What Are Residential Proxies Used For?

Residential proxies are popular because they solve one problem brilliantly: appearing as a real user anywhere in the world. Here are the tasks people rely on them for.

1. Web scraping and data collection

Residential IPs resist the blocks that stop datacenter proxies, so they're the default choice for scraping protected sites. See what is web scraping and the Python scraping guide.

2. Price and market monitoring

E-commerce sites cloak prices by IP. Residential proxies see true local prices for repricing and competitor research — more in proxies for price monitoring.

3. Sneaker copping

Retailers ban datacenter IPs on drops. Sneaker (residential-backed) proxies stay unbanned — see the sneaker botting guide.

4. Ad verification

Verify geo-targeted ads and catch fraud by viewing placements as a real local user — covered in the ad verification guide.

5. Social media & multi-account management

Residential (and mobile) IPs isolate accounts so platforms can't link them. For fixed identities, static residential proxies keep one IP per account.

6. Accessing geo-restricted content

Choose an exit in any market from our proxy locations to see localised content and search results.

Which residential proxy?

Premium residential for precision, or budget residential for volume. New here? Start with what is a residential proxy.