Bright Data and Decodo share a compliance orientation — both require KYC, both source residential IPs through opt-in partner networks, both hold ethical sourcing certifications. That shared ground is exactly what makes this comparison non-obvious. They are not different versions of the same product. They are the same compliance posture applied to radically different product tiers.

Bright Data is built for teams that need everything: the deepest residential targeting on the market, a published SLA with uptime and response commitments, HAR-level traffic instrumentation, automatic failover, and dedicated residential IPs. The price of that depth is enterprise-grade friction — KYC gates full network access, and the product assumes a team with both the budget and the operational requirements to justify it.

Decodo targets the tier below: teams that need a verifiable compliance story and a network that works without enterprise onboarding. ISO 27001:2022 certification and EWDCI co-founder status provide independent credentials. A 3-day trial and a 14-day money-back guarantee lower the entry cost of being wrong. The trade is a shallower targeting stack — ASN targeting on residential is not documented, dedicated residential IPs are not offered, and no desktop proxy manager exists.

Bright Data suits teams with defined enterprise requirements: ASN or carrier targeting on residential proxies, a contractual SLA with a documented response time, HAR-level traffic debugging through the Proxy Manager, or exclusive dedicated residential IP assignment. The limitation is operational: KYC gates full residential network access before requests can begin, no money-back guarantee is documented, and the product is structured for organizations, not individual operators.

Decodo suits teams that need a credentialed compliance story — ISO 27001:2022, EWDCI co-founder and EWDCI Certified status — without the onboarding friction or operational overhead of an enterprise provider. City, ZIP, and coordinate targeting are available on residential proxies. Sticky sessions are configurable up to 24 hours. IP whitelist authentication is supported. The limitation is depth: ASN targeting on residential proxies is not documented, dedicated residential IPs are absent, and no published response time SLA exists.

Bright Data's philosophy is that enterprise proxy infrastructure requires operational depth at every layer. The SLA commits to 99.99% uptime and a 15-minute engineer response on covered plans. The open-source Proxy Manager exposes traffic at the HAR level, with live preview and external log export. Automatic failover replaces unavailable peers without code changes. ASN and carrier targeting extend precision down to network-operator level on residential and mobile proxies. Dedicated residential IPs allow exclusive peer assignment. The product is built for teams whose proxy requirements are specific enough to justify building and staffing around them.

Decodo's philosophy is that most teams do not need enterprise depth — they need compliance credentials and a network that is operational from day one without an enterprise procurement process. ISO 27001:2022 certification and EWDCI co-founder status provide independent verification that procurement teams can document. A 3-day trial and 14-day money-back policy lower the risk of testing before committing. The 24-hour configurable sticky session and city-level residential targeting cover the majority of scraping workloads without the infrastructure overhead Bright Data requires.

You gain targeting precision and operational guarantees with Bright Data — ASN-level residential targeting, a published SLA, and HAR instrumentation — and accept enterprise onboarding friction and no refund path. With Decodo, the trade runs in reverse: you gain accessible compliance credentials and a lower-risk entry, and ASN targeting on residential proxies, dedicated IPs, and contractual SLA coverage become unavailable.

Bright Data's residential pool is provider-reported at 150M+ unique IPs across 195 countries. Residential and mobile proxies support country, state, city, ZIP, ASN, and carrier targeting. Datacenter and ISP proxies are limited to country and city — ZIP and ASN are not available on those types. ISP static coverage spans approximately 50 locations. Dedicated residential IPs with exclusive peer assignment are available. Four proxy types are offered: residential rotating and dedicated, datacenter shared and dedicated, mobile (3G/4G/5G), and ISP static.

Decodo's residential pool is provider-reported at 115M+ IPs across 195+ countries. Residential proxies support country, region, city, ZIP, and coordinate targeting. ASN targeting on residential proxies is not documented — a meaningful gap for workloads that require network-operator precision. ISP proxies support country-level targeting only; city and state targeting are absent on that type. Dedicated residential IPs are not offered — the residential pool is rotating only. Four proxy types are offered: residential rotating, datacenter shared and dedicated, mobile (10M+ IPs, 700+ ASNs, 160+ countries), and ISP static. Sticky sessions are configurable up to 24 hours on residential proxies.

Bright Data authenticates via username and password embedded in the proxy URL. Targeting parameters are passed as flags in the proxy username string per request — no dashboard toggle for rotation. Sticky sessions are activated by appending a -session parameter; both modes coexist within the same zone without a plan change. The REST API covers zone management and proxy configuration. The open-source Proxy Manager handles multi-zone orchestration locally, with waterfall automation between proxy products, HAR logging, and live traffic preview. IP whitelist is not the primary authentication method.

Decodo authenticates via username and password in the proxy URL, with IP whitelist authentication also supported as an alternative. Sub-user accounts enable project isolation. Targeting is configured via proxy username parameters per request. Sticky sessions use a sessid parameter, configurable up to 24 hours via sesstime-1440. The REST API covers zone management and usage statistics. An endpoint generator in the dashboard produces bulk proxy lists. No standalone desktop proxy manager is available — the tooling layer consists of a Chrome extension included with residential subscriptions and mobile app setup guides.

Bright Data bills residential and mobile proxies per GB, with PAYG and subscription tiers available. Datacenter proxies are available per GB or per IP depending on shared versus dedicated configuration. ISP static is billed per IP. Free trial credits are available for new accounts; no ongoing free tier or money-back guarantee is documented. Promotional discounts on the pricing page create uncertainty around base rates for long-term planning. KYC is required before full residential network access — a cost to onboarding time that precedes any billing.

Decodo bills residential proxies per GB on PAYG and subscription tiers. A 3-day trial with 100 MB is available. A 14-day money-back guarantee applies to self-service plans with less than 20% usage, one per customer, excluding crypto payments. Top-up is available at the same per-GB rate up to 80% of plan value before requiring a plan upgrade. Unused subscription GB does not roll over. The pricing page displays PAYG rate references that differ between the pricing grid and the billing FAQ — a transparency gap to verify before committing to volume.

Your workload requires ASN-level residential targeting, a contractual SLA with a response commitment, dedicated residential IPs, or HAR-level traffic instrumentation. Bright Data fits.

ISO 27001 and EWDCI co-founder credentials are a procurement requirement, city-level targeting covers your workload, and you need a trial or refund path. Decodo fits.

You gain operational depth with Bright Data — ASN targeting, SLA, and Proxy Manager instrumentation. You give up independent certification and accessible entry. With Decodo, the trade runs in reverse — you gain ISO credentials and low-friction entry, and operational depth becomes unavailable.

Neither fits teams that need ASN targeting on residential proxies without an enterprise commitment.

Ask whether your scraping workload requires ASN or carrier-level precision on residential proxies, or whether your operations team needs a contractual SLA and traffic-level debugging. If yes to either — Bright Data's operational depth is the fit, and the enterprise onboarding friction is the cost of accessing it.

Ask whether ISO 27001 or EWDCI founding-level credentials are a procurement requirement, and whether city-level targeting covers your actual workload. If yes — Decodo delivers those credentials without enterprise overhead, and the absence of ASN targeting and dedicated IPs is the accepted trade.

If your requirement is targeting depth and a contractual guarantee — Bright Data. If your requirement is independent certification with accessible entry — Decodo.