# Size your speed tier

> Measure a representative workload before choosing an unlimited speed tier, and work out where per-GB stops being cheaper.

Source: https://docs.trueproxies.com/pricing/size-your-speed-tier/

Speed tiers are sold by throughput, not by traffic, so the question is not “how many gigabytes will I move” but “how much of that do I need to move at once”. Measure a real batch before you pick. This guide sizes a plan for [unlimited residential proxies](https://trueproxies.com/proxies/unlimited-residential-proxies/); the [proxy cost calculator](https://trueproxies.com/calculator/) turns the measured batch into a price.

This page lives here rather than on the product page on purpose: it is a lab procedure, and a lab procedure between the price table and the setup steps costs you the decision it was meant to help with.

## Run a representative batch

Use the actual destinations, route, protocol, session mode, and client you plan to run in production. A small sample against easy targets cannot size a workload with different destinations, locations, or session behaviour.

Record, for both successful and failed attempts:

| Measure                | What to record                                                                                                     | Why it matters                                                                                          |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Batch shape            | Planned request count, exact target set, requested route, protocol, session mode, test window, total elapsed time  | A sample that differs from production in destination or session behaviour does not size production      |
| Response size          | Transferred request and response bytes per attempt, split by successful, challenged, and failed                    | Per-GB cost follows transferred bytes; a fixed tier has to carry the measured traffic inside the window |
| Success and retry rate | Successful responses, target rejections, timeouts, other failures, total attempts, retries under a declared policy | Retries consume both time and transfer — compare cost per *useful result*, not per initial request      |
| Concurrency            | Peak simultaneous requests, and how long that peak is sustained                                                    | The speed tier is a ceiling on the peak, not on the average                                             |
| Schedule               | Whether traffic is continuous, bursty, or scheduled, and the hours it must complete in                             | A burst that must finish in one hour needs a bigger tier than the same bytes spread over a day          |

## Convert the measurement into a tier

1. Take the transferred bytes for one full representative cycle, including retries.
2. Divide by the seconds the cycle is allowed to take. That is your required average throughput.
3. Multiply by your peak-to-average ratio — the peak is what the tier has to absorb.
4. Convert to megabits per second: bytes per second × 8 ÷ 1,000,000.
5. Choose the next tier up. Tiers are a ceiling; sizing to the exact number leaves nothing for variance.
6. Re-measure after a week of production traffic and adjust.

Effective throughput still depends on destination behaviour, concurrency limits, and retries. The tier bounds what the network will carry for you; it does not promise what a destination will serve.

## Where per-GB stops being cheaper

Monthly Unlimited starts at 10 Mbps for $121.13. Compare the speed tier you need with the total price of your traffic pack: volume discounts and throughput requirements affect which option costs less. Check current pricing before ordering.

Peak throughput and task timing determine which speed tier you need; compare that tier with your expected traffic-pack cost.

## Related

- [Unlimited plans](https://docs.trueproxies.com/pricing/unlimited-plans/)
- [GB-based plans](https://docs.trueproxies.com/pricing/gb-based-plans/)