, $4.98 for mobile and $6.99 for premium. Step three: buy now. Orders last a fixed 30 days and don't renew on their own, so there's no surprise bill.
Questions beginners ask
Not sure what to buy? Start at step 1
Here are our four types, from the lowest price per GB upwards. Try a small amount of the first one that could work for your project, and only move up a step if a quick test lets you down.
Sites without bot protection, big batches of public pages, automation and SEO tools
Protected sites, ad checks, market research and seeing what one place really sees
Apps and platforms built for phones, plus testing your own mobile app
Well-guarded sites, where a better success rate is worth the higher price
Small first order? Datacenter from $2.49/GB · billed on the data you actually move · ready straight away · 30 days to use it · no traffic logs.
What to read next
What Are Proxies? A Starting Point for Beginners
A proxy passes your traffic on, so websites see its address rather than yours. How it works, the types you ca…
Read the guide →What Are Datacenter Proxies? The Low-Cost Place to Start
Datacenter proxies use addresses from server companies, so they're quick and low-cost. How they work, where t…
Read the guide →What Are Residential Proxies? Home Addresses, Explained
A residential proxy sends your requests through a real home connection, so sites see a local visitor. How it …
Read the guide →Datacenter vs Residential Proxies: Which Should a Beginner Buy?
Datacenter is quick and low-cost; residential is trusted more. A plain comparison of speed, price and success…
Read the guide →Mobile vs Residential Proxies: Do You Really Need Mobile?
Mobile proxies use phone-network IPs; residential ones use home broadband. How trust, cost and uses differ, a…
Read the guide →Proxy or VPN? The Difference, and Which One You Need
Already have a VPN app? How a proxy differs, what each one is good for, and why a proxy suits jobs like check…
Read the guide →Got a particular job in mind?
Ready to try your first proxy?
Choose from 55+ countries, pay from $2.49/GB for only the data you use, and get your login details straight away. If a step trips you up, human support is there 24/7.
