Have your account been banned because you used datacenter proxies for Instagram automation? Then you need to protect your new accounts else, you will lose them again and one of the ways to protect them is by using residential proxies.
Accepted, they are expensive. In fact, most small scale Instagram marketers I know shy away from residential proxies and make use of datacenter proxies. However, they end up complaining after a while.
Let face it, you need either mobile proxies or residential proxies for Instagram. Datacenter proxies work but the risk of getting banned is higher. If you have the money, I advise you go for residential proxies. I will be discussing the 5 best residential proxies for Instagram in this article. Before that, let take a brief look at what residential proxies are and why you need them.
What Are Residential Proxies?
Residential proxies are proxy servers that route their clients' web requests to a website through residential IP addresses of real residential Internet-enabled devices. Residential proxies have a network of residential devices which they use their Internet connection and IP addresses to access the Internet.
Because requests reach a website through them, websites can only detect their IP addresses and unable to detect the IP address of the computer that initiates the request in the first place. Now, residential proxies that work perfectly with Instagram are known as residential proxies for Instagram.
Read more: How Residentia Proxies Work?
Why Residential Proxies for Instagram?
I stated earlier that residential proxies are the best but why did I say so? In case you are not aware, web servers classify IP addresses into 2 broad categories – legitimate and illegitimate.
Residential proxies are considered legitimate and good IP addresses because they are assigned by internet service providers and they are linked to residence. Because of the legitimacy attached to them, they are most important for use on Instagram because Instagram has a very strict and smart anti-spam system in place to check and block requests coming from illegitimate sources.
Read more: The Basics of using Residential Proxy Network for Internet Marketing
5 Best Residential Proxy Network Provider
Now that we know what residential proxies are why we should use them for Instagram automation, let now move to discuss the best residential proxies for Instagram.
Smartproxy
Smartproxy is one of the leading proxy service providers in the market. Interestingly, their residential proxies are some of the best residential proxies for Instagram. Their dashboard is clean with a premium touch and a minimalistic look and feel.
It is a known fact that residential proxies are slow but I tell you what, you will be marveled at the speed you will enjoy using Smartproxy. Good enough, it is also secure and reliable when used for Instagram automation.
Smartproxy has a large network of residential proxies that make them the proxy provider of choice among many premium proxy subscribers. They have a network of over 10 million residential IP addresses distributed across about 190 countries. However, they flop in terms of providing city proxies. One will expect that for a premium service provider like Smartproxy, getting city proxies shouldn’t be a big deal for them. Well, they have proven that it is a big deal as they only have 8 city proxies.
One of the areas Smartproxy beat its competitors is in the area of pricing. Their residential proxies are cheaper than that of their competitors. Take, for instance, their starter package which consists of 5 GB at a price of $75 monthly ($15/GB). While their pricing is OK, they do not offer free trial for intending customers and this will get new customers to be cautious of paying for a service they are not sure of. However, you do not have to worry as they provide a 3 days refund policy to help you get your money back if their proxies didn’t work for you.
Smartproxy gives you the capability of authentication through the use of either username and password authentication or through the much more secure IP authentication method also known as whitelisting IP address.
Pros of Smartproxy:
- Cheaper than its competitors
- Large IP pool
- Has IP addresses in almost all countries in the world
- Premium service provision
- Secure and reliable
- Intuitive and clean dashboard
- 3-days money-back guarantee
Cons of Smartproxy:
- Has only 8 city-specific proxies
- No free trial
GeoSurf
A visit to the GeoSurf website will reveal to you that they are focused on providing residential proxy service for web scrapers. No doubt, that’s their specialty – and this is not without a reason. GeoSurf is a business was developed by web scraping experts who understand the need of the industry.
Interestingly, their residential proxies work perfectly with Instagram automation tools like Jarvee, Follow Liker, and Follow Adder among others. Their services are premium and you will surely get want you to want however, you have to mind their pricing.
Yes, GeoSurf residential proxies are expensive and are considered one of the most expensive in the industry. The least you can spend on their proxies is $450. From this, you can tell that their market is the high profile business. What do you get spending $450 on their residential proxies? Well, you get 38 GB bandwidth to use. This company offers a free trial but does not provide any form of refund.
GeoSurf has about 2 million residential IP addresses in their pool. Even though their IP addresses aren’t as much as the ones owned by Smartproxy, I find them handy because they have proxies in many cities of the world. In addition to providing proxy services, they also provide a mobile VPN service for Android users.
