Rayobyte vs Webshare for Selenium: Credentials, IP Authorization and Sessions

The shared fix

Chrome can't take proxy credentials on the command line, so Selenium users on either provider use IP-based access (Rayobyte whitelisting or Webshare IP authorization), Selenium Wire, or an auth extension. See Rayobyte with Selenium, Webshare with Selenium and Selenium proxies.

opts = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
opts.add_argument(f"--proxy-server=http://{HOST}:{PORT}")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=opts)

Webshare's advantage for Selenium

With IP authorization and a direct static list, each driver can use one Webshare IP with no credentials at all, and lists are cheap. That's a very simple Selenium setup.

Rayobyte's advantage

Rayobyte's rotating gateways and residential tiers suit Selenium jobs that need many locations or protected targets at volume. With whitelisting on rotating products, check Rayobyte's docs for setting targeting and sessions.

Sessions

Treat each driver as one session. To change IP, quit and relaunch with a new IP or session.

Which to choose

With Geonode: Selenium across all three.

A real-world example

A retailer's QA team runs Selenium regression tests from five countries before each release. It buys a small Webshare list with IPs in each country, adds the CI servers to IP authorization, and points each test suite at the matching IP with no credentials needed. For one market where content varies by city, it adds a Rayobyte residential session with city targeting through Selenium Wire.

Selenium setup checklist

1. Allowlist your CI server IPs on the provider.
2. Pass --proxy-server in Chrome options.
3. Quit drivers reliably in a finally block.
4. Use explicit waits.
5. Run headless on servers with --headless=new.

Pros and cons for Selenium

Rayobyte

• Unmetered static IPs for test fleets.
• Residential in 190+ countries for location tests.

Webshare

• Cheap lists with IP authorization, no credentials needed.
• Automated IP authorization through the API.

Bottom line

Webshare makes the simplest, cheapest Selenium fleet; add Rayobyte residential for location-heavy or protected tests.

For the bigger picture beyond our three partners, read our best proxies buyer's guide, and see cheap proxies for ways to cut cost per successful request. For browser automation in depth, see our Puppeteer proxies guide.

Key takeaways

• IP-based access is the cleanest Selenium setup on both.
• Webshare's cheap static lists make simple Selenium fleets easy.
• Rayobyte suits location-heavy and protected workloads.
• Treat each driver as one session.

FAQ

Does Webshare IP authorization work with Selenium?

Yes; connect without credentials from authorized IPs.

Can I use Selenium Wire with both?

Yes.

Which is cheaper for Selenium?

Webshare for fixed IPs; Rayobyte for heavy residential traffic.

Can Selenium Grid use proxies?

Yes; set the proxy in each node's browser options.

Why does Chrome ignore my proxy?

Check argument formatting and that no system proxy or extension overrides it.

Can Selenium use rotating residential proxies?

Yes; each new driver gets a new IP from the gateway, or use a session per driver.