Best Budget Proxy Providers That Publish Uptime and Success Data (2026)

Updated November 10, 2026. Prices and reliability figures checked November 10, 2026.

Most cheap proxy providers say "99.9% uptime" and show nothing behind it. This list ranks seven budget providers by what you can verify before you pay: status-page history, published test results, and independent benchmark data. Webshare and IPRoyal publish the most. ProxyScrape has a perfect, if short, independent record. ProxiesThatWork is the cheapest per IP and the only provider here that publishes per-website test results.

TL;DR

• Most verifiable overall: Webshare. Its status page publishes measured uptime, and an independent benchmark tracks it.
• Most detailed status page: IPRoyal. It tracks 29 components by product and region, with 90-day uptime for each and dated incidents.
• Best 12-month reliability record: IPRoyal, at 99.6% in a typical month. ProxyScrape has logged 100.0% in both months the benchmark has tracked it.
• Cheapest per IP, with per-site test data: ProxiesThatWork. It costs $0.02 per IP and publishes a "Working" status for 1,000+ websites, retested every 5 minutes.
• Best for testing your own target first: InstantProxies. It lets you run a live proxy test against your URL before you buy.

Comparison table

Rank	Provider	Transparency score (0–4)	Status page history	Published test data	Independent DC reliability (typical month)	Datacenter entry price	Best for
1	Webshare	3	Uptime %	No	99.0%	$2.99 for 100 IPs	Testing free, then scaling cheaply
2	IPRoyal	3	Uptime % + dated incidents	No	99.6%	$1.39/IP (90-day plan)	Tracking incidents by region
3	ProxiesThatWork	2	History bars	Yes, per site	Not benchmarked yet	$3 for 150 IPs	Lowest cost per IP
4	ProxyScrape	2	None linked	No	100.0% (2 months tracked)	$25 for 1,000 IPs + 250 GB	Jobs that can't miss requests
5	PlainProxies	2	Uptime %	No	98.6%	€27 for 1,000 IPs + 1 TB	Large datacenter pools
6	InstantProxies	1	Uptime %	No	Not benchmarked	$1/IP, from $5/month	Testing your exact target
7	DataImpulse	1	None linked	No	98.6%	$0.50/GB ($5 for 10 GB)	Pay-as-you-go workloads

Independent reliability is the "usual month" for datacenter proxies from the benchmark described below, December 2025 to November 2026. Prices are from each provider's own pricing page, checked November 10, 2026.

How we evaluated

We ranked providers by how much reliability data you can check before you pay. Price per IP breaks ties. Speed and pool size were not scored.

Budget filter. Every provider here sells datacenter proxies for $1.50 per IP or less, or $1 per GB or less.

Transparency score. Each provider earns one point for each of these:

1. Status page with history. A public page that shows past performance, such as uptime percentages, per-component history bars, or dated incidents. A page that only shows "operational right now" doesn't count.
2. Vendor-published test data. Results beyond "up or down," such as which websites the proxies work on.
3. Independent benchmark coverage. A third party tests the provider. We used ProxyPerf. It runs benchmarks daily and states that no provider can pay for placement.
4. Independent datacenter reliability of 99% or higher. Measured as the benchmark's "usual month" over the last 12 months, from its reliability benchmark.

What "reliability" means here. The benchmark defines reliability as "the share of requests that complete successfully." This is closer to a success rate than to uptime. A proxy can be "up" and still fail requests.

ProxyPerf's datacenter reliability benchmark, December 2025 to November 2026. Each row shows a provider's usual month and its worst month. Captured November 10, 2026.

Disclosure. ProxiesThatWork publishes this list and appears in it. We scored it by the same rules as everyone else.

The 7 best budget proxy providers that publish their data

1. Webshare

Best for: testing for free, then scaling cheaply.

Webshare publishes a measured number, not just a promise. Its status page at status.webshare.io shows 98.34% uptime for its proxy servers from August to November 2026. Its help center sets a target of 99.98%, so you can see the gap yourself. The independent benchmark also tracks it.

Webshare's status page: 98.34% proxy server uptime, August to November 2026. Captured November 10, 2026.

• Independent DC reliability: 99.0% in a typical month. Worst month: 94.4% (February 2026).
• Protocols and auth: HTTP and SOCKS5. Username/password or IP authorization.
• Free plan: 10 shared proxies with 1 GB per month. No credit card required.

Pros

• Status page publishes real uptime figures.
• Free plan lets you measure success rates yourself.
• Lowest paid entry price among the benchmarked providers.

