Bright Data vs IPRoyal: Pricing, Pool Size & KYC Comparison

Key takeaways:

• Choose Bright Data if you're a registered company with steady monthly volume, and go with providers like IPRoyal if you buy traffic irregularly and need more flexible pricing.

• IPRoyal's main advantage is non-expiring, roll-over traffic, while Bright Data claims a larger IP pool and additional scraping tools.

• MarsProxies sells the same self-serve, non-expiring model as IPRoyal, at lower pricing than both IPRoyal and Bright Data at most volumes.

Bright Data and IPRoyal both sell a wide range of proxy servers, with residential proxies as their flagship offer. Yet, despite similar proxy selection, these providers aim at different buyers.

Bright Data sells to verified companies that need scale and fine targeting. IPRoyal offers self-serve plans to individuals, and its purchased traffic never expires. Whether either provider is a good choice requires a closer comparison.

We compared both providers using only their own pricing, product, and documentation pages, at standard rates without limited-time promos.

Bright Data vs IPRoyal at a Glance

The Bright Data vs IPRoyal table below covers residential proxies first, then the account rules around them.

Prices checked on October 7, 2026, on each provider's own pricing pages.

Bright Data

Bright Data is a web data platform that sells proxies alongside scraping tools like Web Unlocker and Scraper APIs. Its residential network claims 400M+ monthly IPs with flexible targeting options. It suits corporations that run large, steady data collection and can pass human-reviewed KYC checks.

IPRoyal

IPRoyal is a proxy provider that, compared to Bright Data, focuses more on self-serve for all major proxy types. Its main selling point is residential traffic that never expires, sold pay-as-you-go from 1 GB. It suits individuals and companies with small teams, irregular workloads, and a need for quality proxies.

Residential Proxies Compared

You'll find rotating and sticky residential proxies with HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 protocols in both providers' selections. So, when comparing Bright Data vs IPRoyal, the key things to look for are pool claims, targeting depth, and session control.

Pool Size and Locations

Bright Data claims 400M+ residential IPs in 195 countries, while IPRoyal claims 64M+ in 195+ countries. These figures are entirely self-reported, and the methodologies differ.

Bright Data counts IPs seen during a month, so its figure shows how many devices joined over time. IPRoyal's pages don't say how its 64M+ is counted, so treat both figures with some skepticism.

Bright Data claims to source IPs through an SDK in partner apps, and users who opt in get a benefit in return.

Country pages signal closer IP counts between providers in actual use. Currently, Bright Data lists between 2.8M and 3.7M US IPs, and IPRoyal between 3.5M and 4.3M. In the end, a bigger total helps only if it means more IPs in the country you target. The success rate on your sites matters more.

Geo-Targeting

Bright Data targets by country, state, city, ZIP code (US only), and ASN. Its docs add carrier and operating system targeting, although mobile proxies are currently unavailable. IPRoyal targets by region, country, state, city, ISP, and a radius around a location. Both include targeting in the proxy price at no extra cost.

Sessions and Rotation

You can assign an IP on every request or keep it in a sticky session with both IPRoyal and Bright Data. IPRoyal offers a 7-day maximum and can also auto-rotate every 1, 10, or 30 minutes. Bright Data also supports sticky sessions, but it doesn't publish a maximum length, and an IP returns to the pool after 5 minutes of inactivity.

Both proxy providers have unlimited concurrent sessions, so you can hold as many sticky IPs at once as you need. We also compared Bright Data vs IPRoyal in our roundup of the best rotating proxies.

Performance

Success rate is the share of requests that return a successful response, while uptime is the share of time the network is reachable. Bright Data shows a 99.95% success rate, about 0.7 seconds response time, and 99.99% uptime. IPRoyal claims a 99.4% success rate, about 0.5 seconds response time, and 99.9% uptime.

These numbers are self-reported, and each provider measures both in its own way, on targets it chooses. The best way to settle Bright Data vs IPRoyal on performance is a short test of your own, with the targets and locations you need.

Bright Data vs IPRoyal Pricing

Both providers apply per-GB pricing for residential proxy traffic, but the two discount it differently. Bright Data lowers the rate through monthly plans: $7/GB with a $499 monthly minimum, $6/GB at $999, and $5/GB at $1,999. IPRoyal's pricing drops with order size. The table shows its subscription rates; pay-as-you-go costs about 5% more (from $7.35/GB).

