Software Alternatives & Startups

Decodo VS Public API

Compare Decodo VS Public API and see what are their differences

Decodo

Decodo 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.

Rating
4.5 · 2 reviews
Pricing
$12.5 (1 GB)
Public API

Discover, compare, and integrate public APIs using real-time health monitoring, OpenAPI documentation, and live availability signals.

No screenshot yet
Rating
0 reviews

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Decodo seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 6 times since March 2021.

social mentions
6 vs 0
Proxy popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 13

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Decodo
PAP
Public API
Website decodo.com public-api.org
Pricing
$12.5 (1 GB) Official pricing
—
Company 2018 —
Listed in

About Decodo and Public API

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

Decodo
PAP
Public API

Decodo has been a promising proxy provider since its first days in 2018. They offer a wide selection of proxies (residential, shared and private datacenter proxies) and three full-stack scraping APIs with 100% success rates and a no-code scraper. It has an easy-to-use dashboard, public API, and...

Read more about Decodo

No description of Public API yet.

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Decodo 6 features
PAP
Public API 5 features
  • Large Proxy Pool
    Smartproxy offers a vast pool of residential and data center proxies, which expands the choice and decreases the chance of IP bans.
  • User-friendly Dashboard
    The service provides an intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard, making it simple for users to manage their proxies and monitor usage.
  • High Anonymity
    Smartproxy ensures high levels of anonymity and privacy, useful for activities requiring discreetness like web scraping.
  • Global Coverage
    With proxies available in numerous locations worldwide, users can access geographically restricted content or conduct broad market research.
  • 24/7 Customer Support
    Their customer support is available around the clock, offering reliable and prompt assistance to users via live chat and email.
  • Flexible Pricing Plans
    Smartproxy provides a range of pricing plans catering to different needs and budgets, including pay-as-you-go options.

Possible disadvantages

  • Higher Cost for Premium Plans
    While they do offer flexible pricing, the more advanced plans can be expensive, making them less accessible for smaller businesses or individual users.
  • Usage Limitations
    There are bandwidth limitations depending on the plan you choose, which can be restrictive for tasks requiring large data transfers.
  • Shared Proxies
    Some of the proxies are shared, which can potentially slow down connection speeds or lead to IP bans if other users abuse the service.
  • No Free Trials
    Smartproxy does not offer a free trial, which could deter potential customers who are unwilling to commit without trying the service first.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Utilizing some of the more sophisticated functionalities might require a learning curve, especially for users not familiar with proxy services.
  • Free to Use
    Public API is completely free, making it accessible to developers of all levels without any financial barrier to entry. This is particularly beneficial for hobbyists, students, and those working on personal projects.
  • Comprehensive Directory
    The platform provides a well-organized directory of hundreds of free public APIs across numerous categories such as animals, finance, weather, games, and more, making it easy to discover useful APIs for various projects.
  • Simple and Clean Interface
    The website offers a straightforward, easy-to-navigate interface that allows developers to quickly browse, search, and filter APIs by category, HTTPS support, CORS availability, and authentication requirements.
  • Open Source
    The project is open source, meaning the community can contribute to it, suggest new APIs, report issues, and help maintain the directory, ensuring it stays up-to-date and relevant.
  • Useful Metadata
    Each API listing includes helpful metadata such as whether it supports HTTPS, requires authentication, and supports CORS, which helps developers quickly assess if an API meets their technical requirements before diving deeper.

