Quick answer
What is the difference between ISP and residential proxies?
An ISP proxy is a fixed IP registered to a consumer provider such as AT&T or Comcast but hosted in a data center; a residential proxy routes traffic through real home connections and usually changes IP. ISP proxies are faster and stable, billed per IP: PinnedIP charges $2.03 per US IP for 30 days (October 2026), no KYC, crypto only.
ISP vs residential proxies at a glance
| ISP proxy (static) | Residential proxy (rotating) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the IP | A consumer internet provider (AT&T, Comcast, Verizon…) | A consumer internet provider |
| Where the traffic exits | A server in a data center | A real home device on a home connection |
| Does the IP change? | No: fixed for the rental | Yes: per connection or per session |
| Speed and uptime | Data-center speed, always on | Varies with the home device and its connection |
| Billing | Per IP and per period | Per gigabyte of traffic |
| Best for | Allowlists, repeated checks from one address, long sessions | Many short requests across many addresses |
| Looks like a household? | By its registration, not by its behaviour | Yes: it is a household connection |
| Ethics of supply | Leased address space, no end users involved | Depends on device owners’ consent |
When is an ISP proxy the better choice?
Choose an ISP proxy when the same address matters more than the number of addresses:
- a partner, supplier or internal tool needs one IP on its allowlist;
- you repeat the same check every day and want changes to come from the site, not from a new IP;
- a login session must last hours without the IP changing under it;
- you need steady speed for large pages or downloads.
On PinnedIP each US IP is dedicated for 30 days and includes HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5, from $2.03.
When is a residential proxy the better choice?
Choose rotating residential proxies when you need many different addresses for many short requests, or traffic that comes from real household connections, for example to see a page exactly as a home visitor in a given ZIP code sees it. They are billed per GB, so they suit light pages better than heavy downloads. PinnedIP does not sell rotating residential traffic: it rents static US ISP IPs only.
Why do vendors call ISP proxies "static residential"?
Because the address belongs to a provider that also serves homes, so IP-type databases often label it residential. The label is about registration, not about the connection. A site that only checks the IP owner sees a consumer provider; a site that also checks behaviour, browser time zone or network latency can see a server. We use the honest name and explain it on static residential proxies.
How do prices compare?
They are billed differently, so compare by workload. A dedicated US ISP IP costs $2.03 for 30 days here, with no per-GB charge; on October 19, 2026, other vendors published $2.60 to $5.00 per dedicated IP per month (price index). A residential proxy charges every gigabyte, so a workload of a few gigabytes a month can cost less on residential, while heavy or always-on traffic usually costs less on a fixed ISP IP.
ISP vs residential: FAQ
Are ISP proxies detected more easily than residential proxies?
Sites that only read the IP owner see a consumer provider in both cases. Sites that look deeper can notice that an ISP proxy sits in a data center and stays on the same address. Whether that matters depends on the site and on what you do there.
Are ISP proxies legal?
Renting a proxy IP is legal in the United States; what you do through it must be legal too and follow our acceptable use policy. Online banking, government and payment portals are blocked on every IP. This is not legal advice.
Can an ISP proxy target a ZIP code?
No. An ISP proxy is one fixed address; its city comes from geolocation databases. ZIP-level targeting is a feature of rotating residential pools.
Is a mobile proxy an ISP proxy?
No. A mobile proxy exits through a carrier’s 4G or 5G network, usually behind shared carrier addresses. An ISP proxy is a fixed address of a fixed-line provider hosted in a data center.