10 Best (100% FREE) Proxy Sites for Private Browsing in 2021
Free proxy sites are temping when you need to get around firewalls, but it’s hard to tell which proxy is actually safe and works. To save you time, I tested 20+ free proxies and ranked the 10 best options.
While free proxies still need to make money, I was concerned to find even some of the best free proxy sites log your activities and sell it to advertisers. For this reason, I don’t recommend using a free proxy for sensitive activities like torrenting, banking, or watching adult content — there’s a high chance that you’re being secretly watched.
If you want online anonymity and security, you may want to consider a VPN. A premium provider like ExpressVPN offers anonymity, fast speeds, and military-grade security that no free proxy can match. ExpressVPN is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee so it’s easy to get a refund if you’re not satisfied with its performance.
Try ExpressVPN risk-free
CyberGhost — Free proxy plugin for Chrome and Firefox with unlimited bandwidth, leak protection, and traffic encryption.
HMA — Connect to free servers in 5 locations (including the US), but requires an email address at signup.
ZenMate — Encrypted proxy servers in 4 countries, but comes with a speed limit.
Hotspot Shield — Advanced security features but only 1 server.
— Free webform proxy and browser extensions available, but only 3 servers available.
Hidester — Zero-logs policy and you don’t need to create an account, but only has basic encryption.
KProxy — Reliable service with a good reputation, but limits your data in a single browsing session.
VPNBook — Impressive 256-bit encryption, but logs your data.
4everproxy — Variety of servers and IP locations, but stores your data for 7 days.
ProxySite — Unblocks popular websites, but doesn’t let you choose specific server locations.
Privacy Tip: If you need to browse the web without worrying about your activity being logged, jump to see the best free VPNs. The best services use military-grade encryption and even have an audited no-logs policy.
1. CyberGhost Free Proxy Plugin
CyberGhost has a free proxy extension that requires no signup. The proxy plugin is currently available for Chrome and Firefox, and allows access to 8 servers in 4 countries (Germany, Romania, Netherlands, and the US).
I only had to click the Power button, and CyberGhost instantly connected me to its server. I was able to select a server location of my choice and change my IP address within seconds. I was especially impressed when I had no trouble watching movies on Netflix and didn’t encounter any buffering during my streams.
I performed several DNS leak tests with the CyberGhost proxy plugin enabled, and it passed every time, meaning my IP address didn’t become exposed during DNS requests. CyberGhost offers a VPN service in addition to its proxy plugin.
2. HMA Free Web Proxy
HMA has a Chrome and Firefox browser extension with 5 server locations (the US, UK, Netherlands, Germany, and France). When I tested its “Quick Connect” feature, it automatically connected me to the fastest server based on my location.
HMA’s free proxy server has 2 useful extra features: Auto Hide and Tab Killer. Auto Hide automatically hides your location when you visit specified websites, so I set it up to always connect to the US server when I visited YouTube. Tab Killer hides every open browser tab when you press a keyboard shortcut, so you can browser at school or work without getting caught.
Although HMA recently updated its privacy policy and has a guaranteed no-logging policy, you’ll need to sign up for an account using a valid email address for verification. If you like the plugin’s performance, you can try the HMA VPN for more server options.
3. ZenMate Free Proxy Extension
ZenMate has a free proxy that comes as an extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. There are 4 servers in Germany, Romania, Singapore, and the US.
You’re protected by AES 128-bit encryption — while it’s not as powerful as the AES 256-bit offered by ZenMate’s VPN service, AES 128 does have faster speeds and strong security. The extension also has a built-in WebRTC Protect and Malware/Tracking Blocker features, which further helps you stay anonymous when browsing online.
Unfortunately, ZenMate restricts the maximum speed to 2 MB/s, so it’s not the best choice for data-intensive activities like downloading or streaming. Unlimited bandwidth is reserved for VPN users — the ZenMate VPN has optimized servers for streaming and torrenting.
4. Hotspot Shield Free Proxy
Hotspot Shield is known as a free VPN service, but it also has a free proxy. You can connect to 4 servers — Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, or the Russian Federation. While this is a little limited compared to some other free proxies, the servers are fast and truly anonymous. After just 1 click, I could open Netflix Germany and start streaming! I didn’t even need to register for an account.
Its free proxy browser extension has a comprehensive set of security settings including a malware blocker, ad blocker, and cookie blocker. I found all of these features easily in the “Configuration” menu at the top right of the extension. Disappointingly, during my tests the ad blocker couldn’t stop annoying YouTube ads from playing.
5. Free Proxy Browser
only has proxy servers in 3 countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada) but it gives you several customization options. You have the option of disabling cookies, scripts, and objects (like images and plug-ins) while you’re browsing. I wanted as much privacy as possible, so I encrypted the URL of the page I was browsing on. It’s super easy — just click “More options” and choose “Encrypt URL” from the menu.
