Should I choose Bright Data or Byteful for web scraping?

Choose Bright Data if you want scraper APIs, datasets, or a remote browser in addition to proxies. Choose Byteful if you have your own collection workflow and primarily need proxy access, particularly when non-expiring residential bandwidth matters.

How do Bright Data and Byteful residential prices compare?

Bright Data advertises a promotional residential pay-as-you-go rate of $4 per GB and monthly plans. Byteful publishes a 10 GB residential purchase for $32.50, or $3.25 per GB, with per-GB rates that decrease at higher purchase volumes. Check the applicable offer and quantity before comparing costs.

Does residential bandwidth expire with either provider?

Byteful says its residential bandwidth does not expire, even if a subscription is paused or canceled. Bright Data does not publish a comparable residential bandwidth-expiry commitment.

Which provider publishes a larger residential proxy pool?

Bright Data advertises more than 400 million monthly residential IPs; Byteful advertises more than 35 million residential IPs. These are vendor-published pool figures, not a measure of how many IPs will be available for a particular request.

Do Bright Data and Byteful offer the same proxy types?

Both publish residential, mobile, datacenter, and static residential or ISP proxy offerings. Bright Data also publishes separate products for scraping, search results, remote browsing, and datasets.

Can I use either provider with my existing code?

Yes. Bright Data documents proxy connections and third-party tool integrations. Byteful publishes proxy access and an API for managing orders and proxy users. Both publish HTTP and SOCKS5 proxy support.

Which is a better fit for occasional residential traffic?

Byteful is a fit if retaining purchased residential bandwidth until it is used is the priority. Bright Data is a fit if you prefer its published pay-as-you-go option and need its broader data-collection tools.

Is a free trial available?

Bright Data advertises a free trial. Byteful's homepage advertises a 1 GB residential trial, but its pricing FAQ says it does not currently offer a free trial. Confirm Byteful trial availability before relying on it.

Bright Data vs Byteful

Choose Bright Data if you need scraping APIs, ready-made datasets, or remote browsers alongside proxies; choose Byteful if you mainly need proxies with non-expiring residential bandwidth. Both publish residential, ISP, datacenter, and mobile proxy offerings, but their data-collection tools and residential purchasing options differ.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

At a glance

Bright Data compared with Byteful, one row per dimension
Dimension	Bright Data	Byteful
Beyond proxies	Scraper APIs, datasets, SERP API, and Browser API	Proxy management dashboard and API
Proxy types	Residential, ISP, datacenter, and mobile	Residential, static residential, datacenter, and mobile
Residential entry purchase	Promotional pay-as-you-go rate of $4/GB	10 GB for $32.50
Unused residential bandwidth	Not published	Never expires
Residential IP pool	400M+ monthly IPs	35M+ IPs
Residential locations	195 countries	195+ countries
Residential targeting	Country, state, city, ZIP code, and ASN	Country, region, city, and ISP
Developer access	Proxy API and documented tool integrations	API-key management API
Residential protocols	HTTP/S and SOCKS5	HTTP and SOCKS5
Concurrent sessions	Unlimited	Unlimited
Support	24/7 engineer support under SLA	Email and chat; slower after-hours support
Traffic routing	Optimized proxy routing	Smartpath routing for eligible requests

Scroll the table sideways to compare each row.

Which should you choose?

Choose Bright Data if

Teams that need scraper APIs or ready-made datasets
Developers who need a remote browser or SERP API
Buyers who want residential pay-as-you-go pricing
Organizations evaluating a larger published residential IP pool

See Bright Data — 30% CASHBACK

Choose Byteful if

Teams with an existing scraping workflow that primarily needs proxies
Buyers with intermittent residential bandwidth usage
Developers who want Smartpath traffic routing
Buyers who want a published 10 GB residential purchase option

See Byteful

The verdict

Bright Data is the better fit when the deciding factor is getting structured web data without building the entire collection workflow yourself. Byteful is the better fit when you already have that workflow and want residential bandwidth that remains available until used. Compare prices at your expected volume: Bright Data advertises a promotional pay-as-you-go rate, while Byteful publishes a 10 GB purchase price and lower per-GB rates at higher volumes.