Cons

• Measured proxy server uptime (98.34%) is below its own 99.98% target.
• The cheapest plan uses shared IPs.

Pricing (checked Nov 10, 2026): $2.99/month for 100 shared datacenter proxies with 250 GB. Residential from $3.50/GB at 1 GB, falling to $1.40/GB at 3,000 GB.

2. IPRoyal

Best for: teams that need to see incidents by region and product.

IPRoyal has the most detailed status page on this list. status.iproyal.com tracks 29 components, such as "North America DC" and "Residential Proxies US." Each component shows its uptime over the past 90 days, such as 98.04% for North America DC. It also lists dated incidents, including a partial residential outage on November 3, 2026. The independent benchmark also tracks it.

IPRoyal's status page: 90-day uptime per component, including 98.04% for North America DC. Captured November 10, 2026.

• Independent DC reliability: 99.6% in a typical month. Worst month: 84.1% (May 2026).
• Protocols and auth: HTTP(S) and SOCKS5. Username/password or IP whitelisting.

Pros

• Region-level status reporting with incident history.
• Strong typical-month reliability.
• Buy an exact number of proxies, not fixed packages.

Cons

• The highest datacenter price per IP on this list.
• One weak month (84.1%) in the last year.

Pricing (checked Nov 10, 2026): datacenter from $1.57/proxy on 30-day plans, or $1.39/proxy on 90-day plans. Residential from $1.75/GB.

3. ProxiesThatWork

Best for: the lowest cost per IP, with site-level proof before you buy.

ProxiesThatWork is the only provider here that publishes a per-website test result. It tests its network against real websites every 5 minutes. The compatible websites page lists each site with a "Working" status and the time of its last test. The independent benchmark doesn't cover it yet, so it has no independent score.

ProxiesThatWork's compatible websites page: each site shows its last test time and status. Captured November 10, 2026.

• Published data: a per-site "Working" status for 1,000+ websites, retested every 5 minutes. No overall pass rate is published.
• Status page: status.proxiesthatwork.com tracks 9 components, including 5 proxy network segments. Each has a history bar. It shows no uptime percentages, dates or incident log.
• Uptime claim: "99.9% network uptime." This is a stated figure, not a published measurement.
• Proxy type and locations: HTTP datacenter proxies in multiple US cities.
• Protocols and auth: HTTP/HTTPS. IP authentication.
• Guarantee: 7-day money-back guarantee. Cancel any time.

ProxiesThatWork's status page: a history bar for each of 9 components, with no percentages or dates. Captured November 9, 2026.

Pros

• Cheapest per IP on this list, at $0.02 on every plan.
• You can check whether your target site works before you pay.
• Flat per-proxy pricing with no sales call.

Cons

• No independent benchmark yet. The test results are self-reported.
• Status page history has no percentages or dates.
• US locations only. No SOCKS5 or username/password auth listed.

Pricing (checked Nov 10, 2026): $3/month for 150 proxies, $20/month for 1,000, or $50/month for 2,500. All plans are $0.02 per proxy.

4. ProxyScrape

Best for: jobs that can't afford missed requests.

ProxyScrape has a perfect but short independent record. The benchmark has tracked its datacenter proxies since October 2026, and both months came in at 100.0%. Its site links no public status page, so it can't climb higher on this list.

• Independent DC reliability: 100.0% in both months tracked (October and November 2026).
• Protocols: HTTP and SOCKS5 (with UDP) on datacenter plans.
• Products: shared ("Premium") datacenter from a 40,000-IP pool, and dedicated datacenter IPs.

Pros

• 100.0% datacenter reliability in every month tracked so far.
• SOCKS5 with UDP.
• 1,000 IPs for $25 per month.

Cons

• Only two months of independent data so far.
• No status page linked from its site.
• Smallest pool is 1,000 IPs.

Pricing (checked Nov 10, 2026): Premium (shared) datacenter from $25/month for a 1,000-IP pool with 250 GB. Larger pools go up to 40,000 IPs, with 1 TB, 5 TB or unlimited bandwidth. Fair usage limits apply.

ProxyScrape's Premium Datacenter pricing: $25/month for a 1,000-IP pool with 250 GB. Captured November 10, 2026.

5. PlainProxies

Best for: large datacenter pools on a small budget.

PlainProxies runs a status page at status.plainproxies.com that shows 100% uptime over the last 90 days. That page covers its website and its residential proxies, not its datacenter product. The benchmark puts its datacenter proxies just under the 99% line.

