Residential and datacenter proxies both serve the same core functionality - hiding the IP addresses associated with personal computers to uphold online anonymity whilst browsing, scraping, crawling and analyzing. They both act as intermediaries between a user’s device and the internet, receiving and relaying requests from a computer to a destination website without the individual’s identity being revealed. 

Yes, because residential proxies use genuine IP addresses, they are much harder to track and, as such, offer greater security than datacenter proxies. For even greater levels of security, use rotating residential proxies. These will change your IP address each time you connect to the proxy server, keeping your identity and activities untraceable.

Even though residential and datacenter proxies both provide internet users with online anonymity and prevent blacklistings, there are key differences between them. These are in relation to their source, reliability, cost and typical use cases.

Residential proxies are:

• • Genuine IP addresses assigned by ISPs to real residential users

• • Generally more secure, since they are harder to identify and block

• • More expensive due to higher operating and sourcing costs

• • Used for tasks where privacy and anonymity are of central concern
  
  

Datacenter proxies are:

• • Hosted in bulk inside large, centralized data centers

• • Generally more reliable, since they are not affected by network congestion

• • More affordable due to lower operating costs

• • Used for processing high volumes of data at speed or across multiple locations

Proxies are fast becoming an essential feature of our online lives. Whether it’s by enhancing security and anonymity, providing faster internet speeds, accessing location-restricted content, stabilizing web connections or otherwise, proxies will streamline your user experience and let you do what would otherwise be impossible. Check out our full infographic on the 8 reasons why you should be using a proxy for more information.

Residential proxies themselves are not illegal; however, their use must adhere to legal and ethical guidelines. They are commonly employed for legitimate purposes such as web scraping, market research, data analytics, and ad verification. It is essential to ensure that the use of residential proxies complies with applicable laws and regulations, such as data protection laws like GDPR and CCPA. Additionally, ethical use is crucial—avoiding activities like fraud, hacking, or unauthorized access to sensitive data. Always ensure that residential proxies are used responsibly and in accordance with the terms of service of websites and online platforms, ensuring legality and ethical usage.

Yes, residential proxies can be detected, though they are designed to blend in with legitimate traffic. Websites and services use various methods to identify proxies, such as analyzing IP reputation, device fingerprinting, traffic patterns, and geolocation checks. Despite their more natural appearance compared to traditional proxies, advanced detection techniques can still distinguish residential proxies. To reduce the likelihood of detection, it is essential to use reputable proxy providers.

Whether to use a VPN or residential proxies depends on your specific needs and use case. VPNs provide a secure, encrypted connection, making them ideal for privacy, anonymity, and accessing restricted content. However, they often use shared or datacenter IPs, which can be easily detected and blocked by websites and services. Residential proxies, on the other hand, use real user IP addresses from legitimate networks, making them harder to detect and ideal for tasks like web scraping, market research, and ad verification. If you prioritize maintaining a natural, untraceable presence, residential proxies are generally a better option. For general privacy and secure browsing, a VPN may be sufficient.