27 Best Proxies & Proxy Server Services of 2023 (Free & Paid)
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The best proxies service in 2023, as found in our independent testing, is Oxylabs!
Buying proxies from the wrong proxy service provider is one of the most frustrating and draining things that can happen to any proxy user.
You will end up wasting your time and money and yet your project will be incomplete or even ruined.
This experience is something nobody desires, but many still fall victim to such scams by unscrupulous proxy server providers.
There are hundreds of proxy server services available for you to buy on the market, and as expected, not all of them offer the same levels of service.
Some are reliable and effective, while some will be a waste of time and money.
Top 10 Best Proxes in 2023
Best Proxy Server Services 2023
If you are worried about investing in the wrong proxies, here are the best proxy server services, that have been vetted by our research team as well as have received many positive customer reviews.
Oxylabs is one of the leading residential proxies in the market in terms of network coverage.
It offers users a wide range of proxy options, with more than 100 million residential IPs in their proxy pool across many cities in all countries worldwide.
Oxylabs not only offer residential proxies, but they also provide datacenter and mobile IPs, giving their users more options.
Their residential proxies can be rotating IPs or static non-rotating residential proxies.
They support SOCKS5 protocol and other next-gen protocols.
Key Features
- Pay as you go from $15/GB, with no commitments. Cancel anytime.
- Unlimited concurrent sessions and proxy rotator.
- You can expect up to 99.9% uptime as Oxylabs’ team constantly monitors available proxy pools.
- A single backconnect proxy – avoid IP bans and CAPTHCAs.
- Endpoint generator.
- Integration with third-party software.
- Proxy user management with Public API
- Types of Proxies: Residential, Mobile, Rotating ISP, Shared and Dedicated Datacenter, SOCKS5, Static Residential.
Pros
Cons
Features of Oxylabs
Large IP Pool
Oxylabs is a proxy provider with a large pool of proxy IPs.
Their residential proxies have over 100 million IPs to choose from.
This large proxy pool ensures that users can have extended internet time.
They Support Three Proxy Types
A unique feature of Oxylabs is that they support all three types of proxies. Their datacenter and residential proxies have a large proxy pool.
Their mobile proxy pool is not as large but still has a sizable amount to run all desired tasks.
Bright Data is ranked by many blogs as the best proxy service around.
They offer proxies in the mobile, datacenter, and residential proxy categories.
Their residential proxies are highly rated and are regarded as the industry leader.
Their mobile proxies are also very popular, though their datacenter proxy is not widespread due to their pricing.
Bright Data proxies are regarded as the best proxies you can buy on the market in terms of security and speed compatibility with web services.
Pros
Cons
Features of Bright Data
Excellent Location Support
Bright Data boasts the best location coverage and support on the market. They have proxies in every well-known city and state in all countries worldwide.
This gives Bright Data their unbeatable geo-targeting support. Users of Bright Data can buy proxies from specific cities, states and countries worldwide.
Largest Proxy Network
Bright Data not only has the best geo-targeting support, but they also have an impressive number of proxies for users.
With over 7 million IP addresses in their mobile proxy pool, over 72 million IP addresses in their residential proxy pool and over 700K datacenter IPs, they are the most prominent proxy network in the market.
Perfect Session Control
Bright Data offers rotating residential proxies. Therefore, a new session is created for every change in IP address.
Their support for IP rotation is rated among the best in the market.
This is because of their time-based IP rotating feature that ensures IP addresses are changed after a specific time and their high rotating proxies ensure IP addresses are changed after every request.
Smartproxy is a top proxy server provider that offers the best value for your money. They offer some of the best residential proxies worldwide with fast connection speed.
They are just as effective as Bright Data for most uses and may even surpass Bright Data in some cases.
One fantastic thing is that they are less expensive than Bright Data and have flexible prices, accommodating big corporations and small marketers.
Smartproxy proxies ensure that users can overcome IP-based restrictions for effective marketing. They are easy to set up, integrate and use.
For new users who might have trouble with navigating their services, Smartproxy provides a quick help guide for assistance.
Pros
Cons
Features of Smartproxy
Flexible Pricing
One fantastic feature of Smartproxy is its excellent price flexibility. With this, users can enjoy the best value for their money.
However, users’ might have to cope with the bandwidth usage limit depending on the plan you are subscribed to.
Proxy Address Generator
A unique feature of Smartproxy which gives it an edge over other proxy providers is that Smartproxy enables users to generate their proxy addresses.
These proxy addresses are rotating proxies, but you don’t wish they rotate proxies for you; you will need a proxy list to use.
Excellent Location Support and Large IP Pool Size
Smartproxy is widely recommended because of its excellent location support.
