Thordata vs Apify Proxy: Which is Better in 2026?
Apify Proxy edges ahead overall (4.5/5 vs 4.3/5). Choose Apify Proxy for better overall value; consider Thordata if lower entry price matters most.
We compared Thordata and Apify Proxy on pricing, country coverage, IP types, supported protocols, and trial availability. Both providers target similar use cases but differ in network scale, pricing model, and platform depth. Here is everything you need to make the right choice.
Our Verdict
Based on our analysis, Apify Proxy edges ahead with a rating of 4.5/5 — making it the better choice for most use cases. If budget is the primary concern, Thordata (from $1.8/gb) is the more affordable option.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Thordata | Apify Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 ★★★★ | 4.5/5 ★★★★ |
| Price from | $1.8/gb | $49.0/month |
| Countries | 195 | 100 |
| Types | residentialdatacentermobile | datacenterresidential |
| Protocols | HTTPHTTPSSOCKS5 | HTTPHTTPS |
| Free trial | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
About the Providers
Thordata is a Hong Kong-based proxy and web data infrastructure provider offering 60 million+ residential IPs across 195 countries, alongside mobile, ISP, and datacenter proxies. Founded in 2018, it competes directly with Oxylabs and Bright Data on full-stack tooling — combining raw proxy access with a SERP API, Web Unlocker, and cloud-based Scraping Browser at significantly lower per-GB pricing.
Apify Proxy is the proxy layer built into Apify's web scraping platform. Combines datacenter proxies with residential IPs. Free tier available. Best used within Apify Actors but also accessible as standard proxies via API.
Performance Comparison
Thordata achieves a 98.0% request success rate compared to 95.5% for Apify Proxy — a difference that compounds at scale. At 100,000 requests per day, Thordata would complete approximately 2500 more successful requests per day.
On response speed, Thordata averages 520ms versus 2800ms for Apify Proxy. The 2280ms advantage matters most for real-time data applications where response latency directly impacts downstream processing speed.
Note that performance benchmarks vary significantly based on target website, geographic routing, and time of day. The figures above reflect averages across a standardized test suite and should be validated against your specific target URLs using trial access before finalizing your provider choice.
Pricing Comparison & Value Analysis
Thordata residential proxies start at approximately $2.00 per gigabyte for small volumes, dropping to $1.80/GB at 10 GB, $1.50/GB at 50 GB, $1.00/GB at 150 GB, and $0.77/GB at 500 GB and above. Mobile proxies and static ISP proxies are priced separately. New residential proxy customers receive a 100% credit-back offer on first purchases up to $900 — effectively making the first volume tier a free trial. Datacenter proxies are billed separately per IP per month. Enterprise accounts can negotiate custom pricing. The Web Unlocker and SERP API are billed per successful request rather than bandwidth, keeping costs predictable for structured data workflows.
Apify pricing: Free plan (30 proxy SERUs/month included). Starter at $49/month (15
Pricing model differences matter as much as headline numbers. Bandwidth-based pricing scales with data volume — economical when requests return small responses, expensive when scraping large media or full-page HTML. Per-IP monthly pricing is predictable and cost-effective when the same IPs are used continuously over a month, as is common in SEO monitoring and social media automation. Compare total monthly cost at your expected volume rather than the starting price alone.
When evaluating long-term value, also consider the cost of failures. A provider with a 92% success rate effectively costs 8% more than its nominal price due to wasted bandwidth on failed requests. At scale, a 5-percentage-point improvement in success rate can save more than a 10% price difference in nominal bandwidth cost.
Use Case Analysis — Which Fits Your Workflow?
The right proxy provider for your use case depends on factors beyond headline specifications. Consider the following dimensions when choosing between Thordata and Apify Proxy:
Target site sophistication: If your target sites use advanced bot detection (Cloudflare Enterprise, DataDome, PerimeterX), you need residential proxies with high pool diversity and strong success rates. Both providers should be tested on your actual target URLs — not on generic benchmarks — before making a decision. Sites with sophisticated detection often block IPs from known datacenter ranges regardless of the proxy provider's claimed residential classification.
Geographic requirements: Thordata covers 195 countries versus Apify Proxy's 100 countries. For projects requiring coverage of less common markets, Thordata's broader pool is a practical advantage.
Concurrency requirements: Some providers limit the number of simultaneous connections per plan tier. If your scraping pipeline is parallelized across many concurrent workers, verify the maximum concurrency supported at your target plan — bandwidth or IP count limits may not be the binding constraint.
Declared use case fit: Thordata is designed for scraping, seo, ad verification, price monitoring, brand protection. Apify Proxy targets scraping, data extraction, web automation. If your use case maps more directly to one provider's declared focus, that provider has likely optimized its infrastructure and support documentation for your workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Should You Choose?
Apify Proxy is the stronger overall pick in this comparison, rated 4.5/5. It performs best if you need datacenter and residential proxies across up to 100 countries. Thordata is the better fit if budget is the deciding factor — it starts at $1.8/gb compared to $49.0/month for Apify Proxy. Still comparing? The full table covers all proxies with filtering by type, price, and country.