A money-back guarantee sounds like the safest way to buy proxies: pay, test on your own targets, and get the money back if the network does not work for you. In practice, every guarantee has conditions, and they decide whether you are covered. Before you compare residential proxy pricing, it pays to know how long you have, how much traffic you may use, and which payments are excluded.
This guide explains the conditions that matter and compares the refund terms of well-known providers, as published on their own terms pages.
The four conditions that decide every refund
Refund policies use different words, but almost all of them come down to four limits.
1. The window. The number of days after purchase in which you can ask. It ranges from 24 hours to 30 days. A short window means you need to test on day one.
2. Usage. How much of the plan you may consume and still qualify. This is usually a share of the traffic (for example 10% or 20%) or a fixed amount such as 1 GB, whichever comes first. For residential proxies, where you pay per GB, this limit matters more than the window: a serious test can use up 1 GB in an afternoon.
3. Which purchase. Most guarantees apply only to your first purchase, sometimes once per product category. Renewals, top-ups and pay-as-you-go balances are usually excluded.
4. How you paid. Cryptocurrency payments are often excluded entirely, and some regional wallets too, because the payment cannot be sent back the way it came.
A guarantee that looks generous on the pricing page can shrink quickly once these four are applied. Read them before you pay, not after.
Refund terms compared
The table below summarises what each provider states in its own terms or help pages. We checked them on 27 October 2026; providers change their terms, so confirm on their page before you buy.
| Provider | Window | Usage limit | Main exclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shifter | 3 days | Residential Proxies: full refund up to 1 GB used, then the unused part. ISP Proxies: full refund | Applies to the first purchase of a plan |
| Evomi | 30 days | Less than 1 GB or 10% of the bundle, whichever comes first | Crypto, ISP proxies, top-ups, pay-as-you-go; once per product category |
| Decodo | 14 days | Proxies: 20% of traffic or 1 GB, whichever comes first | Crypto, Enterprise plans, purchases after a free trial; first purchase only |
| DataImpulse | 7 days | Under 20% of traffic left triggers a review | Crypto; first purchase of the Intro plan only |
| Oxylabs | 3 days | 20% of the purchased services | Pay-as-you-go purchases only; not after a free trial or an earlier refund |
| Webshare | 2 days, subscription cancelled | Under 1 GB and under 1,000 proxies used (lower for rotating residential) | At Webshare’s discretion |
| IPRoyal | 24 hours | Only if the service is inactive or defective | Crypto; other refunds at its discretion |
| Bright Data | None | n/a | Terms state subscription fees are non-refundable |
| SOAX | None | n/a | Terms state plan fees and credits are non-refundable, except where law requires |
Three patterns stand out:
- A long window often comes with a small usage limit. Thirty days is generous, but 1 GB of residential traffic is a short test for any real workload.
- Crypto is the most common exclusion. If you plan to pay with crypto, assume there is no refund unless the terms say otherwise.
- A free trial and a refund are often either-or. At Oxylabs and Decodo, using a free trial first removes the right to a refund on the purchase.
How refunds work at Shifter
Shifter’s guarantee is simple to check against the four conditions:
- Window: 3 days (72 hours) from the first purchase of a plan.
- Usage: on Residential Proxies, a full refund up to 1 GB used; after that, we refund the unused part. On ISP Proxies, a full refund.
- How to ask: in live chat, with the invoice ID.
Plans are billed monthly with no long contract, so the most you commit is one month; our guide to no-contract residential proxies explains how renewals, cancellation and unused traffic work.
A refund is a safety net, not a test plan
The best protection is to test well inside the window, so you never need the refund. A short plan for the first days:
- Test on your own targets. Benchmarks and reviews tell you about averages; your sites, countries and request patterns are what count.
- Measure what you would pay for. Count successful responses, response times and blocks per target, not just whether the proxy connects.
- Watch the usage counter. Note how much traffic the test uses, so you stay under the guarantee’s limit until you decide.
- Check targeting. If you need a country or city, confirm the exit IPs land there.
- Decide early. Ask for the refund inside the window if the results are not good enough; do not wait for the last hour.
For residential proxies, a few hundred megabytes on your real targets usually tells you more than a full gigabyte of generic tests. If you are buying ISP proxies instead, our guide on how to buy ISP proxies without wasting money covers what to check per location.
What to check before you pay any provider
- Is the refund policy published on the provider’s own site, with clear conditions?
- How many days do you have, and when does the clock start?
- What usage limit applies, and is it a share of the plan or a fixed amount?
- Does a free trial, a renewal or an upgrade cancel the guarantee?
- Is your payment method covered?
- How do you ask, and where does the money go back to?
The bottom line
A money-back guarantee is only as good as its conditions. Compare the window, the usage limit, the purchases it covers and the payment methods it excludes, and test on your own targets early in the window. At Shifter you get 3 days on your first purchase, with a full refund on ISP Proxies and on Residential Proxies up to 1 GB used, then the unused part. Start at shifter.io/order.