Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Phantomjs VS Smartproxy

Compare Phantomjs VS Smartproxy and see what are their differences

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Phantomjs logo Phantomjs

PhantomJS is a headless browser that works hand in hand with Selenium to help developers more efficiently test their sites and apps.

Smartproxy logo 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.
  • Phantomjs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29
  • Smartproxy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-26

Smartproxy 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 flexible payment methods. Being awarded for its consumer-centric approach, Smartproxy continues to look for ways to make public data gathering as simple and accessible to everyone as possible.

The key things Smartproxy offers for you:

  • 55M+ high-quality residential IPs with an average speed of <0.5 sec.

  • Global coverage – target 195+ locations, including cities and 50 US states.

  • Pay As You Go option - $3.5 per 1GB.

  • 500K+ shared and dedicated datacenter IPs.

  • Unlimited connections and threads.

  • Full anonymity and security.

  • Smart Wallet for easy payment management.

  • Fantastic 24/7 support with 40s average response time.

  • User-friendly dashboard with a quick and easy proxy setup.

  • Detailed documentation and an informative blog.

  • A bunch of free tools with any plan subscription.

  • Free trial for all products..

Phantomjs features and specs

  • Headless Execution
    PhantomJS can run scripts without the need for a graphical user interface, making it ideal for automation tasks such as web scraping and automated testing, especially in CI environments.
  • Full Web Stack
    It fully supports a range of web standards like DOM, CSS, JavaScript, and even SVG. This makes it highly versatile for different types of web interactions and manipulations.
  • Screenshots
    PhantomJS allows for easy capturing of web content as screenshots, which is useful for visual testing, performance analysis, and content verification.
  • Network Monitoring
    The tool offers capabilities for monitoring network traffic and performance, enabling developers to gather insights on resource loading times, HTTP status codes, and other networking metrics.
  • Simplicity
    PhantomJS provides a straightforward API, making it relatively easy to use and integrate into development and testing workflows even for developers with limited experience in scripting.

Possible disadvantages of Phantomjs

  • Deprecated
    Active development of PhantomJS has been discontinued. This means no new features, improvements, or security updates will be released, which can pose significant risk for long-term projects.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running headless browsers can still be resource-intensive. PhantomJS may consume considerable CPU and memory, which could become a bottleneck in high-performance environments.
  • Limited Modern Web Compatibility
    As the web evolves, new standards and features are introduced. Being discontinued, PhantomJS may lack support for the latest web technologies, potentially leading to rendering discrepancies or failures.
  • Difficulty in Debugging
    Debugging headless browser scripts can be more challenging compared to using full browsers with developer tools, making it harder to resolve complex issues that arise.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    While the API is straightforward, mastering PhantomJS scripting and effectively dealing with asynchronous JavaScript operations and browser-specific quirks can be difficult for beginners.

Smartproxy features and specs

  • 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 of Smartproxy

  • 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.

Analysis of Phantomjs

Overall verdict

  • As of now, PhantomJS is no longer actively maintained, and the developer community has largely transitioned to using more modern alternatives like headless versions of Chromium or Firefox, such as Puppeteer or Playwright. These alternatives offer better support, more features, and are actively maintained. Therefore, while PhantomJS was good in its time, it is generally not recommended for new projects.

Why this product is good

  • PhantomJS was once a popular headless browser for automating web page interaction and capturing screenshots, especially useful for testing and web scraping. It supports web standards such as DOM handling, CSS selector, JSON, Canvas, and SVG. Its main advantage was providing a fast and efficient way to run tests without needing a full graphical browser environment.

Recommended for

    PhantomJS may still be suitable for legacy projects where it has already been integrated, and the overhead of switching to a new tool would outweigh the benefits. However, for new projects or if you are revisiting an existing project for upgrades, it is recommended to consider more current tools like Puppeteer, Playwright, or Selenium.

Analysis of Smartproxy

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

Phantomjs videos

How to use PhantomJS with Selenium?

More videos:

  • Review - DrupalCon Portland 2013: AUTOMATED TESTING WITH JASMINE AND PHANTOMJS

Smartproxy videos

Residential rotating proxies. Why choose Smartproxy?

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Smartproxy review &amp; How to smartproxy
  • Review - Proxies for Scraping
  • Tutorial - How to Start Using Smartproxy
  • Review - Smartproxy Review 2023: Best Price To Value Proxies
  • Review - IPFighter| Review Smartproxy

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Phantomjs and Smartproxy)
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Proxy
0 0%
100% 100
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Residential Proxies
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Phantomjs and Smartproxy

Phantomjs Reviews

Top 10 Best Selenium Alternatives You Should Try
PhantomJS is an open-source, scriptable headless browser intended for automating webpage collaboration. It is also a powerful testing tool that supports various web standards and makes it appropriate for automation and integration with CI tools.
6 Popular Headless Browsers for Web Testing
Complexity is commonplace in the modern internet landscape, and PhantomJS is built to handle it all using basic command line testing. This headless WebKit is scriptable via the JavaScript API and uses CasperJS to handle testing. Capable of simulating “full navigation scenarios,” PhantomJS can reveal all the places where a user may encounter errors while browsing.
Source: www.keycdn.com
Introduction to Headless Browser Testing
PhantomJS supports headless testing with the use of CasperJS. CasperJS is a navigation scripting & testing tool for PhantomJS. It allows you to build full navigation scenarios using high-level functions and a straight forward interface to accomplish all sizes of tasks.