All prices are standard rates without limited-time promos, and IPRoyal undercuts Bright Data at every volume listed, while MarsProxies is cheapest at each tier.

Bright Data's RESIGB50 code currently halves these rates for 3 months, to $4/GB on pay-as-you-go. IPRoyal prices are its usual subscription costs that remain for as long as you use the service. It's important to note that with Bright Data, unused commitment doesn't roll over. With IPRoyal, purchased traffic doesn't expire and stays on your account until you use it.

Say you need 20 GB in March and 30 GB in June. If you keep Bright Data's $499 plan only in those two months, you pay $998 for 50 GB. On IPRoyal, 50 GB bought in 10 GB packs costs at most $275.50, and the unused 30 GB waits for June. Bright Data's pay-as-you-go plan avoids the commitment, but costs $8.00/GB.

These are the lowest listed rates, and most require bulk orders. Bright Data no longer lists mobile proxies on its pricing page. Check our best mobile proxy providers list for more options.

Bright Data accepts cards, PayPal, Payoneer, Alipay, Google Pay, wire transfers, AWS Marketplace, and Azure. You can pay for IPRoyal proxies with cards, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Alipay, and various cryptocurrencies.

Both proxy providers offer pay-as-you-go and monthly plans. Bright Data gives new accounts a $2 proxy trial credit for 7 days, but residential access still needs KYC, and its fees are generally non-refundable. IPRoyal advertises a free trial with eligibility checks and refunds an order if it can't fix a service issue within 24 hours.

How to Test Both Before You Commit

A one-week IPRoyal vs Bright Data test with a small budget tells you more than any claim on the vendors' landing pages. Allow time for Bright Data's KYC review before its residential test. In most cases, it's better to test multiple providers this way, so add a few more from our list of the best residential proxy providers.

1. Run providers against the same targets, countries, session settings, and request rate.
2. Measure success rate, latency, location accuracy, and traffic used. Our online proxy checker shows each IP's location.
3. Calculate cost per successful result: total spend divided by successful responses.
4. Send both support teams the same technical question and compare the speed and quality of answers.

For example, 10 GB costs $80.00 on Bright Data and $55.10 on IPRoyal, both on pay-as-you-go pricing. If those return 9,000 and 9,500 successful pages, you pay $8.89 and $5.80 per 1,000 results.

Bright Data vs IPRoyal: Pros and Cons

A Bright Data vs IPRoyal comparison comes down to scale and targeting on one side, and access and flexible billing on the other.

Bright Data

Pros:

• Largest claimed pool: 400M+ monthly IPs in 195 countries

• Wide IP targeting capabilities

• Gets more affordable for large companies or projects

• Additional web scraping tools

Cons:

• Residential proxy access only for verified companies

• Complex KYC process

• Unused monthly bandwidth doesn't roll over

IPRoyal

Pros:

• Self-serve sign-up with simple KYC

• Purchased traffic never expires

• Sticky sessions up to 7 days, with unlimited concurrent sessions

• Pay-as-you-go from 1 GB, with crypto payments

Cons:

• High per-GB costs at low volume

• Weaker IP targeting capabilities

• Complicated refund policy

A Cheaper Middle Ground: MarsProxies

MarsProxies fits buyers who like IPRoyal's model but want lower pricing than other proxy providers. Sign-up is self-serve, and purchased traffic never expires.

Our residential proxies include all that you might need from a premium service except the price tag. Prices run from $4.99/GB at 1 GB to $1.65/GB at 10,000 GB.

Our residential pool covers 1M+ IPs in 190+ locations, with country, state, and city targeting. We support HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5, and sticky sessions last up to 7 days. You can pay by card, PayPal, Alipay, or crypto, and switch proxies with our Chrome and Firefox extensions.

Bright Data or IPRoyal: Which Should You Choose?

In most Bright Data vs IPRoyal decisions, KYC settles the question first. Bright Data opens its residential network only to verified companies, while IPRoyal is self-serve and verifies users with a quick automated ID check.

• Choose Bright Data if you represent a registered company with steady monthly web scraping volume.

• Choose IPRoyal if you buy proxy traffic for varied tasks less regularly and want a more flexible billing model with pay-as-you-go and traffic that rolls over.

MarsProxies stands out as a great middle ground that has the same non-expiring model as IPRoyal at lower per-GB pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions