IPRoyal and ProxyEmpire both serve mid-market scraping teams without compliance certifications and both offer non-expiring residential billing. That shared baseline removes billing friction as a differentiator and surfaces a targeting inversion: ProxyEmpire documents ASN targeting on rotating residential proxies, IPRoyal does not. IPRoyal publishes per-country IP counts and documents sticky sessions at up to 7 days; ProxyEmpire caps sticky sessions at 60 minutes.

IPRoyal backs its pool with per-country IP counts — US: 4.2M+, India: 3.7M+, China: 2.5M+ — and records a 58-second average support response time as an operational metric. ProxyEmpire backs its network with indefinite data rollover — bandwidth does not expire even after a subscription lapses — and includes VIP setup support with every plan.

Both offer non-expiring data. The choice turns on pool transparency and long sessions versus ASN residential targeting and indefinite post-lapse data permanence.

IPRoyal suits teams that value per-country IP count transparency before committing, or whose workloads require sessions that hold for hours or days. Sticky sessions documented at up to 7 days. Non-expiring PAYG without contracts. 58-second average support response documented. The limitations: ASN targeting not documented on residential, pool at 32M+, carrier targeting not documented on mobile.

ProxyEmpire suits teams whose proxy spend is irregular — bandwidth that never expires even after subscription lapses — or who need ASN targeting on residential proxies. VIP setup support included with every plan. The limitations: sticky sessions cap at 60 minutes, rotation interval changes require support contact, pool at 30M+, no compliance certifications.

IPRoyal's philosophy is that the proxy provider relationship should be legible at every stage. Per-country IP counts published as specific figures let teams verify pool coverage before purchasing. Sticky sessions documented at up to 7 days eliminate re-authentication overhead for long-running workloads. Non-expiring PAYG removes billing-cycle pressure. The 58-second average support response is documented as an operational fact.

ProxyEmpire's philosophy is that purchased proxy bandwidth should retain its value indefinitely — not just across billing cycles but after a subscription lapses entirely. ASN targeting at no extra cost extends routing precision to network-operator level. VIP setup support with every plan ensures onboarding assistance is not tiered. Rotation intervals from 1 to 60 minutes are available via support contact.

You gain pool transparency and long-duration sticky sessions with IPRoyal. You give up ASN residential targeting and post-lapse data permanence. With ProxyEmpire, the trade runs in reverse — you gain ASN targeting and indefinite data permanence, and pool transparency and 7-day sessions become unavailable.

IPRoyal's residential pool is provider-reported at 32M+ IPs across 195 countries. Per-country counts published: US 4.2M+, India 3.7M+, China 2.5M+, UK 2.0M+, Germany 2.0M+, France 1.9M+. Country, state, ZIP, and city targeting confirmed. ASN targeting not documented. Sticky session TTL up to 7 days and explicitly documented. Mobile 4.5M+ IPs; carrier targeting not documented. ISP static in 31+ countries. Datacenter dedicated-only in 50+ countries with 99.9% uptime.

ProxyEmpire's rotating residential pool is provider-reported at 30M+ IPs across 170+ countries. Country, region, city, ISP, and ASN targeting confirmed at no extra cost. Sticky sessions cap at 60 minutes with average 15-minute duration. Rotation intervals 1 to 60 minutes via support contact. Mobile proxies 5M+ IPs across 170+ countries with carrier targeting. Static residential in 21 listed countries; country-level targeting only.

IPRoyal supports IP whitelist alongside credential-based access. Two-factor authentication available. Sticky sessions hold up to 7 days. Dashboard monitoring for datacenter proxies. HTTP/S and SOCKS5 confirmed. Sub-user management not documented.

ProxyEmpire includes VIP setup support with every plan. HTTP/S and SOCKS5 confirmed; UDP not documented. Rotation interval configurable 1 to 60 minutes via support contact — self-service not documented. API endpoints referenced but rate limits and full documentation not published.

IPRoyal's residential PAYG traffic is non-expiring. No contracts required. Bulk discounts at higher volumes. Datacenter billed per IP per month. ISP billed per IP. Mobile unlimited traffic plans monthly. No free tier.

ProxyEmpire bills rotating residential per GB with indefinite data rollover — bandwidth does not expire even after subscription lapses. Low-cost trial available. No free tier. Rollover terms for mobile and static residential should be verified before committing.

Per-country IP count transparency, sticky sessions up to 7 days, non-expiring PAYG, or a documented sub-minute support response time are priorities. IPRoyal fits.

ASN targeting on residential proxies, data that never expires even after subscription lapses, or VIP setup support at every plan tier are priorities. ProxyEmpire fits.

You gain pool transparency and long-duration sessions with IPRoyal. You give up ASN targeting and post-lapse data permanence. With ProxyEmpire, the trade runs in reverse — you gain ASN targeting and indefinite data permanence, and pool transparency and 7-day sessions become unavailable.

Neither holds compliance certifications — teams with those requirements should look elsewhere in this set.

Ask whether per-country IP count transparency matters before committing — or whether your workload requires sessions that hold for hours or days. If yes to either, IPRoyal's transparency and 7-day sessions are the fit, and the absence of ASN targeting is the constraint.

Ask whether ASN-level routing on residential proxies is a hard requirement — or whether your proxy usage involves long inactive periods where post-lapse data permanence matters. If yes to either, ProxyEmpire addresses those directly, and the 60-minute session ceiling and support-contact-only rotation are the trade-offs.

If your requirement is pool transparency and long-duration sessions — IPRoyal. If your requirement is ASN targeting and indefinite data permanence — ProxyEmpire.