Best IPRoyal Alternative in 2026 — 1.75x Cheaper, Bigger Pool

Is IPRoyal Worth It in 2026?

IPRoyal is a popular choice for residential proxies — their never-expiring credits, ethically sourced IPs, and $1.75/GB starting rate make them more accessible than enterprise options like Bright Data or Oxylabs. But they still charge nearly 2x what the best alternative in the market costs, and their residential IP pool (approximately 3.4M+ US IPs) is significantly smaller than competitors at scale.

This guide covers the best IPRoyal alternatives in 2026, ranked by price per GB and overall value.

IPRoyal's Strengths and Weaknesses

What IPRoyal does well:

Never-expiring credits — you don't lose unused bandwidth
Ethically sourced peer-to-peer residential IPs with consent documentation
Up to 24-hour sticky sessions — the longest available in the market
IP whitelist authentication — no username/password needed
Low minimum purchase ($1.75 for 1 GB)

Where IPRoyal falls short:

$1.75/GB rate is 1.75x higher than V-Proxies's $0.99/GB
Smaller global IP pool compared to V-Proxies (84M+ IPs)
No free trial option

The Best IPRoyal Alternative: V-Proxies

V-Proxies is the top IPRoyal alternative for teams where cost per GB is the primary driver.

$0.99/GB vs IPRoyal's $1.75/GB — At Every Volume Level

V-Proxies charges $0.99/GB flat — consistently 43% cheaper than IPRoyal's entry rate at all volume levels. On 50 GB/month: $49.50 vs $87.50. On 200 GB/month: $198 vs $350. On 1 TB: $990 vs $1,750. The gap compounds fast at scale. See full pricing.

84M+ Residential IPs — 25x Larger Pool Than IPRoyal US

V-Proxies maintains a pool of 84M+ residential IPs globally across 196+ countries. IPRoyal's pool is considerably smaller — approximately 3.4M+ in the US alone — which can create detection issues at high volume where IP diversity matters. V-Proxies's larger pool means you cycle through vastly more unique IPs before repeating.

Never-Expiring Credits — Same as IPRoyal

V-Proxies matches IPRoyal's strongest selling point: credits never expire. Your $5 minimum top-up sits in your account indefinitely. Use it next week or next year. Top up here.

Unlimited Concurrent Connections

Both V-Proxies and IPRoyal offer unlimited concurrent connections — a tie. But combined with V-Proxies's lower cost, you get more throughput per dollar.

99.97% Uptime — Matching IPRoyal

V-Proxies maintains 99.97% uptime across its residential network, matching IPRoyal's SLA.

Free Trial Available

IPRoyal does not offer a free trial. V-Proxies does — join the Discord to claim yours before spending anything.

V-Proxies vs IPRoyal: Feature Comparison

Feature	V-Proxies	IPRoyal
Price per GB	$0.99	$1.75–$3.50
Residential IP pool	84M+ IPs	~3.4M+ US IPs
Credits expire	Never	Never
Sticky sessions	Up to 60 min	Up to 24 hours
Concurrent connections	Unlimited	Unlimited
IP whitelist auth	No	Yes
Countries	196+	195+
City targeting	Yes	Yes
ASN targeting	Yes	Yes
Uptime SLA	99.97%	99.97%
Sub-accounts	Yes	Yes
SOCKS5 support	Yes	Yes
Free trial	Yes (via Discord)	No

Full analysis: V-Proxies vs IPRoyal comparison page.

Where IPRoyal Still Wins

Be aware of the real trade-offs before switching:

24-hour sticky sessions — IPRoyal supports sticky sessions up to 24 hours. V-Proxies caps at 60 minutes. If you need overnight or multi-day IP consistency for account management workflows, IPRoyal wins this specific comparison.
IP whitelist authentication — IPRoyal lets you whitelist specific IPs instead of using username:password. Useful in server environments where credential management is complex.
Ethically-sourced documentation — IPRoyal provides detailed consent documentation for their peer-to-peer IP sourcing, which may matter for compliance-sensitive industries.

How to Switch from IPRoyal to V-Proxies

Migration is straightforward. Update your endpoint and credentials:

http://username:password@gate.v-proxies.com:9000

Country and city targeting work via the same username-append pattern. Full documentation here.

Try V-Proxies Free Before You Commit

V-Proxies offers a free trial so you can test the full residential proxy network before spending anything. Join the V-Proxies Discord community to claim your trial and get hands-on support from the team.

Join the V-Proxies Discord and get your free trial →

Once you're ready to scale, top up from $5 at $0.99/GB — no subscription, no contract, credits never expire. Top up here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does V-Proxies offer a free trial unlike IPRoyal?

Yes. V-Proxies offers a free trial for new users. Join the V-Proxies Discord to claim it. IPRoyal does not offer a free trial — their lowest entry is $1.75 for 1 GB. V-Proxies's free trial lets you test the full 84M+ IP pool before spending anything.

How does V-Proxies compare to IPRoyal on sticky sessions?

IPRoyal supports sticky sessions up to 24 hours — a genuine differentiator for long-running account management or automation requiring extended IP consistency. V-Proxies caps sticky sessions at 60 minutes. For most scraping and automation workflows, 60 minutes is sufficient. For overnight sessions or multi-day account warming, IPRoyal has the edge on this single feature.

Why is IPRoyal's IP pool so much smaller than V-Proxies?

IPRoyal's peer-to-peer model sources IPs from consenting device owners, which provides stronger ethical documentation but limits pool scale. V-Proxies operates a larger, globally distributed residential IP network of 84M+ IPs. For high-volume scraping where IP diversity reduces detection, V-Proxies's larger pool is a significant advantage.

Can I use IP whitelist authentication on V-Proxies like IPRoyal?

Not currently — V-Proxies uses username:password authentication. For server environments where you want to whitelist a static IP instead of managing credentials, IPRoyal has this feature and V-Proxies does not.

Do V-Proxies credits ever expire?

Never. V-Proxies credits stay in your account indefinitely — the same policy as IPRoyal. There are no monthly billing cycles to race against. Top up once and use the bandwidth whenever you need it.

Is V-Proxies's $5 minimum better than IPRoyal's $1.75 minimum?

IPRoyal's $1.75 minimum (for 1 GB) is lower than V-Proxies's $5 minimum. If you want to test for as little as possible, IPRoyal's entry point is lower. However, V-Proxies offers a free trial via Discord before you spend anything — making the $5 minimum less of a barrier in practice.

Which provider is better for SEO monitoring?

Both providers work for SEO monitoring. V-Proxies's larger IP pool (84M+ vs IPRoyal's ~3.4M US IPs) provides more IP diversity for large-scale SERP monitoring across multiple geos. At 43% lower cost per GB, V-Proxies is the more economical choice for SEO teams running continuous monitoring pipelines. See the V-Proxies SEO monitoring use case.

Final Verdict

IPRoyal is a legitimate choice, especially if you need 24-hour sticky sessions or IP whitelist auth. But for the majority of residential proxy use cases — web scraping, price monitoring, SEO research, sneaker bots — V-Proxies is the better IPRoyal alternative in 2026. You get a 43% lower price per GB, a dramatically larger IP pool, never-expiring credits, and a free trial to test before committing.

Start free: claim your free trial on Discord.