Cost Guide
Residential Proxy Real Cost: What You Actually Pay
Per-GB sticker price is the least important number. Failure rate, retry overhead, and minimum commitments often double your real spend. Here is how to calculate total cost before signing up.
The 5 Cost Factors Beyond GB Price
Failure rate overhead
If 10% of requests fail and you retry them, you consume 10% more bandwidth than you planned. On 100 GB/month, that is 10 GB of unplanned spend.
Monthly minimum commitment
A provider charging $1.50/GB sounds cheap â until you see the $200/month minimum. For teams using 30 GB/month, the effective rate is $6.67/GB.
Overage rates
Some providers charge 2â3Ă the base rate for bandwidth over your plan limit. Know the overage rate before you hit it.
Session overhead
Sticky sessions consume bandwidth even when your agent is idle between steps. For long agent flows, idle session time adds up.
Concurrent connection fees
Some providers charge separately for high-concurrency access. If you need 100+ parallel workers, ask about concurrency pricing before committing.
Real Cost Formula
With a $200/month minimum provider at $1.50/GB: 55 GB Ă $1.50 = $82.50, but you pay $200. Effective rate = $3.64/GB.
Pricing Model Comparison
| Model | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go GB | Teams under 30 GB/month | Higher per-GB rate |
| Monthly GB bundle | Predictable 30â200 GB/month | Rollover terms, overage rate |
| Committed annual plan | High-volume (200 GB+/month) | Lock-in, exit costs |
| "Contact sales" pricing | Enterprise 1 TB+/month | No transparent pricing |
Quick Cost Estimator
| Monthly volume | Rate | Retry overhead | Real cost estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 GB/month | $2.50/GB | ~10% retry | ~$27.50 |
| 30 GB/month | $2.50/GB | ~10% retry | ~$82.50 |
| 50 GB/month | $2.50/GB | ~10% retry | ~$137.50 |
| 100 GB/month | $2.00/GB | ~10% retry | ~$220.00 |
| 200 GB/month | $1.80/GB | ~10% retry | ~$396.00 |
Cost FAQs
Does BytesFlows charge a monthly minimum?
No. BytesFlows uses pay-as-you-go pricing â you only pay for the bandwidth you consume. There is no monthly minimum commitment.
How do I reduce retry overhead?
Choose providers with high success rates on your target sites. Test success rate during the trial. A provider with 95% success rate costs less in retries than one with 85%.
Are there overage fees?
BytesFlows does not apply punitive overage rates. You pay the same GB rate whether you use 10 GB or 100 GB in a month.
Is city-level targeting more expensive?
At BytesFlows, city-level targeting is included in standard pricing. Some providers charge a premium for sub-country geo precision.
See Exact Pricing
No minimums. No overage penalties. Pay only for what you use.