The webform proxy server is fast at connecting you to your chosen web address. You can also download a browser extension for Chrome or Firefox to protect every page you visit. Best of all, ’s free proxy server doesn’t keep logs of IP addresses or online activity at all.
Remember that only your browser traffic is protected. If you want your entire internet connection to be encrypted, you can try ’s free VPN service.
6. Hidester
Hidester is an impressive free web proxy (with servers in the US and Europe) that gives you more security options than most. You can easily choose to encrypt your URL, block cookies, and remove scripts to block annoying ads. There’s no account signup necessary and Hidester keeps zero logs — no IP addresses, user browsing activity, or any identifying information is stored. This really impressed me as most free web proxies keep at least some logs for a period of time.
Alongside its free web proxy, Hidester offers several other tools I found helpful for maintaining good online security. I especially like the secure password generator, which recommends passwords proven to be difficult to crack.
As impressive as Hidester is, its basic encryption doesn’t measure up with the AES 256-bit encryption used by premium VPNs. Plus, a VPN will protect your whole device rather than just a single webpage.
7. KProxy
KProxy has a proxy webform, as well as a Chrome and Firefox extension. I like the Chrome extension as it gave me 2 precise locations to choose from — Canada and France, which both connected to websites quickly. On the webform, you get 10 different servers to choose from, but you can’t see the location of the servers so browsing and unblocking sites is less precise.
Unfortunately, KProxy limits your browsing in a single session to either 3 hours or when you’ve hit the 300MB data cap. At this point, you’ll be prompted to upgrade the service or wait 30 minutes to resume using the proxy. While it’s not a huge problem, I found it annoying to have to wait to start using the service again.
Most importantly, KProxy keeps some user data (notably, IP addresses) and will give it to the authorities if you abuse the system or engage in illegal activities — including torrenting.
8. VPNBook
VPNBook is another VPN service that also provides a free web proxy. It’s straightforward and simple to use if you need quick access to a blocked website. You can choose from 4 different servers (2 in Europe, 2 in North America) or VPNBook will assign you a proxy server randomly. While I prefer to choose a server that’s close to me (for faster connections), I found that the random proxy server was fast (around 25Mbps on average) when browsing and streaming.
VPNBook is the only web proxy with 256-bit SSL-encryption — a level of encryption that you usually only get from premium VPNs. This means you can be sure that no matter which server you use, your connection is secure and protected from prying eyes.
Despite its high-level encryption and security, VPNBook keeps logs. Although these logs are deleted after a week and are only used to report illegal activity, I’m disappointed that my activity isn’t totally anonymous.
9. 4everproxy
4everproxy gives you 11 servers and 24 IP locations to choose from when you use its free web proxy. I chose the closest server (UK – London) for the fastest speed and an IP address in another country. You don’t have to select a server and IP from the same location, so you can maximize your anonymity!
I tested 4everproxy’s claims that every server is super fast (with 1Gbps connections) and was impressed by the speed. I streamed YouTube with just a couple of seconds of buffering, although I did also get an ad for 4everproxy before my video started.
There are no sign ups or logins required — I typed in my web address and connected in less than 5 seconds. There are also no use limits, as long as you aren’t using the proxy for illegal activity like excessive downloads. The service does log some user data (but it’s deleted after 7 days).
10. ProxySite
ProxySite has 17 US servers and 18 EU servers to make your connection. Server locations aren’t specific, but choosing a server in a nearby region will provide a faster experience. I connected to several EU and US servers — it took me several seconds longer to connect to sites through the US servers.
ProxySite does log your data to monitor for abuse of the service (like excessive downloading or collecting data from other sites) but deletes the logs after 14 days. If you’d rather avoid leaving your private information in the hands of third parties, I recommend you download a VPN instead.
The reality is that proxy sites only provide a basic level of protection. Most proxies don’t use advanced encryption protocols, but even those that do only secure the browser connection — not the entire network. This means that proxies won’t protect other apps on your device, like those you use for banking, social media, and messaging.
Most free proxies also cap your data and have a limited number of IP addresses, which usually get blocked by streaming sites once they’re identified as proxies. Some of the worst free proxies can even log your traffic and steal your bandwidth.
I only recommend proxies for specific activities, like browsing the internet. If you need to do anything else, it’s much safer to check out the best VPN services in 2021. Quality VPNs encrypt every connection using the AES 256-bit cipher, which is the same standard used by militaries and governments worldwide. Better yet, you have access to unlimited bandwidth and servers around the world.
Reputation — If a proxy site has been operating for years, it’s likely a safe option for you. See if you can check its user reputation by looking for a comments section or social media page.
