Shifter vs DataImpulse
Looking for a DataImpulse alternative? DataImpulse prices well and runs reliably, so this comparison comes down to coverage. Shifter served between 30% and 183% more live residential IPs across the five countries tested, drawn from substantially more networks.
Trusted by 50,000+ clients worldwide
Closer on price, further apart on coverage
Rate per GB from 200 GB a month. DataImpulse sells pay as you go from $1.00 with no subscription, which undercuts Shifter's entry plan at low volume.
| Monthly volume | Shifter | DataImpulse | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | $10 5 GB at $2.00/GB | $1.00/GB pay as you go, no subscription | not cheaper |
| 100 GB | $100 $1.00/GB | $100 $1.00/GB | level |
| 200 GB and above | $149 $0.75/GB | $200 $1.00/GB standard | 25% |
| Above 1 TB | $0.75/GB flat from 200 GB | $0.80/GB volume rate | 6% |
Live IPs online during the test
Distinct IPs each network had live and reachable at test time, not the size of its total network. Residential IPs rotate all day, so both providers serve far more addresses across 24 hours.
Every metric, country by country
Pick a country to see the complete measurement, including the numbers that did not go our way.
| Metric | Shifter | DataImpulse |
|---|---|---|
| Requests sent | 250,000 | 250,000 |
| Live IPs during the test | 136,667 | 86,976 |
| Unique networks (ASNs) | 1,606 | 967 |
| Unique cities | 5,813 | 4,513 |
| Average latency | 364 ms | 430 ms |
| Success rate | 99.8% | 99.6% |
Shifter served 57% more live US IPs than DataImpulse, 136,667 against 86,976, from 1,606 networks against 967, and answered in 364 ms against 430 ms.
How we measured this
Every request opened a fresh connection through the rotating residential gateway, then asked an IP echo service which address it came from. Because each connection draws a new exit, the count of distinct addresses shows how much of the pool was reachable.
DataImpulse and Shifter received identical request counts, the same concurrency of 1,000, a 10 second timeout and the same target, tested one after the other from one server.
Country volumes were fixed and matched across providers, from 60,000 requests in the smallest market to 250,000 in the United States, totalling 560,000 per provider.
What these numbers mean
These counts are the IPs each network had live and reachable during the test window rather than the size of its network. Residential IPs rotate constantly as real devices join and leave, so across a full day both providers serve many times what a single test observes. The number that limits a crawl is how many are online simultaneously. Sample sizes differ per country, so each country's pair of bars compares the two providers rather than the countries.
Why use Shifter residential proxies?
30% to 183% more live IPs
Shifter led coverage in all five countries, from a 30% margin in Canada to 2.8 times the live pool in Germany.
Two to three times the network spread
148 French networks against 63 and 1,606 US against 967. Blocks follow networks, so spread across autonomous systems matters as much as address count.
The gap widens in smaller markets
Germany was the clearest case, 22,005 live IPs against 7,786. Thin pools show up first outside the largest markets, which is usually where crawls start failing.
Cheaper from 200 GB
$0.75 per GB against $1.00 standard. Below that DataImpulse's pay as you go is the cheaper option, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
Frequently asked FAQ questions
Common questions about how we benchmarked DataImpulse.
Run concurrent requests through both gateways to an IP echo endpoint, opening a new connection each time, and count the distinct addresses returned. Keep the request count, machine and hour identical for both providers.
Compare the coverage on your own countries
Pool depth varies most in smaller markets. Run the same measurement where you actually crawl and see how many IPs each network has online.