Proxy Selection Guide

Meshbrow supports multiple proxy types. Choosing the right one impacts detection rates, speed, and cost.

Proxy Types at a Glance

Type	Speed	Detection Risk	Cost	Best For
Residential	Medium	Very Low	$$$	E-commerce, social media, general scraping
ISP	Fast	Low	$$$$	Long sessions, account management
Mobile	Slow	Very Low	$$$$$	Mobile-only sites, highest trust score
Datacenter	Very Fast	Medium	$	High-volume, low-detection targets

Residential Proxies

Real IPs assigned by ISPs to homeowners. Rotated from a pool of millions.

const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'residential',
    country: 'US',
    city: 'New York',
  },
});

Pros:

Appear as real users
Large IP pools (low ban risk)
Good geo-targeting

Cons:

Slower than datacenter
More expensive
IPs rotate (not sticky by default)

Best for: General web scraping, e-commerce monitoring, ad verification, SEO tools.

ISP Proxies (Static Residential)

Datacenter-hosted IPs registered under real ISPs. Combines speed with residential trust.

const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'isp',
    country: 'US',
    sticky: true, // Same IP for session duration
  },
});

Pros:

Fast (datacenter speed)
High trust (residential ISP)
Static IPs (same IP every time)

Cons:

Smaller IP pools
Most expensive residential option
Limited geo coverage

Best for: Account management, long-running sessions, login-dependent workflows, social media automation.

Mobile Proxies

IPs from real mobile carriers (4G/5G). Shared among thousands of users naturally.

const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'mobile',
    country: 'US',
  },
});

Pros:

Highest trust score
Nearly impossible to ban (shared IPs)
Perfect for mobile-first sites

Cons:

Slowest option
Most expensive
Very limited geo options

Best for: Social media (Instagram, TikTok), mobile-only APIs, sites with aggressive anti-bot.

Datacenter Proxies

IPs from cloud providers. Fast and cheap but easier to detect.

const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'datacenter',
    country: 'US',
  },
});

Pros:

Fastest option
Cheapest
Unlimited bandwidth

Cons:

Higher detection risk
Often pre-blocked by sites
IPs in known datacenter ranges

Best for: Low-security targets, internal tools, high-volume non-sensitive scraping, development/testing.

Decision Flowchart

Geo-Targeting

All proxy types support geographic targeting:

// Region-level (cheapest, most available)
{ type: 'residential', region: 'us' }

// Country-level
{ type: 'residential', country: 'US' }

// City-level (most expensive, limited availability)
{ type: 'residential', country: 'US', city: 'New York' }

More specific targeting = smaller IP pool = higher cost. Use the broadest targeting that meets your requirements.

Sticky vs Rotating

Mode	Behavior	Use Case
Rotating (default)	New IP on each session	High-volume scraping
Sticky	Same IP persists	Account management, multi-page workflows

// Sticky session - same IP throughout
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: { type: 'isp', country: 'US', sticky: true },
});

Cost Optimization Tips

Start with datacenter, escalate as needed

Many sites don’t have anti-bot. Test with datacenter first — only upgrade to residential if you get blocked.

Use region targeting over city targeting

City-level targeting costs 2-3x more. Most use cases only need country-level.

Use ISP for long sessions instead of residential

Residential proxies charge per GB. ISP proxies are often flat-rate for the session.

Batch requests in fewer sessions

Launch fewer, longer sessions rather than many short ones. Session setup has overhead.

BYOP (Bring Your Own Proxy)

Already have proxy subscriptions? Use them with Meshbrow:

const session = await client.sessions.create({
  proxy: {
    type: 'custom',
    host: 'proxy.yourprovider.com',
    port: 8080,
    username: 'user',
    password: 'pass',
  },
  stealth: 'max', // Still get full anti-detection
});

This lets you use Meshbrow’s stealth features with your existing proxy infrastructure.

​Proxy Selection Guide

​Proxy Types at a Glance

​Residential Proxies

​ISP Proxies (Static Residential)

​Mobile Proxies

​Datacenter Proxies

​Decision Flowchart

​Geo-Targeting

​Sticky vs Rotating

​Cost Optimization Tips

​BYOP (Bring Your Own Proxy)

Proxy Selection Guide

Proxy Types at a Glance

Residential Proxies

ISP Proxies (Static Residential)

Mobile Proxies

Datacenter Proxies

Decision Flowchart

Geo-Targeting

Sticky vs Rotating

Cost Optimization Tips

BYOP (Bring Your Own Proxy)