IPRoyal is a relatively new player in the market, offering a diverse range of cost-effective products catering to sneakerheads and web scrapers. However, competitive pricing and attractive offers like $4 for 1 GB of residential proxies without monthly commitments pose a significant challenge to IPRoyal competitors, compelling them to review their existing models. Considering these factors, IPRoyal may be a viable choice for your needs.
However, it’s important to note that lower prices often come with trade-offs. We must evaluate if IPRoyal’s products deliver the desired performance compared to competitors like PacketStream or premium providers like Bright Data. Let’s delve deeper into their offerings.
IPRoyal — Quick look
| Country | Lithuania |
| Incorporation date | 2020 |
| Proxy infrastructures | Datacenter, ISP, Cellular, Residential |
| Scrapers | Google scraping API |
| Price variety | Affordable |
| Beginning price | $4 |
| Business model | Pay as you go, daily/monthly subscription |
| Payment forms | Credit or Debit card, PayPal, crypto, EPS, giropay, iDEAL |
| Trial | None |
IPRoyal – Background review
IPRoyal is among the newer proxy providers in the industry, as it started only in late 2020. Yet, within a short time, it created a stir in the world of virtual IP providers.
Initially focused on leasing IP space to other businesses, the company swiftly shifted its focus to offer the service straight to the end users. They offer four distinct proxy infrastructures and a beta Google scrapper API.
To source residential proxies, IPRoyal utilizes IPRoyal Pawns as a flagship proxyware app. While initially reselling proxy infrastructure and simultaneously building its pool, they faced an unexpected contract termination with their source. However, IPRoyal endured the hurdles and now manages a monthly infrastructure comprising approximately 250,000 residential addresses.
Currently, IPRoyal seems a cost-effective solution akin to premium providers like Storm Proxies and PacketStream. It mainly focuses on small-scale customers with budgets between $10 to $100. Nonetheless, they are also open to catering to large-scale projects or resale needs, offering terabytes of residential data.
Interestingly, IPRoyal emphasizes serving sneakerheads, as evident from their Twitter and Discord accounts containing much shoe-related content. Consequently, their services are tailored to assist in sneaker scalping, featuring day-long plans, perennial traffic, and specialized residential proxy endpoints for clients like Nike.
However, it doesn’t mean IPRoyal can’t or won’t serve other niches. Instead, they strive to accommodate and provide sufficient flexibility for various use cases. IPRoyal’s CEO Karolis Toleikis aspires to become one of the top three providers shortly. But perhaps, achieving this feat still needs much effort from the provider.
IPRoyal proxy networks
| Datacenter | Residential | ISP (static residential) | Mobile |
| ✅ (dedicated, sneaker plans) | ✅ | ✅ (dedicated) | ✅ |
IPRoyal offers a comprehensive range of proxy networks to cater to diverse needs. They provide options to purchase dedicated data center addresses, including a plan designed explicitly for sneaker releases. Furthermore, they provide residential proxies, ISP proxies, and 4G network-connected IPs.
The residential and ISP proxy networks feature automatic rotation, ensuring dynamic IP addresses. On the other hand, the data center and ISP proxies are available as static IPs.
| Datacenter | ISP | Residential | Mobile | |
| Total number of IPs | Over 2 million | |||
| Type | Dedicated | Shared | ||
| Countries | 6 | 18 | 150+ | Lithuania |
| Targeting | City (US) | – | Country, state, city | – |
| Rotation | – | Every request, 1 s – 24 hrs | 1, 5, 10 mins, API request | |
| Concurrency | Unlimited | One IP at a time | ||
| Protocols | HTTP(S), SOCKS5 | |||
| Sub-users | – | Available | – | |
| Other features | 99.9% uptime | High-end pool | ||
Datacenter proxies
IPRoyal offers a range of dedicated datacenter proxies for exclusive use. These proxies guarantee unlimited bandwidth and connection requests, similar to other services. The IPs are in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Chicago, LA, and Reston.
However, during our evaluation, we found that half of the advertised locations were unavailable, raising concerns about IPRoyal’s stock availability.
Besides, the provider offers general and dedicated sneaker proxy plans boasting similar specifications. However, the special sneaker plans aim to prevent bans during release times. However, we advise against using datacenter IPs for sneaker purchases, as the industry has left them behind already.
