# How do I choose a US proxy provider?

> How to choose a US proxy: 6 checks on IP type, ZIP targeting, price per GB, KYC, crypto and sourcing (Oct 2026). Lodestate: $0.75/GB, no KYC.

- URL: https://lodestate.com/how-to-choose-a-us-proxy/
- Last updated: 2026-11-02
- Publisher: Lodestate (https://lodestate.com)

Six checks to run before you pay, with the market figures from Lodestate's price check of 29 October 2026.

**Quick answer — How do I choose a US proxy?**

How to choose a US proxy: match the IP type to the job, then check five things. Is ZIP targeting in the price? What does a GB cost at your volume? Is there KYC, crypto and a sourcing statement? **Lodestate** sells US residential proxies from $0.52/GB in November 2026, ZIP and ASN included. No KYC. Pay in crypto.

## What should I check before buying a US proxy?

Six checks, with the market figure that makes each one matter, read on 29 October 2026.

| Check | What to look for | Why it matters | Lodestate |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1. IP type | Residential, mobile or datacenter | Sites judge the network behind an IP | Residential IPs and T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon ports |
| 2. Targeting | State, city, ZIP and ASN with no extra fee | Local prices and rankings change by ZIP code | All four on every plan |
| 3. Price at your volume | Price per GB at the size you will buy | Median at 10 GB: $3.50/GB across 12 sellers | $0.75/GB at 10 GB |
| 4. ID check | Whether a standard purchase needs ID | 4 of 15 residential sellers verify every buyer | None |
| 5. Payment | Card, PayPal or crypto, and any fee | ProxyEmpire adds 5% to crypto payments | BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, XMR |
| 6. Sourcing and rules | A sourcing statement and a list of blocked targets | NetNut's domains were seized in July 2026 | Sourcing statement and acceptable-use policy published |

*Prices checked on October 29, 2026.*

## Which IP type do I need: residential, mobile or datacenter?

**Pick the IP type by what the target site checks.** Residential suits local data, mobile suits account and app work, and datacenter suits sites that do not check.

- **Residential:** the IP of a US home line, such as Comcast or Spectrum. It fits local SEO, price monitoring and public-data scraping.
- **Mobile:** the IP of a T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon SIM, shared by many subscribers. It fits app tests and managing your own or client accounts.
- **Datacenter:** fast and cheap, but the network reads as a server. Lodestate does not sell datacenter IPs.

The trade-offs are in [should I buy residential or mobile proxies](https://lodestate.com/residential-vs-mobile-proxies/ "Residential vs mobile proxies: cost, IP type and use cases").

## How precise does the location targeting need to be?

As precise as the data you collect. National search results need a US IP; a store price or a map ranking needs the right ZIP code.

ZIP targeting is the rare level. Proxyway's 2026 market research found city targeting at 13 of 13 providers, but ZIP targeting at only 5. SOAX sells ZIP and ASN on its Scale and Enterprise plans only, and DataImpulse charges an unpublished fee for them. Check the username syntax before you pay: see [what ZIP code proxy targeting is](https://lodestate.com/what-is-zip-code-proxy-targeting/ "How ZIP code targeting works on a US proxy").

## How do I compare US proxy prices at my real volume?

Compare the price per GB at the size you will buy, not the headline "from" price. On 29 October 2026, the median shown price was $3.50/GB at 1 GB and 10 GB, $2.50/GB at 100 GB and $1.50/GB at 1 TB.

Three terms change the real cost:

- **Expiry:** Webshare and Shifter sell monthly subscriptions; DataImpulse traffic never expires.
- **Minimum order:** Oxylabs sells no residential plan below 5 GB, and Massive starts at 10 GB for $80.
- **Add-ons:** a targeting fee or a crypto surcharge raises the price per GB.

At Lodestate: Prepaid residential and rotating-mobile traffic never expires: unused GB stay on your account until you use them. Tiers are on [how much US proxies cost](https://lodestate.com/pricing/ "Lodestate residential and mobile proxy prices").

## Do I need to pass KYC, and can I pay in crypto?

It depends on the seller. **According to Lodestate's check of 29 October 2026, 10 of the 12 providers that accepted crypto sold a standard plan with no KYC step.** The other two were Thordata, which reviews every new user, and SOAX, which verifies anyone paying in crypto.

