Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Bright Data VS Surge for Mac

Compare Bright Data VS Surge for Mac and see what are their differences

Bright Data logo Bright Data

World's largest proxy service with a residential proxy network of 72M IPs worldwide and proxy management interface for zero coding.

Surge for Mac logo Surge for Mac

Advanced Web Debugging Proxy for Mac & iOS
  • Bright Data Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-05-12
  • Surge for Mac Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-03

Bright Data features and specs

  • Extensive Proxy Network
    Bright Data offers a vast and diverse network of over 72 million IPs, ensuring high availability and reliability for users.
  • Wide Range of Services
    Provides various proxy solutions including data center, residential, mobile, and ISP proxies, catering to different user needs.
  • Geographical Targeting
    Allows users to target proxies based on specific countries, cities, and even ASN, which is beneficial for localized data scraping.
  • Advanced Tools and APIs
    Offers sophisticated tools and APIs for automation, data extraction, and optimized proxy management.
  • Customer Support
    Provides round-the-clock customer support and numerous resources such as detailed documentation and integration guides.

Possible disadvantages of Bright Data

  • Cost
    Bright Data's services are priced at a premium, which might be expensive for small businesses or individual users.
  • Complexity
    The extensive range of options and settings can be overwhelming and may require a steep learning curve for new users.
  • Ethical Concerns
    The use of residential and mobile proxies can raise ethical questions regarding user consent and data privacy.
  • Account Approval
    New accounts are subject to approval which can delay immediate access to the service.
  • Occasional IP Blocks
    Despite the large IP pool, users may still experience occasional blocks and captchas when accessing certain websites.

Surge for Mac features and specs

  • Comprehensive Network Debugging
    Surge for Mac provides advanced network debugging features, including HTTP/HTTPS proxy, capture and analysis of network traffic, and robust filtering options. This makes it easy to diagnose and fix network issues.
  • Rule-based Configuration
    Surge supports complex, rule-based configurations, which are highly customizable. This allows for precise control over network behavior, aiding in development, testing, and deployment scenarios.
  • API Request Analysis
    The tool provides detailed insights into API requests and responses, helping developers and testers to understand and optimize backend API communications.
  • Advanced Proxy Capabilities
    Surge offers robust proxy capabilities, including support for SOCKS5, HTTP CONNECT, and rewrite rules, making it versatile for various network environments and use cases.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Surge boasts a user-friendly interface which simplifies the process of setting up and managing complex network configurations, making it accessible even for users who are not network experts.
  • Automation and Scripting Support
    The platform supports automation and scripting, allowing users to automate repetitive tasks and integrate Surge into their workflows using JavaScript.

Possible disadvantages of Surge for Mac

  • Cost
    Surge for Mac is a paid software, which can be relatively costly compared to some other network debugging tools or open-source alternatives.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its advanced features and capabilities, there can be a steep learning curve for new users. Understanding all of its functions and configurations may require some time and effort.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running Surge, particularly with extensive network traffic analysis and debugging features enabled, can be resource-intensive, potentially affecting the overall performance of your Mac.
  • Overwhelming for Simple Use Cases
    For users with simpler needs, the extensive features of Surge may be overwhelming. In such cases, a more straightforward tool might be a better fit.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Some users have reported compatibility issues with certain applications and services, which may require troubleshooting or alternative configurations to resolve.

Analysis of Bright Data

Overall verdict

  • Bright Data is generally considered a good choice for businesses and professionals who require reliable and scalable proxy services. It excels in offering a comprehensive set of features and a vast IP pool, although it might be considered expensive for individual or small-scale users.

Why this product is good

  • Bright Data, formerly known as Luminati Networks, is a well-regarded proxy service provider known for its vast network of IP addresses and wide range of proxy types. It offers residential, data center, and mobile proxies with a focus on reliability and scalability. The service is often praised for its high uptime, excellent customer support, and robust infrastructure, making it a popular choice for businesses needing large-scale data collection and web scraping solutions.

Recommended for

  • Large enterprises needing mass data collection
  • Businesses engaged in web scraping and analysis
  • Companies requiring high uptime and reliability
  • Professionals interested in diverse proxy options, including residential and mobile

Analysis of Surge for Mac

Overall verdict

  • Surge for Mac is considered an excellent tool for those who need advanced network management and debugging capabilities. It is particularly well-regarded in the developer community for its reliability and feature-rich platform.

Why this product is good

  • Surge for Mac is praised for its powerful networking tools that cater specifically to developers and IT professionals. It offers a robust suite of functionalities including HTTP/S Proxy, Traffic Monitoring, and Local DNS Mapping, which are highly beneficial for testing and debugging purposes. The user interface is also designed to be intuitive, allowing for efficient management of network configurations.

