Shifter Review
The deepest pool, the widest network spread and the lowest rate we measured.
The short version
- Shifter served 390,093 live IPs across five countries, the deepest of the seventeen networks measured and 27% more than the next largest.
- Its 2,721 distinct operators are the widest spread in the series, ahead of Decodo, Oxylabs and Webshare.
- Responses of 377 ms to 463 ms, averaging 431 ms, make it the second quickest network we have measured.
- It covered 15,403 cities across the five countries, within 3% of the widest city coverage tested.
- At $0.75 per GB it is the joint cheapest published rate, and the ladder falls from $2.00 without a sales call.
At a glance
What we measured
Our own side, re-measured on 7 October 2026 with the identical method every competitor was measured on: same request volumes, concurrency and destination, from the same machine.
| Country | Live IPs | Networks | Cities | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 212,212 | 1,828 | 5,805 | 427 ms |
| United Kingdom | 60,487 | 166 | 1,970 | 447 ms |
| France | 49,449 | 147 | 4,563 | 443 ms |
| Canada | 45,517 | 308 | 1,247 | 377 ms |
| Germany | 22,428 | 272 | 1,818 | 463 ms |
This is our own network
Shifter publishes this benchmark series, so treat the verdict accordingly. What is worth your attention is the method rather than the opinion: every network here, ours included, received the identical test from the same machine, ours re-run on 7 October 2026 with the same settings, and the figures below are the same ones the competitor pages compare against.
The rubric is unchanged for this page. Six of the eight criteria are calculated from measurements normalised across the whole field, which is why Rayobyte outscores us on response time and why our own score is not a ten. If you want to check any of it, the method is published on every benchmark page and the test is reproducible with a few hundred lines of code.
Where the network is strongest
Pool depth and network spread are the clearest results. Across five countries Shifter served 390,093 live IPs, 27% more than Webshare at 306,410, and drew from 2,721 distinct operators, ahead of Decodo at 2,284 and Oxylabs at 2,283. Anti-bot systems key on the network an address belongs to rather than the address itself, so the same pool size spread across more operators is harder to fingerprint.
Latency follows. Responses ran 377 ms in Canada to 463 ms in Germany, averaging 431 ms, the second quickest set of timings in the series, with only Rayobyte about 50 ms quicker. Several networks charging about three times as much answered two to six times slower.
City coverage came to 15,403 distinct cities across the five countries, within 3% of the widest measured, which matters when targets key on local signals rather than country alone.
Where it does not lead
On raw pool count Shifter led in four of five countries. Germany is the exception: Shifter returned 22,428 live German addresses against 25,202 from Webshare, 23,804 from Oxylabs and 23,580 from Decodo, so they led by 12%, 6% and 5%.
Those gaps are real and they are published on the pages concerned. Pool depth and network spread are different things, though: in Germany Shifter drew from 272 operators against 188 for Webshare, 183 for Oxylabs and 179 for Decodo.
Other honest gaps. Rayobyte answered about 50 ms quicker on average, Webshare, Decodo and Oxylabs covered slightly more cities, DataImpulse sells genuine pay as you go with no plan, which we do not offer, and SOAX targets specific carriers more precisely than we do. If any of those is what your work needs, they are the better fit.
Pricing, and why the ladder matters
Shifter starts at $2.00 per GB on a 5 GB plan, reaches $1.00 at 50 GB and falls to $0.75 from 200 GB. Every rate is published; none of it requires a sales conversation.
That last point does more work than the headline number. Several networks quote an attractive best rate that turns out to need a four-figure monthly commitment: Oxylabs $2.50 needs $2,500 a month, SOAX $0.85 needs $3,000, Evomi $2.20 needs 5 TB. Compared at 100 GB, a volume real buyers actually purchase, the market sits between $2.25 and $5.50 while Shifter is $1.00.
The company has been trading since 2012, which in a market where brands appear and disappear inside a year counts for something on its own.
Pricing
| Plan | Traffic | Per GB | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | 5 GB | $2.00 | $10 |
| Starter | 50 GB | $1.00 | $50 |
| Basic | 100 GB | $1.00 | $100 |
| Business | 200 GB | $0.75 | $149 |
| Growth | 400 GB | $0.75 | $299 |
Pros and cons
- Deepest live pool measured: 390,093 IPs across five countries
- Widest network spread measured: 2,721 operators across five countries
- Second quickest in the series, 377 ms to 463 ms, averaging 431 ms
- Joint cheapest published rate at $0.75/GB, with every tier published
- Trading since 2012 in a market with frequent closures
- Behind Webshare, Oxylabs and Decodo on German pool count, by 5% to 12%
- About 50 ms slower than Rayobyte on average response time
- No pay as you go option, unlike DataImpulse
- Carrier-level targeting is less precise than SOAX
Who Shifter is for
- You need network diversity rather than raw address count, which is what most anti-bot systems key on.
- Latency matters, on interactive work or anything with a queue waiting.
- You want the rate to fall as volume grows, without negotiating for it.
- You need the single deepest German pool at any price, where Webshare, Oxylabs and Decodo measured 5% to 12% ahead.
- You want pay as you go with no plan, which DataImpulse offers and we do not.
- You need a specific carrier or ASN targeted, which SOAX handles more precisely.
How we scored it
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live pool measured | 25% | 10 | 390,093 IPs live across five countries, against the tested field. |
| Network spread measured | 20% | 10 | 2,721 distinct networks across five countries. |
| Price per GB measured | 25% | 10 | $0.75 per GB from 200 GB. A 100 GB buyer pays $1.00 and the 5 GB entry plan is $2.00, all published without a sales call. |
| Response time measured | 10% | 9.8 | 431 ms average across the countries tested. |
| Country coverage | 10% | 10 | 195+ countries advertised, scaled against full global coverage. |
| Features | 5% | 9 | HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5, unlimited concurrency, rotating and sticky sessions, country, state, city and ASN targeting on one gateway for every country. No HTTP3, and no carrier-level targeting. |
| Transparency | 5% | 9.5 | Whole price ladder published with no sales gate, a free trial, and this benchmark series publishing the countries where competitors beat us. |