Side by side
| Rayobyte | Webshare | |
|---|---|---|
| Open sources | Rotating datacenter, about 1 cent/GB monthly | Datacenter lists with large bandwidth allowances |
| Untargeted residential | Scale Residential, $0.015 to $0.0095/GB | Residential plans, $1.40/GB at 3,000 GB |
| Residential at 1 TB | $700 | Over $1,400 |
| Governance | Compliance review, EWDCI certification | Published policies, KYC |
At the time of writing. See Rayobyte for AI training data and Webshare for AI training data.
Volume economics
For residential crawling at terabyte scale, Rayobyte's Scale Residential is in a different league on price, if you don't need targeting and pass the review. Webshare's datacenter lists with unlimited bandwidth allowances are a strong, cheap option for open sources.
Governance
Respect opt-outs, filter personal data and keep provenance on either. Rayobyte's review and certification help document methods.
Residential tip: A common split is Webshare for cheap per-IP lists and Rayobyte for residential traffic, mobile IPs or managed scraping. Our Rayobyte for AI training data covers each Rayobyte product.
A real-world example
An AI startup builds a 20-million-page corpus of public technical content. About 70% of sources work on datacenter IPs, so it uses a large Webshare list with an unlimited bandwidth allowance. The remaining sources need residential trust but not location, so after a compliance review it moves them to Rayobyte Scale Residential: a $500 plan with 40,000 GB and 500 concurrent requests covers that share comfortably. Provenance records note the URL, time and proxy route for every document.
Governance checklist
- Respect robots rules and AI-specific opt-outs.
- Filter personal data.
- Deduplicate and normalize URLs.
- Keep provenance for every document.
- Document your proxy provider's sourcing.
Pros and cons for AI data
Rayobyte
- Scale Residential at about a cent per GB.
- Compliance review for governance records.
Webshare
- Cheap lists with unlimited bandwidth for open sources.
- Residential plans up to $1.40 per GB at 3 TB.
Budget tip: To test the Webshare side of this comparison, start with Webshare's free plan: 10 datacenter proxies and 1 GB a month with no card. See Webshare for AI training data.
Bottom line
Webshare lists for open sources, Rayobyte Scale Residential for everything that needs residential trust.
Not sure this is the right proxy type for the job? The best proxies in 2026 guide compares residential, ISP, datacenter and mobile options, and our cheap proxies guide covers budget picks that still work.
Proxy tip: If your residential usage goes up and down, compare Geonode: its per-GB residential bandwidth doesn't expire, so you only pay for what you use. See Geonode for AI training data.
Key takeaways
- Webshare lists are a cheap base for open sources.
- Rayobyte's Scale Residential is far cheaper for untargeted residential at scale.
- Rayobyte's Premium Residential is cheaper than Webshare's at terabyte volumes.
- Keep governance records whichever you use.
FAQ
Which is cheaper for huge residential crawls?
Rayobyte Scale Residential.
Can I use datacenter proxies for AI data?
For many open sources, yes.
Do I need a compliance review?
For Rayobyte Scale Residential, yes.
How do I estimate crawl time?
Divide pages by throughput: concurrency divided by average response time gives requests per second.
Should I store raw HTML?
Yes, compressed, so you can reprocess without refetching.
Can I collect AI data without residential proxies?
Often, for open sources; use residential only where sites block datacenter IPs.
What about sites that opt out of AI crawling?
Respect their directives; it's both ethical and increasingly expected.
Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.