Pros of GeoSurf:
- Premium service provision
- Has city proxies
- Free trial
Cons of GeoSurf:
- Expensive residential proxies
- No refund policy
Luminati
Third on our list is Luminati, the market leader in the proxy business. Simply put, Luminati is the best proxy service provider in the market. Interestingly, their residential proxies are some of the best residential proxies in the market and they work perfectly with Instagram.
Luminati is a premium proxy service provider that carter for Fortune 500 companies. This is because their services are secure, reliable, and 100 percent legitimate. Luminati has legal right over the IP addresses they route their clients' web requests through.
A visit to their website will reveal to you that they have the largest proxy network in the world. With a whopping 35 million IP addresses in over 190 countries and region. They also have proxies in major cities in the world. With them, you do not have to fear as you have a large pool of IP addresses to switch to.
In terms of pricing, Luminati is not a friendly option. Their residential proxies are expensive. Their pricing model is based on bandwidth. The smallest plan you can subscribe to is their $500 which offers you 40GB. If you are unsure if their proxies will work for you, opt for their 7-days free trial first before making financial commitments because they do not offer a refund policy.
Luminati has an excellent FAQs page that answers common questions. If you cannot find an answer to your question, the only option you have is to contact them via email transfer. However, it is important you know that they are slow when it comes to responding via email.
Pros of Luminati:
- Provide premium service
- Has the largest number of IP addresses
- Their IPs are distributed in all countries and regions of the world
- Completely ethical
- Secure and reliable
- 7-days free trial
Cons of Luminati:
- Their subscriptions are expensive
Microleaves
Microleaves thinks that having about 26 million proxies qualify them to name themselves as the proxy providers with the largest proxy network. I beg to differ though since I know Luminati has over 35 million IP addresses and about 7.5 million mobile IPs.
Aside from this marketing lie, Microleaves is sure one of the best residential proxy providers. And when it comes to using them for social media automation, they work perfectly with Instagram. They claim to have proxies in all major cities of the world. However, it seems they are based on providing US-based proxies.
Microleaves has trust in their service and claimed that their services will work in your case. Because of this, they are offering you a refund policy to help you get your money back if their proxies do not work for you as it should.
The refund policy offers you a 3-day money-back guarantee. Unlike the other proxy providers above that their pricing is based on bandwidth, Microleaves backconnect proxies are based on ports and regardless of the plan you subscribe to, you are offered an unlimited bandwidth. Their residential proxies start at $124.99 and consist of 10 ports.
Pros of Microleaves:
- Has a large IP pool
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 3-days money-back guarantee
Cons of Microleaves:
- Email support is slow
- Internet connection speed is quite slow
YourPrivateProxy
Last on our list of best residential proxies for Instagram is YourPrivateProxy. Accepted, their website might not be as polished as others on the list. They are not also as popular as others on the list.
However, they are one of the best residential proxy providers for Instagram automation. They provide a variety of proxy types including HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5. They have a limited distribution of proxies in terms of location. They only have proxies in 28 countries. However, this is not a problem as long as your country of choice is among the tier one countries.
In terms of pricing, YourPrivateProxy charges per IP address rather than bandwidth. You can pay for as little as one proxy for a price of $9.97, making it one of the cheapest residential proxy providers out there.
Before subscribing to their service, I will advise you to opt-in for their one proxy for 24 hours free trial first so as to ascertain if they are the best for you. Because their proxies aren’t priced based on bandwidth, you get unlimited bandwidth for subscribing to any of their plans.
However, you are limited to using only 5 devices maximum for a plan. YourPrivateProxy provides both the username and password authentication as IP authentication.
Pros of YourPrivateProxy:
- Affordable
- Free trial option available
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Multiple locations available
Cons of YourPrivateProxy
- You are limited to using only 5 devices maximum
Conclusion
While residential proxies are some of the best types of proxies for Instagram, their prices drive away Instagram marketers. Before you pay for them, you need to draw out a plan and see if what you stand to gain is
more than the cost of paying for them else, the only options you have for economical reasons are datacenter proxies.
However, using them means you have to be extremely careful to avoid Instagram banning your accounts. But if you have the budget and it is worth it, you can choose from any of the best residential proxies for Instagram above.
