Picking the wrong proxy type wastes money and gets you blocked. Datacenter, residential, and mobile proxies each have different IP sources, trust profiles, and detection patterns - and the gaps between them are bigger than most providers admit.
This guide covers how each type actually works, what detection systems see, and when to use which.
Quick Summary TLDR
Quick Summary TLDR
- 1Datacenter proxies are fast and cheap but only achieve 25-35% success rates on protected sites due to known hosting ASNs
- 2Residential proxies reach 55-60% success rates but quality varies wildly - budget providers often have 30%+ IPs already blacklisted
- 3Mobile proxies achieve 85-95% success rates because carriers use CGNAT, making IPs impossible to block without blocking real users
- 4Match proxy type to task: datacenter for unprotected sites, residential for general scraping, mobile for accounts and high-security platforms
Quick Comparison
| Factor | Datacenter | Residential | Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|
| IP Source | Cloud/hosting providers | Home ISP connections | Cellular carriers (4G/5G) |
| Success Rate | 25-35% | 55-60% | 85-95% |
| Trust Score | Low | Medium | High |
| Speed | Fastest | Medium | Medium |
| Cost per GB | $0.50-2 | $3-8 | $5-15 |
| Best For | Unprotected sites | General scraping | Account management |
How Detection Systems Tell Them Apart
Every IP address carries metadata that reveals its origin. Detection systems like IPQualityScore check four main signals:
- ASN (Autonomous System Number) - identifies the network owner
- IP range registration - datacenter ranges are publicly documented
- Connection patterns - request frequency, timing, behavior
- Historical reputation - past abuse from that IP or range
Datacenter IPs fail the first check immediately. Residential and mobile pass it, but differ in how much trust they inherit.
Datacenter Proxies
Datacenter proxies route traffic through servers in hosting facilities - AWS, Google Cloud, OVH, Hetzner, and similar providers.
How They Work
Your request goes to a proxy server in a datacenter, which forwards it to the target site. The target sees the datacenter's IP, not yours.
You → Datacenter Server → Target Website
(AWS IP)
Why They Get Blocked
Datacenter IP ranges are public knowledge. When a site sees traffic from a known datacenter range, it assumes automation - because regular users don't browse from AWS.
Common Datacenter Proxy Issues
-
CAPTCHAs on every request - Detection systems trigger immediately when they see datacenter ASNs
-
Rate limiting after a few pages - Sites throttle or block after detecting automated patterns from known hosting ranges
-
Outright blocks on sensitive endpoints - Login pages, checkout flows, and API endpoints often reject datacenter IPs entirely
-
"Unusual activity" warnings on logins - Platforms flag sessions from datacenter IPs as suspicious, triggering verification loops
When Datacenter Works
Datacenter proxies still make sense for:
- Unprotected sites - small sites without bot detection
- High-volume, low-value scraping - public data where blocks don't matter
- Speed-critical tasks - fastest latency, lowest cost
- Testing and development - when you don't need realistic IPs
If you're scraping a site that doesn't care about bots, datacenter is the cheapest option. But for anything with Cloudflare, Akamai, DataDome, or Imperva, you'll burn through IPs faster than you can rotate them.
Residential Proxies
Residential proxies route traffic through real home internet connections - IPs assigned by ISPs like Comcast, AT&T, or BT to regular households.
How They Work
Traffic passes through devices on home networks - usually through browser extensions, VPN apps, or SDK integrations where users opt in (with varying degrees of informed consent).
You → Residential Device → Target Website
(Home ISP IP)
The Trust Problem
Residential IPs look legitimate because they come from legitimate networks. But there's a catch: the proxy industry has polluted the residential pool.
Years of abuse mean many residential IPs already carry bad reputation. Budget providers source IPs through:
- Browser extensions with buried consent
- "Free VPN" apps that sell user bandwidth
- P2P networks where users don't realize they're exit nodes
Residential IP Quality Issues
The result: a residential IP might pass the "is this a datacenter" check but still get flagged because that specific address was used for spam last week. Budget providers often show 30-35% of IPs already on blacklists tracked by services like Spamhaus before you even use them.
Quality residential providers maintain cleaner pools, but you pay for it. And even clean residential IPs don't have the inherent trust that mobile IPs carry. For more on the ethics of residential proxy sourcing, see our breakdown of why cheap residential proxies are often problematic.
When Residential Works
Residential proxies fit:
- General web scraping - good balance of trust and cost
- Geo-targeting - large pools across many locations
- E-commerce monitoring - checking prices, stock, regional content
- Ad verification - seeing ads as regular users would
For account management or high-security platforms, residential often isn't enough. The trust gap between residential and mobile becomes obvious when you're dealing with login flows, financial services, or social platforms.
