Quick answer
Residential vs mobile proxies: which should I buy?
Residential vs mobile proxies: residential IPs suit volume work targeted by state, city or ZIP code. Mobile IPs come from T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon SIMs and suit account or app work on one stable IP. At Lodestate in November 2026, residential costs $0.75/GB at 100 GB and a 30-day 5G port $45. No KYC. Pay in crypto.
What separates a residential proxy from a mobile proxy?
The three products Lodestate sells, side by side.
| Point | Residential | Mobile: dedicated port | Mobile: rotating per GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| IP source | Home internet lines, e.g. Comcast (AS7922) or Charter Spectrum (AS20115) | One 4G/5G modem with a T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon SIM | A pool of US carrier IPs |
| Users behind one IP | Usually one household | Many subscribers, through carrier-grade NAT | Many subscribers, through carrier-grade NAT |
| Targeting at Lodestate | State, city, ZIP code, ASN | Carrier | Country |
| IP change | New IP per connection, or sticky with the ttl parameter | On demand by link or API; timer on 7- and 30-day ports | Per connection, or sticky |
| Billing | Per GB, never expires | Per 1, 7 or 30 days | Per GB, never expires |
| Lodestate price | $1.50 for 1 GB to $0.52/GB at 1 TB | $3.75 a day · $45 for 30 days | $2.99/GB to $1.50/GB |
| Fits | Local SEO, price monitoring, ad checks, public-data scraping | Managing your own or client accounts, mobile app tests | Short mobile checks across many IPs |
What is the difference between a residential and a mobile proxy?
A residential proxy routes your traffic through the IP of a home internet line, such as a Comcast or Spectrum connection. A mobile proxy routes it through a 4G/5G modem with a carrier SIM, so sites see a T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon IP.
The IP source decides the targeting. A home line sits at one address, so residential IPs can be picked by state, city, ZIP code or ISP network (ASN). A mobile IP belongs to the carrier, so mobile ports are picked by carrier. The basics are in what a US residential proxy is and what a mobile proxy is.
Which is cheaper per GB, residential or mobile?
Median shown price per GB across the sellers that showed a price, read on 29 October 2026.
| Size | Residential median (sellers) | Rotating mobile median (sellers) | Mobile vs residential |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | $3.50 (7) | $4.50 (5) | +29% |
| 10 GB | $3.50 (12) | $5.00 (9) | +43% |
| 100 GB | $2.50 (11) | $3.00 (11) | +20% |
Prices checked on
How much more does mobile traffic cost than residential?
Residential is cheaper per GB at every size. According to Lodestate's price check of 29 October 2026, rotating mobile traffic cost 43% more than residential at 10 GB. The medians were $5.00/GB across 9 sellers and $3.50/GB across 12.
The gap is wider in Lodestate's own price list. At 100 GB, Lodestate's rotating mobile rate ($1.50/GB) is exactly twice its residential rate ($0.75/GB). A dedicated port changes the math: $45 buys 30 days of a 5G modem with unlimited data under fair use. See how much US residential and mobile proxies cost.
Which proxy type fits each US use case?
Match the IP type to what the target site checks.
- Local SEO rank tracking: residential, targeted by ZIP code.
- E-commerce price monitoring: residential, by ZIP code or city, rotating per connection.
- Ad verification: residential by state or city; a mobile port to check mobile ad placements.
- Social media management: one dedicated port per account you own or manage for a client, within each platform's terms.
- Mobile app and website tests: a port on the carrier your users have.
- Public-data scraping at volume: residential, rotating per connection.
Agencies can read the best US proxies for social media management.
Why do websites treat carrier IPs differently?
Mobile carriers put many subscribers behind one public IPv4 address, using carrier-grade NAT. RFC 6598 reserves the range 100.64.0.0/10 for this shared address space. Cloudflare wrote in October 2025 that one such address can stand for hundreds or even thousands of users.
Blocking that address hits real subscribers, so sites block carrier IPs with more care. Carrier IPs still get limited: Cloudflare found CGNAT addresses were rate-limited about 3 times more often. To pick a network, read T-Mobile vs AT&T vs Verizon proxies.
What else do buyers ask about residential and mobile proxies?
Are mobile proxies better than residential proxies?
Not for every job. Mobile IPs suit account and app work on one carrier IP. Residential IPs suit ZIP-level checks and volume scraping at a lower price per GB.
Can I target a US ZIP code with a mobile proxy?
Not at Lodestate: ZIP and ASN targeting apply to residential IPs. Ports are chosen by carrier, and rotating mobile traffic by country.
Is a dedicated mobile port cheaper than rotating mobile per GB?
For steady use, yes. A 30-day Lodestate port costs $45, less than the 50 GB rotating pack at $75, and rotating GB suits small, short jobs.
Which protocols do residential and mobile proxies support?
Lodestate supports HTTP, HTTPS (CONNECT) and SOCKS5. Both products sign in with a username and password, or an IP allowlist.
Do I need KYC to buy residential or mobile proxies?
Not at Lodestate: no ID, no selfie and no documents, paid in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC. Elsewhere, Proxidize verified every mobile customer on 29 October 2026, and Bright Data requires company KYC for new Residential zones.
Sources (8)
- RFC 6598: IANA-Reserved IPv4 Prefix for Shared Address Space — RFC Editor (2026-10-05)
- Detecting CGN to reduce collateral damage — Cloudflare (2025-10-29)
- AS7922 overview (Comcast) — RIPEstat (2026-10-05)
- AS20115 overview (Charter) — RIPEstat (2026-10-05)
- Mobile proxy pricing proxidize.com/mobile-proxy-pricing — Proxidize (2026-10-29)
- Residential network access docs.brightdata.com/products/residential/network-access — Bright Data (2026-10-29)
- Mobile proxies dataimpulse.com/mobile-proxies — DataImpulse (2026-10-29)
- Mobile proxies pricing decodo.com/proxies/mobile/pricing — Decodo (2026-10-29)