Bright Data and Webshare both offer residential and datacenter proxy networks with public pricing and self-serve access — and that is exactly what makes this comparison misleading at first glance. One is built for teams that arrive with defined requirements and the organizational readiness to satisfy a KYC process. The other is built for teams that want to start making requests before they have decided what they need.

Bright Data gates full network access behind KYC, delivers ASN and carrier-level targeting, backs the network with a contractual SLA, and instruments traffic at the HAR level. Webshare offers a permanent free tier with no credit card and no upfront verification, a REST API with activity logs available from day one, and per-IP datacenter pricing with an unlimited bandwidth option — all accessible without an enterprise procurement process.

The comparison turns on what stage of proxy adoption a team is at, and what compliance and targeting requirements they have already defined.

Bright Data suits teams with defined operational requirements: ASN or carrier-level targeting on residential proxies, a published SLA with response commitments, HAR-level traffic debugging, or dedicated residential IP assignment. The limitations are structural: KYC is required before full residential access, no free tier exists, compliance documentation is self-produced without ISO certification, and the product is built for organizations with the budget and readiness to match.

Webshare suits teams that want immediate, frictionless access — a permanent free datacenter tier with no credit card required, self-serve purchase across all proxy types, and a REST API with proxy activity logs accessible from the start. The limitations are real: mobile proxies are not offered, ASN and ZIP targeting are not documented, GDPR compliance is not explicitly stated, no SLA exists, and sub-user management is not available.

Bright Data's philosophy is that enterprise proxy infrastructure requires depth at every layer — and that depth justifies the friction of accessing it. KYC screens clients before they reach the full residential pool. The SLA commits to 99.99% uptime and a 15-minute engineer response. ASN and carrier targeting allow routing by network operator. Dedicated residential IPs provide exclusive peer assignment. The Proxy Manager exposes HAR-level traffic for debugging. The product assumes a team that has already decided what it needs and is prepared to onboard into an enterprise compliance process to get it.

Webshare's philosophy is that the right proxy product is the one a team can start using before the procurement conversation begins. A permanent free tier with 10 datacenter proxies requires no credit card and no identity verification — the onboarding cost is zero. Public pricing, self-serve purchase, and a full REST API with activity logs make Webshare usable from evaluation through production without a sales process. KYC is triggered only by suspicious activity, not as a baseline gate. The product is built for teams that want to test, iterate, and scale without enterprise friction.

You gain targeting precision, contractual guarantees, and compliance depth with Bright Data. You give up frictionless access and immediate entry. With Webshare, the trade runs in reverse — you gain zero-friction entry and self-serve scaling, and ASN targeting, a contractual SLA, mobile proxies, and HAR instrumentation 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 support country and city only. The mobile pool covers 7M IPs across 3G/4G/5G networks. Dedicated residential IPs with exclusive peer assignment are available. Session TTL is fixed at 7 minutes and not configurable. Four proxy types are offered: residential rotating and dedicated, datacenter shared and dedicated, mobile, and ISP static.

Webshare's residential pool is provider-reported at 80M+ IPs across 195 countries. Targeting supports country and city level via API parameters. ASN and ZIP targeting are not documented. Mobile proxies are not offered — this is a product gap for workloads requiring carrier-based targeting. ISP static proxies are available in limited countries through named ISP partners; full country coverage is not enumerated. Sticky sessions and per-request rotation are both available; specific sticky session TTL values are not published. Datacenter proxies are available in shared, private, and dedicated configurations with unlimited bandwidth options.

Bright Data authenticates via username and password in the proxy URL. Targeting parameters are passed as flags in the proxy username per request. Sticky sessions are activated by appending a -session parameter. The REST API covers zone management and configuration. The open-source Proxy Manager handles multi-zone orchestration with HAR logging and automatic failover. IP whitelist is not the primary authentication method. KYC is required before full residential access begins.

Webshare supports three authentication methods: username and password in the proxy string, IP whitelist with nominated IPs bypassing credential requirements, and API token for REST API access. The REST API at apidocs.webshare.io covers proxy list retrieval, proxy configuration, proxy activity logs, and usage statistics — activity log access via API is a differentiator not commonly available at this tier. Rotation mode is configurable via API parameter between direct and backbone modes. Sub-user or team account management is not documented. No KYC is required at signup — verification is only triggered by suspicious activity.

Bright Data bills residential and mobile proxies per GB, with PAYG and subscription tiers available. Free trial credits are provided for new accounts. No ongoing free tier or money-back guarantee is documented. KYC must be completed before billing can begin on the full residential network.

Webshare offers a permanent free tier — 10 datacenter proxies with up to 1 GB per month, no credit card required, no expiry. Paid plans bill datacenter proxies per IP and residential proxies per GB, with unlimited bandwidth options available across all proxy types. Refund is available within 2 days of payment if usage is below documented thresholds. All plan rates are publicly listed without requiring a sales conversation.

ASN or carrier targeting, a contractual SLA, HAR instrumentation, mobile proxies, or dedicated residential IPs are requirements. Bright Data fits.

Immediate access without KYC, a permanent free tier to test before committing, API activity logs from day one, or per-IP datacenter pricing with unlimited bandwidth are the priorities. Webshare fits.

You gain targeting precision and contractual guarantees with Bright Data. You give up frictionless entry. With Webshare, the trade runs in reverse — you gain zero-friction self-serve access, and ASN targeting, a contractual SLA, mobile proxies, and HAR instrumentation become unavailable.

Neither fits teams that require mobile proxies without enterprise commitment — that combination requires a different provider.

Ask what your team needs before it can start using a proxy network. If the answer is KYC approval and an enterprise onboarding process — that is Bright Data's model, and the depth of ASN targeting, SLA coverage, and HAR instrumentation is what that process unlocks. If the answer is nothing — start immediately, test on a free tier, and scale when requirements are defined — Webshare is built for exactly that workflow.

Then ask whether your workload requires capabilities Webshare cannot provide: mobile proxies, ASN-level targeting, a published SLA, or dedicated residential IPs. If any of those are hard requirements, Webshare's accessible entry does not offset the missing capabilities.

If your requirement is depth and guarantees — Bright Data. If your requirement is immediate access and self-serve scaling — Webshare.