Fast servers — A proxy site with a larger number of servers means the risk of you disconnecting is lower. If the proxy has servers close to your geographic location, you’ll also experience faster connection speeds.
Servers locations — Some free proxies don’t give you any server details. You might not even be able to choose a server, which could be dangerous if you don’t know the local internet laws.
Privacy policies — Some free proxy sites save your connection details, like your IP address or browsing activity. Some even encrypt URLs and page content, block scripts to lower the risk of malware, and stop annoying ads.
Webform or browser extension — Most free proxies offer extensions for browsers or apps that support major operating systems.
If you want the best protection for your whole device (not just your browser), a safer alternative is a VPN. Unlike free proxies, a VPN doesn’t log any of your activities — what you do online remains your business. For example, ExpressVPN applies military-grade encryption to every connection, from web searches to streaming and online banking.
Stay anonymous online with a VPN
1. ExpressVPN — #1 VPN for Privacy, Security and Speed in 2021
Key Features:
Over 3000 servers in 94+ countries
AES 256-bit military-grade encryption and Network Lock kill switch hides your location at all times
5 simultaneous device connections
24/7 customer support with live chat
30-day money-back guarantee
While it’s not free upfront, ExpressVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee you can use to try every feature before committing to a subscription. You can get a full refund if you’re not satisfied with the performance — it’s a “no questions asked” refund policy. This is a great way to see how well a premium VPN compares to a free proxy server at keeping your data and online activity secure.
ExpressVPN is one of the best services available for getting around content blocks. During tests, I easily streamed Netflix without a single instance of buffering, lag, or pixelation. I could even access Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, and DAZN.
I had impeccable image quality while watching Netflix with ExpressVPN
Unlike most free proxies with shady privacy practices, ExpressVPN has an audited no-logs policy that was even confirmed in a real-life case. In addition, the company is based in the British Virgin Islands, which has strong privacy and data protection laws.
You can try ExpressVPN’s full range of features risk-free as it’s backed by a money-back guarantee for 30 days. I tested ExpressVPN for 25 days before asking for a refund through live chat. The agent didn’t ask why I was canceling and processed my request in less than 5 minutes. My money returned to my account after only 4 business days.
October 2021 Update! ExpressVPN has dropped prices for a limited time to a crazy $6. 67 per month for the 1-year plan (you can save up to 49%) + 3 months free! This is a limited offer so be sure to grab it now before it’s gone. See more information on this offer here.
2. CyberGhost — Fast Servers for Anonymous Browsing, Streaming and Torrenting
6900+ servers in over 90 countries, including optimized servers for most major streaming sites
Top-tier encryption and NoSpy servers keep you safe and anonymous online
7 simultaneous device connections
45-day money-back guarantee
CyberGhost no longer has a free plan, but you can use it for 45 days and get your money back, no questions asked. That’s plenty of time to take full advantage of CyberGhost’s optimized streaming servers and watch shows and movies on all your favorite platforms. While testing the VPN, it took me 2 seconds to connect to the BBC iPlayer server and watch an entire season of Peaky Blinders beginning to end without lag or pixelation.
CyberGhost’s BBC iPlayer server helped me watch Peaky Blinders in HD
You can even connect to a selection of highly secure NoSpy servers. These servers are all located in Romania, a country that doesn’t engage in online surveillance and isn’t party to the 5/9/14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances. Furthermore, CyberGhost manages its NoSpy servers exclusively, without any third-party interference, so you can rest assured that no one will tamper with your private information.
Best of all, you can try CyberGhost for free for 45 days by taking advantage of the money-back guarantee — ideal if you only need a VPN for a few weeks. I asked for my refund over live chat and had my money back in the account only 4 days later.
Try CyberGhost for free
October 2021 Update: CyberGhost has dropped prices for a limited time to a crazy $2. 25 per month for the 2-year plan (you can save up to 83%)! This is a limited offer so be sure to grab it now before it’s gone. See more information on this offer here.
3. Hotspot Shield — 500MB of Free Daily Data and Access to 1 US Server
1800+ servers available in over 80 countries
Military-grade encryption
24/7 live support via chat
45-day money-back guarantee on all paid plans
Hotspot Shield has free and paid plans. The free plan works similar to the Hotspot Shield proxy but provides the added security of a VPN. You have 500MB of free data per day (total of 1. 5GB each month). You also have access to only 1 server in the US, which usually offers lower speeds than the premium version due to high server traffic.
Its 1 US server even works with YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. I could watch content seamlessly with Hotspot Shield’s proprietary Catapult Hydra — a tunneling protocol optimized for high speed and low latency.
You can try Hotspot Shield for free and see if it meets your needs.
