PacketStream review

PacketStream charges $1 per GB, and residential addresses are the only type it sells, so there is nothing extra to add to the meter. The charge follows the traffic you send rather than a subscription, which suits short, measurable jobs. Size a task by estimating the data it pulls, then check the pool with a free trial before committing.

Yes, PacketStream runs a free trial, so you can sample the residential pool and see how it behaves on your target sites before spending. Pair the trial with the $1 per GB rate to work out what a full run would cost. The trial is the sensible first step for any new proxy supplier.

Residential is the whole list: the proxy types are residential. There is no ISP or datacenter line here, so if a task needs a hosted server address or a fixed carrier, this is the wrong fit. Shifter, Scrapfly and Geonode all list additional types if a mixed inventory matters.

PacketStream lists 30 countries, which covers the usual single-market scraping, ad verification and price checking work. It is a narrower map than the very large residential pools, so country specific campaigns outside those locations would need another supplier. Regional targeting still works, just inside a tighter list.

Support runs on email and help centre, so you have a help center for common questions and email for anything specific. There is no live chat or phone line listed, which matters if a job is failing mid-run and you need a person immediately. Keep your request details, including target sites, to speed replies.

PacketStream Inc. is the legal entity, and it is based in the United States. The terms of service and privacy policy are published under that name, so that is the counterparty to list on a procurement or compliance form. The residential network is the only product sold through the service, so contracts and invoices sit with a single entity.

At $1 per GB, PacketStream sits below the €0.88 for proxies in this comparison, and under the €2.19 as well. That gap matters for high-volume jobs, where the meter is the whole bill. Cheap traffic does not remove the choice problem, since the network is one type in 30 countries.

Both add proxy types PacketStream does not carry. Shifter lists residential and isp, and Geonode lists residential, isp and datacenter, so either covers ISP or datacenter work that a residential-only pool cannot. The trade is breadth of inventory against the $1 per GB rate and the 30 country map.