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Best Mobile Proxies in 2026: 7 Providers Compared

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A mobile proxy routes your web requests through a cellular network. You can use one to check carrier- or region-specific content and see how websites respond to mobile traffic. This guide explains how mobile proxies work and compares the best mobile proxy providers based on coverage, rotation options, pricing, and use cases.

Modal titled 'Best Mobile Proxy Providers' showing numbered list over blurred authentication and endpoint UI screens

Top picks by use case

  • Best overall – Decodo for its balance of carrier coverage, rotation control, targeting, and price.
  • Best carrier selection – Decodo for access to 700+ carriers across 160+ locations.
  • Best budget per GB – DataImpulse at $2/GB with a $5 starting purchase.
  • Best dedicated ports – IPRoyal for dedicated mobile access from $10.11/day.
  • Best for social media – SOAX for precise location and carrier targeting with sticky sessions.
  • Best for sneaker drops – Proxy-Seller for dedicated ports with manual and timed rotation.
  • Best for enterprise teams – Oxylabs for high-volume plans, granular targeting, and dedicated account support.

Introduction to mobile proxies

Mobile proxies provide IPs assigned assigned by mobile carriers through 3G, 4G, LTE, or 5G connections. Your traffic exits through a carrier network, so a website sees the same type of address it would see from a phone using mobile data.

With public IPv4 addresses in short supply, mobile networks often use carrier-grade network address translation (CGNAT) to let many subscribers share one public address. Blocking that shared address can therefore affect legitimate users, so platforms may be more cautious about blocking carrier traffic than hosting-network traffic. This helps explain why a mobile data proxy can work on targets that block datacenter IPs.

How mobile proxies work

You connect to a provider's gateway, or mobile proxy server, instead of connecting directly to the target. The gateway forwards your request through an available carrier IP and returns the response. The carrier may change the public IP as devices reconnect or move between network sessions, while the proxy provider adds its own per-request, timed, or manual rotation controls.

The underlying network is the key difference. The IETF's CGN requirements describe how service providers can share one public IPv4 address among many subscribers. A residential proxy usually exits through a household broadband connection. A mobile proxy exits through a cellular carrier and inherits the shared-address behavior and reputation of that network.

Types of mobile proxies

You can classify mobile proxies on 2 separate axes: the cellular generation that carries the traffic and the way the provider allocates sessions.

3G proxies

3G is the legacy option. It has the broadest historical footprint but lower throughput and higher latency than newer networks. Original LTE was widely marketed as 4G but preceded the formal IMT-Advanced standard; LTE-Advanced subsequently met those criteria. Providers still commonly group LTE and 4G together in their catalogs.

4G proxies

4G proxies remain the practical default in many markets because 4G mobile proxies combine broad availability with enough speed for data collection, app testing, ad checks, and account sessions. If your target cares about the carrier and location more than peak throughput, 4G is often sufficient.

5G proxies

5G proxies offer higher potential throughput and lower latency where true 5G coverage is available. They aren't automatically more trusted than 4G addresses, as both come from mobile carriers, and the provider's pool quality, carrier coverage, and session controls still matter.

Rotating, sticky, and dedicated mobile proxies

Rotating mobile proxies. They assign a new exit IP for every request or after a set interval. This model suits stateless collection, ad verification, and price checks because it spreads requests across a pool.

Sticky mobile proxies. These proxies hold the same exit IP for a defined session. Use them for logins, carts, multi-step forms, and other flows that break when the address changes halfway through.

Dedicated mobile ports. These reserve a gateway, modem, or SIM-backed resource for one customer. The exit IP may still rotate at the carrier level or on command, but you don't share the allocated port with another buyer. Dedicated access usually costs per day, month, or port rather than per GB.

Proxy types compared

The right proxy type depends on the network identity your target expects, the session length you need, and the price of a successful result.

Proxy type

IP source

Trust level

Typical speed

Typical price

Best for

Mobile

Cellular carriers using 3G/4G/LTE/5G

Highest in many mobile-first workflows

Variable by carrier and location

Highest

Mobile app checks, carrier-specific ads, difficult mobile-first targets

Consumer broadband and real-user devices

High

Variable

Medium to high

General web data collection and broad geo coverage

ISP-assigned addresses hosted on servers

High, with stable identity

Fast and consistent

Medium to high, often per IP

Long sessions, persistent accounts, and stable identity

Hosting providers and data centers

Lower on heavily protected targets

Fastest and most consistent

Lowest

High-volume work on targets that accept hosting IPs

Mobile is not the automatic choice for every project. Start with the least expensive network that meets your target's trust and location requirements, then move to mobile only when testing shows a material improvement.