Try Hotspot Shield for free
4. TunnelBear — 500MB of Free Monthly Data for Secure Connections in 20+ Countries
Servers located in 41+ countries, including the UK, USA, and Canada
AES 256-bit encryption secures your entire internet connection
500MB data limit with the free plan
Up to 5 device connections at the same time
Email support
TunnelBear is a fast, secure free VPN with a low data limit. At only 500MB of data allowance per month, it isn’t suited to streaming or torrenting. However, with server locations in over 20 countries, I found that TunnelBear is excellent at getting around content restrictions with just 1 click. TunnelBear connects quickly, too, taking less than 5 seconds to connect to a server when I tested it. These speedy connections make it a great choice if you want to unblock a website or service quickly.
It’s owned by McAfee (the security giant) and uses AES 256-bit encryption to keep your data protected. It also uses a Vigilant Mode that blocks unsecured traffic in case your VPN connection gets disrupted. There’s even a free ad blocker — I was impressed to find that it blocked all ads when I streamed YouTube.
You can try these features out and download TunnelBear for free. You don’t even need to create an account to get started.
Get TunnelBear for free
5. — 10GB of Free Monthly Data With No Bandwidth Throttling
5 servers in 5 countries with the free plan
Industry-standard, AES 256-bit encryption cipher
10GB monthly data cap with the free subscription, but no bandwidth limits
1 device connection per each free account
Customer support is available to free users
offers an impressive free VPN with no ads or speed limits — you get the same speeds as paid users. The service also offers strong security features that ensure safe browsing and streaming, and a zero-logs policy. You can connect to 5 servers in the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, US East, and US West. uses AES 256-bit encryption and offers a kill switch and DNS leak protection. It only keeps non-persistent logs and erases them every few hours.
Unfortunately, you’re limited to only 10GB per month. Once you exceed the maximum data usage limit, you will need to upgrade to the premium plan to continue using the service.
It’s easy to try for free — you don’t even have to provide your email address or create an account.
Try for free
What’s better: a VPN or proxy?
A proxy server offers a basic level of security by masking your IP address, but only the best proxy sites have advanced privacy features. However, you should use a VPN instead of a proxy when you’re:
Browsing the internet through apps instead of a browser.
Connected to public WiFi and want to protect your data.
Performing a personal task online (like banking)
Downloading and seeding torrents
Living in or visiting a country with strict internet restrictions.
If you’re looking for total security and privacy, a free proxy server isn’t the best choice. It will only protect your information for the websites you visit using it — outside of your browser, other apps (like banking, social media, and messaging) won’t be protected. Proxy servers also send all of your data requests as plain text. Anyone watching can see your usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information transported to the site — which is great for hackers and cybercriminals, but not for your data security.
Using a quality VPN means you don’t have to worry about your data or browsing security. It encrypts every connection so no one can access your information or web activity.
Can I use a free VPN instead of a proxy?
Both free proxy servers and free VPNs have pros and cons — but the most significant difference is how much security they provide while you’re connected. I tested the best free VPNs in 2021 and free proxies to see how they compare to each other. On average, here are the results:
Free Proxy Sites
Free VPNs
Hides IP Address
✔
Encrypts Connection
✔ Browser only
No-Logs Policy
Depends
No Email Required
Unblocks Content
Extra Security Features
If you want more security but aren’t sure about the cost, you should try a premium VPN with a money-back guarantee. For example, CyberGhost offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, so you have up to 45 days to try CyberGhost risk-free. If you’re not happy, you can get a full refund — no questions asked.
I used CyberGhost for free by taking advantage of the money-back guarantee
Do proxy sites work on any device?
You can access the best free proxy sites via a browser. The majority of free proxies are available on Chrome, although many also work on Firefox, Opera, Edge, and Safari.
However, keep in mind that a proxy only encrypts the browser’s web traffic. The rest of your device won’t be protected — so if you regularly use apps or programs outside the browser, you might want to consider a VPN. The best VPNs have dedicated apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire Stick, and even Linux.
What are the best proxy sites for video streaming?
It’s tricky to find a a good proxy site for streaming. Unfortunately, most free proxies limit your data usage, so you won’t be able to watch videos in high-quality definition.
It’s even more difficult if you want to access subscription-based services like Netflix. As soon as you try to access these sites using a free proxy, it doesn’t take the streaming platform long to figure out that you’re spoofing your real IP address. In my experience, only the best VPNs have the technology and resources to unblock streaming sites (like Netflix US).
What are the different types of proxy servers?
There are several different kinds of proxy servers and they can operate using different protocols. Proxy server protocols consist of:
HTTP — This proxy uses a remote server to “grab” a webpage when you make a request and send it to you through an unencrypted connection. It’s almost like interacting directly with the webpage, but the owner of the server can change the data you receive. They could add pop-up ads or even malware to the data.
