# Smartproxy vs Bright Data: which do AI models recommend for proxy and web data, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Proxy and web data providers. Four of fourteen models named Smartproxy first on the direct prompt; one named Bright Data. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/it-data/proxy-networks/smartproxy-vs-bright-data/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smartproxy | 15% | #2 of 11 | 5% | 21 | 12 of 14 |
| Bright Data | 7% | #5 of 11 | 25% | 52 | 14 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Gemini 3.5 Flash: smartproxy first (first choices: SOAX, Smartproxy) (alternatives: Bright Data, NetNut, NodeMaven, Oxylabs, SimplyNode)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: smartproxy first (first choices: Smartproxy) (alternatives: Oxylabs, SOAX)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: smartproxy first (first choices: Smartproxy) (alternatives: Bright Data, Oxylabs, SOAX, Webshare)
- MiniMax M2.5: smartproxy first (first choices: Rayobyte, Smartproxy) (alternatives: Oxylabs)
- GPT-5.4 mini: bright data first (first choices: Bright Data, Oxylabs) (alternatives: Decodo, NetNut, SOAX)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Decodo, Oxylabs) (alternatives: Bright Data, SOAX)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: Bright Data, Oxylabs)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: Oxylabs, Proxy-Seller)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: Oxylabs, SOAX)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: Oxylabs, ProxyWing)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: Infatica, Oxylabs, ProxyWing)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: Oxylabs)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: DataImpulse, SOAX)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither named (first choices: Decodo) (alternatives: Infatica, SOAX)

## What the models said about Smartproxy

- "free tiers from providers like Luminati or Smartproxy, but these often come with limitations in terms of speed and IP pool size" (Mistral Small, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "For most mid-market B2B companies, Smartproxy (Decodo) offers the best combination of network quality, feature set, and pricing" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, direct prompt, first choice)
- "For most mid-market B2B companies, Smartproxy (Decodo) offers the best combination of features, pricing, and ease of use" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, direct prompt, first choice)
- "I recommend focusing on providers like Smartproxy or Rayobyte due to their mid-market positioning" (MiniMax M2.5, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Bright Data

- "Avoid Enterprise-Only Providers (Bright Data, Oxylabs) unless you have enterprise-level budgets" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, hard negative)
- "Pricing Shocks: There are multiple reported instances where automated scraping agents consumed entire bandwidth quotas in one afternoon" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Premium enterprise providers like Bright Data and Oxylabs are generally better for large budgets, not limited ones." (Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt, soft negative)
- "Bright Data: Largest network (~72-400M+ residential IPs, 195+ countries). Enterprise-focused with advanced tools like Web Scraper API, SERP API, datasets, and unblockers." (Grok 4.1 Fast, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "the best default choice is usually a datacenter proxy network ... Bright Data's current pricing page, for example, shows datacenter plans starting at $0.90/IP" (GPT-5.4 mini, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Bright Data, IPRoyal, and FloppyData are most often considered the best providers in 2025 thanks to their extensive pool of IP addresses" (Claude Haiku 4.5, comparative prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.