Bright Data’s Cons

Formerly known as Luminati, Bright Data is one of the popular premium proxy providers on the proxy market today. They offer premium proxy solutions for almost every proxy-related task you can think of, from data scraping/mining to brand advertising. In this article, we will talk about Bright Data’s cons, without overlooking its pros.

If you are thinking of purchasing proxies from Bright Data or you already are Bright Data’s customer, it is the perfect time for you to read this and understand its ups and downs. Bright Data guarantees excellent performance to its users. But it still has a few flaws, just like every other provider in the market today. However, the decision to look at the more favorable side of Bright Data is a choice you must make for yourself.

Expensive

One of the most obvious and most talked-about of Bright Data’s cons is the cost of proxy plans offered by the proxy network. The prices of the proxies provided by Bright Data are a bit bloated. Thus, making it out of reach for users working on low-budget projects. The cheapest proxy plan offered by them comes at the cost of a $500 per month subscription and is limited to 40GB. The most expensive package is offering 10TB capped at $30,000 per month.

It is said that Bright Data offers premium proxies. However, other alternative providers have the same or even better service delivery and performance at a cheaper rate. Smartproxy offers cheaper premium proxy packages at more affordable prices than Bright Data (Luminati). For as low as $200, you can get yourself 20GB of bandwidth from Smartproxy or 50GB at $400.

Complex dashboard

Bright Data is one of the best proxy providers in the market. As a matter of necessity, it should come with an easy-to-use dashboard to make the service much better. But unfortunately, that is not the case. Due to the production of various proxies, Bright Data’s dashboard has become one of the most complex dashboards even to some experienced proxy users. 

This has become a sort of a lag on performance. The users have to read the FAQ and familiarise themselves with various aspects of the dashboard to use it to the maximum. Some experienced users confessed to having to wonder before finding their way on the dashboard.

If you are a first-time proxy user looking for a provider with an easy-to-use dashboard try Oxylabs. Their dashboard allows users to customize and set up proxies as well as renew subscriptions right from the dashboard. SmartProxy is also known to have one of the easiest dashboards there is. It allows users to customize proxy settings based on the needs of the user as well as keep track of usage.

Slow email support

Just like any business, there is the need for proxy providers to create a medium through which users can channel their grievances and challenges for clarification and support. Bright Data offers live chat and a great FAQ page to communicate. There you can find solutions to problems you might face while using their proxies.

However, if your issue is not found in the FAQ and there is no agent online, then be ready to wait for as long as you can imagine. This is because Bright Data has one of the worst email response times, according to users who had to contact support through email. Some users who reviewed the provider’s performance added that it took days to receive feedback from the email support team. 

Proxy providers like StormProxy and SmartProxy are known to provide a 24-hour customer support service to users whenever the need arises as well as a functioning live chat.

Not suitable for inexperienced users

Most providers have made their products easy for users across all levels to utilize their services to maximize productivity. However, due to the complexity of the dashboard, Bright Data is debatably a terrible choice for first-time users and users with no coding experience, except the data collector. This complexity makes Bright Data a lousy choice for newbies and less experienced users alike to utilize the great features offered by the provider.

First-time proxy users and users with no coding experience can check out Oxylabs and RSocks. Oxylabs offers users proxies with automatic configuration and in-house rotation. What this means is that the newbies can easily use the dashboard to check their usage.

Tedious KYC process

Bright Data operates on a KYC (Know Your Client) protocol that requests users to submit a photo and a government-issued ID for authentication to register an account. This protocol, though geared at keeping the network clean from users who intend to use their IPs for illegal activities, has become an issue as it raises concerns over privacy violations.

It has become sort of a tedious task for users because they have to scan and submit documents to the provider. This is a complete waste of the user’s time and resources. Proxy providers like Oxylabs and StormProxy use less frustrating means to authenticate users, taking away the tedious task of the KYC process.

Limited Bandwidth

Unlike most providers in the market today, Bright Data offers proxies charged per GB. Thus, limiting the amount of data users can transfer to the bandwidth allocated to their subscription plan. This is disadvantageous for users who require more GBs. They will have to spend extra to buy additional GBs. While they could get unlimited bandwidth from other providers for less or equal price with no major performance difference.

RSocks for instance offer residential proxies with unlimited bandwidth as it charges based on the number of IPs. The provider gives users access to 7000 IPs in the United States for $600/month which is a very good deal.

Conclusion

Before settling down with a certain proxy provider, check out the pros and cons of each of your options. Read reviews and see what other users have complained about.

Even though it is a premium proxy provider, you can see above Bright Data’s cons. Now, check out the above-mentioned alternatives before making your choice.