HTTPS/SSL — This proxy is a secure extension of the HTTP proxy. It works in the same way, only it’s encrypted with TLS encryption. Your ISP or anyone else looking at your activity can see the domains you access but not specific URLs.
SOCKS/SOCKS5 — These proxies are considerably more flexible and secure, able to send and receive data through different sources. They’re often used for torrenting and can be set up to need username and password authentication. You can find random SOCKS5 proxies online, but IPVanish has a free and fast SOCKS5 proxy included with its VPN service.
Transparent — These proxies tell the website you’re visiting that it is a proxy server and it will forward your true IP address to the site. Transparent proxies are mostly used to filter content from networks (like in schools or government buildings) and monitor activity.
Different proxy configurations include:
Private proxy — This kind of proxy can be used by only one person at a time and is designed to hide your personal IP address. A dedicated private proxy has a static IP address (it doesn’t change) and are usually paid services.
Shared/public proxy — Shared proxies consist of multiple IP addresses that can be used by a group of paying members. Public proxies are free to use for anyone who accesses them. These are the riskiest options as you don’t know what other users are doing (like downloading illegal material) and the proxy owner could potentially mishandle your data.
Web proxy — This is a proxy like Hidester, which is great for getting around a content block through a web page or browser extension.
Residential/data center proxy — A residential proxy is one that is supplied by your ISP and behaves just like a regular IP address. Websites won’t know you’re using a proxy. Data center proxies come from a third-party supplier and are easier to get. Many of the IP addresses are very similar so they’re prone to being blocked by sites and services as it can be obvious that they are proxy connections.
What should I do if the proxy site stops responding?
If the web proxy you’re using stops responding or freezes, you can refresh your browser page or close it. Then, open a new tab and head back to the proxy site. This usually fixes the issue and you can resume your anonymous browsing.
For a proxy browser extension, you have a few more options to try:
Restart your device and make sure you’re connected to the internet before turning on the extension.
Make sure your firewall isn’t preventing the server connection — if you can, pause your firewall while you try to connect.
Remove and re-add the extension to your browser.
Unfortunately, most free proxy servers don’t have a support site or live chat to help resolve any problems you may encounter. I recommend you use a quality VPN service like CyberGhost, which offers troubleshooting guides, a comprehensive support site, and a 24/7 live chat option to resolve your issues. It has a free proxy plugin, but you can try CyberGhost VPN for free for 45 days with the money-back guarantee.
Get CyberGhost for free!
A free web proxy provides a basic level of online security and gives you freedom to enjoy content you can’t normally see — but it comes with limitations. For the best possible security, with encrypted connections, zero logs, and absolute privacy, you should use a VPN.
Even a free VPN would do a better job than one of these proxies. However, if you’re not willing to waste your time and risk your privacy, I recommend you use a trusted name like ExpressVPN instead. It uses military-grade encryption and TrustedServer technology to protect your data. It also offers unlimited data, lightning-fast speeds and has a proven zero-log policy. You can try ExpressVPN on any device. If you’re not satisfied, you have up to 30 days to claim a refund.
Top VPNs That Work Better Than Proxy Sites in 2021
Top Choice
1.
$6. 67 / month
Save 48%
2.
$2. 25 / month
Save 83%
3.
$2. 08 / month
4.
$2. 79 / month
Save 36%
5.
$3. 75 / month
Save 66%
The Fastest Free Proxy | hide.me
Our free Web proxy allows you to unblock any blocked website. Just type the website address in the box and access any site you want.
Trustpilot
4. 9 out of 5
Download Free VPN
Free Proxy
VPN vs. Proxy comparison
SOCKS Proxy
Download our FREE proxy browser extension
Install the browser extension to protect yourself from WebRTC leaks and ensure you can always reach the website.
No logs. Zero. Nada.
We handpick servers that live up to our high standards of security and privacy. They’re access controlled, and we are the only ones that operate them — no one else. They do not store IP addresses, nor do they store logs. Each server supports all popular protocols, including: IKEv2, WireGuard, OpenVPN, SoftEther, SSTP and SOCKS. With the very best server locations and low ping times, the internet is yours for the taking — wherever you might be.
Trusted by more than 20 million users worldwide.
Beginners, geeks, youngsters, adults… lots of different people from around the world use everyday. Why? Because it’s safe, simple to use, and supports lots of different devices – from Windows, Mac to Smartphones and even Apple TVs!
Super simple setup.
Our VPN and proxy is supported by all BitTorrent clients, so you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to get up and running with Use one of our helpful guides to set up your device and get protected in a few minutes.
