Using Rayobyte and Webshare Together: Cheap Lists Plus Residential Power

Why combine them

Webshare and Rayobyte overlap less than you'd think. Webshare is the cheapest way to buy IPs by the list; Rayobyte is strong at residential volume, mobile and managed unblocking. Together they cover almost any workload at low cost, with failover between networks.

A routing table

A simple router

import os
from urllib.parse import urlparse
import requests

PROXIES = {
    "ws_dc": os.environ["WEBSHARE_DC_PROXY"],
    "ry_resi": os.environ["RAYOBYTE_RESI_PROXY"],
    "ry_unblock": os.environ["RAYOBYTE_UNBLOCKER_PROXY"],
}
ROUTES = {"hard-shop.example": "ry_resi", "impossible.example": "ry_unblock"}
FALLBACK = {"ws_dc": "ry_resi", "ry_resi": "ry_unblock"}

def fetch(url):
    name = ROUTES.get(urlparse(url).hostname, "ws_dc")
    while name:
        p = PROXIES[name]
        try:
            r = requests.get(url, proxies={"http": p, "https": p}, timeout=30)
            if r.ok:
                return r
        except requests.RequestException:
            pass
        name = FALLBACK.get(name)
    return None

Use Webshare's backbone gateway URL for the datacenter list, or pick IPs from the downloaded list yourself. See Rayobyte with Python.

Cost control

• Keep separate budgets per provider.
• Fail over only on real failures.
• Review cost per success per domain monthly.
• Move domains back down a tier when they start working on cheaper proxies.

Adding Geonode

Geonode adds non-expiring residential bandwidth, 24-hour sessions and Markdown APIs. See using all three together.

A real-world example

A price comparison site runs about 3 million requests a month. Its default route is a 2,000-IP Webshare datacenter list (about $50). Protected retailers, around 150 GB a month, go to Rayobyte residential at the $2 tier ($300). Three retailers that defeat both go through Rayobyte's Web Unblocker. When a Webshare batch underperforms for a week on one retailer, the router fails that retailer over to Rayobyte automatically until the batch recovers.

Monitoring the split

• Log provider, product, domain, status and bytes per request.
• Chart success per domain per provider.
• Alert when a route drops below threshold.
• Review monthly whether domains can move to a cheaper route.

Pros and cons of combining them

Benefits

• Webshare's cheap IPs handle most traffic.
• Rayobyte covers residential volume, mobile and hard targets.
• Failover between networks.

Costs

• Two dashboards and bills.
• A routing table to maintain.

Bottom line

For most scraping and account businesses, the combination costs less than either provider alone.

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.

Key takeaways

• Use Webshare for cheap lists, accounts on a budget and free development.
• Use Rayobyte for residential at volume, mobile, fine targeting and managed unblocking.
• Route by domain with failover.
• Review cost per success monthly.

FAQ

Is combining providers complicated?

No. Both use standard proxy URLs; only the strings differ.

Which should be the default route?

Usually the cheapest option that works for most targets, often Webshare datacenter.

When should a domain move to Rayobyte?

When its block rate on cheaper proxies passes your threshold.

Does using two providers raise my bill?

Usually it lowers it, because each provider handles the traffic it's cheapest for.

How do I decide which provider is the default?

Make the default whichever is cheapest for most of your traffic, usually a Webshare list.

Do I need separate code for each?

No, only separate proxy strings in configuration.