How to Choose a Residential Proxy Provider in 2026 (12-Point Checklist)
Score providers, don't trust taglines
Every residential proxy site claims "millions of IPs," "99.9% uptime" and "the cleanest pool." None of those claims are checkable from the homepage. What you can do is run every provider through a fixed checklist and reject the ones that dodge the questions. Here is the twelve-point version we'd use ourselves — apply it to LunaProxy and to everyone else equally.
Pool & sourcing (1–4)
- 1. How is the pool sourced? Ethically sourced consumer IPs via disclosed SDKs — not malware or hijacked devices. Vague answers are a rejection.
- 2. Real size vs concurrent size. "200M IPs" means little; ask what's concurrently available in your target country.
- 3. Residential vs "residential." Confirm consumer ASNs, not datacenter ranges relabeled. Test with an ASN lookup on sample exits.
- 4. Refresh and reuse. How often IPs recycle, and whether you can hold one sticky when you need to.
Targeting & control (5–8)
- 5. Targeting depth. Country is table stakes; city and ISP targeting is what real work needs. On LunaProxy those are included, not upsold.
- 6. Session control. Both rotating and sticky, chosen per request — see our rotation vs sticky guide.
- 7. Protocols. SOCKS5 and HTTP(S) from one balance, with remote DNS support.
- 8. Auth methods. User/pass and IP whitelist, plus sub-accounts for team separation.
Billing, trust & support (9–12)
- 9. Billing model. Does credit expire? Per-IP with no expiry beats a monthly meter for identity-heavy work.
- 10. Payment & privacy. Crypto, no-KYC, and a clear acceptable-use policy — accountability without surveillance.
- 11. Support reality. Test it before buying: message support and time the reply. Slow pre-sale support is faster than post-sale support.
- 12. Transparency. Public pricing, real docs, no "contact us for a quote" wall on entry tiers.
Turn it into a score
| Band | Score | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Strong | 10–12 yes | Safe to commit budget; start with a small pack |
| Workable | 7–9 yes | Fine for a specific use case; watch the gaps |
| Reject | ≤6 yes | Reseller risk — walk away regardless of price |
Instant red flags
Reject on sight: no acceptable-use policy, pool sourcing they won't explain, city targeting behind a sales call, credit that expires in days, and support that only exists on Telegram with no email fallback. Any one of these signals a reseller layer between you and the real network — which means their problems become your block rate.
FAQ
Should I always pick the biggest pool?
No — concurrent availability in your countries beats a huge global number. A focused pool that's deep where you operate outperforms a bigger one that isn't.
How do I test before committing?
Buy the smallest pack, run 48 hours against your real targets, measure block rate. Because Luna balances don't expire, that test spend becomes production IPs.
Is cheaper ever better?
Only if it passes the checklist. A cheap IP that fails points 1–4 is the most expensive thing you can buy.