Best proxy of 2021: free and paid services | TechRadar
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The best proxy service providers allow an easy option to protect your privacy online. Effectively, a proxy serves as a gateway between you and the internet, so when using a proxy server the details of the websites you visit and other online history is saved to that server, rather than to your allows for a degree of anonymous surfing, with the caveat that proxy servers will often save at least some details. This means a full investigation of the server records may make it possible to personally identify ever, this is unlikely to be a problem for most people, and proxy servers otherwise provide a useful if basic way to avoid the extensive advertiser tracking and routine privacy intrusions that are now commonplace note that a lot of proxy server providers also provide paid-for VPN services, because VPN (Virtual Private Network) can offer better security and privacy than a proxy service alone. In which case, it may be worth considering getting a free VPN or pay for one of the best premium services instead. If you’re not sure whether a proxy server will be better, check out our guide Proxy servers vs VPN: Why VPNs are better. In the meantime, here we’ll feature the best proxy services, free and paid-for, which will overlap with some VPN services. Exclusive discount specialGet an exclusive discount with SmartProxy, active for three Residential Proxies Micro, Starter and Regular plans. With this discount, you will save 15% from the overall Deal(Image credit: Smartproxy)1. SmartproxyAffordable proxies for most use casesSpecificationsCoverage: Over 195 locations IP addresses: over 40 millionReasons to buy+Unlimited threads+Browser extensions+Mobile IPsReasons to avoid-Restricted geotargetingYou can get both residential and data center proxies from Smartproxy. Its pool of over 40 million rotating residential IPs comes from desktop and mobile devices and is shared between all the users. While this can be disadvantageous as you can get flagged IPs, the provider ensures its quick rotation policy ensures its proxies don’t get banned. Smartproxy limits plans by bandwidth but allows you to run an unlimited number of concurrent threads. You can select the proxy you want to use from a list of backconnect gateway servers in your dashboard. By default, Smartproxy displays all the different gateways for the countries and cities that it supports. You can however filter down the proxies based on a couple of useful parameters such as the location, and the type of session (rotating or sticky). Depending on these, the dashboard will show the appropriate proxy gateway that you can then use in your apps and you plan to use the proxy to browse the web, Smartproxy also has extensions for both Chrome and Firefox. You can use the extension to again narrow down the location and type of proxy you want and even choose the authentication our full Smartproxy review. (Image credit: Bright Data)2. Bright DataExpensive but feature richSpecificationsCoverage: All countries and citiesIP addresses: Over 72 millionReasons to buy+Huge pool+Mobile IPs+Detailed targeting optionsReasons to avoid-Complex pricing mechanismThe first that strikes you about Bright Data (formerly Luminati) is its huge proxy pool of over 72 millions IPs. The service offers all kinds of proxies. In addition to rotating residential IPs, the service also offers static ones, which are a group of 6 to 100 residential addresses for your exclusive use that haven’t been previously used with your target domain. Bright Data also sells mobile IPs that cost more than the usual residential IPs but are more resilient and will work on particularly difficult to please you have very specific targeting requirements, you’ll appreciate Bright Data’s support for ASN (Autonomous System Number) in addition to the usual targeting options such as country, state, and use its proxies, you can use the Proxy Manager, which is an open source tool that can be installed on top of Windows, macOS and Linux for free. The Proxy Manager can help you define rules for IP rotation, blacklist IPs that give bad results, optimize bandwidth usage by routing some requests through your regular non-proxied connection, and Data’s residential proxies support all the main protocols including HTTP, HTTPS and even SOCKS5. The service also has a comprehensive support infrastructure with multiple avenues of help including video tutorials and ever, all the features and dexterity comes at a price. While the service advertises a base rate for all types of proxies, specifying additional parameters such as the targeting levels has an effect on the final cost of the proxy. The service also has multiple payment plans to accommodate different users. In addition to the standard monthly subscriptions, Bright Data also offers a pay-as-you-go plan. The plans are on average more expensive than many of its peers, but will seem reasonable particularly to large scale proxy users and those with very specific our full Bright Data review. (Image credit: RSocks)3. RSocksAll kinds of proxies in easily consumable plansSpecificationsCoverage: LimitedIP addresses: Over 3 millionReasons to buy+Unlimited bandwidth+Single-day packages+Mobile IPsReasons to avoid-Limited geotargetingRSocks offers residential, data center and even mobile IPs. You can either share its list of over 3 million proxies with other users or get some for your exclusive use. One of the best features of the service is that it doesn’t restrict the amount of bandwidth on any of its plans. As long as the plan is valid, you can continue to use the proxies. RSocks also allows users to run upto 500 concurrent threads on many of the plans. To top it all, the proxy provider supports all the popular protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, and also offers separate plans for mobile IPs. You