---
title: "Best Bright Data Alternatives in 2026: Oxylabs, Decodo, and Apify Compared"
description: "Bright Data still leads on IP pool size (400M+ residential IPs across 195 countries), but Decodo undercuts its pay-as-you-go rate by half and Apify swaps proxies-by-the-GB for a scraper-and-automation platform — here's how the real numbers stack up."
answer_summary: "Bright Data still leads on IP pool size (400M+ residential IPs across 195 countries), but Decodo undercuts its pay-as-you-go rate by half and Apify swaps proxies-by-the-GB for a scraper-and-automation platform — here's how the real numbers stack up."
canonical: "https://nqz.ai/blog/alternative-bright-data-20"
published_at: "2026-07-03T16:06:09.159Z"
updated_at: "2026-08-21T07:37:43.000Z"
author: "Ada O'Brien"
category: "Comparison"
tags: ["alternative","comparison","bright-data"]
image: "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1542744173-8e7e53415bb0?w=1200&h=630&fit=crop"
---

# Best Bright Data Alternatives in 2026: Oxylabs, Decodo, and Apify Compared

# Best Bright Data Alternatives in 2026: Oxylabs, Decodo, and Apify Compared

Bright Data is the largest name in commercial proxy infrastructure, but "largest" and "best fit for your project" are different questions. Its pay-as-you-go residential rate lists at $8/GB before the site's current 50% promotional pricing, which is meaningfully more expensive than several credible competitors at equivalent volume ([Bright Data residential proxy pricing](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/residential-proxies)). This guide compares Bright Data against three genuine alternatives — Oxylabs, Decodo (the 2025 rebrand of Smartproxy), and Apify — using vendor pricing pages and independent review platforms rather than marketing copy.

## Product Overview

**Direct answer:** **Bright Data** operates a proxy and web-data network built on an IP pool the company states exceeds 400 million monthly residential IPs across 195 countries, with the largest single-country pools in Brazil, India, and the United States ([Bright Data pricing page](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/residential-proxies)). Beyond raw proxies, it sells a Web Scraper API, a Web Unlocker product, a browser-automation "Scraping Browser," a SERP API, and pre-built datasets sold by subscription. On G2, Bright Data holds a 4.7-star rating across roughly 344 reviews, with reviewers specifically calling out support quality and ease of use ([Bright Data G2 reviews](https://www.g2.com/products/bright-data/reviews)).

**Oxylabs** positions itself as an enterprise-first competitor with a claimed 175M+ residential IP pool, unlimited concurrent sessions, and dedicated account management bundled into all plans ([Oxylabs pricing](https://oxylabs.io/pricing)). Independent testing from Proxyway's benchmarking has reported residential success rates in the high 99% range, among the fastest response times measured in that cohort ([Proxyway Oxylabs review](https://proxyway.com/reviews/oxylabs-proxies)).

**Decodo** — the same company and backend as Smartproxy, rebranded in April 2025 — kept its infrastructure, gateway addresses, and pricing structure intact through the name change; only the brand and domain moved from smartproxy.com to decodo.com ([Decodo rebrand announcement](https://www.retaildive.com/press-release/20250414-smartproxy-rebrands-to-decodo-a-new-era-of-web-data-solutions-1)). It runs on a stated 115M+ ethically-sourced IP pool and publishes some of the most transparent tiered pricing of the group directly on its site ([Decodo pricing](https://decodo.com/pricing)).

**Apify** is a different category of product: an actor (serverless scraper/automation script) marketplace and execution platform rather than a raw proxy network, though it includes its own proxy service as one input to scraper runs. Instead of billing per GB, Apify sells monthly platform credit ("compute unit") allowances that cover actor runs, storage, and data transfer together ([Apify pricing](https://apify.com/pricing)).

## Quick Answer

- If you're a large enterprise wanting the biggest IP pool and a full product suite → choose Bright Data, because it offers 400M+ residential IPs across 195 countries plus a Web Scraper API, Web Unlocker, and SERP API in one place.
- If you're needing enterprise-grade reliability with dedicated support and unlimited concurrency → choose Oxylabs, because dedicated account management and unlimited concurrent sessions are bundled into all plans, and independent testing found high-90s% success rates.
- If you're a budget-to-mid-volume team wanting transparent, predictable per-GB pricing → choose Decodo, because it publishes some of the most transparent tiered pricing of the group directly on its site.
- If you're a developer wanting managed scrapers instead of raw proxy management → choose Apify, because it bills by compute units for actor runs, storage, and data transfer together rather than per-GB proxy usage, with a free $5/month credit plan.