Smartproxy Reviews

  1. Vladyslav
    · Backend Developer at KittenProperties ·
    Very good quality

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

    🏁 Competitors: NetNut.io
    👎 Cons:    Expensive
  2. CPAScraping
    · Working at CPA Scraping ·
    My Review of Smartproxy Service

    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 mostly consistent. Setup? Straightforward. But yeah, pricing's a bit on the higher side, especially for large-scale operations. Overall, Smartproxy delivers, especially for those heavy scraping needs.

    👍 Pros:    Ip diversity|Quick data access|Minimal downtime|User-friendly interface:
    👎 Cons:    Pricey|Some geo-restrictions.|Ometimes slow response.

OxyProxy vs. Smartproxy: A Detailed Comparison
Set of Services Provided by Smartproxy Service TypeDescriptionResidential ProxiesOffers IP addresses from real residential connections, ideal for high anonymity and avoiding blocks.Data Center ProxiesProvides faster speeds, suitable for tasks requiring high-speed connections.Rotating ProxiesAutomatically rotates IP addresses, enhancing anonymity and reducing the risk of...
Source: oxyproxy.pro
Top 10 Alternatives to Bright Data (formerly Luminati Proxy Networks)
The proxy pool is one of the cleanest as it is regularly being updated. Currently, it has over 5 million residential IP addresses sourced from many locations. As stated earlier, Soax is affordable even though its pricing model is the same with both Smartproxy and Bright Data – bandwidth-based. Just like Smartproxy, all you need to use the Soax service is a minimum of $75.
17 BEST Residential Proxies to Buy in 2022 (Cheap & Premium)
Smartproxy offers both residential and datacenter proxies, but their residential ones have the best features. Unlike most other residential proxy providers, Smartproxy focuses solely on providing the best residential IPs to businesses.
Source: earthweb.com
10 Best Free Online Proxy Server List of 2022 [VERIFIED]
Smartproxy offers a residential proxy network with 40M+ IPs. It offers the solutions of data center proxies, search engine proxies, etc. Chrome proxy extension will help you with accessing the localized content. Proxy address generator provides the facility of exporting the proxy list for any software.
Best Data Scraping Tools
Smart proxy has about 10 million rotating residential proxies with location targeting and flexible pricing. There are rotating sessions, random IPs, geo-targeting, sticky sessions, and more. Smart proxy creates a room for unlimited connections and numerous threads which offer 99% SLA with low failure rates, functioning 24/7 with reliable support of 5 minute response time.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Phantomjs should be more popular than Smartproxy. It has been mentiond 11 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.

Phantomjs mentions (11)

  • youtube bandwidth throttled for cloud addresses?
    Install Phantomjs and see if that improves things. Source: about 2 years ago
  • How to Bypass Cloudflare in 2023: The 8 Best Methods
    Automated Browser Detection. Cloudflare queries the browser for properties that only exist in automated web browser environments. For example, the existence of the window.document.__selenium_unwrapped or window.callPhantom property indicates the usage of Selenium and PhantomJS, respectively. For obvious reasons, you're getting blocked if this is detected. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What's the best way to get all the HTML from a JavaScript site?
    I know there is https://phantomjs.org/ but is there something else people use these days? The issue is some websites curl works fine to get all the rendered html, but some you don't get any content without a javascript engine. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Detecting PhantomJS headless browsers
    Despite the popularity of Puppeteer and Headless Chrome, my team of threat researchers and I wondered, to what extent PhantomJS was still being used by bot developers. In this post, we share how we identified traffic associated with PhantomJS, the types of attacks performed, and its use in comparison to Puppeteer Extra Stealth. Source: over 2 years ago
  • How to make a SPA SEO crawlable?
    I've been working on how to make a SPA crawlable by google based on google's instructions. Even though there are quite a few general explanations I couldn't find anywhere a more thorough step-by-step tutorial with actual examples. After having finished this I would like to share my solution so that others may also make use of it and possibly improve it further. I am using MVC with Webapi controllers, and... Source: almost 3 years ago
View more

Smartproxy mentions (6)

  • Best Amazon Scraper APIs To Check Out in 2024
    Smarproxy is another proxy provider that offers a dedicated section for scraping e-commerce platforms including Amazon. Their Amazon API is known for its speed and quality and can be used just with a simple POST request. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Basic Web Browser with Electron +APIS
    Smartproxy: Offers residential proxies with support for HTTP(S) and SOCKS5. It is known for its high success rate and 24/7 technical support. Smartproxy provides a balance between price and performance, making it accessible to less experienced users (Smartproxy). - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Cheap Residential Proxy: Affordable and Reliable Proxy Service for Anonymous Browsing
    For instance, imagine you are conducting market research and need to scrape data from various websites for analysis. By using a residential proxy service like anyip.io or Smart Proxy, you can ensure that your scraping activities are secure and undetectable while maintaining anonymity. Additionally, these services effortlessly handle throttling of threads and swiftly manage captchas. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Proxy for Instagram: What is It and How to Get It?
    Smartproxy Rotating residential IPs for multi-accounting. Large rotating residential proxy pool, 195+ countries, no subnets, an easy setup process. The IPs are from both desktop and mobile devices. Different tools for IG automation and affordable price plans ($75/5 GB ($15/GB). However the residential IPs are still P2P, so you have sticky sessions up to 30 min and then proxies rotate. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Smartproxy Review
    Smartproxy is one of the latest rotating residential proxy services to hit the market. Smartproxy offers its users immense features and functionality at affordable rates. If you’re looking for a long-term proxy service to stick to, it’s worth looking at Smartproxy’s unique offerings. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Phantomjs and Smartproxy, you can also consider the following products

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

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

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

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

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.

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