Best NetNut alternatives & competitors to try in 2026

On July 2, 2026, Google, acting alongside the FBI and Lumen, shut down the NetNut residential proxy network, now also known as Popa. The operation disrupted a botnet spanning at least 2 million devices, many of them smart TVs and streaming set-top boxes that were silently enrolled through a covertly distributed SDK.

Google deactivated NetNut’s accounts used for C2 infrastructure, shared technical intelligence across the ecosystem, and triggered Google Play Protect warnings on all apps found to contain NetNut SDKs.

This is Google's second large-scale operation against residential proxy networks in 2026. In January, IPIDEA was disrupted in the same way, along with 13 brands that disappeared with it: 922 Proxy, LunaProxy, PyProxy, IP2World, PIA S5 Proxy, ABC Proxy, Cherry Proxy, and others.

That operation made it clear that white-label reselling of botnet networks is an industry-wide problem, not an isolated case. We covered the IPIDEA shutdown and 13 disrupted providers in detail here.

For thousands of teams, the takedown turned the search for NetNut alternatives from a pricing question into an urgent migration. Below, we compare seven top NetNut alternatives by proxy types they offer, pool size, pricing, compliance, and sourcing ethics.

Comparison table: top NetNut proxy alternatives at a glance

Best NetNut alternatives in 2026: 7 providers reviewed

1. Proxy-Seller: best overall NetNut alternative

Proxy-Seller is built for teams that need enterprise-grade compliance and premium support without the Tier-1 price tag. Since 2014, we’ve run proxy infrastructure under one legal entity, serving 185,000+ clients worldwide. We hold the cheapest per-IP rates among NetNut alternatives, with affordable pricing across the board. Neither IPIDEA nor NetNut takedowns affected our operations.

We run dedicated pools per customer, so block rates reflect your own request behavior, not a neighbor’s SMB scraping run. On SERP and marketplace endpoints, that translates to a 20–35% drop in cost per valid response in A/B tests. Every plan comes with premium 24/7 tech support with human engineers, no chatbots. From $1K MRR, you also get a named account manager on Slack or Telegram, with no ticket queue.

Pricing:

• Residential: from $1.3/GB (wholesale pricing from 1TB)
• ISP: from $0.45/IP
• Datacenter IPv4: from $0.49/IP; IPv6 from $0.02/IP
• Mobile: from $10/month

Compliance & sourcing:

• GDPR/CCPA compliant
• ePrivacy Directive compliant
• ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified
• DPA/SCC ready from day one
• Official user agreements for every residential IP contributor
• Trust Center release coming soon

Proxy-Seller has operated under one legal entity for over 12 years and was not implicated in either the IPIDEA or NetNut enforcement actions.

Best for: Mid-market and enterprise teams that want DPA/SCC, ISO 27001, and dedicated pools without paying Tier-1 rates. Especially teams migrating off NetNut who need provenance and an affordable price from one vendor.

2. Bright Data: NetNut alternative for compliance-heavy enterprise

Note: In June 2026, an Include Security investigation documented how smart TVs were silently enrolled as nodes in AI-scraping economies via SDK-based proxies. This report highlighted specific concerns regarding Bright Data’s iOS SDK practices. The company has not been the target of law enforcement action, but enterprise buyers should verify current SDK practices against their own risk frameworks before signing.

Bright Data is the largest player in the market by pool and compliance stack, serving 20,000+ organizations, including Fortune 500 companies. The network covers all four proxy types plus a full data platform: Web Unlocker, Scraping Browser, SERP API, and downloadable datasets for large-scale data collection and market research.

Bright Data publishes a 99.95% success rate and offers PAYG with no monthly commitment. It's also the highest entry pricing on this list, with onboarding that runs longer than self-serve alternatives and dedicated account managers reserved for high-spend accounts. Evaluation starts with a $5 signup credit and a 7-day datacenter trial.

