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What is a residential proxy and why does scraping need one?

Concept explainers·1 min read·Updated 2026-05-13·3 sections
On this page (3)
  1. 01Datacenter vs residential
  2. 02Sticky vs rotating
  3. 03How Kavex uses proxies

A proxy is a relay server that routes your requests through a different IP address. "Residential proxies" use real consumer-grade IPs (from real homes, via legitimate consent) instead of datacenter IPs — much harder for target sites to identify and block.

01

Datacenter vs residential

Datacenter proxies: cheap (~$1/GB), fast, easy to identify and block. Residential: 5-20× more expensive, slower, look identical to real users. For LinkedIn/Google/Twitter scraping, residential is necessary.

02

Sticky vs rotating

Sticky: same IP for an entire session. Rotating: new IP per request. Sticky looks more human (one user browsing) and is what Kavex uses by default for LinkedIn.

03

How Kavex uses proxies

DataImpulse residential pool at $1/GB. Sticky session per scrape job. Per-customer isolation in V2.1.

Written after running it
Last run
plumbers · London · Google Maps
Rows
30
Time
23s
Cost
€0.06
30 rows × 2 credits = 60 credits · 1 credit = $0.001

Every number on this page comes from that run, not from a price list.

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