They have their servers in over 195 countries worldwide, with a large proxy pool of over 40 million residential IPs.
ProxyEmpire, like the name implies, is a cheap residential proxy good for data collection.
They don’t demand a minimum monetary commitment, and this distinguishes them from most residential proxies.
Their data plan is quite flexible, and users can purchase as little as a 1GB data plan for as low as $3 to $5, depending on the plan you choose.
The icing on the cake is that their larger packages offer discounts.
ProxyEmpire proxies have good location coverage and are compatible with most general proxy uses.
They support country-level targeting and are available in about 127 countries. ProxyEmpire has a fair IP address pool, with over 7 million residential IPs, which are both session and rotating IPs.
Pros
Cons
Features of ProxyEmpire
Large IP Pool
ProxyEmpire is known for having a sizable IP pool, with more than 7 million residential IP addresses.
Their IP addresses are not concentrated in one but spread across more than 127 countries worldwide. They offer a peer-to-peer proxy network, which comprise both session and rotating IPs.
Proxy Generator Support
A unique feature of ProxyEmpire is that it supports proxy generation, which allows users to generate their proxy lists dynamically. They rotate users’ IP addresses, but users can also make a list of IPs to use.
Suitable for Many Use Case
Although ProxyEmpire is a cheap residential proxy server provider, they interestingly support many other uses. ProxyEmpire proxies are optimized to be secure and undetectable.
Some uses they support include brand protection, market research, price monitoring, SEO utility, price monitoring, sneaker copping, ad verification, and web scraping.
BeeProxy‘s proxies are one of the highest-rated proxy providers on this list. They offer one of the most stable proxy networks, and their residential proxies are unblockable.
With BeeProxy, users can maintain one proxy session for some time before it is forcefully ended due to IP rotation.
Although their pricing is inexpensive, their proxies are of the very best quality.
Pros
Cons
Features of BeeProxy
Good Session Control
BeeProxy offers incredible session control, as it supports two types of IP address rotation which are session-based IP rotation and time-based IP rotation.
Session-based IP rotation ensures that the IP address is changed after every request, while the time-based session control ensures that the IP address is changed after a specific time.
Users can use the same IP address on BeeProxy proxies for either one, ten or thirty minutes. Before the particular change periods, users can also trigger a change.
This makes BeeProxy unique and suitable for account management.
Good Location Support
BeeProxy doesn’t have an excellent geo-targeting option, but they offer excellent location support. They offer support to about 130 countries worldwide across over 2000 cities.
Great Customer Support
A unique feature of BeeProxy is that it offers superior customer support.
This ensures their users get help as quickly as possible.
PrivateProxy is one of the best residential proxy providers in the market for multithreading. They are great for sending API requests and also support SOCKS proxy.
They are rotating proxies that support sticky IP, making them great for account management.
Although PrivateProxy doesn’t have an extensive IP pool size like most of the other proxy server providers listed above, they offer a sizable enough IP pool for most tasks.
They offer users more than 5 million residential IPs. About 500K – 600K of the IPs in their proxy pool are constantly online.
Pros
Cons
Features of PrivateProxy
Excellent IP Whitelisting Support
PrivateProxy has excellent IP whitelisting support, with up to four IPs at a time. This makes them unique, as it is rare to see this amount of IP whitelisting support available in the market.
Only proxy servers that have support for sub-users provide more than one IP whitelisting option.
Good Location Support
PrivateProxy is a proxy server that offers good location support. The source of their IP addresses is from a P2P network.
They have over five million IP addresses in their proxy pool across more than 140 countries worldwide.
Proxy-Seller is a highly-rated datacenter proxy provider which is very popular among a lot of small-scale Internet marketers.
Proxy-Seller supports SOCKS5 and HTTPS protocols. Proxy-seller provides an easy-to-use and hassle-free proxy service.
A fantastic feature of Proxy-Seller is their flexible payment options, as users can pay for weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannually, and annually plans at affordable prices.
Users have several payment options, as they can pay with PayPal, credit card, and Bitcoin.
Pros
Cons
Features of Proxy-Seller
Good Customer Support
One of Proxy-seller’s features is their fantastic customer support. Their live chat support is very responsive and efficient, as users can chat with a customer rep online in real-time.
In a case where all agents are busy, users have the option to use their ticket support. Users can also make use of their social media platforms to resolve any pressing issue.
Acceptable Internet Speed and Response Time
One of Proxy Sellers’ selling points is their fantastic internet speed and response time. They are not the fastest in the market but offer excellent internet speed.
Good Location Coverage
Although Proxy-seller offers datacenter proxies, they are not faced with the problem of having a good number of locations that most datacenter proxies face.