PlainProxies' status page covers its website and residential proxies, not datacenter. Captured November 10, 2026.

• Independent DC reliability: 98.6% typical month. Worst month: 95.0% (February 2026).
• Uptime claim: the datacenter page says both "99.9% Uptime SLA" and "99.99% uptime SLA."

Pros

• Steady worst month (95.0%), the second-best floor on this list.
• 1,000 IPs and 1 TB for €27 per month.

Cons

• Status page doesn't track the datacenter product.
• Uptime SLA figure is inconsistent on its own page.
• Prices are in euros.

Pricing (checked Nov 10, 2026): €27/month for 1,000 datacenter IPs with 1 TB of bandwidth. Other pool and bandwidth sizes are available.

6. InstantProxies

Best for: testing your exact target site before you buy.

InstantProxies lets you run a live proxy test against your own URL before purchase. Its status page at status.instantproxies.com shows 100.00% uptime over the last 90 days across 8 components, including 4 proxy network segments. The independent benchmark doesn't cover it.

InstantProxies' status page: 90-day uptime for each proxy network segment. Captured November 10, 2026.

• Proxy type: dedicated datacenter IPs with unlimited bandwidth.
• Guarantee: 7-day money-back guarantee.
• Support: live chat 7 AM–5 PM Pacific, tickets 24/7.

Pros

• Test against your own target, not a generic list.
• Status page publishes 90-day uptime per network segment.
• Unlimited bandwidth on dedicated IPs.

Cons

• No independent benchmark.
• Higher cost per IP than shared options.

Pricing (checked Nov 10, 2026): $1 per datacenter proxy, from $5/month. Residential $1/GB.

7. DataImpulse

Best for: irregular or seasonal workloads.

DataImpulse is covered by the independent benchmark, but its site links no status page. Its strength is pay-as-you-go traffic that never expires.

• Independent DC reliability: 98.6% typical month. Worst month: 67.8% (April 2026).
• Independent residential reliability: 98.3% typical month.
• Protocols and auth: HTTP(S) and SOCKS5. IP authorization or login and password.

Pros

• Traffic never expires.
• Cheap residential at $1/GB.
• API access for usage and settings.

Cons

• One very weak datacenter month (67.8%).
• No status page linked from its site.
• Billed per GB, not per IP.

Pricing (checked Nov 10, 2026): datacenter $0.50/GB ($5 for 10 GB, $50 for 100 GB), or $0.45/GB at 1 TB. Residential $1/GB.

How to choose a budget proxy provider with real data

Pick the provider whose published data covers your target. A 99.9% uptime claim says nothing about whether one specific site blocks you.

1. Check the worst month, not the average. A 98.6% typical month can hide a 67.8% month. The benchmark shows both.
2. Compare claims with measurements. Webshare targets 99.98% but its status page measured 98.34%. Look for the measured number.
3. Separate uptime from success rate. Uptime means the proxy answers. Success rate means the request completes. Scraping depends on success rate.
4. Look for site-level data. If your target is on a provider's published test list, that is stronger evidence than a general score.
5. Test before you commit. Use a free plan, a cheap first month, or a pre-purchase test. Run 50–100 requests against your real target.
6. Price at your real volume. For a deeper look at how datacenter pools are priced, see our guide to cheap proxies for scraping and datacenter IP pools.

FAQ

What is the difference between proxy uptime and success rate?

Uptime measures whether a proxy server responds. Success rate measures whether your request completes without a timeout, block or error. A proxy can have 100% uptime and still fail requests on a protected site. For scraping and monitoring, success rate matters more.

Which cheap proxy provider has the best independent reliability?

IPRoyal has the strongest 12-month record here. The independent benchmark measured 99.6% datacenter reliability in a typical month from December 2025 to November 2026. ProxyScrape scored 100.0% in both months it has been tracked, October and November 2026, which is too short to compare fully.

Are proxy status pages reliable?

Status pages show what the provider chooses to report. Some show uptime history, some show dated incidents, and some show only current status. None show blocks on specific sites. Use them alongside independent benchmarks or your own tests.

What is the cheapest proxy provider that publishes test results?

ProxiesThatWork costs $0.02 per IP. It publishes a "Working" status for 1,000+ websites, retested every 5 minutes. These results are self-reported, not independently verified.

How can I test a proxy's success rate myself?

Send 50–100 requests through the proxy to your real target. Count the responses that return status 200 with the content you expect. Divide by the total. Repeat at different times of day.