ISP proxies
IPRoyal’s ISP proxy service initially started with US and Austrian IPs but has since expanded. It now offers 18 locations on most continents. However, we found that buying services from 50% of the claimed territories was impossible, suggesting discrepancies between the actual availability and marketing copy.
Like datacenter proxies, ISP proxies come in lists with minimal limitations. But they are different because they belong to ISPs, making detecting more challenging.
Residential service
Residential alternatives are a prominent feature of IPRoyal’s offerings. While the provider does not heavily advertise the number of IP addresses, their network consists of over 250,000 monthly peer-to-peer proxies.
These residential proxies span more than 150 locations, allowing users to select countries, cities, and even specific regions like Africa. Additionally, there are dedicated endpoints for shoe stores, demonstrating IPRoyal’s focus on sneakerheads.
The rotation options for residential proxies are flexible, ranging from one second to 24 hours. However, it is essential to note that retaining the same IP for the entire selected duration is not guaranteed.
IPRoyal offers an option to access their high-end pool, which contains the fastest and most stable IPs, although it reduces the overall pool size.
Mobile proxies
IPRoyal’s mobile proxy network operates through dedicated devices equipped with SIM cards. This setup allows users to access one IP at a time, with no traffic limitations and the ability to rotate to a new address as desired. This model is popular among multiple account managers.
It is worth mentioning that IPRoyal exclusively offers mobile proxies in Lithuania, which limits their utility for accessing location-sensitive data. However, on the positive side, they provide flexible rotation options, including fetching a new address through an API call.
IPRoyal pricing plans
| Datacenter (general) | Datacenter (sneakers) | ISP | Residential | Mobile | |
| Subscription model | Monthly | Daily/Monthly | Pay-as-you-go | Daily/Monthly | |
| Format | IPs | Traffic | Ports | ||
| Trial | None | ||||
| Starting price | $7.50 for 5 IPs ($1.5/IP) | $9 for 5 IPs ($1.8/IP) | $12.50 for 5 IPs ($2.50/IP) | $4 for 1 GB | $80 for 1 port |
IPRoyal offers various pricing options depending on the chosen service.
The datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxy plans operate on a subscription-based model for monthly purchases. However, there are instances where you can acquire IPs for a single day, catering to sneakerheads who require proxies for specific releases.
In contrast, the residential proxies follow a pay-as-you-go approach. There are no monthly plans; instead, you buy the desired amount of traffic and utilize it for as long as needed.
This pricing structure is similar to PacketStream but with a notable difference. IPRoyal offers an increasing discount based on the volume of traffic purchased, scaling up to 80%. As a result, IPRoyal stands out as one of the most cost-effective residential proxy providers.
Although IPRoyal can sell terabytes of residential traffic, its other products, such as the data center and ISP plans, are less ambitious in scale.
The datacenter and ISP plans offer up to 50 IPs, with a minor 10% rate decrease for larger quantities. Considering the potential stock availability issues, these plans may not be suitable for enterprise use. However, they can be an attractive choice for small-scale users.
Comparatively, other providers like Rayobyte charge 25% more for five data center IPs and twice as much for an equivalent number of ISP proxies.
The mobile proxies operate on a distinct model, charging a fixed amount for access to ports. Each port corresponds to a single IP address at a time, allowing for rotation to new addresses while offering unlimited traffic. The main limitation is the restriction to one IP per port.
IPRoyal performance review
We tested 100 dedicated proxies in the US, sending 1,500 connection requests to seven high-profile websites. Here’s what we observed.
- Average success rate: 93.78%
- Average response time: 1.36 seconds
- Download speed: 121.46 Mbps
The data center proxies delivered excellent performance, achieving the target in 90% of cases, with the lowest response times compared to its rivals.
Below we share our test observations regarding IPRoyal performance with individual websites.
| Success rate | Errors | Blocks | Response time | |
| AliExpress | 100% | 0% | 0% | 1 s |
| Amazon | 77% | 2% | 23% | 2.9 s |
| Booking | 100% | 0% | 0% | 2.4 s |
| Craigslist | 99% | 0.1% | 0.6% | 1.1 s |
| Homedepot | 99% | 12% | 1.% | 0.9 s |
| Indeed | 80% | 20% | 0% | 1.2 s |
| Walmart | 99% | 0.1% | 0% | 1.3 s |
IPRoyal user experience
Registration
To begin using IPRoyal, complete a registration form, providing your name, surname, and phone number as personal details. You may need to confirm your registration through your phone.