Qualities of a good mobile proxy

A large headline pool helps, but it doesn't prove that the provider has enough usable addresses in the countries and carriers you need. Evaluate the details that affect your workflow.

  • Carrier diversity and ASN spread. Check which mobile carriers and autonomous system numbers are available in each target market. Several carrier networks reduce dependence on one route.
  • Pool depth. Ask for active IP counts in your required locations, not only a global total. A 20M pool is irrelevant if your city has a thin allocation.
  • Rotation control. Confirm per-request, timed, manual, and sticky options. Check the maximum sticky duration and what happens if the underlying device disconnects.
  • Concurrency limits. Verify the number of simultaneous threads or connections included with your plan. A generous IP pool can't compensate for a low connection ceiling.
  • Geo depth. Country targeting is the baseline. City, region, carrier, and ASN targeting matter more for local app behavior and carrier-specific campaigns.
  • Dashboard and tooling. Look for usage statistics, endpoint generation, IP allowlisting, API controls, and clear error reporting.
  • Support. Test response quality before scaling. Mobile routes change more often than server-hosted routes, so useful troubleshooting matters.

Proxy selection and evaluation methods

Run a 2-provider proof of concept against your real target before you commit. Use the same locations, request mix, concurrency, session behavior, and time window for both providers.

Measure success as a full page load or a complete usable record, not just an HTTP 200 response. Track block rate, CAPTCHA rate, median response time, and the percentage of sessions that retain identity for the required duration. Then calculate cost per successful request: divide proxy spend by the number of usable outputs.

Test each provider's smallest practical plan first. A $2/GB pool isn't cheaper than a $6/GB pool if retries, partial pages, and failed sessions triple your traffic. Keep the provider with the lower cost per successful result, not the lower headline price.

Common mistakes when selecting mobile proxies

  • Misunderstanding pricing models. Per-GB, per-port, and per-day offers aren't directly comparable. Estimate traffic per workflow and include retry overhead.
  • Overlooking rotation and session limits. A short sticky window can break logins, while slow rotation can bottleneck stateless collection.
  • Ignoring location and carrier density. Global coverage doesn't guarantee useful inventory in a specific city or carrier.
  • Skipping concurrency checks. Confirm thread limits and whether they apply per account, endpoint, or port.
  • Not testing first. Use a trial, refund window, paid proof of concept, or small plan on the exact target you intend to run.

Best mobile proxy providers in 2026

The table uses public information from each provider's official pages. Prices reflect the smallest comparable public offer where possible. Promotions, enterprise quotes, and targeting add-ons can change the final rate.

Although Bright Data is often cited in industry comparisons, it wasn’t included in this list because Bright Data discontinued its mobile proxies for new users in April 2026.

Provider

Entry price

Mobile IP pool

Locations

Network types

Rotating, sticky, or dedicated

Trial or refund

Decodo

From $3.75/GB on the 2 GB plan, $4/GB Pay As You Go, $2.25/GB for enterprise volumes

10M+

160+

3G/4G/LTE/5G

Rotating and sticky up to 24 hours

3-day trial or 14-day money-back option

Oxylabs

$30 for a 4GB monthly plan coming to $7.50/GB

20M+

140+ countries

3G/4G/5G/LTE

Per-request rotation; sticky up to 24 hours

Free trial by request

SOAX

$200/month + VAT

33M+

195+ geos

3G/4G/5G/LTE

Per-request rotation; sticky up to 60 minutes

Sandbox has no plan fee (paid credits required)

