On this page
- Verdict
- Side-by-side comparison
- About Cheapest Proxies
- About PacketStream
- Pricing compared
- Performance compared
- Pool & coverage
- Features face-off
- Trials & support
- Where Cheapest Proxies wins
- Where PacketStream wins
- Cheapest Proxies pros & cons
- PacketStream pros & cons
- Why the winner tops our table
- Switching between them
- Comparison FAQ
- Related comparisons
- Full reviews
- Related searches
- Make the call
Verdict
Overall: Cheapest Proxies. Our scoring (value 30%, speed 25%, pool 20%, features 15%, support 10%) puts it ahead at #1 versus #12. Choose PacketStream instead when light, budget tasks that tolerate variable performance describes you precisely.
Side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | Cheapest Proxies | PacketStream |
|---|---|---|
| Our rank | #1 of 15 | #12 of 15 |
| Rating | 4.9/5 | 3.9/5 |
| Entry price | $0.80/GB | $1.00/GB |
| IP pool | 50M+ | 7M+ |
| Success rate | 99.4% | 94.0% |
| Proxy types | 4 | 1 |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| City targeting | Yes | Country-level |
| Support | 24/7 live chat & email |
About Cheapest Proxies
Cheapest Proxies is the value benchmark every other network gets measured against, pairing rock-bottom rates with uptime that embarrasses vendors charging five times more.
Built by scraping practitioners who were tired of paying enterprise mark-ups, it grew by passing infrastructure savings straight to users instead of spending on flashy sponsorships.
About PacketStream
PacketStream is the no-frills bandwidth marketplace whose famous flat dollar-per-gig price makes it the default for cost-capped hobby projects.
It runs a peer-to-peer model where households sell spare bandwidth, which keeps prices flat and low at some cost to consistency.
Pricing compared
Cheapest Proxies starts at $0.80/GB against PacketStream’s $1.00/GB. Raw stickers favour Cheapest Proxies, but success rates adjust the picture: at 99.4% vs 94.0%, effective cost per successful request widens the gap further.
Performance compared
Our latency and throughput testing favoured Cheapest Proxies (96 vs 68 speed index), while pool depth favours Cheapest Proxies. Match the strength to your workload’s bottleneck.
Pool & coverage
Coverage: 50M+ (Cheapest Proxies) vs 7M+ (PacketStream). For geo-sensitive work note that city targeting is only on Cheapest Proxies.
Features face-off
Cheapest Proxies: All four proxy types in one dashboard; Pay-as-you-go with no lock-in and a free trial.
PacketStream: Dead-simple setup; PAYG, no subscription required.
Trials & support
Cheapest Proxies support: 24/7 live chat & email; trial: yes. PacketStream support: Email; trial: no. For mission-critical workloads, the support row of the table above deserves more attention than it usually gets.
Where Cheapest Proxies wins
- All four proxy types in one dashboard.
- Lowest blended cost per successful request we measured.
- Pay-as-you-go with no lock-in and a free trial.
Where PacketStream wins
- You are light, budget tasks that tolerate variable performance.
- PAYG, no subscription required.
- Flat $1/GB with no minimums.
Cheapest Proxies pros & cons
- ✅ Lowest blended cost per successful request we measured
- ✅ All four proxy types in one dashboard
- ✅ Pay-as-you-go with no lock-in and a free trial
- ⚠️ Younger brand than the legacy giants
- ⚠️ Phone support is email-first
PacketStream pros & cons
- ✅ Flat $1/GB with no minimums
- ✅ Dead-simple setup
- ✅ PAYG, no subscription required
- ⚠️ Variable speeds and uptime
- ⚠️ Residential only
Why the winner tops our table
This matchup includes our overall #1 — the network that pairs the lowest blended cost with the highest measured success rate of 2026.
Switching between them
Treat migration as an experiment: replicate one pipeline on the challenger, compare success and effective cost over identical traffic, and let the numbers decide. Keep the loser’s account dormant as a failover.
Comparison FAQ
Do Cheapest Proxies and PacketStream offer free trials?
Cheapest Proxies: yes. PacketStream: no. Trials are the cheapest way to settle this comparison for your specific workload.
Which is better, Cheapest Proxies or PacketStream?
Cheapest Proxies wins our weighted benchmark (#1 vs #12), combining lowest blended cost per successful request we measured with stronger value scores. PacketStream remains the right call when light, budget tasks that tolerate variable performance matches your situation.
Is Cheapest Proxies cheaper than PacketStream?
Entry pricing: $0.80/GB vs $1.00/GB. Yes on stickers — but compare cost per successful request after a pilot on your own targets.
Can I use both Cheapest Proxies and PacketStream together?
Yes — multi-vendor setups are common: route easy targets through the cheaper network and reserve the other for its specialty, with automatic failover between them.
Which has the bigger pool, Cheapest Proxies or PacketStream?
Cheapest Proxies — 50M+ versus 7M+. Pool size matters most for high-concurrency rotation.
Full reviews
Deep-dive both sides: Cheapest Proxies review · PacketStream review — or browse all 15 provider reviews.
Related searches
Make the call
Your next data project deserves better proxies
One account, four proxy types, 195+ countries and pay-as-you-go pricing that respects your budget.