# How Long Does 1GB of Residential Proxy Last?

> How long 1GB of residential proxy lasts: about 20,000 light HTML pages, 4,800 Instagram profiles or 350 browser page loads, measured. Plus what a GB is.

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# How long does 1GB of residential proxy last?

Proxies · Nov 12, 2026 · 7 min read · By [Aldo Morese](https://quanticdata.io/about/), founder of QuanticData

![How far 1 GB of residential proxy goes, measured on pages we published: about 20,000 public TikTok profiles fetched as HTML, 4,800 Instagram profiles, 2,000 retailer home pages as HTML, 515 GitHub pages loaded in a browser and 200 rendered retailer pages; the card shows about 350 full browser page loads per GB and the 30 to 360 day validity of Residential Basic packs.](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/hero.webp?v=20261112h)

On this page

- [1 GB in pages: ten pages we measured](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/#1-gb-in-pages-ten-pages-we-measured)
- [1 GB in hours and days: five everyday jobs](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/#1-gb-in-hours-and-days-five-everyday-jobs)
- [What a GB means in a residential proxy plan](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/#what-a-gb-means-in-a-residential-proxy-plan)
- [How long the gigabytes stay valid](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/#how-long-the-gigabytes-stay-valid)
- [Five ways to make 1 GB last longer](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/#five-ways-to-make-1-gb-last-longer)
- [Which residential line to put the gigabyte on](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/#which-residential-line-to-put-the-gigabyte-on)

1 GB of residential proxy lasts for about 20,000 light HTML pages, 4,800 public Instagram profiles or 350 full page loads in a browser, which is about 6 hours of browsing at one page a minute. The figures are bytes we measured and published between 3 September and 20 October 2026; the gigabytes stay valid for the plan term.

**Run it on the free credit.** Every QuanticData account gets $2 of free API usage per month.

[Start free — $2/month included](https://quanticdata.io/signup/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=blog-lead&utm_content=how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last) · [Explore Residential Proxies from $0.80/GB](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/)

"How long" has two answers. One is how much work a gigabyte does: that depends on what you fetch, not on the proxy, and it ranges from tens of thousands of pages to a few hundred. The other is how long the gigabyte stays usable: that is the plan term. This page gives both, from pages we measured, and explains what the "GB" in a residential plan counts. To size a monthly plan from a page count, use our guide on [how much proxy data you need](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-much-proxy-data-do-i-need/); this page is the quick view per gigabyte.

## 1 GB in pages: ten pages we measured

Each row is a real fetch, published on QuanticData with its method and date. Pages per GB is 1,000,000,000 divided by the bytes per page, rounded.

| Page | How it was fetched | Bytes per page | Pages per 1 GB | Measured |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wikipedia article | HTML, gzip | 47 KB | about 21,000 | 3 Sep 2026, [sizing guide](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-much-proxy-data-do-i-need/) |
| TikTok public profile | HTML, compressed | 49 KB | about 20,000 | 4 Oct 2026, [Instagram and TikTok test](https://quanticdata.io/blog/mobile-proxies-instagram-tiktok-tested/) |
| Wikipedia home page | HTML | 119,573 bytes | about 8,400 | 13 Sep 2026, [residential test](https://quanticdata.io/blog/best-residential-proxies-tested/) |
| Instagram public profile | HTML, compressed | 207 KB | about 4,800 | 4 Oct 2026, [Instagram and TikTok test](https://quanticdata.io/blog/mobile-proxies-instagram-tiktok-tested/) |
| NYTimes front page | HTML, gzip | 302 KB | about 3,300 | 3 Sep 2026, [sizing guide](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-much-proxy-data-do-i-need/) |
| Best Buy home page | HTML, no browser | 506,484 bytes | about 2,000 | 26-28 Sep 2026, [53-target measurement](https://quanticdata.io/blog/52-targets-measured-browser-or-not/) |
| BBC News front page | Full load in a browser | 1.24 MB | about 800 | 11 Sep 2026, [Playwright measurement](https://quanticdata.io/blog/playwright-proxy/) |
| YouTube transcript | Open-source package, retries included | about 1.6 MB | about 625 | 20 Oct 2026, [YouTube transcript test](https://quanticdata.io/blog/youtube-transcript-api-ip-blocked/) |
| GitHub repository page | Full load in a browser | 1.94 MB | about 515 | 11 Sep 2026, [Playwright measurement](https://quanticdata.io/blog/playwright-proxy/) |
| Best Buy home page | Rendered in a browser | 4,968,555 bytes | about 200 | 26-28 Sep 2026, [53-target measurement](https://quanticdata.io/blog/52-targets-measured-browser-or-not/) |

The spread is a factor of about 100, and almost all of it is the fetch mode. The same Best Buy home page cost 506,484 bytes as HTML and 4,968,555 bytes rendered: 9.8 times the bandwidth, for one word fewer. A browser downloads the page plus every script, stylesheet, font and image it references; the HTTP Archive puts the median desktop page at 2,862 KB in 2025, which is about 350 full page loads per GB. The two browser rows from our Playwright measurement are floor values, because some cross-origin files report no size to the browser.