## Feature Comparison Matrix

| Feature | Bright Data | Oxylabs | Decodo | Apify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential IP pool (vendor-stated) | 400M+ across 195 countries [[1]](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/residential-proxies) | 175M+ [[2]](https://oxylabs.io/pricing) | 115M+ across 195+ locations [[3]](https://decodo.com/pricing) | N/A — actor/automation platform, uses own proxy as a component |
| Core product model | Proxy network + scraper APIs + datasets | Proxy network + Web Scraper API | Proxy network + scraping tools | Serverless "Actor" scrapers + automation, pay-per-compute-unit |
| Pricing unit | Per GB (residential/mobile), per IP (datacenter/ISP) | Per GB (residential), plan-based API | Per GB (residential/mobile/datacenter) | Compute units (CU = 1GB RAM/hour) + included credits |
| Free trial | Yes, no credit card required [[1]](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/residential-proxies) | Free trial via contact form (residential); free-tier caps on Scraper API/Unlocker | 3-day trial with 100MB [[3]](https://decodo.com/pricing) | Free plan with $5/month platform credit [[4]](https://apify.com/pricing) |
| G2 rating | 4.7★ (~344 reviews) [[5]](https://www.g2.com/products/bright-data/reviews) | Reported widely as ~4.5★ across review aggregators — verify current score on G2 before citing | Reviewed on G2 under "Decodo (formerly Smartproxy)" | Listed on G2 under Apify |
| Best suited for | Large enterprise operations wanting the biggest IP pool and full product suite | Enterprise scraping with dedicated support/unlimited concurrency | Budget-to-mid-volume teams wanting transparent per-GB pricing | Developers who want managed scrapers/automations, not raw proxy management |

## Pricing Comparison

**Direct answer:** All figures below are vendor-listed rates pulled directly from each provider's pricing page; promotional discounts are noted where the vendor displays a "regular" price alongside a discounted one.

**Bright Data (residential proxies):**
- Pay-as-you-go: $4.00/GB (promotional; vendor lists regular rate as $8.00/GB)
- 141 GB/month plan: $499/month ($3.50/GB promotional rate)
- 332 GB/month plan: $999/month ($3.00/GB promotional rate)
- 798 GB/month plan: $1,999/month ($2.50/GB promotional rate)
([Bright Data residential pricing](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/residential-proxies))

**Oxylabs (residential proxies):**
- Starting rate: $6/GB on entry tier
- Web Scraper API: starts at $49/month
- Free trial available, IPs offered without immediate commitment
([Oxylabs pricing page](https://oxylabs.io/pricing))

**Decodo (residential proxies):**
- Pay-as-you-go: $4.00/GB (1GB minimum, wallet top-up)
- 3 GB plan: $11.25/mo ($3.75/GB)
- 10 GB plan: $35.00/mo ($3.50/GB)
- 25 GB plan: $81.25/mo ($3.25/GB)
- 50 GB plan: $150.00/mo ($3.00/GB)
- 100 GB plan: $275.00/mo ($2.75/GB)
([Decodo pricing page](https://decodo.com/pricing))

**Apify (platform credits, not per-GB):**
- Free: $0/month, includes $5/month in platform credit
- Starter: $29/month ($26 billed annually), includes $29/month in credit
- Scale: $199/month ($179 billed annually), includes $199/month in credit
- Business: $999/month ($899 billed annually), includes $999/month in credit
- Overage compute unit rate ranges from $0.20/CU down to $0.13/CU at higher tiers
([Apify pricing page](https://apify.com/pricing))

Note the structural difference: Bright Data, Oxylabs, and Decodo bill primarily by proxy bandwidth (GB consumed), while Apify bills by compute time across actor runs — the two pricing models aren't directly interchangeable, so total cost depends heavily on whether your workload is bandwidth-heavy (large-scale residential IP rotation) or compute-heavy (custom scraping logic, browser automation, scheduled jobs).

## Who Should Choose What

**Direct answer:** **Choose Bright Data** if you need the largest available residential IP pool for high-volume, geographically diverse scraping and are willing to pay a premium (even at 50%-off promotional rates, it remains at or above Oxylabs' and well above Decodo's per-GB pricing at comparable tiers) — or if you want one vendor covering proxies, unlocking, SERP data, and pre-built datasets under a single contract.

**Choose Oxylabs** if you're running enterprise-scale scraping against hard targets (Google, Amazon-class anti-bot systems) and value dedicated account management and unlimited concurrent sessions bundled into the plan, and you don't mind a $6/GB starting rate that's still cheaper than Bright Data's non-promotional pricing.

**Choose Decodo** if cost efficiency at low-to-mid volume matters most — its published tiers run from $2.75-$3.75/GB versus Bright Data's promotional $2.50-$4.00/GB and non-promotional $5-$8/GB, and its transparent public pricing table (rare in this market) makes budgeting easier without a sales call.

**Choose Apify** if your actual need is "run a scraper/automation on a schedule and get structured output," not "manage raw proxy infrastructure myself." Its actor marketplace and compute-credit model suit teams that want pre-built or custom extraction logic without operating proxy rotation directly, and its $0 free tier is the lowest-friction way to test the category.

## Sources

[Bright Data — Residential Proxy Pricing](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/residential-proxies)

- [Bright Data — Residential Proxy Pricing](https://brightdata.com/proxy-types/residential-proxies)
- [Bright Data — Pricing Hub](https://brightdata.com/pricing)
- [Bright Data — G2 Reviews](https://www.g2.com/products/bright-data/reviews)
- [Oxylabs — Pricing](https://oxylabs.io/pricing)
- [Proxyway — Oxylabs Proxies Review & Benchmark](https://proxyway.com/reviews/oxylabs-proxies)
- [Decodo — Pricing](https://decodo.com/pricing)
- [Retail Dive — Smartproxy Rebrands to Decodo (April 2025)](https://www.retaildive.com/press-release/20250414-smartproxy-rebrands-to-decodo-a-new-era-of-web-data-solutions-1)
- [Apify — Pricing](https://apify.com/pricing)