They provide coverage in countries such as the United States, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, India, Ukraine, and ten other countries.
The Social Proxy is a fantastic proxy server provider that offers mobile, residential, and datacenter proxies. It has a fair amount of proxy pools, with more than 3 million proxies available to its users.
They offer unlimited bandwidth usage on all their plans. The Social Proxy users are allowed to run about 500 concurrent threads on most of their plans.
One fantastic feature that sets The Social Proxy apart from their counterparts in that they support all the popular protocols, even new generation protocols.
Some of the protocols they support include SOCKS5, HTTP, and HTTPS.
Pros
Cons
Features of The Social Proxy
Offers Unlimited Bandwidth
A good feature of The Social Proxy is its unlimited bandwidth. They ensure that users can enjoy unlimited access to their services worldwide at affordable prices.
This is their unique selling point and a feature that separates them from many other proxy providers in the market.
Cross-Platform Proxy Checker Tool
The Social Proxy offers its users a unique feature known as a cross-platform proxy checker tool. This enables them to sort through their users’ list of shared proxies and sieve out bad proxies.
With this, they can pick the most valuable proxies best suited to work for specific uses based on parameters like their speed, location, and presence against effective anti-spam protocols.
Shifter, which has been in the proxy market since 2012, is a proxy provider ranked as the best backconnect proxy.
They offer affordable unlimited bandwidth, and their backconnect residential proxies are best for scraping.
Shifter uses rotating proxies, which are time-based, with the IP address assigned per port changing every 5 minutes.
They have over 31 million IP addresses, making them one of the proxy providers with one of the largest proxy pools. Their proxies are perfect for all proxy use cases.
Pros
Cons
Features of Shifter
Unlimited Bandwidth Usage
One of the main reasons why Shifter is ranked amongst the best proxy server providers is because it supports unlimited bandwidth usage.
Bandwidth usage is one of the criteria most premium proxy users rate their proxy providers by, and Shifter is top of the list.
The beauty of it all is that the cost of their plans is decent compared to other proxy server providers.
This helps you save a lot of money that such a sizable amount of bandwidth would have cost you with other proxy providers. They are perfect for tasks streaming requires much bandwidth.
Numerous Use Cases
Another fantastic feature of Shifter is that it offers numerous uses.
Some of the tasks you can use Shifter for include price comparison, SEO, ad verification, web testing, sales intelligence, brand protection, online shopping, and many more.
However, Shifter users are blocked from using some other web services like Amazon by default.
To use these blocked services, users have to contact the Shifter support team to request access.
Also, you will have to agree not to bridge their guidelines before access is granted.
Large Proxy Pool
Shifter claims to be the largest proxy provider in the proxy market on their website. Although this could just be a marketing gimmick, it is recorded that Shifter has over 30 million residential proxies.
This is lesser than what Smartproxy and Bright Data boasts of.
SSL Private Proxy is one of the top and leading private proxy services on the market today.
SSL Private Proxy, which was founded in 2012, has grown to become one of the most premium proxy services in the world and ranked amongst the best private proxies.
They are highly trusted by users worldwide and offer specialized packages for specific tasks.
Their specialized services include social media, online gaming, advertising, shopping, and several other target proxy use cases.
SSL Private Proxy offers various unique features, including high-grade privacy and security.
They use both username/password authentication and IP authentication and support only HTTP and HTTPS protocols.
Pros
Cons
Features of SSL Private Proxy
High Anonymity
SSL Private Proxy is known for its top-level anonymity available to users worldwide. Users’ identity is completely hidden when surfing the internet, and they are almost impossible to detect.
IP Authentication Method
One feature of SSL Private Proxy is that it supports easy and secure authentication, as users can log in with the IP Authorization method.
This allows users to connect from multiple devices on the same IP address easily.
3-days Refund Policy
SSL Private Proxy supports a 3-days refund policy, which is very effective.
When a user purchases their services, they are entitled to a refund if not satisfied with the service within three days.
However, users are not allowed to test run their services before payment.
Blazing SEO Proxies is the world’s best-optimized sneaker proxy.
Blazing SEO Proxies is a subsidiary of a cloud-based solution provider, Blazing SEO LLC, with interest in servers, proxies, and scraping.
Although Blazing proxies are datacenter proxies and don’t support any other types of proxies, they are still reliable sticker proxies.
They are rated as the best sneaker datacenter proxies available. They are perfect for sneaker copping, which is said to be best with residential proxy providers.
Blazing proxies offer concurrent thread support and unlimited bandwidth. They are flexible to use and are reasonably affordable.