IPRoyal

$13.60 for a 2GB plan coming to $6.80/GB; $10.11/day for dedicated proxies

4.5M+

Multiple countries and cities

3G/4G/5G/LTE

Rotating and dedicated

24-hour test plans available

DataImpulse

$5 for a 2.5GB plan coming to $2/GB

16M+

195 countries

3G/4G/5G/LTE

Rotating; sticky up to 120 minutes

7-day refund policy

Proxidize

$50 for a 25GB plan coming to $2/GB

Not published

5 focused markets, city/ASN targeting

4G/5G

Rotating; sticky 1–4 hours without a guaranteed maximum

30-day money-back guarantee under 10 GB used

Proxy-Seller

Shared access from $10/IP/week with unlimited bandwidth

Not published

20+ countries

4G/5G/LTE

Shared or dedicated; manual, 5-, or 30-minute rotation

No standard trial; enterprise POC by request

#1 Decodo

Decodo leads this ranking because it balances scale, targeting, session control, and price without requiring enterprise onboarding. Its mobile proxy network includes 10M+ IPs across 160+ locations and 700+ carriers, with 3G, 4G, LTE, and 5G routes. You can rotate on each request or keep a sticky session up to 24 hours, and connect over HTTP(S) or SOCKS5.

Pricing starts at $4/GB for the Pay As You Go pricing option, $3.75/GB on the 2 GB plan, and $2.25/GB for enterprise volumes. New users can choose a 3-day, 100MB trial or, when purchasing without using the trial, a 14-day money-back option. The lowest rate depends on plan size, so compare the total commitment.

  • Advantage – strong carrier breadth and granular location, carrier, and ASN targeting in a self-service product.
  • Limitation – the starting rate is tied to volume; small plans and Pay As You Go traffic cost more per GB.
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Get started with mobile proxies!

Access 10M+ carefully-vetted premium mobile (3G/4G/5G/LTE) IPs.

#2 Oxylabs

Oxylabs mobile proxies cover 20M+ IPs in 140+ countries. Targeting is available on a continent, country, state, city, coordinates, and ASN level. The service supports HTTP(S), HTTP/3, and SOCKS5, lists unlimited concurrent sessions, rotates on each request, and can hold a sticky session for up to 24 hours.

The smallest public plan costs $30 for 4 GB, or $7.50/GB. Lower per-GB rates appear only with larger commitments. If that enterprise profile is heavier than your project needs, compare the current Oxylabs alternatives.

  • Advantage – deep geo controls, long sticky sessions, and strong enterprise support.
  • Limitation – the entry plan is one of the most expensive in this comparison.

#3 SOAX

SOAX claims it has 33M+ mobile IPs across 195+ geo-locations on 3G, 4G, LTE, and 5G networks. It supports country, region, city, and ISP targeting, per-request rotation, custom refresh settings, and sticky sessions up to 60 minutes. Plans also share access across proxy products, which helps teams that switch between mobile and residential traffic.

SOAX’s paid plans start at $200/month plus VAT. Mobile and residential traffic share rates that vary by location tier. On the Builder plan, traffic costs $3/GB for Tier 1, $2.25/GB for Tier 2, and $1.20/GB for Tier 3 locations. The Sandbox plan has no plan fee but includes no credits, so proxy use requires paid top-ups. Review the SOAX alternatives if you need a lower paid entry point or simpler location-based pricing.

  • Advantage – large advertised pool, broad geographic targeting, and flexible session controls.
  • Limitation – the entry-level subscription costs $200/month plus VAT. Sandbox has no plan fee, but testing still requires paid traffic credits.

#4 IPRoyal

IPRoyal sells both rotating, bandwidth-priced access and dedicated mobile proxies. Its pool includes 4.5M+ IPs with 3G, 4G, LTE, and 5G support. Rotating plans start at $6.80/GB for 2 GB, while dedicated plans start at $10.11 for 24 hours. HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 are supported.

Dedicated plans provide stable, single-customer ports with custom rotation, but the provider currently sets a 30 GB daily limit per dedicated proxy. That makes the plan less than truly unmetered at a heavy scale. See IPRoyal alternatives if you prefer pure per-GB pooling.

  • Advantage – one provider covers both rotating traffic and dedicated mobile ports.
  • Limitation – the mixed pricing models complicate comparison, and dedicated ports carry a daily traffic limit.

#5 DataImpulse

DataImpulse has the best entry price for a plan in this ranking: $5 for 2.5 GB at $2/GB. It advertises 16M+ 3G, 4G, LTE, and 5G IPs across 195 countries. Traffic doesn't expire, and sessions can rotate or remain sticky for up to 120 minutes.

While country targeting is included, city, state, ZIP, and ASN controls are available as paid add-ons, so the $2 rate isn't the final cost for every workflow. You can compare it with other proxy providers before committing to advanced targeting.