can buy these mobile proxies from 10 countries and can even specify a specific city and even a provider for some of them. The service updates its list of proxies automatically and the duration depends upon the plan, Some proxies are rotated every 5 minutes, others hourly, and some every 2 hours. The number of new proxies after every update also varies from one plan to the other. The important thing to note however is that you don’t get the option to rotate the proxies manually from inside the of the RSocks’ unique features is the ability to pause proxies, when not in use, to elongate their expiry. But the number of such pauses are limited, so you’ll have to use them judiciously. While it doesn’t offer any browser add-ons, RSocks has a cross-platform proxy checker tool that’ll be useful for sorting through the list of shared proxies. The tool can help you find the most useful proxies that’ll work best for you based on parameters like their location, speed, and their presence in popular spam databases. Also, unlike most of its peers, RSocks has about three dozen pricing plans for its various proxies. That’s because instead of creating plans based on limitations, such as bandwidth or the number of IPs, RSocks, has created separate plans based around individual parameters. Read our full RSocks review. (Image credit: Oxylabs)4. OxylabsHas its own web scraperSpecificationsCoverage: All countries and citiesIP addresses: Over 70 millionReasons to buy+Large proxy pool+SOCKS5 support, albeit limitedReasons to avoid-No separate mobile IPsOxylabs has an extensive network of over 70 million residential proxies that cover all the countries and cities in the world. In addition to the country and city you can also target proxies based on the ASN (autonomous system number). However these residential IPs use backconnect gateway servers and you’ll have to manually modify this address to add parameters for targeting information. Oxylabs claims that their residential proxies include mobile IPs as well, but the service provider doesn’t give you the option to choose them specifically for your tasks. These residential proxies rotate IPs at every request to ensure the target cannot block you. The proxy provider also offers static non-rotating residential proxies that it procures straight from ISPs. Oxylabs claims these give you the best of both data center and residential proxies, in terms of speed and resilience. Also these static ones support the SOCKS5 protocol, unlike the standard rotating ones that don’ pool of over 2 million data center IPs that aren’t shared but dedicated for your exclusive use, also support the SOCKS5 protocol. These also offer a proxy rotator add-on to automatically rotate the data center IPs. The one unique offering in oxylabs portfolio is the next-gen residential proxy that employs machine learning and AI to more successfully mimic a regular user’s browsing behavior and work around blocks and captchas. Oxylabs also has a web scraping tool of its own called Real-Time Crawler that’ll fetch the data for you in either HTML or JSON format. The service has tiered plans that get more cost effective as you increase your our full Oxylabs review. (Image credit: Storm Proxies)5. Storm Proxies Good for sneaker copping and individual scrapersSpecificationsCoverage: US & EUIP addresses: About 70, 000Reasons to buy+Quite cheap+No bandwidth capsReasons to avoid-Small proxy pool-Minimal geotargeting-No SOCKS5Storm Proxies is designed for individual and small time proxy users that will happily trade many of the features you get with some of the proxy heavyweight for affordable pricing plans. The service provider offers rotating residential proxies, private dedicated proxies which offer data center IPs, and backconnect rotating proxies which have a mix of data center and residential IPs. The best thing about Storm Proxies is that all its proxies come with unlimited bandwidth. Instead its private dedicated proxies limit accounts on the number of IPs, the backconnect rotating proxies bases plans on the number of simultaneous connections, while the rotating residential proxies with prices based on the number of ports. Each port is capable of running up to 50 simultaneous Proxies also doesn’t shy away from accepting the limitations of its proxies, which it clearly states for each of its supported proxy backconnect rotating proxies come from a pool of 70, 000 IPs and only allow you to choose between three broad regions namely US, EU, and worldwide. These are backconnect proxies that are served via different gateways, each with its separate rotating time. The 5-minute rotating residential proxies come from an even smaller pool of around 40, 000 IPs. They only cover the US and EU locations and don’t allow you to choose which countries or cities you want to target. There are several plans for each of the different types of proxies, but rest assured they are cheaper than most of the other proxy services. Read our full Storm Proxies free proxy servers(Image credit: Hidester)1. HidesterEasily masquerade your browsing sessionsReasons to buy+Doesn’t keep logs+Useful privacy controlReasons to avoid-No extensions for FirefoxIf you want to bypass geo-blocks and avoid being snooped, you can use Hidester’s proxy service to browse the web anonymously. Hidester doesn’t require any signup nor do you need to install any software. Just head to the website, from your desktop or your mobile device and enter the URL you want to visit in the space provided. By default it routes your request through US-based servers, but you also get the option to switch to European servers. Hidester also has a number of options to further ensure your privacy. By default it will encrypt URLs, and remove scripts. It does allow cookies by default, but you have the option to even turn that off though that’ll ruin your browsing experience. You can however choose to clear your cookies when