Pricing:

• Residential: from $7/GB (subscription) / $8/GB (PAYG)
• Datacenter: from $0.51/GB
• ISP: from $1.80/IP
• Subscription plans from $499/month; 1TB+ custom-priced

• ISO 27001, SOC 2, SOC 3, CSA STAR Level 1
• Trust Center with legal agreements, security controls, and independent audits
• KYC required for residential and mobile access

The June 2026 iOS SDK case adds a caveat worth evaluating in context.

Best for: Enterprise data teams where the audit trail is a procurement requirement, and budget is not the primary constraint. For more NetNut alternatives at this tier, see our Bright Data alternatives guide.

3. Oxylabs: NetNut alternative for high-volume compliance workloads

Oxylabs is the compliance-first choice among NetNut alternatives for teams running at volume. The network covers 175M+ IPs across 195 countries with automatic IP rotation.

Oxylabs kept its product clean: residential, ISP, DC, and mobile proxies with ZIP, ASN, city, and country-level geo-targeting, plus a Web Scraper API with OxyCopilot AI for managed extraction. Every IP is pre-screened for latency and bandwidth before active rotation, delivering high success rates and low average response time even against targets running advanced anti-bot systems. The published 99.90% uptime figure is consistent with independent third-party benchmarks.

While Oxylabs targets premium clients with strict KYC requirements, NetNut users looking for better pricing may prefer Proxy-Seller’s approach. It matches budget expectations for residential and ISP tiers while offering a 24h SLA, an account manager, and consent-based sourcing documentation.

Pricing:

• Residential: from $6/GB (Starter, 5GB) to $2.50/GB (Corporate, 1TB)
• PAYG residential: $4/GB
• Datacenter: from $1.20/IP
• ISP: from $1.60/IP
• Mobile: from $7.50/GB

Compliance & sourcing: 

• ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, Lloyd's insurance
• Public KYC Policy PDF: ID verification, compliance call, and a risk questionnaire for each client; EWDCI member
• Public Trust Center with legal agreements and security controls
• Automatic monitoring for suspicious client activity
• Consent-based sourcing via documented advertising-monetization applications

Best for: Large-scale web scraping and data collection where compliance documentation and consistent success rates are the priorities. Premium pricing is justified above 10GB/month; below that threshold, other NetNut alternatives are more cost-effective.

4. IPRoyal: NetNut alternative for non-expiring residential traffic

IPRoyal solves one specific problem better than other NetNut alternatives: bandwidth that doesn't expire. Pricing scales from $7/GB at 1GB down to $1.75/GB at 500GB, with no minimum spend or subscription. That's more affordable than most other providers at comparable volume, and the traffic never resets.

Geographic targeting covers country-, state-, and city-level targeting across all proxy types via both rotating residential and static residential (ISP) proxies. The 32M+ IP pool is smaller than Tier-1 options, which matters at very high concurrency. Still, for irregular workloads, the non-expiring model and consistently high success rates on standard targets outweigh the pool size gap.

Pricing:

• Residential: from $7/GB (1GB) to $1.75/GB (500GB); traffic never expires
• Datacenter: from $1.57/IP/month
• ISP: from $2.70/IP/month
• Mobile: from $130/month

Compliance & sourcing:

• IPRoyal ethically sources residential traffic exclusively via Pawns.app, where users consciously share bandwidth for rewards and can opt out instantly in two clicks.
• A publicly published Residential Proxy Sourcing Documentation PDF is available.
• The platform is fully GDPR- and CCPA-compliant, implementing client KYC and 24/7 pool monitoring.

Best for: Teams with irregular workloads where the non-expiring model saves more than deeper pools would, making it one of the few NetNut alternatives built for that use case. See also our IPRoyal alternatives guide.

5. Webshare: no-commitment entry point among NetNut alternatives

The free Webshare plan gives you 10 datacenter proxies and 1 GB of data per month permanently, effectively a free trial to validate integration before committing any budget. It's the lowest-friction entry point among all NetNut alternatives here. Paid tiers cover 500,000+ data center IPs and an 80M+ residential pool, with self-service sign-up and instant credit card activation.

