Use case · 12 providers tested

Best Lead Generation Proxies 2026

Collect public B2B contact and firmographic data from business directories at scale while keeping your outreach lists compliant.

12 providers $50 - $500/month ~5 min read Updated 2026-07-16
Difficulty
intermediate
Setup time
15-30 minutes
Budget
$50 - $500/month
Best for
developers

Lead Generation Proxies

Modern B2B lead generation runs on scraped data — pulling firmographics, contact details and signals from business directories, Google Maps, professional networks and company websites. At any meaningful volume, those sources fight back: aggressive rate limits, IP bans and geo-walled local-business listings stall scrapers within minutes. Lead generation proxies route each request through a fresh, residential or ISP IP so your crawlers blend in with normal traffic, target specific cities or countries for local-business data, and keep prospecting pipelines running. Datacenter IPs get blocked fast on protected sources, so a clean residential pool plus ISP IPs (or a scraper API) is essential for directories, maps and social profiles. Scrape only public business data and stay mindful of GDPR and CCPA obligations. This page ranks and benchmarks the proxy providers best suited to lead-gen scraping in 2026.

How we picked the best lead generation proxies

Lead generation is only as good as the data you can reliably collect, so we weighted providers on their ability to scrape protected, geo-specific sources at scale without burning your prospect pipeline.

  • Block-resistance on directories, social and maps — measured success rates against Yelp, Yellow Pages, Google Maps and professional networks that aggressively fingerprint and ban scrapers.
  • Geo targeting for local-business data — country, state and city-level precision so you can build accurate local lead lists and pull region-specific listings.
  • Residential + ISP pool quality — clean, diverse, low-fraud-score IPs that pass trust checks on the toughest B2B sources.
  • Session stabilitysticky sessions that hold an identity across multi-page profile and listing crawls without mid-session resets.
  • Cost per GB — transparent, predictable pricing so high-volume enrichment and directory scraping stay economical.

Top 3 providers for Lead Generation Proxies

Hand-picked by our editorial team based on suitability score, success rate and pricing.

#1
Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) logo
★★★★ 4.5 9/10 match 125M+ IPs (residential + mobile + ISP) pool 99.95% success $3.75/GB
#2
NodeMaven logo
NodeMaven Runner up
★★★★ 4.9 7/10 match 30M+ residential + 250K+ mobile IPs across 195+ countries (1,400+ cities) pool 98.5% success $2/GB
#3
IPRoyal logo
IPRoyal Strong fit
★★★★ 4.2 7/10 match 32M+ IPs pool 98.8% success $3.5/GB

Requirements & benefits

What you need for lead generation proxies and what proxies make possible.

Key requirements
  • Quality IP pool
  • Good targeting options
  • API access
  • Competitive pricing
Key benefits
  • Extract public company and contact data from business directories without per-IP rate caps
  • Pull region-specific listings by routing requests through IPs in your target market
  • Keep long directory pagination sessions alive with sticky IPs that don't reset filters
  • Enrich CRM records from multiple public sources in parallel across a rotating pool
  • Monitor competitor reviews and job postings for buying-intent signals at scale

Best practices & common challenges

Field-tested tips for lead generation proxies — and the pitfalls that trip people up.

Best practices
  • Scrape only publicly visible business data and review each directory's terms before adding it to your pipeline
  • Vet every harvested contact against CAN-SPAM and GDPR rules before outreach; collection alone is not consent
  • Use sticky residential sessions for paginated directory browsing so search filters persist across pages
  • Rotate IPs between search queries rather than mid-pagination to avoid session anomaly checks
  • Validate and dedupe emails at ingest; bounces from a dirty list damage your sending domain fast
  • Keep per-directory request rates modest; a lead source you burn today is unavailable next quarter
Common challenges
  • Professional networks prohibit automated collection outright, and violating those terms carries real legal risk
  • CAN-SPAM and GDPR obligations follow the data: cold outreach to scraped EU contacts needs a lawful basis
  • Public directory data decays fast as titles, companies, and emails churn within months of collection
  • Anti-bot walls on major business directories escalate quickly and burn datacenter ranges within hours
  • Duplicate and near-duplicate records across sources inflate list sizes and skew campaign metrics

Lead Generation Proxies proxies compared

Top 8 picks for lead generation proxies, by match score. Prices, pools and ratings from the ProxyLook directory.

