Decodo vs Shifter: four residential crossings below 50 GB
Decodo and Shifter change residential price order four times before 50 GB. The crossing brackets are 2 to 5 GB, 5 to 10 GB, 10 to 20 GB, and 20 to 50 GB. Decodo wins at 1, 2, 10, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1,000 GB. Shifter wins at 5 and 20 GB. The alternating result is concentrated at small and medium volumes, after which Decodo stays cheaper on the sampled ladder. Pair analysis dated 2026-07-26
Residential cost at every sampled volume
The figures below are the cheapest captured public plan totals that cover the requested traffic. Sources are Decodo residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:31:32Z and Shifter residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:34:20Z.
| Requested traffic | Decodo computed cost | Shifter computed cost | Cheaper provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | $4 | $25 | Decodo |
| 2 GB | $11.25 | $25 | Decodo |
| 5 GB | $35 | $25 | Shifter |
| 10 GB | $35 | $50 | Decodo |
| 20 GB | $81.25 | $80 | Shifter |
| 50 GB | $150 | $175 | Decodo |
| 100 GB | $275 | $300 | Decodo |
| 250 GB | $625 | $800 | Decodo |
| 500 GB | $1,125 | $1,280 | Decodo |
| 1,000 GB | $2,000 | $2,800 | Decodo |
Four changes in the small-volume ladder
Decodo is cheaper at 2 GB, with $11.25 against Shifter at $25. At 5 GB, Shifter remains at $25 while Decodo’s covering plan costs $35, so Shifter takes the lead. This establishes the first crossing between 2 and 5 GB. Decodo residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:31:32Z Shifter residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:34:20Z
The result reverses between 5 and 10 GB. Shifter’s $25 total is lower than Decodo’s $35 at 5 GB. At 10 GB, Decodo stays at $35 while Shifter moves to $50, making Decodo cheaper. The next change is between 10 and 20 GB. At 20 GB, Shifter costs $80 and Decodo costs $81.25, so Shifter wins by $1.25. Decodo residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:31:32Z Shifter residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:34:20Z
The fourth crossing is between 20 and 50 GB. Shifter leads at 20 GB with $80 against $81.25. At 50 GB, Decodo costs $150 while Shifter costs $175, returning the lead to Decodo. That lead persists through every higher sampled point. Decodo residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:31:32Z Shifter residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:34:20Z
At 100 GB, Decodo costs $275 against Shifter at $300. The comparison is $625 against $800 at 250 GB, $1,125 against $1,280 at 500 GB, and $2,000 against $2,800 at 1,000 GB. Decodo wins all four rungs, so the evidence does not support another crossing above 50 GB. Decodo residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:31:32Z Shifter residential pricing, retrieved 2026-07-25T15:34:20Z
Covering plans and published terms
The calculator charges the whole cheapest plan capable of covering each requested amount. It does not project a headline unit price through unpublished package sizes. This is why the winner can move at several adjacent rungs even though both providers offer volume discounts.
Decodo publishes rotating and sticky modes, 30-minute sticky sessions, and targeting through country, state, city, ZIP, and ASN. Its captured row does not publish bandwidth expiry, rollover on the provider’s page, or a concurrency count. Those states remain not published.
Shifter publishes a 30-day allocation with no rollover, rotating and sticky modes, timed rotation, 30-minute sticky sessions, unrestricted concurrent connections, and country, city, and ASN targeting. The difference in unused-traffic treatment is material because only Shifter states the reset behavior in the captured evidence.
The tight sequence of brackets makes a point estimate risky. Build the forecast from transferred bytes, not only completed jobs, and include retries, error pages, and response bodies. Then compare a low and high usage case around the forecast. If those cases land on opposite sides of 5, 10, 20, or 50 GB, the provider decision is volume-sensitive and should be revisited after the first billing period instead of being fixed for a year.
Decision rule
Choose Shifter on computed price at 5 and 20 GB. Choose Decodo at every other sampled volume from 1 through 1,000 GB. Near 20 GB, where the captured difference is small, recheck the live plans and compare expiry and rollover terms before purchase. Pair analysis dated 2026-07-26