  • Advantage – low starting spend, non-expiring traffic, and a broad advertised mobile pool.
  • Limitation – precise sub-country and ASN targeting can add cost beyond the headline rate.

#6 Proxidize

Proxidize now offers managed 4G and 5G mobile proxies alongside its builder products. The managed pool supports HTTP(S) and SOCKS5, country, city, and ASN targeting, per-request rotation, and sticky sessions up to 4 hours. This is a managed service, not just the self-hosted hardware model described in older comparisons.

Plans cost $2/GB but start at 25 GB, or $50. Proxidize doesn't publish a mobile pool count, requires KYC, and offers a conditional 30-day money-back guarantee rather than a standard trial. Compare the wider field of proxy providers if public pool size matters to your projects.

  • Advantage – long sticky sessions and precise targeting at a flat published per-GB rate.
  • Limitation – the 25 GB minimum and undisclosed pool size make small-scale comparison harder.

#7 Proxy-Seller

Proxy-Seller sells shared and dedicated 4G, LTE, and 5G access by IP. Plans start at $10 per IP for one week, with carrier and location selection across 20 countries. You can rotate manually or every 5 or 30 minutes and connect over HTTP(S) or SOCKS5.

The provider markets bandwidth as unlimited, but subject to the carrier's fair-use policy, so heavy users should ask for the applicable threshold in writing. It doesn't disclose a pool size or offer a standard mobile trial, although enterprise buyers can request a proof of concept.

  • Advantage – dedicated and shared carrier access with simple timed rotation and per-IP pricing.
  • Limitation – coverage is limited to 20 countries, while pool depth and standard trial terms aren't public.

Mobile proxy pricing

Mobile pricing usually follows 2 models. Rotating pools charge for transferred traffic, while dedicated ones charge per IP, port, day, or month. 

Current public examples span $2/GB at DataImpulse and Proxidize, $6.80/GB on IPRoyal’s smallest rotating plan, and $7.50/GB on Oxylabs’ starter tier. SOAX now uses monthly credit plans: Builder costs $200/month plus VAT and charges $3/GB for Tier 1, $2.25/GB for Tier 2, and $1.20/GB for Tier 3 locations. Dedicated access starts around $10.11/day at IPRoyal and shared access starts at $10/IP/week at Proxy-Seller. Terms and limits differ, so these units aren’t directly interchangeable.

Dataimpulse's market analysis notes that dedicated ports can beat per-GB pricing when one port moves a few hundred GB per month. Divide the monthly port cost by its usable monthly traffic, then compare that effective per-GB rate with your rotating plan, and include carrier fair-use limits and failed-request traffic to know if this is worth the cost.

Cheap mobile proxies

The cheapest mobile proxies are the ones with the lowest cost per successful request on your target. Start with a small purchase, disable images and other unnecessary assets where appropriate, compress responses, and measure retry traffic. A low sticker price loses its advantage when thin local inventory or short sessions create repeated failures.

Best use cases for mobile proxies

Mobile IPs cost more because they're shared behind carrier NAT, so a target sees the same traffic pattern a real phone would produce. What you do with that depends on whether your workflow needs to hold a session or just needs to look legitimate once. Here's where each approach pays off.

  • Social media management. Use one sticky session per authorized Instagram or TikTok account and keep its country and carrier consistent. Rotate only between accounts or after a session ends.
  • Sneaker and retail drops. Use short sticky sessions for carts and checkout flows. Rotate between independent attempts, not during a transaction.
  • Ad verification. Rotate across the required cities and carriers to sample placements, then hold a session long enough to capture the full ad path.
  • App testing and mobile-specific content. Use sticky sessions while reproducing a bug. Rotate between carrier, city, or network-generation test cases.
  • Multi-accounting. Assign a stable session to each permitted profile. Don't reuse one identity across unrelated accounts during the same workflow.
  • AI and agent crawling. Rotate on stateless mobile-first pages, but keep a sticky session when an agent follows a multi-step flow or maintains cookies.

Mobile proxy technology is legal in most jurisdictions, but a lawful tool doesn't make every activity lawful. Review the target's terms, respect technical and contractual limits, and get legal advice for regulated or high-risk use cases.