ProviderRatingStarts atIP poolCountriesBest offer
Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) logoDecodo (formerly Smartproxy) 4.5 $3.75/GB 125M+ IPs (residential + mobile + ISP) 195+ ANNUAL35 · 35% off
NodeMaven logoNodeMaven 4.9 $2.00/GB 30M+ residential + 250K+ mobile IPs across 195+ countries (1,400+ cities) 195+ PROXYLOOK40 · 40% off
IPRoyal logoIPRoyal 4.2 $3.50/GB 32M+ IPs 195+ SAVE65 · 65% off
Webshare logoWebshare 4.1 $0.99/GB 80M+ residential + 30M+ datacenter IPs across 195+ countries 195+ SAVE75 · 75% off
Oxylabs logoOxylabs 4.7 $4.00/GB 177M+ IPs 195+ OXYLABS50 · 50% off
SOAX logoSOAX 4.4 $4.00/GB 155M+ IPs 195+ SAVE50 · 50% off
Outscraper logoOutscraper 4.6 Custom 500+ ready-made scrapers
NetNut logoNetNut 4.3 $3.45/GB 85M+ residential + 5M+ mobile IPs across 195 countries 200+ AFFCOUPON20 · 20% off

Data reflects the latest ProxyLook directory records. Verify current terms on each provider's site before buying.

All 12 recommended providers

Sorted by match score. Expert-curated for lead generation proxies.

Best match: Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) Lowest: $0.99/GB Active deals: 7
01 Decodo (formerly Smartproxy)
4.5 125M+ IPs (residential + mobile + ISP) 195 countries from $3.75/GB
Decodo delivers 125M+ IPs at $3.75/GB with a 99.95% success rate and the best value for self-serve teams. Easy scraping APIs and clean pools make it ideal for scaling directory and maps lead-gen without enterprise overhead.
35% Visit
02 NodeMaven
NodeMaven Verified 7/10
4.9 30M+ residential + 250K+ mobile IPs across 195+ countries (1,400+ cities) 195 countries from $2/GB
30M+ residential and 250K mobile IPs at $2/GB with sub-70 fraud scores and 7-day sticky sessions. NodeMaven's exceptionally clean pool sails through trust checks on the toughest professional networks and social sources.
40% Visit
03 IPRoyal
IPRoyal Verified 7/10
4.2 32M+ IPs 195 countries from $3.5/GB
32M+ residential and ISP IPs at roughly $1.75/GB with dependable sticky sessions. IPRoyal is the value choice for high-volume directory scraping and local lead lists where budget matters more than enterprise tooling.
65% Visit
04 Webshare
Webshare Verified 6/10
4.1 80M+ residential + 30M+ datacenter IPs across 195+ countries 195 countries from $0.99/GB
80M+ residential IPs from $0.99/GB with a free tier — the cheapest option for high-volume scraping. Best for unprotected directories and bulk enrichment where cost beats maximum block-resistance on hardened targets.
75% Visit
05 Oxylabs
Oxylabs Verified 10/10
4.7 177M+ IPs 195 countries from $4/GB
177M+ residential IPs, a 99.95% success rate and the fastest latency in our benchmark. Its Web Scraper API handles JavaScript-heavy and protected lead sources, making Oxylabs a top enterprise pick for high-volume B2B data collection.
50% Visit
06 SOAX
SOAX Verified 9/10
4.4 155M+ IPs 195 countries from $4/GB
155M+ IPs with the most granular city and ISP geo-targeting in the field — purpose-built for local-business data. SOAX excels at building accurate, region-specific lead lists from maps and directories at 99.5% success.
50% Visit
07 Outscraper
Outscraper Verified 8/10
4.6 500+ ready-made scrapers
08 NetNut
NetNut Verified 8/10
4.3 85M+ residential + 5M+ mobile IPs across 195 countries 200 countries from $3.45/GB
85M+ residential plus 5M mobile IPs on a fast single-hop ISP architecture at $3.45/GB. NetNut's stable, low-latency connections suit sustained directory crawls and contact enrichment where speed and reliability matter.
20% Visit
09 PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster Verified 8/10
4.3 100+ pre-built Phantoms from $56/GB
10 Bardeen
Bardeen Verified 7/10
4.1 No-code agentic scraper (no proxy network) from $10/GB
11 Hexomatic
Hexomatic Verified 7/10
4.0 100+ automation recipes (managed scraping)
12 WebHarvy
WebHarvy Verified 7/10
4.0 Desktop scraper, user-supplied proxies from $99/GB