Pros
Cons
Features of Blazing SEO Proxies
Sneaker and SEO Support
Blazing SEO Proxies from inception were not designed to provide general proxy use, but to offer dedicated use for some specific tasks.
Although Blazing SEO Proxies can be used for many general uses, they are specialized proxies for sneaker copping and SEO auditing and monitoring.
Unlimited Bandwidth and Threads
Blazing SEO Proxies offer unlimited bandwidth and concurrent thread. Putting them among the few proxy providers in the market that support both unlimited bandwidth or thread.
Supports Many Countries
Blazing SEO Proxies may not support many locations as most proxy providers listed above, but they support a reasonable amount of countries.
They currently support 13 locations which include the US, Canada, UK, ten other countries.
With this, they are the best datacenter proxy providers based on location support.
Soax is a top-rated service ranked as the best proxy server for mobile proxies and has the cleanest pool for Instagram automation.
They also provide great residential proxies, and users can get a mix of both mobile and residential proxies.
Soax offers proxies from lots of locations worldwide with a large mobile proxy pool.
Their mobile proxy pool is constantly being monitored, thereby offering one of the cleanest proxy pools globally.
Once bad IPs are noticed in the proxy pool, they are removed. One other factor that makes Soax popular is its flexible payment plans that are unrivaled.
Pros
Cons
Features of Soax
Mobile Proxy Pool
Soax is one of the world’s leading proxy providers of mobile proxies, with over 3.5 million mobile IPs.
It has the most prominent mobile proxy IPs behind Bright Data, with 7 million mobile proxy IPs.
The main reason for this is likely because the mobile proxy is a new invention in the proxy market.
Flexible Pricing
A fantastic feature of Soax is that they have one of the most flexible payment packages. Users can subscribe to their daily, weekly or monthly proxy plans.
However, the daily and weekly plans are more expensive compared to their monthly plans.
Also, when their monthly plan is compared to other proxy providers, Soax’s plans are deemed expensive.
Compatible Instagram Automation
Instagram generally puts a stop to Instagram automation which makes it hard to crack, as it uses protocols that effectively detect proxies.
Soax proxies easily bypass the Instagram anti-spam system and are undetectable. They are also entirely compatible and effective with the most popular and complicated SEO tools in the world.
Soax mobile proxies are also perfect for other proxy use cases like web scraping.
Myprivateproxy is ranked as the best private proxy server provider in the market and is known for its fast dedicated IPs.
Their private proxies are one of the fastest dedicated IPs in the world, offering maximum speed. They offer some uses others don’t have and are rated one of the easiest to use in the market.
Pros
Cons
Features of Myprivateproxy
Offers Specialized Proxies
One of the advantages Myprivateproxy offers is its specialized proxies for some exceptional uses. This includes spoofing Pokemon GO, sneaker copping, and ticketing.
Their general private proxies will fail to work for these specific uses; therefore, it’s always best to go for their dedicated proxies.
Green Servers
Their servers are earth-friendly based on their activities, which aligns with the ever-increasing demand for government, corporate bodies and individuals to go green.
MyPrivateProxy wind energy to power some of their servers are powered.
Supports Many Locations
MyPrivateProxy is a proxy provider that supports many locations, unlike most private proxy providers, which support a few areas.
MyPrivateProxy has coverage in many regions of the US, Canada, and some places in Europe.
StormProxies is a top proxy server provider for the most affordable optimized rotating proxies.
This reverse backconnect premium rotating server is entirely out of the league of the mentioned proxies above in areas like the number of IPs in their proxy pool and location support.
However, it will do a pretty decent job for a much more affordable price.
Irrespective of their shortcomings, they still offer a reasonable amount of optimized tasks like ad verification, SEO, price intelligence, web scraping, bulk account creation, brand protection, and many more.
Their proxies are time-based and change their assigned IPs after every 5 minutes. One of StormProxies’ selling points is that they allow access to unlimited bandwidth usage.
Pros
Cons
Features of Stormproxies
Unlimited Bandwidth Usage with Affordable and Cheap Pricing
Stormproxies significant selling point is its cheap pricing. The plans are incredibly affordable for specific uses. With as little as $50, users can purchase up to 5 ports.
Another selling point is that for a cheap proxy service, they also offer unlimited bandwidth usage.
They also have flexible packages, making it possible for users to buy a smaller package.
Diverse Proxy Packages
Stormproxies offers specialized proxy packages apart from their general proxies.
The special uses they offer includes sneaker proxies, SEO proxy tools, and social media proxies for one of the best social media automation.
Their sneaker proxies permit users limited-edition of sneakers copping.
Easy to Use
One of the easiest residential proxies to use in the market is Stormproxies residential proxies. A reason for this is because of Stormproxies lean nature.