## 1 GB in hours and days: five everyday jobs

Turn the bytes into a rate and the gigabyte becomes a duration. The assumptions are in the first column; the bytes come from the table above.

| Job | Traffic | 1 GB lasts |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A scraper fetching one TikTok-size page (49 KB) per second | about 0.18 GB an hour | about 5.7 hours |
| A browser profile opening 60 full pages an hour at the median desktop weight (2,862 KB) | about 0.17 GB an hour | about 5.8 hours |
| Monitoring 1,000 public Instagram profiles a day (207 KB each) | about 0.21 GB a day | about 4.8 days |
| Checking 500 retailer home pages a day as HTML (506,484 bytes each) | about 0.25 GB a day | about 4 days |
| Reading 100 YouTube transcripts a day with the open-source package (about 1.6 MB each) | about 0.16 GB a day | about 6 days |

Add about 10% for request headers, TLS handshakes and the occasional retry, as our [sizing guide](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-much-proxy-data-do-i-need/) does, and more if many requests fail. Antidetect and browser profiles cost more than the table suggests on their first visit to a site and less afterwards, because the browser caches scripts and images between pages.

## What a GB means in a residential proxy plan

- **A decimal gigabyte.** 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes, and 1 GB is 1,000 MB. That is how the QuanticData dashboard counts used and remaining traffic.
- **Bytes on the wire, not page size.** The meter sees what crosses the connection, which for most HTML is the compressed body. In our 11-page measurement the decoded HTML was 4.7 to 10 times larger than what crossed the wire, so a client that does not ask for compression pays that difference.
- **Everything the connection carries.** Responses, the requests you send, headers, redirects and TLS handshakes all pass through the proxy.
- **Failed requests count.** A blocked page, an error or a challenge still moves bytes, as our [residential proxy guide](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-to-use-a-residential-proxy/) explains. Retries are the usual reason a job uses more than planned.
- **Only what you route through it.** A proxy is set per application, so nothing else on your computer touches the plan.

**Try it on your own targets.** Every QuanticData account gets $2 of free API usage per month.

[Start free — $2/month included](https://quanticdata.io/signup/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=blog-inline&utm_content=how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last) · [Explore Residential Proxies from $0.80/GB](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/)

## How long the gigabytes stay valid

Residential packs are not monthly allowances. You buy gigabytes and use them at your own pace over the plan term, with no monthly reset inside it:

| Line | Smallest pack | Term | From |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Residential Basic | 5 GB | 30, 90 or 360 days, by pack | $0.80/GB |
| Residential Premium | 1 GB | 30 or 90 days, by pack | $2.20/GB |
| Mobile | 1 GB | 90 days for the 1 GB pack | $2.30/GB |
| Free Residential Basic trial | 100 MB | 5 days | free, SMS verification, no card |

Unused bandwidth expires at the end of the pack's term, which each pricing card shows. Every pack with its size, term and price per GB is on the [residential volume pricing](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/volume-pricing/) page. The trial is a measurement budget as much as a test: 100 MB is about 480 public Instagram profiles or about 35 full browser page loads, enough to read your own bytes per page before you buy.

## Five ways to make 1 GB last longer

1. **Ask for compression.** Send `Accept-Encoding: gzip, br`. Most HTTP clients do; minimal ones do not, and pay the decoded size.
2. **Fetch HTML before you render.** In our [53-target measurement](https://quanticdata.io/blog/52-targets-measured-browser-or-not/), 26 of 53 sites did worse or no better in a browser than as plain HTML, and the render cost up to 15 times the bytes.
3. **Block what you do not need when you render.** Images, fonts and video are most of a page's weight and rarely the data you want.
4. **Keep sessions sticky where a flow allows it.** Reusing one connection avoids a new TLS handshake on every request.
5. **Stop retrying blind.** A request that failed three times on one exit is cheaper to move to a new session than to repeat.

