# Proxy and web data providers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "proxy network" and as "residential proxy provider for web scraping", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/proxy-networks

**Standing:** Decodo leads with 57% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 53 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Decodo](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/decodo/index.md) | 57% | 0% | 51 |
| 2 | [Webshare](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/webshare/index.md) | 13% | 10% | 29 |
| 3 | [Smartproxy](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/smartproxy/index.md) | 8% | 0% | 20 |
| 4 | [DataImpulse](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/dataimpulse/index.md) | 6% | 10% | 20 |
| 5 | [Oxylabs](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/oxylabs/index.md) | 2% | 24% | 58 |
| 6 | [Bright Data](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/bright-data/index.md) | 2% | 27% | 55 |
| 7 | [IPRoyal](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/iproyal/index.md) | 2% | 11% | 37 |
| 9 | [Proxy-Cheap](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/proxy-cheap/index.md) | 2% | 33% | 12 |
| 14 | [SOAX](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/soax/index.md) | 0% | 3% | 30 |
| 15 | [Zyte API](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/zyte-api/index.md) | 0% | 12% | 16 |
| 16 | [Apify](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apify/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 10 |
| 20 | [Rayobyte](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/rayobyte/index.md) | 0% | 29% | 14 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 139 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Decodo; alternatives NetNut, Oxylabs
- GPT-5.4 mini: Bright Data, Oxylabs; alternatives NetNut, Smartproxy, Zyte API
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Smartproxy; alternatives Bright Data, IPRoyal, NetNut, Oxylabs
- Perplexity Sonar: Decodo; alternatives Oxylabs, SOAX
- Grok 4.20: Decodo; alternatives DataImpulse, IPRoyal, Proxidize, SOAX
- Mistral Small: Decodo; alternatives DataImpulse, Proxidize, Proxyrack, Rayobyte
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Decodo; alternatives IPRoyal, Infatica, Oxylabs, Proxidize
- Llama 4 Maverick: Decodo; alternatives Oxylabs, Smartproxy, Webshare
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Smartproxy; alternatives Bright Data, Oxylabs, Webshare
- Kimi K2: Decodo, Smartproxy; alternatives DataImpulse, SOAX
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: DataImpulse, Decodo; alternatives IPRoyal, SOAX
- MiniMax M2.5: Decodo; alternatives Oxylabs, Proxidize, Smartproxy, Webshare
- GPT-6 Luna: Decodo; alternatives Bright Data, Oxylabs
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Decodo; alternatives Bright Data, Oxylabs, Proxidize, Smartproxy

## Sources the answers cite

73 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- proxyway.com: 29 answers, 48 citations
- brightdata.com: 27 answers, 31 citations
- aimultiple.com: 23 answers, 27 citations
- github.com: 19 answers, 27 citations
- proxidize.com: 19 answers, 21 citations
- proxy-cheap.com: 17 answers, 31 citations
- decodo.com: 17 answers, 29 citations
- docs.google.com: 16 answers, 24 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://proxyway.com/research/proxy-market-research-2026 (16 answers)
- https://brightdata.com/blog/proxy-101/best-proxy-providers (11 answers)
- https://oxylabs.io/blog/best-proxy-providers (10 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/it-data/proxy-networks (9 answers)
- https://pcmag.com/picks/the-best-proxies (9 answers)
- https://proxidize.com/blog/best-proxies-for-b2b-data-collection (9 answers)
- https://aimultiple.com/proxy-providers (8 answers)
- https://proxyway.com/research/proxy-market-research-2024 (8 answers)
- https://brightdata.com/blog/proxy-101/best-enterprise-proxy-providers (6 answers)
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_LNmu_MKZMCxIiUJIDrLaVRkuIytT6YOm5D0-FsgSo/mobilebasic (6 answers)

## Warned against

- Bright Data: 15 of 55 labels negative. "Avoid for mid-market: Pure enterprise (Bright Data, NetNut) if budget is a concern" (Grok 4.20, direct prompt)
- Oxylabs: 14 of 58 labels negative. "Avoid premium providers like Oxylabs and Bright Data unless you have a larger budget" (Kimi K2, budget prompt)
- NetNut: 7 of 19 labels negative. "Enterprises are generally advised to "avoid or apply enhanced due diligence to providers that: ... have been publicly linked to botnet abuse, malware SDKs, or non-consensual device enrollment such as NetNut/Popa."" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- 911 S5: 4 of 4 labels negative. "the U.S. Justice Department says 911 S5 routed traffic through malware-compromised devices; authorities dismantled the service" (GPT-6 Luna, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Decodo at 57%.

- Decodo: 41% to 57%, +16. Cleared the floor by 5 points · rank 1 of 139, unchanged.
- Oxylabs: 11% to 2%, −9. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 4 → 5 of 139.
- Smartproxy: 15% to 8%, −7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 2 → 3 of 139.
- Bright Data: 7% to 2%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 5 → 6 of 139.
- DataImpulse: 2% to 6%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 8 → 4 of 139.
- SOAX: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 14 of 139.
- Rayobyte: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 10 → 20 of 139.
- Webshare: 13% to 13%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 3 → 2 of 139.
- IPRoyal: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 7 of 139, unchanged.
- Proxy-Cheap: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 11 → 9 of 139.
- Zyte API: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 13 → 15 of 139.
- Apify: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 14 → 16 of 139.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.