They only make use of whitelisting your IP address and do not use username and password authentication methods.
InstantProxies are one of the best shared proxies and are fabulous for search engines.
They are one of the most famous datacenter proxy providers, and this is due to their cheap pricing.
Although they are datacenter proxies, they can be used for a reasonable number of tasks.
One such task is SEO auditing and management. Instantproxies has good location coverage, with proxies from different cities worldwide.
They offer users unlimited bandwidth with subnet variety. A unique feature of Instantproxies is that their proxies are highly anonymous and compatible with numerous websites.
Instantproxies are also unique because they ensure that the proxies provided are tested before handing them over to their users.
Pros
Cons
Features of Instantproxies
Cheap Pricing
Instantproxies is one of the best proxy providers when it comes to pricing. They are both free and paid proxies; even at that, the paid proxies are very cheap.
Users can buy proxy access for as little as a few cents. Users can get ten proxies for as low as $10.
SEO-Optimized
Most datacenter proxies have limited usage because most of them have been flagged or blocked by numerous web services. This is because they are easily detected.
However, Instantproxies is a datacenter proxy that still functions considerably fair in the market.
They thrive in certain proxy environments, and one such area includes search engine optimization research. Users of Instantproxies can easily carry out SEO research at a cheap cost.
Ease of Usage
Instantproxies is one of the easiest proxies to use in the market because the method of authentication is through IP whitelisting.
Instantproxies doesn’t support the username and password authentication method.
Hide.me is one of the best proxy providers that include things like IP leak protection, which is usually reserved for VPNs.
It works with Chrome and Firefox and supports SOCKS protocol. It is a reliable, quick proxy that you can use.
Features of Hide.me
Hide.me offers a number of different features, including browser extensions, IP leak protection, helps you unblock any blocked website, and supports SOCKS protocol.
Hide.me’s proxies are anonymous, and it comes with a free basic plan with three connections.
There are 2000 worldwide servers in its pool, and it supports Windows, Android, Mac, Linux, and iPhone.
Webshare is a well-rated proxy server provider known for its signature Rotating Datacenter proxies.
They offer free proxy services and provide excellent connection speed, making them ideal for fast scraping projects.
Their paid users have access to more of the features they offer, and they are not easily detected by anti-spam systems that effectively detect proxies.
Pros
Cons
Rotating Datacenter proxies
Webshare has a unique feature that the majority of proxy providers don’t offer. This unique feature is the rotating datacenter proxy option.
This combines both the benefits of rotating proxies and static proxies. Webshare proxies are perfect for both crawling and web scraping.
Cheap Pricing
Another feature of Webshare that makes it famous is its cheap pricing. It makes them stand out among other providers. They are very affordable, and they are also very secure.
18. IPVanish
The next proxy on our list is a great option and alternative to use instead of a VPN because it protects your traffic within a specific source, including an application.
It is one of the best proxy services that changes your IP address regularly.
Features of IPVanish
IPVanish offers an incredibly fast connection speed and enables access to censored websites and apps.
It works with information from any program, protocol, or kind of traffic, and offers flexible traffic compatibility. I
t has more than 40,000 IP addresses in its pool and covers 75 countries. It is compatible with Mac, Linux, Windows, Android, and more.
19. IPRoyal
IPRoyal is another great proxy service that is ethically sourced and means that you can make the most of residential proxies from users that are real and from all around the world.
It is a free provider that offers customizable options including a dashboard where you can easily manage your proxy service.
Features of IPRoyal
IPRoyal offers automatic IP rotation, as well as a number of different proxy servers for you to choose from.
You can replace your residential IP proxy automatically and it offers its clients dedicated residential proxies.
You can change your IP address through the dashboard, and it supports multiple locations.
The pricing begins at $3 a GB, and has eight connections within their plan, and more than two million in their IP pool.
20. Smart DNS Proxy
Smart DNS Proxy is a helpful proxy service for helping you unblock content, and ensuring that your private information is secure.
You can use this proxy service on any device because they are compatible with both desktop and mobile.
Features of Smart DNS Proxy
Smart DNS Proxy offers fast browsing and streaming and unblocks geo-restricted data.
It is accessible with both mobile and computer and offers five connections at once. It offers both residential and datacenter proxies, and its pricing begins at $50 a month.
It covers more than 195 countries and has 2 million proxies in its IP address pool.
21. NetNut
NetNut is another proxy service that can help you target websites that contain company information that you might want to scrape, which makes them a good choice for businesses and companies that are wanting to stay highly anonymous online.
They have advanced features and static IP addresses.
