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Understanding the real cost per gigabyte is essential before launching a DIY mobile proxy setup

Unlike residential or data center proxies, mobile proxies route traffic through real mobile devices using cellular networks, which inherently comes with higher operational costs

Many assume DIY mobile proxies are cheaper, but hidden fees and ongoing expenses often make them far more info on hackmd expensive than expected

Your initial investment begins with hardware

To build a DIY mobile proxy setup, you typically need multiple smartphones or tablets, each with a data plan

Cheaper models may fail under constant load, so investing in durable, high-performance hardware is non-negotiable

If you plan to run 10 devices, that’s an initial investment of 2000 to 5000 dollars

This cost is amortized over time, but it’s still a major upfront expense

Next is the data plan

Pricing varies wildly by region, carrier policy, and plan type, making budgeting unpredictable

However, "unlimited" rarely means truly unlimited

However, most unlimited plans have throttling after a certain threshold—often around 20 to 50 GB

To avoid throttling entirely, business-grade plans at $100+ monthly are often required

month

Now let’s calculate cost per GB

A $50 plan giving you 50GB of unthrottled data equals $1

This is the hidden premium for reliability

Operating in Europe, Asia, or Latin America can push costs to $5–$10 per GB

A device dying every 6 months or losing signal 20% of the time effectively cuts your usable data by 30–50%

DIY proxies demand constant supervision

You need to regularly reboot devices, update firmware, replace batteries, monitor for carrier throttling, and manage IP rotation

If you’re doing it yourself, your time is worth something

Server costs for routing traffic can run $100–$400

Professional providers eliminate your hardware, labor, and maintenance burden

GB

At $0.50

They’re acceptable for testing, learning, or one-off tasks

But for any serious or sustained use, the cost per GB rarely makes economic sense

The illusion of savings collapses under the weight of hardware decay, labor, and throttling

Partnering with a trusted provider maximizes uptime, minimizes risk, and slashes your per-GB cost