Sourcing is another big issue. A provider should be able to explain how device owners or network partners consent to participation and how they are compensated. Decodo's ethical sourcing statement says exit-node users must be informed, rewarded, and provide consent.

Lastly, data-protection rules apply independently of proxy use. If you collect personal data covered by the GDPR, the European Commission's processing principles require a lawful basis, purpose limitation, data minimization, security, and accountability. Even though a proxy changes the network path, it doesn't remove those duties.

Getting started with mobile proxies

Follow 5 steps before you buy mobile proxies at scale.

  1. Pick the network type. Start with 4G unless your test specifically needs 5G throughput, latency, or carrier coverage.
  2. Confirm carrier and geo coverage. Ask for active inventory in the exact countries, cities, and carriers your workflow needs.
  3. Choose the rotation model. Use rotating sessions for stateless work, sticky sessions for multi-step flows, and dedicated ports when you need exclusive capacity.
  4. Test on your target. Use a trial or small paid plan and measure complete results, blocks, CAPTCHAs, latency, and cost per success.
  5. Scale gradually. Increase traffic while monitoring whether success rate, session stability, and local pool depth hold under concurrency.

Bottom line

Decodo is the best overall option for most teams because it combines broad carrier coverage, precise targeting, flexible sessions, and a lower entry price than enterprise-heavy alternatives. DataImpulse is the clearest budget per-GB choice, while IPRoyal and Proxy-Seller cover dedicated-port workflows. Test 2 finalists against the same target before choosing.

Start Decodo's 3-day mobile proxy trial.

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About the author

Lukas Mikelionis

Senior Account Manager

Lukas is a seasoned enterprise sales professional with extensive experience in the SaaS industry. Throughout his career, he has built strong relationships with Fortune 500 technology companies, developing a deep understanding of complex enterprise needs and strategic account management.

Connect with Lukas via LinkedIn.

All information on Decodo Blog is provided on an as is basis and for informational purposes only. We make no representation and disclaim all liability with respect to your use of any information contained on Decodo Blog or any third-party websites that may belinked therein.

Frequently asked questions

Are mobile proxies legal and ethical to use?

They are legal in most jurisdictions, but legality depends on what you do with them. Follow applicable law, the target's terms, and data-protection rules. Ethical use also starts with a provider that can document informed participation and consent in its IP-sourcing chain.

How do mobile proxies handle CAPTCHAs?

Carrier IPs face fewer challenges because many legitimate subscribers share them, but mobile proxies don't solve CAPTCHAs automatically. High request rates, inconsistent cookies, browser fingerprints, and abrupt location changes can still trigger checks. Fix the full traffic pattern instead of relying on IP rotation alone.

What are the risks of free or low-quality mobile proxies?

Free pools can contain overused or misclassified IPs, weak encryption, hidden logging, malware injection, or devices enrolled without consent. They also provide little control over carrier, location, rotation, and session stability. Use a reputable provider's trial or small paid plan for business work.

Are 5G proxies better than 4G proxies?

There's no universal winner here, just a better fit for what you're doing. Using 5G proxies in 2026 gives you higher throughput and lower latency, while a 4G LTE mobile proxy provides better local coverage, with carrier trust holding steady across both. So, test the pool and carrier availability for your target instead of choosing by generation label.

What are the best mobile proxies for Instagram?

Use premium mobile proxies with a sticky session, consistent location, and a carrier available where the authorized account normally operates. Don't rotate during a login or active session. Keep in mind that the provider still can't override Instagram's rules, account limits, or security checks.

Can I use mobile proxies for AI crawling and agents?

Yes, when an agent needs a carrier route for a mobile-first target. A 4G proxy for AI crawling should rotate for independent pages and stay sticky for multi-step actions. Keep request rates controlled, honor target permissions, and measure the cost of complete outputs rather than raw requests.

Do mobile proxy lists work?

A public mobile proxy list is not a dependable product. Carrier IPs change, shared endpoints expire, and public credentials are quickly abused or blocked. Reputable services provide an authenticated gateway that selects current exit IPs from a managed pool instead of publishing a static list.

How many mobile proxies do I need?

With a rotating pool, size the plan by traffic, concurrency, locations, and successful outputs. For dedicated access, start with one port per simultaneous stable session. Reserve additional traffic for response overhead and retries, then adjust the plan using measured consumption.

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