Webshare is the market leader for cheap datacenter and static ISP proxies, with a well-known free tier. But it's built on email accounts, card payments, and subscription plans. Here's how it compares to a crypto-native, pay-per-GB alternative.
Crypto-Native, Pay-Per-GB Infrastructure
Residential and mobile SOCKS5 proxies built for AI agents and developers. Pay with crypto, provision by API, and never sign up for anything. Your wallet is your account and your credits never expire.
Subscription Proxy Service with Free Tier
The go-to provider for cheap datacenter proxies and static ISP IPs. Famous for its 10 free proxies and low per-proxy pricing, with a solid API — but accounts, card payments, and recurring plans sit between you and the network.
Compare the catalog, payments, and compliance requirements side by side.
| Feature / Metric | ProxyBase.xyz | Webshare.io |
|---|---|---|
| Core Focus | AI Agents, LLM Tools, Programmatic Access | Cheap Datacenter & Static ISP Proxies |
| Identity Verification | None (Wallet Native & Anonymous) | Email + Credit Card Verification |
| Payment Methods | Crypto: USDC, USDT, BTC, ETH, SOL | Credit Card, PayPal |
| Pricing Model | Pay-as-you-go, credits never expire | Recurring subscriptions |
| Residential Price | $3.00 / GB | From $2.99 / mo plans (per-proxy & per-GB tiers) |
| Free Tier | No (pay-as-you-go from $3) | Yes — 10 free proxies |
| API-First Provisioning | Yes — register, pay, poll, connect | API available (dashboard account required) |
| AI Native Integrations | Yes (Native MCP Server & SOCKS5 Auth Tags) | No (standard proxy lists) |
| Routing Resiliency | Self-Healing Dual-Path Failover | Standard Gateway Redundancy |
| Time to First Proxy | Under 60 seconds | Minutes (account + billing setup) |
Webshare's 10 free proxies are genuinely useful for testing — worth taking regardless of which provider you end up on. But free datacenter IPs get blocked by any site with bot protection. For production traffic, the free tier is a demo, not a solution.
Webshare bills by credit card or PayPal. If you operate in crypto, live somewhere cards don't reach, or simply don't want a proxy provider holding your identity, the subscription model is a dead end. ProxyBase is crypto-only by design.
Webshare plans are monthly. An agent that scrapes hard for a week and idles for three still pays the full month. ProxyBase bills per gigabyte with credits that never expire — burst when you need to, pay only for what you use.
Webshare's API is solid once you have an account, but the account itself requires a human: email, card, dashboard login. ProxyBase removes the human entirely — your agent registers itself, pays, and receives SOCKS5 credentials without you.
Yes — Webshare is a solid SOCKS5 provider for datacenter and static ISP use cases, and ranks #1 for several SOCKS5 product terms. Its weakness is the account model: card payments, email registration, and monthly plans.
No. Webshare accepts credit cards and PayPal only. If you want to pay for proxies with crypto, ProxyBase accepts USDC, USDT, BTC, ETH, and SOL.
Webshare requires an email account and credit card verification — not heavy KYC, but your identity is linked to your proxy traffic. ProxyBase requires nothing at all: see how no-KYC proxies work.
ProxyBase. Webshare's account and billing flow needs a human, and its datacenter-first catalog is weak against anti-bot systems. ProxyBase offers residential SOCKS5, API-first provisioning, and an MCP server — built for agents.
Residential SOCKS5 proxies from $3/GB. No account, no card, no monthly bill — just an API and a payment address.