Best Residential Proxy Providers

Why Visual Teams and Marketers Use Residential Proxies

Today’s creative professionals don’t just build content — they optimize it for specific audiences. And often, those audiences are halfway around the world.

Designers, ad buyers, content managers, and visual marketers need to understand how their campaigns render and perform across geographies. But regional web filters, IP-based limitations, and geo-restricted platforms can disrupt even the most detailed creative strategy.

That’s where residential proxies come in.

Instead of routing your online activity through a datacenter or VPN (which many platforms detect and block), residential proxies send your requests through IP addresses tied to real households. This makes your traffic look 100% authentic — so you can browse, test, or automate as if you’re in any country or city.

How residential proxies help creative professionals:

• View real-time versions of landing pages, social media ads, and competitor content by region
  
• Monitor image-heavy websites or content feeds from different IP zones
  
• Collect visual data (product shots, SERP layouts, thumbnails) with fewer blocks
  
• Run automation for ad validation or localized media monitoring
  
• A/B test visual creatives across multiple geographic segments

Whether you’re testing a global product launch, building a visual scraping tool, or tracking ad placements on international sites, residential proxies help you see the web the way your audience does — no matter where they are.

10 Best Residential Proxy Providers for 2025

Below are the top platforms offering residential proxy services in 2025. All of them route traffic through real IP addresses, support various geo-targeting features, and integrate with the tools creators, agencies, and marketers use every day.

1. NetNut — Best for Fast, Global Creative Access and Ad Testing

NetNut residential proxies tops our list thanks to its ease of integration, geographic reach, and creative-ready performance.

Their residential proxy network is built on ISP-level infrastructure, meaning you’re not borrowing IPs from random users — you’re getting stable, high-quality IP addresses that mimic real users from around the world.

What makes NetNut ideal for creatives:

• Access to real residential IPs across hundreds of locations
  
• Seamless IP rotation or sticky sessions for both broad scraping and persistent ad tracking
  
• Fast response times — helpful for image-heavy pages or content automation
  
• Easy onboarding, clear documentation, and robust support for visual test environments

Perfect For:

• Viewing social and search ad creatives as they appear in different countries
  
• Scraping public-facing content (thumbnails, UGC, display ad assets)
  
• Testing localization on landing pages or campaign creatives
  
• Auditing region-specific user experiences
  

Verdict: NetNut is the best overall residential proxy for global marketing and creative visibility — balancing speed, stability, and simplicity.

2. Smartproxy — Great for Mid-Sized Teams and Visual Testing Automation

Smartproxy combines a solid global IP network with intuitive tools, making it an excellent fit for content teams managing ad creatives or running automated A/B tests.

Why creatives use it:

• Easy browser integrations and proxy rotation tools
  
• Affordable pricing tiers for smaller teams or agencies
  
• Strong performance for web scraping, visual validation, and ad tracking
  

If you’re experimenting with banner creatives, SERP images, or even localized UX visuals, Smartproxy gets you access with fewer headaches.

3. Bright Data — Best for Visual Data Extraction at Enterprise Scale

Bright Data is a heavyweight in the proxy world, offering advanced data tools ideal for large-scale image scraping, global ad audits, or market research across regions.

Key strengths:

• Granular control over proxy behavior and routing
  
• API tools for structured data and visual metadata extraction
  
• Extensive legal and compliance coverage for large organizations

While the learning curve is higher, the payoff is scale — ideal for businesses handling thousands of image or ad verifications per day.

4. Oxylabs — Strong Choice for UX/UI Localization Testing

Oxylabs is known for its premium quality IP pool and compliance-first approach. But it’s also a hit with creative and UX teams that care about how content appears across borders.

Highlights:

• High-quality proxy infrastructure with advanced geo-targeting
  
• Excellent for verifying region-specific versions of visual assets
  
• Sticky IPs allow for multi-step UX test flows

5. IPRoyal — Affordable, Visual-Marketing-Friendly Proxy Option

IPRoyal is a smart choice for freelancers or small creative agencies who need residential proxy access without spending enterprise dollars.

Pros:

• Pay-as-you-go pricing that scales with your campaign volume
  
• Reliable proxy sessions for ad validation or campaign testing
  
• Enough IP diversity for basic geographic audits
  

Ideal for entry-level ad monitoring or basic creative localization checks.

6. SOAX — Best for Hyper-Targeted Regional Visual Monitoring

SOAX offers IP filtering down to city, ASN, and ISP level, making it a favorite for advertisers or creatives testing local visuals.

Top features:

• Clean IP pool with strict quality control
  
• Great for image-render testing or region-specific UGC monitoring
  
• Flexible proxy control for both manual and automated workflows

7. ProxyEmpire — Great for Campaign-Specific Testing on a Budget

ProxyEmpire offers city-level targeting and usage-based pricing — useful if you’re running campaign-specific audits in a handful of cities or countries.

Benefits:

• Perfect for one-off product launches or creative deployments
  
• Simple integration with browser tools, Selenium, Puppeteer, etc.
  
• Competitive rates for campaign-specific proxy tasks

8. GeoSurf — Ideal for Long-Session Creative Workflows

GeoSurf focuses on long-lasting sessions, making it great for testing multi-step flows like account creation, ad click-through, or purchase UX.

Best for:

• Session-based testing of visual landing pages or localized funnels
  
• Validating image-heavy pages without IP rotation breakage

9. Shifter — Best Unlimited Bandwidth Plan for Heavy Scraping

If you’re harvesting lots of image or display ad data, Shifter’s unlimited bandwidth plans make large-scale visual scraping more cost-effective.

Use Cases:

• Collecting competitor banners, thumbnails, or product imagery
  
• Running regular audits on visual content across platforms

10. PacketStream — Best Learning Tool for Proxy Beginners in Creative Fields

If you’re exploring visual automation, testing regional ad placements, or building an in-house proxy scraper, PacketStream offers an easy sandbox.

Perfect For:

• Designers or marketers testing out proxy behavior
  
• Simple region-based ad validations or visual QA workflows

Visual Performance Is a Global Issue — Proxies Make It Visible

In a global market, visual creatives don’t exist in a vacuum. Their performance, rendering, and alignment can vary from country to country — and residential proxies give creators the tools to see those differences in real time.

Whether you’re a marketing agency verifying localized ads, a visual developer simulating real UX journeys, or a platform owner tracking competitor creatives — choosing the right proxy unlocks authentic, unfiltered insight.

NetNut stands out for its reliability, global scale, and ease of use. But each provider above has its strengths — from beginner tools to enterprise-scale automation support.

FAQ: Residential Proxies for Creatives, Designers, and Visual Campaigns

Can residential proxies help test how images render in different countries?

Yes. They let you access sites as if you’re a real user in a specific country, which is crucial for image-heavy UX audits, ad previewing, and campaign testing.

Do residential proxies support browser-based tools?

Most support HTTP/S and SOCKS protocols — meaning they work with Chrome extensions, Selenium, Puppeteer, and visual test automation frameworks.

Are residential proxies safe for scraping images or public content?

Generally yes, if you’re collecting publicly available assets and respecting rate limits. Always check site terms of service and avoid scraping personal or protected data.

What’s better for creative teams: sticky or rotating proxies?

• Use sticky sessions for multi-step creative flow testing (like signups or checkout)
  
• Use rotating proxies for scraping or broad-scale ad auditing

Can I use these proxies with design tools or automated testing suites?
Yes. Most proxy services work with browser automation tools, API testing tools, and ad verification platforms used in visual marketing and creative testing.