Features of NetNut
This proxy service offers ISP connectivity, for quicker proxy speed, and helps you collect data and scale quicker using a dynamic P2P proxy network.
It supports HTTPS and HTTP and allows its clients to access their real-time dashboard with statistics that get updated regularly.
You can make the most of their unlimited concurrent connections, as well as rotating and sticky sessions.
The pricing begins from $300 a month, and they have 10,000,000 IP addresses in their pool.
22. Scraper API
Scraper API is a really helpful proxy service that can help you get around blocks, and can also help you with sticky rotating IP addresses.
Features of Scraper API
Scraper API is free for you to use, and they can help you scrape any website using a residential or geotargeting proxy.
They can also get rid of slow proxies from their pools, and they also guarantee unlimited bandwidth.
Their proxy type is residential, and they offer a free trial for seven days. They have 14 million IP addresses in their pool, covering 50 countries.
23. Zyte
Zyte is a really helpful proxy service that can help you scrape websites and ensure that your web information is delivered reliably and quickly.
Features of Zyte
Zyte offers a really good proxy service along with a scraping tool, as well as automatic proxy management. They offer residential proxies and a 14-day trial for free.
24. Kproxy
Kproxy is a proxy service that is based in your browser and offers an extension for Firefox, and Chrome.
It is easily one of the best proxy servers that can help you use your proxy on computers at universities, schools, or workplaces.
Features of Kproxy
These guys offer their clients premium service, as well as a free proxy that is available on Android.
They have residential, search engine, and data center proxies, and have more than 40 million IP addresses in their pool.
Their basic plan begins at $5 for 10 days, and their speed is lightning fast.
25. Hidester
The next proxy service on our list is reliable and fast and can help you get into any website really quickly. They have a no-logging policy, which means that you can be completely anonymous.
Features of Hidester
One of the biggest advantages to this proxy service is that they don’t have a logging policy.
They are also one of the best proxy sites that offers consistent connection to access HD video content, and they have a user-friendly interface.
Their clients make the most of their Chrome extension, and they remove unnecessary objects and scripts.
26. Whoer
Whoer is a proxy that can help you as one of the easiest and quickest proxy providers. They say that they can help their clients change their IP addresses really easily, unblock websites, and be anonymous online.
Features of Whoer
Whoer says that they have fast connections without logs, and they offer their clients access to websites without the issue of blocking.
They also are going to help you get a stable, anonymous connection from your browser.
They charge from $9.90 a month, and they say that they cover 20 countries with their servers.
27. ProxySite
ProxySite is another proxy provider that can help their clients connect to the web without identifying themselves.
They say that you can also connect with other people, so that you can access important information.
Features of ProxySite
They are great for protecting your privacy, and they can also help you look at websites quicker.
They are even going to make it easy for you to bypass filters. Their pool size is more than 100 million, and they cover 80 countries.
How We Found the Best Proxy Servers
There are literally hundreds of proxy services today, and each one promises to be the best.
Many of these proxy providers are better at marketing than providing the services they promise. They survive on hype, and the outcome is often terrible for the end-users.
After careful research of the market, we have put together a list of the best proxy servers for you to check out.
Our recommendations include proxies in categories such as datacenter proxies, residential proxies, and mobile proxies.
The selection was made based on several factors, including their compatibility with popular web services, uptime, security, speed, customer support, among others.
Why Should You Use a Proxy?
There are a number of reasons why you will want to use a proxy. The first is gaining access to blocked content, and they can also help you speed up common requests.
They are great for improving privacy and security, and they can help you gather information about competitors. If you want to scrape the web, they can also help you with this as well.
How to Setup a Proxy
We will show you the steps to setting up a proxy.
- Open the website of the proxy. Choose one from the list above.
- Choose your browser extension.
- Add the extension to your web browser.
- A warning dialogue box will come up. Select ‘add extension’.
- Begin the extension.
- Choose a location so that you can establish a proxy connection.
- Open a website, like Netflix. You should now be able to access Netflix in the location of your choice.
What are the Important Types of Proxies?
- HTTP proxy: this is a proxy that lets you access websites that begin with HTTP.
- HTTPS proxy: this is a proxy that provides a wider range of access, including of course HTTP.
- SOCKS proxy: a SOCKS proxy is not limited to just internet traffic, meaning that they work on an application level. This means that you can use it on a gaming or streaming platform as well.
- Web proxy: this is a type of proxy that can be used to anonymously access a website. You won’t need to adjust your browser settings.
- Shared proxies: this type of proxy changes the IP address every 15 minutes, and it is shared, so security isn’t great.
