Dedicated vs shared proxies: price, risk and when each one fits

What is a shared proxy?

A shared proxy is one IP used by several customers at the same time. The seller splits the cost of the address between them, so each pays less.

You do not see who the other users are or what they send. If one of them overloads a website, that site may slow down or refuse the IP for everyone on it. Some sellers state a fixed number of users per IP (often called semi-dedicated); others do not.

Decodo is one seller that names the type plainly: on 19 October 2026 its datacenter pricing page listed a "Shared" pay-per-IP option from $0.10 per IP, with a minimum of 100 IPs and 10 GB of traffic.

What is a dedicated proxy?

A dedicated proxy is an IP assigned to one customer for a set term. Nobody else uses it at the same time, so the traffic on it during the term is yours.

At RackProxies: Dedicated: during your rental, each IP is assigned to your account only and is not shared with other RackProxies customers. Each rental lasts 30 days from delivery. Renew from your account before the end date; keeping the same IPs after a rental ends is not guaranteed.

Dedicated does not mean new. An IPv4 address has a past, and a previous holder may have used it before your rental. If an IP does not work for your lawful use: If an IP does not work or is unusable for a lawful use, write to support: we fix it or replace it with an IP in the same country, subject to stock.

Why are shared proxies cheaper?

Shared proxies are cheaper because one IPv4 address is paid for by several customers. IPv4 is scarce and leased, so the address itself is the main cost.

The gap shows on the same seller's page. On 19 October 2026, Oxylabs listed its dedicated datacenter proxies at $2 per IP up to 15 IPs, $1.75 up to 57, $1.45 up to 344 and $1.20 from 2,080 IPs. On the same page, its separate pay-per-IP datacenter option, which is not the dedicated product, started at $1 per IP up to 30 IPs, then $0.90 up to 111, $0.80 up to 625 and $0.60 from 4,170 IPs. Decodo listed dedicated datacenter IPs from $2.50 per IP and shared pay-per-IP from $0.10.

When is a shared proxy enough?

A shared proxy is enough when the job is light, short and not tied to the IP's identity:

• One-off checks of public pages.
• Tests of a script before you buy dedicated IPs.
• Tasks where a refused request can simply be retried on another IP.

A shared proxy is the wrong choice when you need to allowlist the address, when per-IP rate limits matter, or when another user's traffic could harm your job.

When do you need a dedicated proxy?

You need a dedicated proxy when the IP itself must be trusted, stable or predictable:

• Allowlisting. Partner APIs, B2B dashboards and firewalls that accept only known IPs. See allowlisted API access.
• Steady monitoring. Price monitoring and rank tracking that run every day from the same addresses.
• Your own services. Uptime and latency checks where an unknown co-user would skew results.

The how many proxies guide helps you size the list.

How much do dedicated proxies cost at RackProxies?

RackProxies sells dedicated IPs only, per IP for 30 days: $1.29 for 1 IP, $12.69 for 10, $33.75 for 50 and $59.25 for 100, as of October 2026. The price per IP never rises with quantity. Shared IPs from other sellers can cost less per IP. We do not claim to be the cheapest at any volume. The full dated market table is in the price index.