Two different residential philosophies
Both Rayobyte and Geonode sell rotating residential proxies through a gateway, billed per GB. The differences are in price structure, targeting, sessions and protocols. If you're new to residential proxies, start with our residential proxies guide.
Side by side
| Rayobyte Premium Residential | Geonode residential | |
|---|---|---|
| Pool (provider figures) | 50M+ opted-in devices a month, 190+ countries | 7.5M+ IPs active monthly, 150+ countries |
| Price | $3.50/GB to $0.70/GB by purchase size; enterprise from $0.50 | About $0.88/GB at 10 GB, to $0.30/GB at 100 TB |
| Expiry | Not stated on the pricing page | Doesn't expire |
| Targeting | Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN, device OS | Country, state, city, ASN |
| Sessions | Rotate or sticky 1 to 120 minutes | Rotate or sticky up to 24 hours |
| Protocols | HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5, SOCKS5 UDP, HTTP/3 | HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5 |
| Concurrency | Listed as unlimited | Check plan |
| Trial | Free, no card | Low-cost trial |
| Blocked targets | Banks, government, login pages, abuse reporters | Per Geonode's acceptable use policy |
List prices and features at the time of writing.
Pool and sourcing
Rayobyte reports a larger pool and more countries, says it owns its network, and publishes detailed sourcing commitments: opt-in consent, visible opt-out and EWDCI certification. Geonode's figure counts IPs active per month, a different measure. What matters is depth where you target, so test your own countries and cities. See ethics and sourcing compared and IP pool and coverage compared.
Price
Geonode is much cheaper at small volumes: 10 GB costs around $9 against $35 at Rayobyte. Rayobyte's tiers fall steeply, to $1.50 at 250 GB and $0.70 at 1 TB, so the gap narrows with volume. Geonode's non-expiring bandwidth also means you never lose what you don't use. See pricing compared and bandwidth expiry compared.
Targeting
Both cover country, state, city and ASN. Rayobyte adds ZIP code and device OS, which matter for hyperlocal SEO, store-level pricing and platform-specific content. If you only need country or city, there's no difference. See geo-targeting compared.
Residential tip: The simplest way to settle this comparison is to test both: Rayobyte has a free trial with no card, and Geonode sells a low-cost residential trial. Run the same targets through each. See Rayobyte Premium Residential proxies.
Sessions
Geonode's sticky sessions can last up to 24 hours; Rayobyte's top out at 120 minutes. Both are subject to devices going offline, so real sessions are often shorter. For most scraping flows a few minutes is enough; for long logged-out browsing or monitoring a single page over hours, Geonode is more convenient. See sticky sessions compared.
Protocols
Rayobyte supports SOCKS5 UDP and HTTP/3, useful for games, voice apps, QUIC traffic and browser realism. Geonode supports HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5 over TCP, which covers nearly all scraping. See protocols compared.
Which to choose
| If you need... | Choose |
|---|---|
| The lowest price under a few hundred GB | Geonode |
| Bandwidth that never expires | Geonode |
| Sessions longer than 2 hours | Geonode |
| ZIP or device OS targeting | Rayobyte |
| SOCKS5 UDP or HTTP/3 | Rayobyte |
| A no-card trial | Rayobyte |
| Documented ethics certification | Rayobyte |
| 1 TB+ a month | Price both |
Using both
Many teams keep Geonode for everyday residential traffic and use Rayobyte for ZIP-level checks or targets where its pool performs better. See using Rayobyte and Geonode together. For the full product comparison, see Rayobyte vs Geonode, and to add Webshare, residential across all three.
Proxy tip: If your residential usage comes in bursts, Geonode is worth a look: purchased GB doesn't expire and sticky sessions can last up to 24 hours. More in our complete Geonode guide.
A real-world example
A local marketing platform checks business listings and map results for 2,000 small businesses in 150 US cities each week, about 8 GB a month of residential traffic. City targeting is enough for most clients, so Geonode handles the bulk at its low small-volume rate. For 80 clients in dense metros where results change between ZIP codes, the platform uses Rayobyte's ZIP targeting. Long sessions aren't needed, so Geonode's 24-hour maximum doesn't come into play.
Pros and cons for residential
Rayobyte
- ZIP and device OS targeting.
- SOCKS5 UDP and HTTP/3.
- Free trial with no card.
- Higher price at small volumes; sessions capped at 120 minutes.
Geonode
- Lowest small-volume price.
- Non-expiring bandwidth and 24-hour sessions.
- No ZIP targeting; fewer listed countries.
For the bigger picture beyond our three partners, read our best proxies buyer's guide, and see cheap proxies for ways to cut cost per successful request.
Budget tip: For jobs where a fixed IP list is enough, Webshare is one of the cheapest options: shared datacenter proxies are sold by the IP, and static residential (ISP) proxies cost well under a dollar per IP per month at the time of writing. More in Webshare rotating residential proxies.
Key takeaways
- Geonode is cheaper at small volumes, doesn't expire and allows 24-hour sessions.
- Rayobyte offers ZIP and device OS targeting, SOCKS5 UDP, HTTP/3 and a larger stated pool.
- Rayobyte's tiers make it competitive from around 1 TB.
- Test both in your target locations before committing.
FAQ
Which residential pool is better?
It depends on your targets and locations. Run the same test through both and compare success rates.
Do Rayobyte residential GB expire?
Rayobyte's pricing page doesn't state an expiry for pay-as-you-go residential at the time of writing. Confirm before buying a large amount. Geonode's purchased GB don't expire.
Can I target ZIP codes with Geonode?
Geonode targets country, state, city and ASN at the time of writing, not ZIP.
Sources and further reading
Independent references that back up the points above, from standards bodies, governments, universities and non-profits. They open in a new tab.
- Number Resources (IANA): How IANA hands IP address blocks to the regional internet registries.
- How It Works (Let's Encrypt): How HTTPS certificates are issued, the reason HTTPS proxies cannot read your traffic.
- RFC 9114: HTTP/3 (IETF / RFC Editor): The HTTP/3 standard, which runs over QUIC and UDP.
- RFC 1928: SOCKS Protocol Version 5 (IETF / RFC Editor): The original specification of SOCKS5, including UDP support and authentication negotiation.
- RFC 9110: HTTP Semantics (IETF / RFC Editor): The HTTP standard that defines how proxies, tunnels and the CONNECT method behave.
Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.