BuyProxy vs Smartproxy (2026): Which Proxy Wins?

BuyProxy vs Smartproxy: How the Two Actually Compare in 2026

Smartproxy — rebranded as Decodo in 2025 — is one of the more recognizable names in the mid-market residential proxy space. It's been around since 2018, has a clean self-serve dashboard, and a reputation for being easy to get started with. BuyProxy is a newer, self-serve residential proxy platform built around the same idea: sign up, get an API key, and start routing traffic in minutes, without a sales call.

Since both providers compete for the same self-serve, developer-first customer, the real question isn't "which brand is bigger" — it's which one gets you more usable bandwidth, more flexibility, and fewer surprises on the invoice. Here's the honest breakdown.

Pricing: Where the Gap Actually Shows Up

Smartproxy/Decodo's pay-as-you-go residential rate runs around $3.50/GB. BuyProxy's pay-as-you-go rate is $1.99/GB, with a 5GB minimum top-up, credits that never expire, and a 10% bonus on any top-up of 100GB or more.

If you'd rather commit to a monthly plan instead of pure pay-as-you-go, BuyProxy's subscription tiers push the effective cost even lower:

• Pro — $30/mo, 20GB included (~$1.50/GB effective)
• Business — $90/mo, 75GB included (~$1.20/GB effective)
• Advanced — $300/mo, 300GB included (~$1.00/GB effective)
• Enterprise — custom pricing, unlimited volume

At 50GB/month on pay-as-you-go, that's roughly $99.50 on BuyProxy versus $175 on Smartproxy — and BuyProxy gets cheaper still if you move to a plan. See the full breakdown on the BuyProxy pricing page.

IP Pool and Global Coverage

BuyProxy runs a residential network of 72.8M+ IPs across 195+ countries, with full city-level geo-targeting. Smartproxy/Decodo's pool is smaller than the largest providers in the market — Smartproxy doesn't publish a precise, independently verified figure, but it's generally understood to sit below the top tier by pool size. For most scraping, ad verification, and price-monitoring workloads, both networks are large enough to work reliably; the practical difference shows up more in session flexibility and cost than in raw IP count.

Session Types and Protocol Support

Both services support rotating and sticky sessions over HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5. BuyProxy's sticky sessions hold for up to 30 minutes, which comfortably covers checkout flows, multi-step form fills, and most account-management workflows. If your use case needs a session to survive well past that window, that's worth checking against your specific provider's documentation before committing either way — neither platform advertises unlimited sticky duration.

Getting Started: Trial and Onboarding

BuyProxy offers a 5-day free trial on the Pro plan — a card is required up front, and the first charge lands after the trial window closes, but you get full access to the live network to test targeting, session behavior, and throughput before paying anything. Smartproxy/Decodo's onboarding is also self-serve with no sales call required, which is one of its genuine strengths as a mid-market option. Neither provider forces you through an enterprise sales process to get started, which is a meaningful difference from the bigger players in this space.

Tooling and Account Features

BuyProxy includes a real-time analytics dashboard, a REST API, and native SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP, and Ruby, plus event webhooks so you can react to usage and billing events programmatically. It also offers a reseller/white-label program on Business, Advanced, and Enterprise plans, letting agencies and platforms resell proxy access under their own brand. Smartproxy/Decodo, by comparison, does not offer event webhooks or a self-serve reseller program — its dashboard is simple and easy to navigate, but it's built for direct usage rather than building a proxy business on top of it.

Full Feature Comparison

For the full side-by-side breakdown with more providers, see BuyProxy's comparison hub.

Where Smartproxy Still Makes Sense

Fair is fair — Smartproxy/Decodo has been in the market since 2018 and has a large, established user base with plenty of third-party integrations and tutorials already written. If your team already has tooling built around its dashboard, or you specifically value a long operating track record over price, it's a reasonable choice. It's simply not the cheapest or most feature-complete option for a self-serve buyer in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is BuyProxy actually cheaper than Smartproxy at real usage volumes?

Yes, at every volume level pay-as-you-go pricing was checked. At $1.99/GB versus roughly $3.50/GB, BuyProxy comes out meaningfully cheaper on raw bandwidth, and the gap widens further if you move to one of BuyProxy's monthly plans instead of staying pay-as-you-go.

Does BuyProxy have a free trial like Smartproxy?

BuyProxy offers a 5-day free trial on the Pro plan. A card is required to start it, and the first charge happens once the trial ends, so you can cancel before then if it's not a fit. Start the trial here.

Can I resell BuyProxy proxies under my own brand?

Yes — BuyProxy's reseller/white-label program is available on the Business, Advanced, and Enterprise plans, which Smartproxy doesn't offer as a self-serve option.

Which provider has the bigger IP pool?

BuyProxy publishes a specific figure — 72.8M+ residential IPs. Smartproxy doesn't publish an independently verifiable number, but its pool is generally understood to be smaller than the largest providers in the category. For typical scraping and monitoring workloads, both are large enough to be reliable.

Is switching from Smartproxy to BuyProxy complicated?

No — both use standard HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 proxy formats, so migrating is mostly a matter of swapping credentials and endpoint. BuyProxy's documentation walks through setup for common HTTP clients and scraping frameworks.

Does BuyProxy support sticky sessions?

Yes, sticky sessions persist for up to 30 minutes, which is enough for most checkout flows, form submissions, and account-management tasks that need a consistent IP for a limited window.

Final Verdict

For most self-serve buyers in 2026, BuyProxy wins on price, on onboarding (a real trial versus none), and on tooling depth — event webhooks, a reseller program, and native SDKs across five languages. Smartproxy/Decodo remains a reasonable option if you value its longer track record or already have integrations built around it. For teams optimizing cost-per-GB and looking to build on top of the network rather than just consume it, BuyProxy is the stronger fit.

See the full breakdown on BuyProxy's comparison hub, or browse more guides on the BuyProxy blog.

Start your 5-day free trial on BuyProxy →