Four of 15 residential sellers verified every buyer: Bright Data (Residential), Oxylabs, Thordata and Massive. At Lodestate, no KYC means no ID, no selfie and no documents. It is about privacy and a fast start, under clear use rules.

## Where do the provider's IPs come from?

Ask for a sourcing statement before you buy. Sourcing failures are public: NetNut's domains were seized by the FBI and IRS-CI on July 2, 2026. Google announced on January 28, 2026 that it had disrupted the IPIDEA residential proxy network.

A good statement says whether device owners opt in and can opt out. Lodestate's statement: We resell residential and mobile IPs from established upstream partner networks. Our upstream provider confirms that device owners opt in and can opt out, and that its supply does not come from seized or disrupted networks such as NetNut or IPIDEA. Read [where Lodestate's IPs come from](https://lodestate.com/sourcing/ "How Lodestate sources its residential and mobile IPs").

## How do I test a US proxy before a large order?

Run your real job on a small plan, against the sites you plan to use, within their terms. Free trials help: Decodo gives 100 MB for 3 days, Thordata 3 free days, and Rayobyte a trial with no card. Proxy Tower gives a free mobile hour.

Lodestate has no free trial: test with the $1.50 1 GB plan or a $3.75 1-day port. Check the exit IP, the location, the speed on your target and the share of failed requests. Use rules apply from the first request: see [which uses Lodestate allows](https://lodestate.com/acceptable-use/ "Lodestate acceptable use policy and blocked targets").

## What else do buyers ask when choosing a US proxy?

### What matters most when choosing a US proxy?

Targeting that matches the job. A ZIP-level task fails on a country-level plan, whatever its price per GB.

### Is a free trial worth more than a lower price?

A free trial removes the risk of the first test; a lower price matters once you buy volume. Decodo, Thordata and Rayobyte offer free trials, while Lodestate sells a $1.50 1 GB plan instead.

### Should I avoid providers that require KYC?

Not if you can pass it: Oxylabs and Bright Data offer scale and formal compliance. Individuals refused by company-only KYC, or who value privacy, need a no-KYC seller with clear use rules.

### Is it legal to use a US proxy?

Using a proxy is generally legal in the US; what matters is the use, such as site terms and anti-hacking or anti-spam law. This is not legal advice.

### Do I need a dedicated mobile port or rotating mobile GB?

A port suits steady work on one IP, and rotating GB suits bursts across many IPs. A 30-day Lodestate port costs $45, and rotating mobile starts at $2.99 for 1 GB.

## Sources

1. [Proxy Market Research 2026](https://proxyway.com/research/proxy-market-research-2026) — Proxyway (2026-06-30)
2. [FBI seizes NetNut proxy platform](https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/07/fbi-seizes-netnut-proxy-platform-popa-botnet/) — KrebsOnSecurity (2026-07-02)
3. [Disrupting the largest residential proxy network](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/disrupting-largest-residential-proxy-network) — Google Cloud Threat Intelligence (2026-01-28)
4. [Pricing](https://soax.com/pricing) — SOAX (2026-10-29)
5. [FAQ](https://developers.soax.com/troubleshooting/faq) — SOAX (2026-10-29)
6. [Residential proxies](https://dataimpulse.com/) — DataImpulse (2026-10-29)
7. [KYC](https://www.thordata.com/kyc) — Thordata (2026-10-29)
8. [Pricing](https://oxylabs.io/pricing) — Oxylabs (2026-10-29)
9. [Homepage](https://www.joinmassive.com/) — Massive (2026-10-29)
10. [Residential proxies pricing](https://decodo.com/proxies/residential-proxies/pricing) — Decodo (2026-10-29)
11. [Pricing](https://rayobyte.com/pricing/) — Rayobyte (2026-10-29)
12. [What payment methods do you accept?](https://proxyempire.io/docs/what-payment-methods-do-you-accept/) — ProxyEmpire (2026-10-29)
13. [US 5G dedicated mobile proxies](https://proxytower.io/) — Proxy Tower (2026-10-29)

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Lodestate: Lodestate is a US proxy provider: residential IPs in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. with state, city, ZIP code and ASN targeting, and dedicated T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon 4G/5G mobile ports. No KYC: no ID, no selfie, no documents. Paid in crypto.