Mobile Proxies
Mobile proxies route traffic through real SIM cards connected to cellular networks - actual 4G/5G connections from carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, Vodafone, or EE.
How They Work
Traffic passes through a physical device (phone, modem, or router) with a real SIM card and carrier connection.
You → Mobile Device (SIM) → Carrier Network → Target Website
(4G/5G IP)
Why Mobile IPs Are Trusted
Mobile carriers use CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT), meaning thousands of legitimate users share each IP address at any given time. A single mobile IP might serve hundreds of phones in a city.
Why CGNAT Changes Everything
CGNAT lets carriers assign the same public IP to many devices simultaneously. Unlike residential IPs (one per household), mobile IPs are inherently shared - making them impossible to block without mass false positives on legitimate users.
This creates a trust problem for detection systems: blocking a mobile IP means blocking real customers. Platforms can't aggressively filter mobile ranges without causing mass false positives on actual users.
Mobile IPs also behave differently. They change naturally (airplane mode, network handoffs, carrier reassignment), so rotation looks organic rather than suspicious.
When Mobile Is Worth the Cost
Mobile proxies cost more because real carrier infrastructure costs more. They're worth it for:
- Account management - social media, marketplaces, any platform with strict device fingerprinting
- High-security platforms - banking, crypto exchanges, financial services
- Login-heavy workflows - where trust matters more than speed
- Anti-bot bypass - when residential keeps getting caught
- Long sessions - sticky IPs that maintain trust over time
If you're managing accounts or doing anything that triggers "unusual activity" checks, mobile is usually the only option that works consistently.
For a deeper breakdown of mobile vs datacenter specifically, see our detailed comparison.
Cost vs Performance Tradeoff
The pricing gap reflects real infrastructure differences:
| Type | Typical Cost | Infrastructure Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Datacenter | $0.50-2/GB | Servers are cheap, IPs are abundant |
| Residential | $3-8/GB | Requires user networks, consent infrastructure |
| Mobile | $5-15/GB | Real SIM cards, carrier agreements, physical devices |
"A $2/GB datacenter proxy that works 30% of the time costs more than a $10/GB mobile proxy that works 95% of the time."
Calculate based on success rate, not raw price.
Choosing the Right Type
Use Datacenter When:
- Target site has no bot protection
- Speed matters more than success rate
- Budget is the primary constraint
- You're doing internal testing
Use Residential When:
- General scraping at scale
- Geo-targeting across many locations
- Moderate protection levels
- Cost-conscious but need some trust
Use Mobile When:
- Managing accounts on strict platforms
- Working with login flows
- High-security or financial sites
- Success rate matters more than cost
- Need sticky sessions with trust
The Hybrid Approach
Many operations use multiple types strategically:
- Datacenter for initial recon and unprotected endpoints
- Residential for general data collection
- Mobile for account work and protected platforms
Match the proxy type to what each task actually requires. Using mobile proxies to scrape public product listings wastes money. Using datacenter proxies to manage social accounts wastes time.
1Can I use datacenter proxies for social media management?
Not recommended. Social platforms actively detect and block datacenter IP ranges. You'll face constant verification loops, CAPTCHAs, and account restrictions. Mobile proxies are the reliable choice for any account-based work.
2Why are mobile proxies more expensive than residential?
Mobile proxies require real SIM cards, physical devices (phones or modems), and carrier data plans. This infrastructure costs significantly more than residential setups that piggyback on existing home connections through software.
3Do residential proxies work for sneaker sites and ticket platforms?
Sometimes, but success rates have dropped as these platforms upgraded their detection. Many sneaker sites now specifically target residential proxy patterns. Mobile proxies generally perform better on high-security e-commerce.
4How do I know if a site has bot protection?
Look for Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, or Akamai badges in the page source or check with tools like BuiltWith or Wappalyzer. If you see CAPTCHAs frequently or get blocked after a few requests with datacenter IPs, the site has protection. Most major platforms do.
5Can detection systems tell mobile proxies apart from real phone users?
Generally no - that's the point. Mobile proxy traffic looks identical to regular smartphone traffic because it IS regular smartphone traffic, just routed through a proxy. The shared nature of mobile IPs (CGNAT) means platforms can't distinguish proxy users from legitimate ones.
Summary
Datacenter proxies are fast and cheap but get caught immediately on protected sites. Residential proxies pass basic checks but carry reputation baggage from industry-wide abuse. Mobile proxies cost more but deliver the highest trust scores because platforms can't block carrier IPs without blocking real users.
Pick based on what you're actually doing, not what's cheapest per gigabyte.
Need High-Trust Mobile Proxies?
Real 4G/5G carrier IPs with dedicated device options. No shared pools, no recycled IPs.