For heavy pages, per-GB billing stops being the cheapest unit: a [web scraping API](https://quanticdata.io/web-scraping-api/) bills per successful page, whatever its size, and never bills a failed one. The crossover is worked out in the [sizing guide](https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-much-proxy-data-do-i-need/).

## Which residential line to put the gigabyte on

For public pages at volume, [Residential Basic](https://quanticdata.io/cheap-residential-proxies/) from $0.80/GB with packs valid up to 360 days. For sites that challenge cheaper pools, or flows that need one IP for hours, Residential Premium from $2.20/GB, sold from a 1 GB pack. Both are on [QuanticData residential proxies](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/), with the country in the username, HTTP or SOCKS5, rotating or sticky.

### Sources & further reading

- [HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2025: Page Weight](https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2025/page-weight)
- [MDN: Accept-Encoding, how a client asks for compressed responses](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/Headers/Accept-Encoding)

## FAQ

Quick answers on how long does 1gb residential proxy last.

[Something else? Ask us](mailto:hello@quanticdata.io)

### How many requests can I make with 1GB of residential proxy?

It depends on the page. Measured on pages we published: about 20,000 public TikTok profiles or 21,000 Wikipedia articles fetched as compressed HTML, about 4,800 public Instagram profiles, about 2,000 retailer home pages as HTML, and about 200 to 800 pages loaded in a full browser. A small JSON API call costs far less than any of these.

### Is 1GB of residential proxy enough?

For testing and light monitoring, yes: 1 GB checks 500 retailer home pages a day for about 4 days, or covers about 6 hours of browsing at one full page a minute. For daily scraping at volume it is a starting pack. Measure your own bytes per page on a free trial, then size the plan from the result.

### Does 1GB of residential proxy expire?

Yes, at the end of the pack's term, with no monthly reset inside it. On QuanticData, Residential Basic packs are valid 30, 90 or 360 days, Premium packs 30 or 90 days, and the 1 GB mobile pack 90 days. The free 100 MB Basic trial lasts 5 days.

### What does GB mean in a residential proxy plan?

The traffic that passes through the proxy, counted in decimal gigabytes: 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. It covers the responses, the requests you send, headers and TLS handshakes, and failed requests as well as successful ones. It counts compressed bytes on the wire, so asking for gzip or brotli makes each gigabyte go further.

### Do failed requests use proxy data?

Yes. A blocked page, an error page or a challenge still sends bytes through the proxy, and each retry adds more. On a per-GB plan, a job with many failures uses more traffic than the page count suggests; a pay-per-success scraping API does not bill failed requests.

### Why does a browser use so much more proxy data?

Because it downloads the page and everything the page references: scripts, stylesheets, fonts, images and tracking calls. In our measurement of 26 to 28 September 2026, the Best Buy home page cost 506,484 bytes as HTML and 4,968,555 bytes rendered: 9.8 times the bandwidth, for one word fewer.

## Measure your own bytes per page first

A free 100 MB residential trial is about 480 public Instagram profiles or 35 full browser page loads. Residential Basic from $0.80/GB, packs valid up to 360 days, no subscription.

[Start free — $2/month included](https://quanticdata.io/signup/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=blog-end&utm_content=how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last) · [Explore Residential Proxies from $0.80/GB](https://quanticdata.io/residential-proxies/)

## Related reading

- [Can I Buy Proxies with Crypto or PayPal?](https://quanticdata.io/blog/buy-proxies-with-crypto-or-paypal/): Proxies · Yes: more than 300 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and Monero, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards, and a prepaid balance. Each method with its minimum, how activation differs, and the identity checks.
- [Residential Proxy vs VPN: Which One to Use?](https://quanticdata.io/blog/residential-proxy-vs-vpn/): Proxies · A VPN protects one device behind one server address. A residential proxy gives your software home IPs by country, a new one per request if you want it. Measured on our gateway on 13 September 2026: 10 requests, 10 different IPs in 6 countries, none flagged as VPN. Which one fits which job, with the technical differences.
- [Unlimited Residential Proxies: Do They Exist?](https://quanticdata.io/blog/unlimited-residential-proxies/): Proxies · Unlimited residential plans exist, but each one caps something other than gigabytes: port speed, threads, days or a fair-use limit. A 100 Mbps port moves at most 1,080 GB a day. The four pricing models, what each allows in gigabytes, and the break-even against pay per GB.

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Source: https://quanticdata.io/blog/how-long-does-1gb-residential-proxy-last/ · Site index for AI: https://quanticdata.io/llms.txt