Possible disadvantages

  • No Quality Assurance
    The platform acts as a directory and does not verify or guarantee the reliability, uptime, or quality of the listed APIs. Some APIs may be outdated, broken, or poorly maintained without any indication on the listing.
  • Limited API Details
    The listings provide only basic information about each API. Developers often need to visit the actual API documentation separately to understand endpoints, rate limits, response formats, and other critical details.
  • Outdated Listings
    Some APIs listed on the platform may no longer be active or may have changed their terms, endpoints, or availability. The directory doesn't always reflect the current status of every listed API in real time.
  • No User Reviews or Ratings
    The platform lacks a community feedback system such as user reviews, ratings, or usage statistics, making it harder for developers to gauge the real-world reliability and usefulness of a listed API before committing to it.
  • Limited Search and Filtering
    While basic category browsing is available, the search and filtering capabilities are relatively limited compared to more advanced API marketplaces. There is no ability to filter by popularity, response speed, or data format, for example.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Decodo
PAP
Public API

Overall verdict

  • Smartproxy is generally well-regarded in the proxy service industry. It is recommended for those who need reliable and efficient proxy solutions with a balance of cost and performance. However, like any service, it’s important for users to assess their specific needs and test the platform to ensure it meets their requirements.

Why this product is good

  • Smartproxy is considered a good proxy service provider due to its extensive network of residential IP addresses, competitive pricing, and high success rates for web scraping and bypassing geo-restrictions. The service offers user-friendly management tools and responsive customer support, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users. Additionally, Smartproxy places a strong emphasis on security and privacy, which are crucial factors for many users.

Recommended for

  • Web scraping professionals
  • SEO specialists
  • Businesses looking to bypass geo-restrictions
  • Users concerned with online privacy and security
  • Data miners needing reliable residential proxies

Overall verdict

  • Public API (public-api.org) is a useful directory and aggregator site that helps developers discover free and public APIs across many categories, but it is a curation/listing service rather than an API provider itself, so its value depends on the quality and reliability of the third-party APIs it links to.

Why this product is good

  • Offers a centralized, searchable directory of numerous free and public APIs across diverse categories
  • Saves developers time by aggregating API options instead of searching individually across the web
  • Often includes brief descriptions, categories, and links to documentation for quick evaluation
  • Useful for discovering lesser-known or niche APIs that might not be found through mainstream searches
  • Generally free to browse and use as a discovery tool

Recommended for

  • Developers looking to quickly find free or public APIs for a project
  • Students and hobbyists exploring API integration for learning purposes
  • Startups seeking cost-effective third-party API options during early development
  • Researchers or hackathon participants needing rapid access to varied data sources
  • Anyone wanting a starting point for API discovery rather than a guaranteed production-grade API provider

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Decodo 9 videos + Add
PAP
Public API 0 videos + Add

Residential rotating proxies. Why choose Smartproxy?

More videos

  • - Smartproxy review & How to smartproxy
  • - Proxies for Scraping
  • - How to Start Using Smartproxy
  • - Smartproxy Review 2023: Best Price To Value Proxies
  • - IPFighter| Review Smartproxy
  • - DECODO Review 2025 (Ex-Smartproxy) | Still the BEST Proxy?
  • - Decodo Review 2025 (former Smartproxy) | FULL Review of new features!

No Public API videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Decodo
PAP
Public API
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

Share your experience with using Decodo and Public API. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Decodo 4.5 · 2 reviews
PAP
Public API no reviews yet
  • Proxy Service Awards 2024
    proxyway.com · May 2024

    After all these years, we still can’t find a provider that combines mid-market rates, premium-grade performance, and newbie-friendly user experience as well as Smartproxy. You can get proxies that work effectively as...

  • Very good quality
    SaaSHub review
    · Mar 2024

    Residential proxy is quite good. High success rate with their proxies even though it is quite expensive

  • My Review of Smartproxy Service
    SaaSHub review
    · Dec 2023

    Smartproxy, in my experience, is a solid choice for heavy-duty web scraping tasks. Been using it for bulk data mining. Their proxy pool's massive – good for avoiding blocks and captchas. Speed's decent, uptime...

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We have no reviews of Public API yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Decodo 6 mentions
PAP
Public API 0 mentions

View more

Tracking Public API since Jan 2026.

Alternatives to Decodo and Public API

When comparing Decodo and Public API, you can also consider the following products.