What Is Decodo? Definition, How It Works, and Its Function for Data Collection

The name Smartproxy used to be a reference for many developers and data practitioners for nearly seven years, before finally undergoing a complete transformation into Decodo in 2025. Questions like what is Decodo and what sets it apart from just an ordinary proxy service have become increasingly searched, especially by those involved in web scraping, market research, and AI model development.

This name change signals a much broader service expansion than just an IP proxy provider — Decodo is a combination of proxy infrastructure and data scraping tools in one integrated platform.

For those who have just heard of this term, this article will break down the definition, how it works, and the main features of Decodo concisely and easy to understand.

Key Takeaways

• Decodo is the result of a complete rebranding of Smartproxy (founded in 2018) into a more comprehensive public data access platform since 2025.
• Its main services include residential, ISP, mobile, and datacenter proxies, Site Unblocker, and various Scraping APIs.
• Decodo also includes AI‑specific features such as MCP Server, Agent Skills, and integrations with automation tools like n8n and LangChain.

What Is Decodo? Basic Definition

Decodo is a public data access platform that provides more than 125 million proxy IP addresses from 195+ locations worldwide, combined with Web Scraping APIs for large‑scale data collection needs.

The company is based in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was previously known as Smartproxy since its founding in 2018, before officially rebranding to Decodo to reflect a much broader service scope than just proxy.

Simply put, Decodo is a middleman between the user's device and the internet. Instead of accessing sites directly from the original IP, traffic is routed through Decodo's IP network, allowing users to bypass geo‑blocking, CAPTCHAs, and IP‑based access restrictions when collecting data from the web.

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How Decodo Works in Data Collection

Decodo's working principle essentially relies on a massive proxy network that routes user requests through various different IP addresses, not from a single access point. This scheme makes the target site see traffic coming from many real users in different locations, rather than from a single bot or server — thus the risk of being blocked is much lower.

For more complex needs, Decodo provides Web Scraping APIs that can be configured according to the difficulty level of the target site, from simple static pages to sites with multi‑layer anti‑bot protection.

The billing system is credit‑based, so users only pay according to the complexity of the requests actually executed, not a flat fee for all types of requests.

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Types of Services and Main Features of Decodo

Decodo divides its products into several main categories:

• Residential Proxies — leveraging more than 115 million IPs from real user devices across 195+ locations, suitable for precise geo‑targeting needs.
• Static Residential (ISP) Proxies — static IPs from ISPs that combine residential credibility with datacenter‑like stability.
• Mobile Proxies — more than 10 million rotating IPs from 3G/4G/5G networks of hundreds of mobile operators across 160+ locations.
• Datacenter Proxies — more than 500,000 high‑speed IPs from global data centers, making it the most affordable option.
• Site Unblocker — an automated solution to bypass anti‑bot systems and CAPTCHAs on heavily protected sites.
• Scraping API & AI Tools — includes Web Scraping API, Fast Search API, eCommerce/SERP/Social Media Scraping APIs, AI Parser, MCP Server, and Python and TypeScript SDKs for integration into AI workflows.

This complete combination is what makes Decodo better described as a data platform rather than just a conventional proxy service.

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Conclusion

Decodo is the evolution of Smartproxy, now present as a comprehensive public data platform, combining large‑scale proxy infrastructure with various scraping tools and AI integrations in a single ecosystem.

Its way of routing traffic through millions of distributed IPs makes it a go‑to choice for developers, market research practitioners, and teams building data pipelines for AI needs.

For anyone who needs large‑scale web data access without constantly being blocked, understanding how Decodo works is an important first step before choosing the most suitable solution.

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FAQ

What is Decodo? 

Decodo is a public data access platform that provides proxy services (residential, ISP, mobile, datacenter) as well as Web Scraping APIs in one integrated ecosystem.

Why did Smartproxy change its name to Decodo? 

The rebranding in 2025 represents the expansion of services from just a proxy provider into a more comprehensive data and AI‑based automation platform.

How many IPs does Decodo have? 

Decodo claims to have more than 125 million proxy IPs spread across 195+ locations worldwide.

What is the difference between Decodo and regular proxy services? 

Decodo does not only provide proxy IPs, but also includes Scraping APIs, AI Parser, MCP Server, and automation integrations like n8n and LangChain.

Is Decodo suitable for beginners in web scraping? 

Yes, because Decodo provides documentation, a quick start guide, and free tools such as a Chrome extension and proxy checker to facilitate the initial process.