Unlimited Bandwidth vs Unmetered Proxies: Key Differences
When you browse online proxy plans, the terms unmetered and unlimited bandwidth keep coming up. They are close to each other, but they do not necessarily imply the same thing.
Additionally, if you mix up scraping jobs, account management, or any other job that generates a lot of traffic, it can cost you money or slow down your work.
In order to help you determine what is and is not worth paying for, we will define the two terms and give some examples.
What Do These Terms Actually Mean? (Definitions)
Before comparing, it’s helpful to get the basics straight.
Unlimited bandwidth
By this, a supplier means that you may use their proxy to push as much data as you desire. No surprises, no GBs counting. Even though the provider might still limit speed, number of IPs or background sessions, the term unlimited is normally used to refer to traffic.
Unmetered proxies
Although such plans may have a set speed, unmetered also implies that you are not charged for the amount of data you use. This can be 100 Mbps, 300 Mbps or 1 Gbps, depending on what is provided by the supplier. You can work with it all the time, but you can go no faster.
Quick way to remember it:
Unlimited = no data limit
Unmetered = no data limit, but a speed ceiling
How Providers Enforce Limits (The Fine Print That Matters)
To the providers, there is always an escape, even when the plan appears very open. They can reduce your speed, restrict your speed, or reduce the number of connections you can make at a given time, according to their fair use rules.
There are also services that block your access to certain areas or alter your IP address more frequently than others. It is nothing out of the ordinary, it is the way most companies maintain their networks to be stable.
Cost Models Side-by-Side (With a Simple Math Example)
The difference in price between these plans becomes clear when you look at how each one charges for usage.
How Unlimited Bandwidth Plans Are Priced
These plans are normally charged a fixed monthly fee. You are paying to be free and no, you are not counting gigabytes, no worrying about hitting the cap. Many users pick these when they need proxies with unlimited bandwidth because the cost stays predictable even during heavy scraping or long-running tasks.
How Unmetered Plans Are Priced
Unmetered plans also do not charge per GB, but usually are more expensive at higher speed limits. As an example, 100 Mbps can be priced lower, whereas 1 Gbps or higher can easily increase the cost.
Simple Math Example
Take two users running heavy data tasks:
- User A (Unlimited Bandwidth Plan)
- Monthly price: $80
- Data used: 1.2 TB
- Final cost: still $80
- Perfect when you need steady traffic without worrying about usage spikes.
- User B (Unmetered 100 Mbps Plan)
- Monthly price: $60
- No data limit
- Max speed 100 Mbps
- Great for smaller jobs, but slower if you run big scraping batches or parallel tasks.
Performance Implications
Once you start working, the difference in performance becomes obvious quickly.
Infinite bandwidth plans really shine when it comes to heavy traffic loads. Because the speed cap’s not a factor, they can handle a load of multiple jobs just fine.
Unmetered proxies can still move a lot of data but they start to hit a wall when you scale up big time. Try running a big download or a scrape batch on a plan limited to 50-100 Mbps – its going to be a real slow burn.
Best-Fit Use Cases
The unlimited bandwidth plans are perfect for anyone who generates high traffic daily. Without speed limits, the work flies, especially if you’re scraping big files, running multiple accounts at once or handling big scraping jobs.
They’re also a good fit if your workloads are unpredictable, either spiking up or crashing down, you don’t have to worry about hitting a ceiling.
Unmetered plans are the way to go when you’re not expecting heavy traffic, but you still want to know what you’re getting into.
If you’re dealing with something slow like light scraping or just simple API checks, a speed limited plan is not going to give you any headaches.
They still give you all the data you need, just at a speed that fits the smaller workflow needs.
How to Choose: Quick Checklist
Use this quick list to make the decision easier:
- Choose unlimited bandwidth if your projects get heavy or you run multiple tools at once.
- Choose unlimited bandwidth if your traffic jumps throughout the day.
- Choose unmetered if tasks are simple, stable, and don’t need fast throughput.
- Choose unmetered if you want predictable pricing tied to a fixed speed.
- Choose unmetered for light scraping, API checks, or automation jobs that run at a calm pace.
