Webshare vs Geonode IP Pools: Size, Countries and What the Numbers Mean

The headline numbers

Provider figures at the time of writing.

Why the residential numbers aren't comparable

Pool size is one of the least standardised claims in the proxy industry. Providers count differently:

• Total IPs seen over a long period (often very large).
• IPs active in a month (smaller, more meaningful).
• IPs online right now (smaller still).

Webshare's figure is a total pool claim; Geonode's is monthly active IPs. A smaller "active" number can represent a pool as useful as a larger "total" one. See proxy pool size.

What actually matters

• IPs available in your countries at the times you run.
• Subnet and ISP diversity, so blocks on one range don't take down your traffic.
• Repeat rate: how often you see the same IP in a long run.
• Success rate on your targets.

How to check coverage yourself

1. Run 1,000 rotating requests per country through each provider to an IP echo service.
2. Count unique IPs, unique /24 subnets and unique ASNs.
3. Repeat at peak and off-peak hours.
4. Run the same against your real targets and record success.

from collections import Counter
ips = [...]  # collected exit IPs
subnets = Counter(".".join(ip.split(".")[:3]) for ip in ips)
print(len(set(ips)), "unique IPs,", len(subnets), "unique /24s")

Datacenter and ISP coverage

For fixed IPs, compare the specific countries (and US states) each provider can sell you today. ISP locations are limited everywhere, because they depend on ISP partnerships. If one provider lacks a country, the other may have it.

Verdict

Don't choose on pool size claims. Measure unique IPs, subnet diversity and success rate in your countries on both, and route by country if they differ.

Coverage test results template

High unique counts mean less repetition and more resilience.

Peak vs off-peak

Residential availability follows local daily patterns. Test in local daytime and at night; a pool that looks deep in the afternoon can be thin at 4 a.m.

Using results for routing

If one provider is deeper in a country that matters to you, route that country's traffic there. Coverage differences are often country-specific rather than global.

A real-world example

A team targeting Scandinavian sites runs 1,000 rotating requests per country through each provider. In Sweden and Norway both pools return many unique IPs and subnets; in a smaller market, one provider returns noticeably fewer unique IPs at night. The team routes that country's overnight jobs to the deeper pool, and schedules heavier jobs during local daytime.

Before you commit to any provider, it helps to see the wider market: our guide to the best proxies in 2026 compares proxy types by job, and cheap proxies explains how to keep costs down without buying IPs that get blocked.

If you're weighing Rayobyte as well, our Rayobyte proxies guide explains which of its products fits, and Rayobyte vs Geonode vs Webshare IP Pools and Coverage puts it side by side with Geonode and Webshare.

Key takeaways

• Webshare reports a total residential pool; Geonode reports monthly active IPs, so the numbers aren't comparable.
• Unique IPs, subnet diversity and success rate in your countries matter more than headline size.
• Coverage varies by country and time of day.
• ISP locations are limited on both; check your countries.
• Route countries to whichever pool is deeper for you.

FAQ

Which provider has the biggest residential pool?

Webshare claims more total IPs; Geonode reports monthly active IPs. The figures measure different things.

Does a bigger pool mean fewer blocks?

Not necessarily. Diversity and IP quality matter more than headline size.

How many countries do I need?

Only the ones your targets and users are in. Check depth there, not the total count.

What is a /24 subnet?

A block of 256 IPv4 addresses sharing the first three numbers; diversity across subnets reduces the impact of range-level blocks.

Do providers share IPs with each other?

Some IP sources may overlap across the industry; measuring diversity on your own runs is the practical check.

Is IPv6 coverage different?

IPv6 offerings vary; many targets still prefer IPv4. See IPv4 vs IPv6 proxies.

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.
• RFC 791: Internet Protocol (IPv4) (IETF / RFC Editor): The 1981 specification of IPv4, whose 32-bit addresses most proxies still use.
• RFC 8200: Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) (IETF / RFC Editor): The current IPv6 specification, the address format behind IPv6 proxies.
• Nmap (Nmap project): The open-source network scanner, useful for checking which proxy ports are open.
• Autonomous system (Internet) (Wikipedia): What an autonomous system (ASN) is, the network label sites use to tell datacenter IPs from home ones.