The gaps: no mobile proxies, no dedicated account manager, and the residential pool underperforms against targets with advanced anti-bot systems compared to Tier-1 providers.

Pricing:

• Free plan: 10 DC IPs, 1 GB/month, no expiry
• Rotating residential: from $3.50/GB
• Datacenter: from $2.99/month (100 proxies)
• Static residential (ISP): from $0.30/IP

Compliance & sourcing:

• GDPR-compliant within the Oxylabs Group (acquired 2022)
• Graded sourcing system with Tier A as the highest consent level, most of the pool at Tier A
• No standalone ISO or SOC 2 certificates, certifications inherited from Oxylabs parent

For enterprise procurement that requires its own ISO/SOC audit trail, this is a useful point to keep in mind.

Best for: Developers and smaller teams testing before they commit, or organizations with datacenter-heavy workloads that don't need mobile or enterprise support. More options in our Webshare alternatives guide.

6. DataImpulse: NetNut alternative at $1/GB flat pricing

Among NetNut alternatives, DataImpulse runs the leanest pricing model: $1/GB flat with no subscription requirement and no traffic expiry. IPRoyal also offers non-expiring traffic but starts at $7/GB for small volumes. That's a 7× difference at entry level. The minimum top-up is $5, there's no KYC, and setup takes minutes.

The 90M+ IP pool spans 195 countries, with city-, ZIP-, and ASN-level targeting. The key caveat: precision targeting (city, ZIP, ASN) is billed at 2× the standard rate, so $1/GB becomes $2/GB when you need granular geo. For high-friction targets like Google or Instagram, independent benchmarks show lower success rates than most other NetNut proxy alternatives on this list.

Pricing:

• Residential: $1/GB flat; $0.80/GB at 1TB+
• Datacenter: $0.50/GB
• Mobile: $2/GB
• Premium residential: $5/GB (higher success rate pool)
• Minimum entry: $5; 7-day refund on first purchase (under 80% used)

Compliance & sourcing:

• ISO 27001 certification obtained in 2024 via independent external audit, notable for a low-cost provider
• First-party, ethically sourced IPs with full opt-in consent, clear user compensation, and GDPR-aligned public DPA
• Strong compliance posture for the price tier, with the main gap being the lack of SOC 2 certification

Best for: Teams collecting public web data at scale where cost per GB is the binding constraint and workloads don't run primarily on high-friction targets. Not the right fit for procurement-gated enterprise buyers who need SOC 2.

7. SOAX: NetNut alternative for rotation depth and bundled plans

SOAX offers a massive pool of 191M+ IPs across 195+ countries, with all four proxy types under a single subscription. For teams managing separate residential, mobile, ISP, and data center budgets, consolidated billing alone simplifies operations. The pool is actively filtered: flagged or overused IPs are removed before reaching rotation, which keeps success rates consistent on targets that penalize stale addresses.

Higher-tier plans include a Web Unblocker and Scraping API, which puts SOAX in the same bracket as Bright Data and Oxylabs for teams that need managed extraction alongside raw proxy access. The $90/month entry floor is higher than budget NetNut alternatives, and the per-GB rate at low volume ($3.60–$4.00/GB) is less competitive than IPRoyal or DataImpulse.

Pricing:

• Starter: $90/month (25GB, $3.60/GB)
• Advanced: $170/month (50GB, $3.40/GB)
• Professional: $740/month (300GB, $2.46/GB)
• Business: $1,600/month (800GB, $2.00/GB)
• PAYG: $4/GB; 3-day trial at $1.99 (400MB)

Compliance & sourcing:

• GDPR- and CCPA-compliant, with a public KYC policy for clients
• SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications in process, not yet finalized at publication
• World Ethical Data Forum partner

The compliance positioning is legitimate, but without ISO/SOC 2 finalized, it sits between the certified and uncertified tiers on this list.

Best for: High-concurrency teams where IP freshness is the primary bottleneck, or teams that want residential, mobile, ISP, and DC under one subscription with a built-in scraping layer on higher plans.