- Public proxy: this is going to be shared on a community level, and has the least amount of security.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Proxy Service
If you are new to proxy services, picking proxy providers at random may end up as a disaster. It is essential to take time out to check for the kind of proxy service that suits your needs.
Here are a few factors to consider.
IP Address Source
The source of the IP address provided by the proxy server is one of the most important factors to consider before choosing a proxy server.
There are three primary IP sources which are mobile, datacenter and residential proxies.
Mobile IP proxy
Mobile IP proxies are the newest among IP proxies. The source of IP addresses is the Mobile Network Operators, that is, mobile Internet devices ISPs.
They are the perfect IP addresses for web services with robust anti-spam systems or require mobile simulations.
They are also the most expensive IP address source. Instagram is an example of such services and the most popular of them.
Datacenter IP proxy
The IP addresses for datacenter IP proxies are sourced from data centers just like the name implies. They are the cheapest IP address sources and also the least effective.
They are easily detected and are better used on websites with a simple anti-spam system.
Residential IP proxy
Residential IP proxies make use of IP addresses assigned to devices by ISPs. They are almost as effective and undetectable as mobile proxies and are perfect for nearly all proxy uses.
They are also cheap but not as cheap as datacenter proxies but as expensive as mobile proxies.
Location
The location your proxy provider covers is another essential factor to be considered when choosing a proxy service.
This is because many proxy users use proxy services to spoof their location to access localized and geo-targeted data.
When picking a proxy provider, don’t go for one that supports only your location.
Ensure you choose proxy providers that support as many locations as possible if you need to spoof the location.
Some proxy providers support all areas in the world, such as BrightData and Smartproxy.
Number of Users
Proxies can either be private proxies or shared proxies. Residential proxies are mostly shared proxies, which means you will have to share IPs from a proxy pool with other users.
However, residential proxies are constantly being rotated; therefore, there is nothing to worry about.
Datacenter proxies, on the other hand, are private proxies, which implies that users will have to stick to their individual proxies to guarantee reliability and better performance.
IP Rotation
Some proxy servers rotate their IP addresses while some are static.
When sending many requests to a web service, it is best to use rotating proxies to ensure that the web service doesn’t know that the requests are from one source.
Rotating proxies are used chiefly by residential proxy services and are notable for web scraping.
They are also perfect for SEO, price monitoring, and ad verification, among others.
Static proxies, on the other hand, are best for maintaining the same IP address. They are perfect for online gaming and account management.
Proxy Protocol
SOCKS and HTTPS proxy protocols are the two most well-known proxy protocols worldwide. They are technically different and are used by most proxy providers.
If you like the look of a particular proxy server, you will need to check their website or contact the proxy provider for information on the supported protocol subscribing.
Special Proxy Use Case
Some proxy services have exceptional proxy use cases aside from the general proxy use cases in the market. This gives them an edge over their counterparts and also helps users satisfy some basic needs.
These proxies have been engineered and developed to meet certain requirements for the effective functioning of specific use cases.
Some of the specific use cases of these specialized proxies include SEO proxies, sneaker proxies, gaming proxies, ticketing proxies, many others.
If you need proxies for any of such specific use cases, ensure you go for a proxy provider that offers dedicated proxies.
Residential IP Proxies vs. Datacenter IP Proxies
For many years, the residential IP proxies and the datacenter IP proxies have remained the only IP address source for proxy users.
They both vary in uses and offer users different advantages. Residential proxies are more secure and effective than datacenter proxies, although they are also more expensive.
Residential proxies make use of rotating IP addresses, while datacenter IPs are static. Before opting for any of these types of IP proxies, ensure you know your reason for using a proxy service.
FAQs
What is a Proxy?
Proxy servers function as intermediaries between web servers and your computer when on the Internet.
Proxy servers help you redirect your requests on the web and ensure they don’t go directly to the intended website.
When your request goes directly to the intended website, you are exposed in many ways unless your network operator or ISP modifies your request.
A proxy provider changes the standard work mechanism of your internet service provider by routing your request through a proxy server, which now routes your requests to the intended website.
During this process, modifications are made. The initial IP address bundled with your request is replaced with another IP address.
The new IP address could be an arbitrary one or an IP address belonging to the proxy server.
The intention is to hide your actual IP address, protecting you from several vulnerabilities and offering you many opportunities.
Therefore, proxies can be seen as shields used online by Internet users to hide their actual IP footprints.
Proxy vs. VPN – What’s Better?
Both achieve the same thing, which is protecting your identity online.
However, when it comes to modes of operation, they are different.VPNs offer a number of different features including split tunneling and kill switch.
Proxies offer the ability to hide your identity. Your risk of having your identity exposed is higher with a proxy.
Can Proxies be Traced?