Lead Generation proxy benchmarks

How the top 8 Lead Generation proxy providers compare on benchmarked success rate, response speed, IP pool size and entry price — combining our test data, independent lab reports and published specifications.

Across our directory-wide benchmark data for the 8 providers recommended for Lead Generation proxies, Decodo posted the highest success rate at 99.9%; Oxylabs was fastest at 0.79s and fielded the largest pool at 177M IPs; Webshare offered the lowest entry price at $0.99/GB.

Highest success
Decodo
99.9%
Fastest response
Oxylabs
0.79s
Largest pool
Oxylabs
177M IPs
Best entry price
Webshare
$0.99/GB
Top tested performer · Lead Generation proxies Decodo

99.9% success · 0.81s avg response · 125M+ IPs (residential + mobile + ISP) pool · from $3.75/GB

Get 35% off Decodo

Success rate on Lead Generation targets higher = better

Decodo
99.9%Best
NodeMaven
98.5%
IPRoyal
98.8%
Webshare
98.5%
Oxylabs
99.9%
SOAX
99.5%
Outscraper
96.4%
NetNut
99.2%

Avg response time lower = faster

Decodo
0.81s
NodeMaven
0.95s
IPRoyal
0.95s
Webshare
1.02s
Oxylabs
0.79sBest
SOAX
0.92s
Outscraper
0.82s
NetNut
0.88s

IP pool size compared bigger = wider reach

Decodo
125M IPs
NodeMaven
30M IPs
IPRoyal
32M IPs
Webshare
110M IPs
Oxylabs
177M IPsBest
SOAX
155M IPs
NetNut
90M IPs

Entry price per GB lower = cheaper

Decodo
$3.75
NodeMaven
$2.00
IPRoyal
$3.50
Webshare
$0.99Best
Oxylabs
$4.00
SOAX
$4.00
NetNut
$3.45
Where the numbers come fromVerified August 2026
Our test data Independent lab reports Published specifications Published IP counts

Success rates combine our own test data with independent lab reports and each provider's published specifications — third-party numbers are attributed on the provider page; pool size reflects each provider's published IP count. Real-world numbers vary by target site, origin region, concurrency and session strategy — read the full sourcing policy at /methodology.

Benchmark results — how lead-gen proxies performed

The figures below are provider-verified performance numbers, framed to show how each pool behaves on the kind of directory, maps and company-site targets lead-gen scrapers hit. Success rate, latency and pricing reflect each provider's published residential metrics.

ProviderSuccess rateP50 / P95 latencyPoolPrice
Bright Data99.9%0.9s / 2.0s150M+ IPs$5.04/GB
Oxylabs99.95% 0.8s / 1.9s177M+ residential$4/GB
Decodo99.95% 0.8s / 1.9s125M+$3.75/GB
SOAX99.5%0.9s / 2.1s155M+$4/GB
NetNut99.2%0.9s / 2.0s85M+ residential + 5M mobile$3.45/GB
Proxy-SellerResidential + ISP

What to look for in a lead generation proxy

Not every proxy can survive the sources that hold the richest B2B contacts. Prioritize these features when choosing a provider for lead-gen scraping.

  • Residential and ISP IPs — real consumer and static ISP addresses pass trust checks on directories, maps and social profiles where datacenter ranges are blocked outright.
  • Geo precision — city and state-level targeting to build accurate local lead lists and capture region-specific business listings.
  • Sticky sessions — hold one IP across multi-page profile and listing crawls so enrichment workflows complete without identity resets.
  • Scraper API for protected sources — a managed unlocker or web scraper API that handles JavaScript rendering, CAPTCHAs and anti-bot defenses on the hardest targets.
  • Transparent $/GB pricing — clear, predictable per-gigabyte rates so high-volume directory scraping and contact enrichment stay within budget.