How to choose the right NetNut alternative for your team

The right pick depends on your constraint: compliance documentation, cost per GB, pool freshness, or traffic expiry flexibility.

Top 3 enterprise-level NetNut alternatives:

• Proxy-Seller: the strongest combination of enterprise-grade compliance and mid-market pricing. ISO/IEC 27001:2022, GDPR, CCPA, and ePrivacy Directive compliant, with named account managers from $1K MRR.
• Oxylabs: ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, EWDCI membership, and a public KYC policy, with a Web Scraper API and OxyCopilot AI for managed extraction.
• Bright Data: ISO 27001, SOC 2, SOC 3, and CSA STAR Level 1, with a full data platform (Web Unlocker, Scraping Browser, SERP API, datasets); the June 2026 iOS SDK case warrants a sourcing check before signing.

Best budget and flexible NetNut alternatives:

• Proxy-Seller: residential from $1.3/GB with wholesale pricing from 1TB, plus a $1.99 3-day trial open to all users
• DataImpulse: DataImpulse: $1/GB flat, though city, ZIP, and ASN targeting billed at 2× the base rate
• Webshare: a permanent free plan with 10 datacenter proxies and 1 GB of monthly traffic

NetNut alternatives with built-in Scraping API:

• Bright Data (Web Unlocker, Scraping Browser, SERP API, datasets)
• Oxylabs (Web Scraper API with OxyCopilot AI)
• SOAX (Web Unblocker and Scraping API on higher plans)

How to vet proxy providers after the NetNut shutdown

Before committing to any of these NetNut proxy alternatives, run through these questions:

1. Is the sourcing model publicly documented (which partner application, what compensation to end users)?
2. Are there third-party audits (ISO 27001, SOC 2, EWDCI, WEDF)?
3. Has the provider operated under a single legal entity for 5+ years?
4. Was there a rebrand after 2025?

For the full vendor due diligence checklist (red flags, migration timeline, use-case guidance), read our IPIDEA breakdown article.

Choosing the right proxy provider from this list of NetNut alternatives comes down to where your constraints actually are. For most teams moving off NetNut, Proxy-Seller is the answer: dedicated pools, ethically sourced IPs, and enterprise support accessible without a $10K MRR minimum.

Ready to switch? Start a $1.99 trial or request wholesale pricing if you're running at 1TB+. Named account manager included from $1K MRR.

For a broader view of the market, see our guides on the best proxy providers and best proxy server options by use case.

FAQ

Did Google shut down NetNut?

Google didn't shut down NetNut as a company, but on July 2, 2026 it coordinated with the FBI and Lumen to disrupt NetNut's residential proxy network. The operation targeted a botnet spanning at least 2 million devices, many of them smart TVs silently enrolled via SDKs. Google deactivated the C2-related accounts and triggered Play Protect warnings on affected apps.

What are the best NetNut alternatives in 2026?

For most teams migrating off NetNut, Proxy-Seller is the pick: enterprise-grade compliance at mid-market pricing, with dedicated pools and named account managers from $1K MRR. Other strong alternatives are Bright Data and Oxylabs (Tier-1 compliance stacks), Webshare (permanent free plan), DataImpulse ($1/GB flat), IPRoyal (non-expiring bandwidth), and SOAX (bundled plans).

Are there any free NetNut alternatives?

Webshare offers a permanent free plan with 10 datacenter proxies and 1 GB of monthly traffic, enough to validate integration before committing budget. Proxy-Seller offers a $1.99 3-day trial with 500 MB, also with no verification gate. DataImpulse runs a $5 intro package with 5 GB of residential traffic, open to all users. Bright Data and Oxylabs offer 7-day trials to verified users only.

What should I look for in a NetNut alternative?

Every NetNut alternative optimizes for a different pair of constraints: compliance, cost, or flexibility. Proxy-Seller sits at the intersection of compliance and cost, which is the pair most teams migrating off NetNut are actually optimizing for. Tier-1 providers lead on the compliance stack, DataImpulse and Webshare on cost and free entry.