Yes, proxies are able to be traced. This is because proxies are going to transfer information to and from your chosen device without encrypting it.
You can use a proxy to change your IP address. They only offer some anonymity.
Do You Need a Proxy and a VPN?
Because both a proxy and a VPN are going to hide your IP address, you probably don’t need to use both of them.
Can You Use Both Together?
If you want an added layer of anonymity with your online activity, you can use both at the same time.
However, depending on the type of proxy that you are going to use, this could end up being redundant.
Are Proxies Legal?
Generally, proxies are entirely legal. Many top businesses make use of proxies for the smooth running of their businesses daily.
However, its legality is also based on a country basis. Some countries may forbid the use of proxies, making it prohibited in that country.
In the United States, for example, no laws are restricting the use of proxy servers. In some countries, the use of proxy servers is partially legal.
This means that citizens can use proxy servers, but proxy servers are restricted to specific websites. If this law is bridged and these prohibited websites are accessed with proxies, it becomes illegal.
In countries where the use of proxies is unlawful, if found wanting, violators will face the wrath of the law. So proxies could be legal and illegal, depending on what they are used for and your location.
If you are in a new area, it’s best to get the opinion of a lawyer that is resident in that country to determine the legality of using proxies to avoid breaking the law.
What Can I Use Proxy Servers For?
The primary use of proxy servers is to shield users’ real IP addresses when browsing the web.
The main question should be why internet users would want to hide their IP addresses? There are some interesting reasons for this.
Many internet users who use proxies know that web services use internet users’ IP addresses to effect certain IP-based restrictions.
Therefore, by hiding your actual IP address, it becomes difficult for these IP-based restrictions to affect you.
Because your proxy providers give you access to as many IP addresses as possible. Proxy services also have several other uses.
Proxies can be used for ad verification, account management, web scraping, brand protection, price comparison, cybersecurity, and fraud protection, application and affiliate link testing, and many more.
To successfully use proxies for this, your proxy server helps you bypass IP-based censorship and restriction. Individuals do not only use proxy services.
Government agencies, big corporations, and research institutions worldwide use proxies, although they may never admit it.
Are Proxy Servers Trustworthy?
Proxies help you hide your identity and activities from eavesdroppers like your ISP, intelligence and marketing agencies, government agencies, web services, and even hackers.
Some proxy servers even ensure that your web traffic is encrypted to provide better security online. What this implies is that proxy services offer both security and privacy when online.
However, while your identity is completely hidden from the web services you browse when using proxy servers, your proxy provider knows your identity.
They see the content of your requests and also your actual IP address. For this reason, the question of trust comes into play.
Some proxy servers can be so terrible that it’s better if you don’t use proxies at all than to subscribe to them.
They will eavesdrop on you, get all your information, and hurt you with it.
These days, most proxy servers claim not to monitor users’ activities, and they abide by a strict no-log policy.
The fact that you can’t access their code base or know what is done behind the scenes, you can’t know for sure if they speak the truth.
Based on this, if choosing a proxy service, you should settle for a popular provider with recommendations from security experts.
This gives you very little assurance because users of these proxy servers would have had first-hand experience using them, and the security experts must have put proxy servers through a series of rigorous tests.
Are Free Proxies Safe to Use?
Free proxies are of course tempting to use because you don’t pay to use them.
However, most free proxies are regarded as not secure, and you are at risk of having your data stolen.
Not only are you at security and privacy risk, but you also would most likely not enjoy the services from free proxies because they are usually slow, of low quality, and easily detectable by web services.
Yet, there are few exceptions to this. Some proxy servers offer quality free proxies or free trials that are worth checking out.
What are the Best Proxies for Web Scraping?
Rotating proxies are the best proxies for web scraping because they change their IP addresses after every request.
This ensures that no IP footprint is traced, and users won’t exceed the web request limit at any point.
What are the Best Proxies for Sneaker Copping?
Residential proxies are the best for sneaker copping because residential proxies are hard to detect by sneaker sites with effective anti-bot systems that quickly detect proxies.
However, datacenter proxies can work effectively on some sneaker sites without being detected.
What are the Best Proxies for Social Media?
Mobile proxies are the best for social media because most social media websites are perfect at detecting proxies.
Some are very much against it and would block the user immediately if it is detected.
However, there are some social media websites that residential proxies work perfectly for.
Conclusion
This page has the best proxies and proxy server services you can find on the market. They offer both general proxy uses and specialized uses.
The majority of proxies listed guarantee top-level security and anonymity.
Whatever reason you choose to use proxies, if you need specific proxies to meet particular needs, you can pick from any of the services listed above and trust them to deliver.
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