Recommended for

    Surge is highly recommended for software developers, network administrators, and IT professionals who require comprehensive and reliable tools for network testing, debugging, and configuration management.

Bright Data videos

Rotating Residential Network | Proxy Network Types | Bright Data (Formerly Luminati Networks)

Surge for Mac videos

No Surge for Mac videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Bright Data and Surge for Mac)
Proxy
92 92%
8% 8
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Residential Proxies
100 100%
0% 0
Web Scraping
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Bright Data and Surge for Mac

Bright Data Reviews

  1. Sam Mitchell
    ยท Owner at KittenProperties ยท
    Mixed feelings

    We used their DC proxies and Residential proxies. Resi proxies were having quite low success rate. We had to use resi solution from other proxy providers. Unblocker didn't work well either also it was way too expensive.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Smartproxy, NetNut.io
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Cheap dc proxies
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Quite expensive|Residential proxies are worse than competitiors

Proxy Service Awards 2024
And if thereโ€™s one thing that defines Bright Data in an industry where all gaps are closing, itโ€™s the platform. Weโ€™ve criticized it for complexity and opaqueness; but after all these years, we have to admit that Bright Dataโ€™s tooling remains a north star for many providers aspiring to serve the most demanding clients.
Source: proxyway.com
Top 10 Alternatives to Bright Data (formerly Luminati Proxy Networks)
Oxylabs remains the number aggressive competitor of Bright Data โ€“ they have even had a case to settle in the court in the past. If you wouldnโ€™t want to use Bright Data proxies, then you might as well avoid Oxylabsas it is everything you hate in Bright Data and even worse. Aside from the pricing aspect, Oxylabs have been found to engage in some unethical practices and scam...
911.re Alternatives: 10 Best Proxies Smilar to 911 Proxy in 2023
The most exciting thing about Bright Data is that it comes with new daily feature releases so that you always have access to the latest features as soon as they are released. You also have access to 24/7 global support and dedicated account managers who will help you get started with Bright Data immediately!
17 BEST Residential Proxies to Buy in 2022 (Cheap & Premium)
Formerly known as Luminati Networks, Bright Data is the most popular premium residential proxy provider in the industry.
Source: earthweb.com
10 Best Free Online Proxy Server List of 2022 [VERIFIED]
Verdict: Bright Data Proxy Manager will help you with various use cases such as web data extraction, e-commerce, collecting stock market data, brand protection, etc. Bright Data has capabilities of data collection from eCommerce, Social Media, etc. It provides 24ร—7 global support and dedicated account managers.

Surge for Mac Reviews

We have no reviews of Surge for Mac yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Bright Data seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 37 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Bright Data mentions (37)

  • [Live Demo] Automate a Viral Newsletter Using n8n + Real-Time Web Data
    Here is the recording from my livestream with Rafael Levi from Bright Data. In the stream, we show you how to create a daily newsletter on the topics you care about powered by real-time data from your favorite sources. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Using lots of little tools to aggressively reject the bots
    Sorry I had forgotten who it was. Now time to name and shame: the culprit calls itself https://brightdata.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Updated rate limits for unauthenticated requests
    Exactly that. It's an arms race between companies that offer a large number of residential IPs as proxies and companies that run unauthenticated web services trying not to die from denial of service. https://brightdata.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Reddit Recap: Audio summaries of subreddits powered by BrightData
    Reddit Recap is an application that scrapes subreddits using BrightData and generates concise summaries every two hours. These summaries are then converted into audio briefings, all accessible through a beautiful web app, allowing users to effortlessly stay informed about their favorite communities. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • State of the Art Automated Web Scraper using Bright Data
    Make sure to sign up on BrightData. Also complete the steps for the initial setup for Proxies & Scraping Infrastructure and Web Scraping API. Please make a note on the WSS Browser Credential, Webscraper Api Token. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
View more

Surge for Mac mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Surge for Mac yet. Tracking of Surge for Mac recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Bright Data and Surge for Mac, you can also consider the following products

Oxylabs - A web intelligence collection platform and premium proxy provider, enabling companies of all sizes to utilize the power of big data.

Charles Proxy - HTTP proxy / HTTP monitor / Reverse Proxy

Smartproxy - Smartproxy is perhaps the most user-friendly way to access local data anywhere. It has global coverage with 195 locations, offers more than 55M residential proxies worldwide and a great deal of scraping solutions.

Proxyman.io - Proxyman is a high-performance macOS app, which enables developers to view HTTP/HTTPS requests from apps and domains.

NetNut.io - Residential proxy network with 52M+ IPs worldwide. SERP API, Website Unblocker, Professional Datasets.

Weer - A HTTP protocol debugger with Chrome DevTools frontend interface