The question "how many GB of proxy to buy" arises for anyone scaling multi-accounting: 10 Facebook Ads profiles consume traffic differently than 10 profiles for scraping Wildberries. We ran six typical scenarios in the anti-detect browsers Dolphin Anty and AdsPower and measured the actual traffic consumption per profile per day and per month — the figures below will help you accurately calculate your proxy budget and avoid overpaying for unused gigabytes.
Why Calculate Proxy Traffic in Advance
Most arbitrage specialists and SMM professionals purchase residential or mobile proxies on a pay-per-gigabyte plan. If you underestimate consumption, the traffic will run out in the middle of warming up Facebook Ads accounts, and the profiles will pause at the most inconvenient moment. If you overestimate, you pay for a package that you won't use up in a month. Both mistakes hit the budget: in the first case, advertising budgets and time for re-warming are lost, and in the second, money goes to unused leftovers.
The problem is that the traffic consumption of a single anti-detect browser profile heavily depends on the task. The same Dolphin Anty on a Facebook Ads account that is merely scrolling through the feed and liking posts consumes significantly less data than the same profile that is managing an ad account with video creatives and statistics. Therefore, the averaged figures of "how many GB are needed for one profile" from general articles are almost always incorrect — measurements for specific scenarios are needed.
What Contributes to Profile Traffic Consumption
Before the measurements, let's break down what exactly pulls traffic through proxies in an anti-detect browser:
- Loading Images and Videos — Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook feeds continuously load media content, even if you are just scrolling without stopping.
- Auto-Play Videos and Stories — the heaviest source of consumption: a 10-second video in TikTok weighs significantly more than 10 text posts in VK.
- Background Platform Requests — event tracking, analytics, push notifications, auto-updating statistics in Facebook Ads Manager and Google Ads.
- Extensions and Scripts in the Browser — plugins for automation, scrapers, conversion trackers sometimes pull their own traffic parallel to the main session.
- Synchronization of the Anti-Detect Browser Profile — Dolphin Anty, AdsPower, GoLogin, and Octo Browser periodically synchronize cookies, fingerprints, and profile settings with the cloud; this is a small but constant consumption.
It is this combination of factors that determines why warming up a Facebook Ads account consumes 3-4 times more traffic than monitoring prices on Ozon through the same proxy.
Measurement Methodology
Measurements were conducted on profiles in Dolphin Anty and AdsPower with connected proxies through the built-in traffic manager of the browser and the system network monitor. Each scenario was tested on five profiles over 3 days, then the figures were averaged and brought to the indicators of "GB per day per profile" and "GB per month per profile" with an activity level of 2-3 hours per day — this is typical load for an arbitrage specialist or SMM professional managing several accounts simultaneously.
An important clarification: screen resolution, quality of loaded video (auto/HD), and enabled autoplay can change the figures by 20-40%. We recorded the default settings with which most users open a profile for the first time, without manually disabling autoplay.
6 Scenarios and Measurement Results
Scenario 1: Warming Up and Farming Facebook Ads Accounts
A profile in Dolphin Anty with a cold Facebook account: scrolling the feed for 40 minutes, adding friends, liking posts, viewing Stories, without launching ads. Facebook actively loads video previews and image carousels even during passive scrolling, so the consumption is higher than it seems at first glance. Measurement: 0.9-1.3 GB per day per profile, which gives about 25-35 GB per month with daily activity.
Scenario 2: Managing Facebook Ads / Google Ads Accounts
Working in Ads Manager: creating campaigns, uploading creatives (images and short videos), viewing statistics, editing ads. Uploading creatives to the server is the heaviest operation here. Measurement: 1.5-2.4 GB per day, which means 45-70 GB per month for an active account with daily uploads of new creatives.
Scenario 3: TikTok Ads — Creating and Managing Accounts
TikTok Ads Manager plus viewing the TikTok feed for competitor analysis — the most resource-intensive scenario of all tested due to constant auto-playing videos in HD. Measurement: 2.2-3.5 GB per day, which means 65-105 GB per month for one active profile. For arbitrage specialists working with TikTok Ads on an industrial scale, this critically affects the choice of plan.
Scenario 4: SMM Management of Instagram (Posts, Stories, Reels)
A typical day for an SMM specialist: logging into the account via AdsPower, posting 1-2 posts, 3-4 Stories, responding to comments, viewing the competitors' feed for 15-20 minutes. Measurement: 0.7-1.1 GB per day, about 20-33 GB per month per account. If an agency manages 30 client accounts simultaneously, the monthly traffic consumption for the entire group of profiles easily exceeds 700-900 GB.
