Per-gigabyte or per-modem: how mobile proxy pricing works
Per-gigabyte pricing suits short bursts across many IPs. A dedicated line suits steady traffic through one IP, because you pay for the connection, not the bytes. The break-even is lower than most people think.
There are two ways to buy a proxy. Rotating pools charge per gigabyte of traffic. Dedicated lines charge per device per day or month, with unlimited traffic. Which is cheaper depends on one thing: how much you push through a single IP.
They are not the same product. One sells many addresses and meters the data; the other sells one address and meters nothing. Choose by the job, then compare price.
How per-gigabyte pricing behaves
You pay for data. A few megabytes costs almost nothing, so per-GB is cheap for short jobs that rotate across many addresses. Heavy, steady traffic gets expensive fast, because every repeat request is billed again.
This model also tends to rotate the IP for you. That is useful for scraping breadth and awkward for account work, where the address should stay still.
How per-modem pricing behaves
You pay for the line, not the bytes. One modem, one IP, unlimited data for the period you rent. A quiet day costs the same as a heavy one, which is the point: you are buying the connection, not metering it.
On this service a plan is one dedicated EU 4G modem per customer, sold in 24-hour, 7-day, and 30-day terms. There is no per-GB meter. See dedicated mobile proxy plans.
The break-even
Find the monthly cost of the dedicated line and divide it by the per-GB rate. That gives the number of gigabytes at which the line wins. Push more than that through one IP in a month and per-GB costs more.
The comparison is not always fair. Per-GB pools spread traffic across many IPs; a dedicated line is one address. If your job needs many IPs, you are buying two different things.
Watch for caps and fair-use
Vendors that sell unlimited often add a fair-use threshold or a daily cap in the small print. Read it before you compare headline numbers, because a capped unlimited plan is a per-GB plan with extra steps.
A line sold by time, with no traffic meter, is the simplest version of the model: the price does not change when a heavy week arrives.
How to choose
Do the arithmetic once and the model becomes obvious. The only input that changes the answer is how many IPs you need.
- Estimate your traffic through one IP per month.
- Multiply by the per-GB rate you would pay.
- Compare that with the dedicated line price.
- If you need many IPs, price a rotating pool instead.
- If you need one stable IP, the dedicated line usually wins.
Is unlimited data really unlimited?
Check the terms. Some providers apply a fair-use threshold or a daily cap. A genuinely unlimited dedicated line bills for time, not traffic, which is what this service does.
Is per-GB cheaper for account work?
Usually not. Account sessions move little data, but you want a stable IP, not a rotating pool. A dedicated line fits account work better even when the raw traffic is small.
Can I mix the two models?
Yes. Many teams scrape through a rotating pool and keep account work on a dedicated line. The two jobs have different needs.
What happens if I hit a cap?
On a capped plan you are throttled or billed for overage. On a line sold by time, nothing changes with volume. Read the provider's terms before you buy.