Webshare built its name on datacenter proxies and a generous free tier before adding residential as a second product line. KnoxProxy runs residential first, with 90.4M IPs and 2xx-only billing as the core pitch. Which fits depends on whether traffic is mostly residential or mostly datacenter.
For residential scraping at real volume, KnoxProxy's larger pool, lower per-GB price, and 2xx-only billing are the stronger fit. For datacenter-heavy workloads or a free way to test integration code, Webshare's 10 free proxies and datacenter catalog depth are hard to beat. Teams running mixed traffic often use whichever pool fits each job.
| KnoxProxy | Webshare | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential pool | 90.4M | ~30M |
| Residential price /GB | $2.10 PAYG (to $1.10) | ~$3.30 |
| Datacenter catalog depth | Smaller, from $0.02/IP | One of the largest datacenter catalogs in the market |
| Permanent free tier | ||
| Failed-request billing | Never billed (2xx-only) | Billed per connection |
| City / ASN targeting | All plans, 195 countries | Country and city; ASN not standard on all plans |
| API simplicity | Standard proxy endpoints | API-first dashboard, straightforward REST |
| Support | 24/7 chat, median 4 min | Support available |
| Concurrency | Unlimited | Plan-based limits |
| Task | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Production residential scraping at scale | KnoxProxy | Residential is KnoxProxy's core product; Webshare's residential is newer, built on top of a datacenter-first stack |
| Testing proxy integration code with zero budget | Webshare | 10 free proxies validate a client library or small script before spending anything |
| Datacenter-heavy workloads | Webshare | Deeper datacenter pool priced for exactly this use case -- the provider's original strength |
| Straightforward REST API integration | Benchmark both | Both document a simple request-based API. The deciding factor is which fits your stack, not a capability gap. |
Provider marketing sells the biggest number on the page. Buyers should buy the smallest one that matters: cost per successful request on their own targets. List price, billing rules, success rate, and how much of the product your tier actually unlocks all feed it.
A rigged table is worthless to a buyer and obvious to a reviewer.
Pool size and pool quality are different axes. A large pool of recycled, previously flagged addresses can lose to a smaller, well-maintained one on your actual targets. Compare the numbers below, then verify with your own benchmark -- ask about IP hygiene, not headcount.
Score both finalists on all five, weight by what your program values, and the winner is usually obvious -- and defensible to whoever signs off.
The protocol is identical -- host, port, credentials. The migration isn't hard; the discipline is running both in parallel long enough to trust the numbers on your real workload.
Webshare supports IP-whitelist and username/password auth. Export the current list -- KnoxProxy uses username/password credentials rather than IP whitelisting by default.
If your Webshare setup mixes datacenter and residential, split the migration. Move residential to KnoxProxy first (largest cost/pool gap); evaluate datacenter separately.
Webshare's concurrency limits vary by tier. KnoxProxy's unlimited concurrency may change how your request pipeline behaves -- re-test to confirm.
Webshare started datacenter-first and added residential later, so its ~30M residential pool is newer and smaller than KnoxProxy's 90.4M+-IP residential-first network. Webshare's datacenter catalog is genuinely deep and a real strength, but for production residential scraping at scale, KnoxProxy's larger, lower-priced pool is generally the stronger fit.
Yes, for testing. The 10 free proxies never expire and are real working datacenter proxies, good enough to validate a client library or small script before spending anything. For production residential scraping at real volume, though, most teams move to a paid plan on either provider.
KnoxProxy at $2.10/GB versus Webshare's ~$3.30/GB, dropping further to $1.10/GB at higher volume tiers. The gap narrows once a workload is mostly datacenter rather than residential, since Webshare runs one of the largest datacenter catalogs in the market and prices it more competitively than KnoxProxy's smaller datacenter tier.
Not meaningfully. Both providers expose straightforward HTTP-based proxy endpoints, and the Webshare API-first dashboard leans toward a slightly cleaner REST experience for developers. The deciding factor is which fits your existing stack and pricing, not any real capability gap between the two APIs.
Webshare supports IP-whitelist and username/password auth. Export the current list -- KnoxProxy uses username/password credentials rather than IP whitelisting by default. Most teams run both providers in parallel for about a week, comparing per-target success, before cutting over fully.
Nothing beyond the gateway host and credentials changes -- the underlying proxy protocol (HTTP/S and SOCKS5) is the same, so your existing scraping code, retry logic, and session handling keep working as-is. Most teams simply point requests at gw.knoxproxy.com and run both providers in parallel for a few days before cutting over fully.
Yes. Enterprise plans include signed MSAs, standard invoicing, committed-use volume discounts, and a named account manager once usage passes 1 TB/mo. Below that threshold, every account still gets self-serve PAYG pricing, 2xx-only billing, and 24/7 live chat support, so enterprise-grade terms and everyday self-serve billing sit on the same platform.
Competitor specs re-verified quarterly against public rate cards. Found an error? Tell us -- we fix within 48h.
Test against your real targets -- same endpoints, your benchmark, 14-day money-back guarantee.