Scenario 5: Scraping and Monitoring Prices on Wildberries / Ozon
Automatic data collection on competitors' prices and stock through a browser profile without visual rendering of media (product images are loaded in compressed form, videos are absent). The lightest scenario of all: measurement 0.15-0.3 GB per day per profile when collecting 300-500 product cards, which means 4.5-9 GB per month. This is why for scraping marketplaces, cheaper data center proxies are often sufficient — the task does not require a "human" IP, only speed and stability are important.
Scenario 6: Checking and "Warming Up" Account Balances on Avito / Marketplaces
Passive scenario: logging into the profile once a day, checking messages, raising a listing, viewing 10-15 competitor cards. Minimal media content, short sessions of 5-10 minutes. Measurement: 0.1-0.2 GB per day, about 3-6 GB per month per profile. This is the most budget-friendly traffic scenario, suitable even for a large number of profiles on the minimum plan.
Summary Table of Traffic Consumption
| Scenario | GB per Day / Profile | GB per Month / Profile |
|---|---|---|
| Farming and Warming Up Facebook | 0.9-1.3 | 25-35 |
| Facebook Ads / Google Ads Manager | 1.5-2.4 | 45-70 |
| TikTok Ads + TikTok Feed | 2.2-3.5 | 65-105 |
| SMM: Instagram Posts/Stories | 0.7-1.1 | 20-33 |
| Scraping Wildberries / Ozon | 0.15-0.3 | 4.5-9 |
| Monitoring Avito / Cards | 0.1-0.2 | 3-6 |
How to Reduce Traffic Consumption Without Losing Quality
Even in the most resource-intensive scenarios, consumption can be reduced by 30-50% without compromising results:
- Disable auto-play videos in the browser profile settings — this reduces consumption in TikTok and Instagram by 25-40% immediately.
- Limit media upload quality where possible — many platforms allow you to select an "economical" mode for loading images.
- Disable unnecessary extensions in Dolphin Anty and AdsPower on profiles where they are not needed — some plugins consume background traffic even without active use.
- Separate tasks by proxy type — for scraping and monitoring, you don't need the same plan as for managing ad accounts. Using data center proxies for light scenarios frees up the traffic budget for heavy tasks.
- Set session limits — do not leave profiles open in the background all day if the activity there is sporadic (checking once every hour or two).
Which Type of Proxy to Choose for Your Load
The type of proxy affects not only the risk of blocking but also how efficiently you consume the purchased traffic. For warming up and managing Facebook Ads and TikTok Ads accounts, where maximum similarity to a regular user is important, residential proxies are optimal — they trigger anti-fraud systems of the platforms less frequently, even with high traffic consumption on media content. For arbitrage focused on mobile traffic and TikTok and Instagram apps, it makes sense to look towards mobile proxies — they more accurately simulate the behavior of a real smartphone user and reduce the percentage of account bans during the farming stage.
For tasks without a requirement for a "live" IP — scraping Wildberries, Ozon, monitoring Avito — there is no point in overpaying for residential or mobile traffic: data center proxies handle this load faster and with lower resource consumption on the connection.
| Task | Recommended Type of Proxy |
|---|---|
| Warming Up Facebook Ads, TikTok Ads | Residential Proxies |
| SMM in Instagram and TikTok via Mobile Sessions | Mobile Proxies |
| Scraping Marketplaces, Price Monitoring | Data Center Proxies |
How to Calculate the Traffic Budget for N Accounts
The formula is simple: take the monthly traffic consumption for your main scenario from the table above and multiply it by the number of profiles you are managing simultaneously. For example:
- SMM agency with 30 Instagram accounts (scenario 4, ~25 GB/month per profile) → about 750 GB per month for the entire client pool.
- Arbitrage specialist with 15 TikTok Ads accounts (scenario 3, ~85 GB/month per profile) → about 1275 GB per month.
- Seller with a Wildberries scraper on 50 profiles (scenario 5, ~7 GB/month per profile) → a total of 350 GB per month, despite the large number of profiles.
Allow for a 15-20% buffer above the calculated figure — for peak days with mass uploads of creatives, testing new accounts, or temporary increases in activity. This is cheaper than urgently buying traffic in the middle of a work cycle and losing time on profile pauses.
Conclusion
The traffic consumption of a single anti-detect browser profile varies by 10-20 times depending on the task: from 3-6 GB per month for passive monitoring on Avito to 65-105 GB for active work with TikTok Ads. Before purchasing a proxy package, determine your primary usage scenario, calculate the number of parallel profiles, and refer to the measurement figures from this article with a 15-20% buffer.
If you manage Facebook Ads or TikTok Ads accounts and farm profiles, start with residential proxies — they cover the most traffic-intensive scenarios with minimal risk of blocking. For mobile SMM and work through apps, consider mobile proxies, and for scraping Wildberries, Ozon, and monitoring competitor prices — look at more economical data center proxies, which won't make you pay for gigabytes that your task doesn't even need.