A public rate is the minimum to start a test
When a provider won't show a rate without a sales call, you can't price a capped test. You're waiting on a quote before you know whether the experiment is worth running. That's fine for enterprise procurement with volume commitments and custom legal terms. It's the wrong default for self-serve work where you need to run 5 GB or 20 GB and see what you get.
The useful minimum is: posted unit price, billing unit (GB or IP), and a clear statement of what the meter counts. Everything else is secondary until the first invoice confirms the posted rate matches the meter.
Price a failed test before pricing production
Run a small capped test before estimating a full month. A failed run still shows real meter behavior — you'll know what the provider counted versus what your app counted, which is the only number that matters for the next budget.
| Test | Test math | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 10 GB volume residential | 10 × $0.89 = $8.90 | Pool fit and country routing |
| 10 GB premium residential | 10 × $5.00 = $50.00 | Whether the extra filters justify the rate |
| Static ISP block | per-IP, unlimited bandwidth | Session stability on sticky targets |
That table gives each test a dollar ceiling before the first request fires. If you have to ask sales for those same numbers, the buying process has already consumed time that should have gone to the test.
The provider meter counts more than your app does
App counters track the responses you kept. The provider meter tracks every byte that crossed the proxy: redirect chains, challenge pages, failed responses, and retries — including work your app later discards.
If your local log says 0.9 GB and the provider meter says 1.2 GB, the bill uses 1.2 GB. Plan on the provider number.
403and429responses transfer bytes and count against the meter.407is setup breakage — fix credentials before running volume, not a normal cost to absorb.- Redirects and retries accumulate fast on poorly targeted requests.
The Proxynade dashboard network logs show host, outcome, latency, and byte totals per request. Exporting usage as CSV and comparing it to your app's saved-row count is the quickest way to see where bytes are going.
Hidden pricing hides more than the rate
Sometimes opaque pricing reflects enterprise packaging. Often it creates room to quote you personally — which can conceal minimum commits, plan gates, region surcharges, or support tiers that never appear on the page.
A cheap pool that can't connect still wastes money, so price alone isn't the comparison. A public rate makes the comparison possible because you can put the billing unit beside the failure rate, the retry count, and the number of useful rows you actually kept. That ratio — cost per kept result — is the number that matters across tests.
Proxynade posted rates
These are the current posted starting rates. Bandwidth-billed products charge per transferred byte; Static ISP is pay-per-IP with unlimited bandwidth.
| Product | Posted price | Billing unit |
|---|---|---|
| Volume Residential | $0.89/GB | Transferred bytes |
| Premium Residential | $5.00/GB | Transferred bytes |
| Static ISP | Per-IP | Unlimited bandwidth per IP |
| Bare-metal servers | Monthly / quarterly / semi-annual | Fixed term |
Use the posted rate to set a test budget. Use the provider meter for actual spend — it will be higher than your app's count on any run with retries or blocks.
Billed GB vs kept rows is the real check
After a capped test, compare provider-billed GB against the rows your pipeline kept. A high billed-to-kept ratio usually points at bad targeting, excessive retries, or a pool that doesn't fit the target — not the per-GB rate. Fixing the ratio cuts more cost than negotiating the unit price.
Proxy pricing FAQ
Why does the provider meter show more bytes than my app logged? The provider counts every byte that crossed the proxy: redirects, challenge pages, failed responses, and retries. Your app typically counts only the responses it kept.
What does a 407 response mean on a bandwidth-billed proxy? 407 comes from the proxy itself and means authentication failed. Fix credentials before running a test; 407s are setup breakage, not normal spend.
How do I set a cost cap before running a proxy test? Take the posted per-GB rate, multiply by your planned GB, and treat the result as the ceiling. A 10 GB volume residential test at $0.89/GB costs $8.90 maximum if you stop at 10 GB.
Why does hidden pricing make testing harder? Without a public rate you can't price a capped test before running it. You end up waiting on a quote before you know whether the experiment is worth the spend.