Short answer There’s no single “best” IP proxy provider — the right one depends on what you need (scale, IP type, budget, ease-of-use, anti-blocking reliability, legal/ethical sourcing). For enterprise-scale, large-scale scraping and maximum reliability choose Bright Data or Oxylabs. For easier setup and lower cost for SMBs/solo devs choose Smartproxy (Decodo). For budget or niche needs consider NetNut, SOAX, or IPRoyal. (techradar.com)

How to pick (short checklist)

• Purpose: scraping at scale, ad verification, sneaker bots, social automation, geo-testing, or simple anonymity? Different providers specialize. (techradar.com)
• IP type needed: residential, mobile, ISP/static-residential, or datacenter. Mobile and ISP proxies cost more but are harder to block. (techradar.com)
• Scale & pricing model: many enterprise providers bill by bandwidth (GB) or by IP and can be expensive for high-volume use; others offer cheaper tiers or pay-as-you-go. (techradar.com)
• Success rate & anti-blocking: enterprise providers generally have better rotation, proxy hygiene and success rates for tough targets. (Oxylabs.io)
• Ease of use & support: if you want quick setup and a friendly dashboard, choose more user-focused vendors. (nerdbot.com)

Quick vendor summary (high-level)

• Bright Data (Luminati): Market leader for enterprise scale, largest/very large IP pools, many features (residential/mobile/ISP/datacenter, scraping APIs). Strong uptime/performance but among the most expensive. Good for mission-critical, high-volume scraping or enterprise data pipelines. (techradar.com)
• Oxylabs: Enterprise-focused competitor to Bright Data with large IP pool, strong scraping tooling and good performance; often recommended for large scrapes and high success rates. Typically priced for businesses. (techradar.com)
• Smartproxy / Decodo: Easier to use, good balance of price and performance for SMBs and solo developers. Good dashboard, quick setup, suitable for social automation, SEO scraping, testing. Cheaper entry plans than enterprise options. (nerdbot.com)
• NetNut / SOAX / IPRoyal / Rayobyte / Webshare: Alternatives that can be cheaper or offer unique pools (ISP/static residential, different geo coverage). Useful if you need particular pricing or regional IPs. Compare success rates and trials. (Oxylabs.io)

Recommendations by common needs

• Large-scale commercial scraping, highest success: Bright Data or Oxylabs. (techradar.com)
• Good balance of price + ease for SMBs/marketers/devs: Smartproxy (Decodo). (techradar.com)
• Tight budget but need residential IPs: IPRoyal, Webshare, or smaller providers — test success rates first. (Oxylabs.io)
• Need mobile or ISP/static residential proxies: Bright Data, Oxylabs, Decodo and some niche providers offer mobile/ISP options. Expect higher cost. (techradar.com)

Quick practical steps (do these before buying)

1. Define target sites and required scale (GB/month or concurrent IPs).
2. Use trials / small test plans to measure success rate and latency against your targets. (Most providers offer trials or small starter plans.) (Oxylabs.io)
3. Check pricing model (GB vs IP vs concurrent sessions) and estimated monthly cost. (techradar.com)
4. Confirm legal/ethical sourcing and acceptable use policy for your intended activity. Enterprise providers publish sourcing/ethics docs. (techradar.com)
5. Evaluate support (SLA, account manager, docs) if uptime matters. (techradar.com)

If you want, I can:

• Suggest the top 3 providers for your specific use case (give me: target websites, monthly bandwidth or concurrency needs, and budget), and I’ll compare price and likely success rates.

(If you want immediate recommendations for a general scenario — e.g., "SEO scraping at medium volume, US + EU, budget $200/month" — tell me and I’ll produce a short ranked list.)