Top use cases for lead generation proxies

Lead generation proxies power the full prospecting stack — from raw directory pulls to enriched, geo-targeted lead lists.

  • Business-directory scraping — collect company names, categories, phone numbers and addresses at scale from Yellow Pages, Yelp and niche industry directories.
  • Google Maps local-business data — pull listings, ratings, hours and contact details for businesses in specific cities and ZIP codes.
  • Professional-network prospecting — gather public profile and company signals from professional networks to build targeted B2B contact lists.
  • Company-website contact enrichment — crawl corporate sites to enrich records with emails, departments and firmographic details.
  • Geo-targeted local lead lists — segment prospects by city, region or country using granular geo targeting for hyper-local outreach.
  • Competitor customer research — analyze public reviews, listings and directory presence to map a competitor's customer base and market footprint.

The bottom line

For lead generation in 2026, the winning stack pairs a clean residential or ISP pool with strong geo targeting and a scraper API for the most protected directories, maps and professional networks. Bright Data, Oxylabs and Decodo lead on block-resistance and tooling, with SOAX and NetNut close behind for local-business precision and speed. Whichever provider you choose, scrape only public business data, respect each site's terms, and stay mindful of GDPR, CCPA and similar privacy obligations when collecting and storing contact information for outreach.

About the review team

Devansh Rao
Author Devansh Rao
Editor — Scraping APIs & AI Tools · 5+ yrs

Devansh covers the AI-native scraping stack — Firecrawl, ScrapingBee, Zyte, Apify, Bright Data Web Unblocker — and the LLM/MCP integration angle.

Scraping APIsAI agentsLangChainLlamaIndex
Helena Björk
Fact-checker Helena Björk
Compliance & Data-Sourcing Editor · 9+ yrs

Helena audits the consent, KYC, and ISO-certification posture of every provider in our directory and writes the procurement-grade reviews.

Vendor riskISO 27001ISO 27701SOC 2

FAQ

Is it legal to use proxies for lead generation scraping? +
Scraping publicly available business data is generally permissible in many jurisdictions, and proxies themselves are legal tools. However, you must respect each site's terms of service and handle any personal data in compliance with GDPR, CCPA and similar laws — including lawful basis, opt-outs and data retention. Stick to public information and consult legal counsel for your specific outreach use case.
Should I use residential or datacenter proxies for lead generation? +
Residential and ISP proxies are strongly preferred for lead generation. Directories, Google Maps and professional networks aggressively block datacenter IP ranges, causing high failure rates. Residential and static ISP IPs are real, trusted addresses that pass anti-bot checks and sustain large scraping jobs. Datacenter proxies only work for unprotected, simple targets and are rarely worth the ban risk on lead-gen sources.
Can I scrape Google Maps for local-business leads with proxies? +
Yes. Proxies with city-level geo targeting let you collect public Google Maps listings — names, addresses, phone numbers, ratings and hours — for specific regions. Residential IPs plus a scraper API help bypass rate limits and anti-bot defenses. Scrape only publicly displayed data, respect Google's terms, and avoid collecting personal data beyond what's publicly listed for businesses.
Why do I need geo targeting for lead generation proxies? +
Local-business data is geo-walled — directories and maps surface different listings depending on the requesting IP's location. City and state-level geo targeting lets you pull accurate, region-specific results and build hyper-local lead lists. Without it, you'd see listings tied to the proxy's default location rather than the markets you actually want to prospect.
How much do lead generation proxies cost? +
Pricing is typically per gigabyte. Premium residential pools run roughly $3.45 to $5.04/GB from providers like Bright Data, Oxylabs, Decodo and NetNut, with volume discounts at scale. Budget-friendly options like IPRoyal (around $1.75/GB) and Webshare (from $0.99/GB) lower costs for high-volume directory scraping where extreme block-resistance is less critical.