Shifter vs Byteful
A more reliable Byteful alternative. In our own five country benchmark Shifter served more live residential IPs than Byteful everywhere, completed a far higher share of requests, and runs from $0.75/GB against Byteful's $1.75 floor.
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Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Shifter | Byteful |
|---|---|---|
| Live IPs measured (US) | 136,667 | 117,330 |
| Live IPs measured (UK) | 53,506 | 35,595 |
| Starting Price | $2.00/GB | $3.25/GB |
| Best Price | $0.75/GB | $1.75/GB |
| Protocols | HTTP / HTTPS / SOCKS5 | HTTP / HTTPS / SOCKS5 |
| Geo-Targeting | City-level (195+ countries) | Country and city level |
| IP Rotation | Per-request + Sticky sessions | Per-request + Sticky sessions |
| Bandwidth Expiry | Monthly plans, no expiry on top-ups | No expiry |
| Customer Support | 24/7 on all plans | Business hours |
Pricing Comparison (per GB)
| Volume | ShifterUp to 71% OFF | Byteful | You Save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | $10 for 5 GB ($2.00/GB) | $3.25/GB | 38% |
| Mid-Volume (~100 GB) | $100 ($1.00/GB) | ~$2.50/GB | 60% |
| Scale (200 GB+) | $149 ($0.75/GB) | $1.75/GB floor | 57% |
We counted the live residential IPs Shifter and Byteful each served across five countries, under an identical test. See the numbers and the method.
Our full write-up of Byteful: what the pool, pricing and gateway behaviour add up to, scored on the same rubric as every network we tested.
Why use Shifter residential proxies?
More Live IPs in Every Country We Tested
Our benchmark counted the IPs each network actually had online. Shifter served 16.5% more in the United States, 50.3% more in the United Kingdom and 65.5% more in France. The full method and per country tables are published at /benchmark/byteful.
A Far Higher Share of Requests Completed
Byteful returned the weakest reliability of any provider in our test, completing between 74.4% and 92% of requests depending on country. Every failed request is a retry your crawler has to pay for twice.
Wider Network Spread
Shifter drew its addresses from noticeably more autonomous systems in all five markets. Anti-bot systems fingerprint the network an address sits on, so spread across ASNs protects a crawl more than raw address count.
Cheaper at Both Ends of the Ladder
Byteful starts at $3.25/GB and bottoms out at $1.75. Shifter starts at $2.00 and falls to $0.75, so you pay less whether you are testing with five gigabytes or running a few hundred a month.
Published, Repeatable Numbers
We publish the method, the sample sizes and the per country results so you can run the same test yourself. Most providers, Byteful included, publish only a headline pool figure.
Simple, transparent pricing
Fixed monthly plans with included bandwidth. No hidden fees. Scale as your usage grows.
Frequently asked FAQ questions
Common questions about switching from Byteful to Shifter.
In our August 2026 benchmark Shifter served more live residential IPs than Byteful in all five countries tested, with margins from 16.5% in the United States to 65.5% in France. Full results are at /benchmark/byteful.
Switch to a network that answers reliably
More live IPs in every country we measured, a far higher success rate, and a lower price per GB. Start with a trial and compare on your own targets.