Apify Proxy Guide: Residential, Datacenter & Rotating Proxies Explained

Quick answer: which Apify proxy should I use?

Use residential proxies for scraping social media, e-commerce, and sites with aggressive anti-bot protection. Use datacenter proxies for scraping simple websites, APIs, and sites without anti-bot measures. Apify automatically selects the best proxy type for most actors, but manual configuration gives you more control and lower costs.

Apify includes proxy usage in all plans. Free tier includes limited residential proxies. Paid plans ($49+/month) include generous residential proxy pools.

Proxy types in Apify: explained

Apify offers three proxy types. Here is what each does:

• Residential proxies: IP addresses from real ISP-assigned home connections. They look like real users. Hard to detect and block. Best for social media, e-commerce, Google, and sites with Cloudflare/Datadome. More expensive per GB
• Datacenter proxies: IP addresses from data centers (AWS, Google Cloud, etc.). Fast and cheap but easily detected by anti-bot systems. Best for simple websites, APIs, and sites without anti-bot protection
• Rotating proxies: Automatically change IP address per request or per session. Prevents a single IP from making too many requests. Apify rotates both residential and datacenter proxies automatically
• Static/sticky proxies: Keep the same IP for a session (e.g., 30 minutes). Useful for login flows or multi-page scraping where you need session continuity

When to use residential vs datacenter proxies

Choose proxy type based on the target website's anti-bot protection:

• Social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn): Residential — these platforms aggressively block datacenter IPs
• Google (Search, Maps, Shopping): Residential — Google blocks datacenter IPs quickly
• E-commerce (Amazon, eBay, Shopify stores): Residential — anti-bot protection is standard
• News sites and blogs: Datacenter — most have no anti-bot protection
• Public APIs: Datacenter — APIs do not check IP reputation
• Government/opendata sites: Datacenter — usually no anti-bot protection
• Real estate sites (Zillow, Realtor.com): Residential — aggressive anti-bot
• Job sites (LinkedIn, Indeed): Residential — aggressive anti-bot
• Review sites (Yelp, TripAdvisor): Residential — moderate anti-bot
• Simple company websites: Datacenter — usually no anti-bot protection

Configuring proxies in Apify actors

Most Apify actors have a proxy configuration option. Here is how to set it:

1. Open the actor configuration page in Apify — Open the actor configuration page in Apify
2. Find the "Proxy configuration" section (usually under Advanced options) — Find the "Proxy configuration" section (usually under Advanced options)
3. Choose "Apify Proxy" (recommended) or "Custom proxies" (your own proxy list) — Choose "Apify Proxy" (recommended) or "Custom proxies" (your own proxy list)
4. Select proxy type "Residential" or "Datacenter" (if the actor supports selection)
5. Set proxy rotation "Per request" (new IP per request) or "Per session" (same IP for a session)
6. For login-required sites Use "Per session" with a session ID to maintain login state across requests
7. For bulk scraping Use "Per request" to distribute requests across many IPs
8. Click "Start" — the actor uses the configured proxy automatically — Click "Start" — the actor uses the configured proxy automatically

Avoiding proxy blocks: best practices

Even with residential proxies, you can get blocked if you scrape aggressively. Follow these practices:

• Respect rate limits: Do not send more than 1-2 requests per second per session. Apify actors usually handle this automatically
• Add delays: Set minConcurrency low (1-3) and maxConcurrency moderate (5-10). Higher concurrency = more simultaneous requests = more likely to get blocked
• Rotate sessions: Use different session IDs for each batch of requests. This distributes traffic across multiple IP addresses
• Respect robots.txt: Check the target site's robots.txt before scraping. Some sections may be disallowed
• Use realistic user agents: Apify actors set realistic user agents automatically. Do not override with custom ones unless necessary
• Avoid scraping during peak hours: Scrape during off-peak hours (nighttime in the target site's timezone) to reduce detection risk
• Handle captchas: Some sites serve captchas when they detect scraping. Apify actors with anti-captcha integration can solve them automatically
• Monitor success rates: If your actor's success rate drops below 80%, you may be getting blocked. Reduce concurrency or switch to residential proxies

Apify proxy costs by plan

Proxy usage is included in Apify plans, but residential proxies consume more compute:

• Free tier: $5/month compute. Residential proxies available but limited. Enough for small scraping tasks (~1,000-2,000 requests)
• Starter ($49/month): $49 compute. Residential proxies included. Enough for ~10,000-20,000 residential proxy requests/month
• Scale ($499/month): $499 compute. Generous residential proxy pool. Enough for ~100,000+ residential proxy requests/month
• Residential proxy cost: ~$4-8 per GB of traffic (included in compute costs)
• Datacenter proxy cost: ~$0.5-1 per GB of traffic (much cheaper)
• Cost optimization: Use datacenter for simple sites, residential only for protected sites. This can reduce costs by 80%+

Custom proxies vs Apify proxies

You can use your own proxies in Apify actors instead of Apify's built-in proxy pool. When to consider custom proxies:

• Use Apify proxies when: You want simplicity, no proxy management, automatic rotation, and built-in residential pool. Best for 90% of users
• Use custom proxies when: You have an existing proxy subscription (Bright Data, Smartproxy, Oxylabs) with better rates, or you need proxies in specific countries not covered by Apify
• To use custom proxies: In the actor config, select "Custom proxies" and enter your proxy list (format: protocol://username:password@host:port)
• Hybrid approach: Use Apify residential for protected sites and custom datacenter for simple sites. This optimizes cost
• Quality check: Test custom proxies before large runs. Free proxy lists are unreliable and often already blocked