Once registered, access the dashboard where you can purchase and manage your access to IPRoyal’s proxy networks.
KYC
Earlier, IPRoyal did not mandate the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process. However, starting April 2023, it applied a necessary KYC verification for new users of datacenter and sneaker proxies. While it won’t immediately affect the existing subscribers, they must verify their identities when creating new orders after April 1, 2023.
Nonetheless, the service assures to have designed a swift identity verification process that users can complete via their smartphones within minutes.
Dashboard
IPRoyal’s dashboard shows distinct sections for each product. These sections allow you to purchase proxies, authenticate them, and monitor their usage whenever possible. Interestingly, they even provide separate order histories, creating the impression of using six different dashboards instead of just one.
You only need to navigate away from your current tab to modify your account settings or make a deposit, if desired.
By depositing a minimum of $200, IPRoyal grants access to its reseller tools, including a dedicated dashboard for managing sub-users and an API for programmatically performing the same tasks. In addition, the API documentation is comprehensive and supports a wide range of programming languages.
IPRoyal dashboard’s primary interface.
Managing subscriptions
IPRoyal offers two methods for purchasing proxies. The first involves depositing funds onto the platform, while the second allows you to create direct orders.
The critical distinction is that the former option supports Bitcoin as a payment method. You can also use Bitcoin to extend monthly subscriptions without additional money transfers. However, it is currently impossible to replenish your residential traffic allowance directly. In such cases, IPRoyal will send you an email notification once your traffic limit is nearly exhausted.
Proxy configuration
The setup process varies depending on the type of proxy you acquire through IPRoyal.
For instance, you can access a widget offering multiple configuration options with Royal residential proxy plan. You can select the desired country and rotation type and set the duration of sticky sessions using a text field, allowing customization according to your requirements.
Additional options include choosing between various proxy formats and specifying whether to use IP or DNS hostname. Once the setup is complete, you can export up to 1,000 lines of well-formatted proxy addresses.
Usage monitoring
The dashboard lets you view your remaining traffic as a numerical value without visual representations. Interestingly, while the Affiliate dashboard provides graphical statistics for earnings and clicks, this feature is absent here. You have the option to receive traffic reminders via email.
Supporting tools
IPRoyal provides browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, which enable you to use proxy servers without modifying your browser or operating system settings.
Additionally, a proxy tester is available that allows you to check and filter lists of proxy IPs.
Documentation and instructions
Although IPRoyal has made improvements, there are still some issues with the information provided. The APIs are reasonably well-documented, and the product pages address the main concerns effectively.
However, there need to be more detailed configuration instructions, troubleshooting guides, and other helpful information that providers like Smartproxy and Bright Data excel at providing.
Customer support
IPRoyal offers 24/7 support via live chat, email, and Discord. We tested their live chat support and were impressed by their prompt response, with an agent addressing our questions competently within a minute.
Despite the prompt response, we missed the liberty to start an anonymous chat, which popular VPN providers like ExpressVPN offer. With IPRoyal, one must provide a name and email address to start the chat.
Conclusion
Similar to many other emerging proxy providers, IPRoyal is a product that requires some trade-offs. It may lack certain features and have some rough edges in the user experience, along with a smaller proxy pool. However, in exchange, you benefit from lower costs and hope the available features meet your requirements.
The question remains: Does it deliver?
Once again, the answer depends on your specific needs.
The residential Royal pool should suffice for smaller-scale usage, offering varying performance and IP numbers across different locations. It may not yet compete with premium providers, but considering that the service is still in its early stages, there is potential for growth. Not to mention, the advantages are quite compelling: $3/GB pricing, non-expiring traffic, and highly flexible IP rotation settings.
Indeed, IPRoyal’s growth is promising, and at present, it’s worth a try for tasks of limited scale, considering the favorable pricing. Just keep in mind the inherent limitations associated with the service.