closing the proxy session using the helpful Hidester bar at the top of the page. You can even change the browser’s referrer string from a pull-down list of preset values in the top service claims it doesn’t keep any logs of your visits and assures that they are in full control of their servers with no third party IP proxy our full Hidester review. (Image credit: VPNBook)2. VPNBookSpeedy, anonymous proxy serviceReasons to buy+Extremely fast performance+Blocks adverts and other nuisances+Clear logging policyIn addition to its titular virtual private network, VPNBook provides a free SSL-encrypted web proxy for a spot of anonymous browsing. Take your pick from proxy servers based in the US, UK, France, or Canada, or let the proxy pick one at random. In our tests, VPNBook was extremely fast, and its address bar/banner was unobtrusive. It also blocked ads and some scripted elements from web pages, which can be beneficial for privacy (though we’d appreciate being given a choice), and it supports HTTPS that VPNBook keeps web logs, which it can use to report illegal activity, but these are deleted automatically after a week. It’s not perfect, but VPNBook’s speed, convenience and clear policy on logging make it our pick for the best free web proxy. Read our full VPNBook review. (Image credit:)3. fastest free proxy serverReasons to buy+Fast proxy+Browser extensionsReasons to avoid-Pop up advertises itself as the fastest free proxy server, due to not keeping their own logs in order to help speed up the service. Whether that title is deserved or not it’s still a decent free proxy you should consider using. You can use it directly through the website, or alternatively use the Firefox or Chrome browser extensions to use the service. The service only has proxies in Europe, specifically in the Netherlands, Germany, and Finland. Also while it does give you various privacy enhancing options like the ability to encrypt URL and pages, you don’t get these options while you are visiting a some of the other free services, displays annoying pop-up adverts for their paid-for VPN service. If you can live with that then you should probably be fine using our full review. (Image credit: KProxy)4. KProxyKProxy is fast and free, with a portable browserReasons to buy+Dead easy to set up+Comes built into a portable version of FirefoxReasons to avoid-Some restrictions on usageKProxy offers a browser-based service, an extension for Chrome or Firefox, and a portable version of Firefox available with the extension already installed – a nice touch that lets you use the proxy on PCs at school, university or is a piece of cake – once the extension is installed, pick a remote server (the free version offers several options in Montreal and Munich) and click ‘Connect’. Secure HTTPS connections are service does have some limitations: you can only browse freely for three hours at a stretch, or until you’ve reached your 300MB data cap. Once you hit this limit, you might see a tab prompting you to purchase a premium account, but this isn’t mandatory – you can reconnect again free after taking a breather for 30 it comes to KProxy’s privacy policy, the firm notes: “You also understand that despite our best efforts this service may not provide a 100% guarantee of privacy and anonymity. In accordance with our privacy policy, KProxy reserves the right to turn over the IP addresses of users who abuse our system either to the appropriate legal authorities, or to those against whom abuse has been perpetrated. ”(Image credit: Hide My Ass)5. Hide My AssOffers multiple way to protect your posterior onlineReasons to buy+City-specific servers+Can encrypt URLsReasons to avoid-Confirms before loading websiteHide My Ass offers a free web proxy service that’s very handy when you want to browse privately, but don’t have time or permission to download additional software or browser extensions. There are limitations – the premium software offers faster speeds, more secure encryption, and active malware protection – but for a quick bit of browsing, it’s a good My Ass’s free proxy masks your identity and IP address. It is one of the few services that allows you to select specific cities instead of just countries to route your requests through. The free service supports servers in New York City, Seattle, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, and Prague. Hide My Ass’s web proxy service collects log files, which include your IP address, the URLs you visit, which pages and files you viewed, and when. It stores this data for 30 days – a policy that pushed it down our list of our full Hide My Ass following section was authored Cerniauskas, CEO of OxylabsWhat is a proxy? A proxy is an intermediary between the user and the web that adds an additional layer that connects to any website. Proxies have their own IP addresses, so the website the user is visiting will only see this proxy IP address.
In terms of origin, there are two types of proxies, data centre and residential:
A data center proxy is a private proxy that is not affiliated with an ISP because it comes from a secondary corporation and provides a private IP authentication, high-level anonymity and rapid data request response times. Usually, data center proxies are used for infrastructure, such as servers and web hosting.
A residential proxy is an intermediary using an IP address attached to a physical location provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to a homeowner. It is a genuine IP address that can be used to imitate organic users are proxies used for? As mentioned before, individuals and businesses widely use proxies. Let’s explore the reasons behind it.
Personal use A proxy used for a personal case will be attached to a particular location. This can enable certain access to geo-blocked content. For example, consumers can browse and purchase flights from locations that offer the most advantageous prices.
Secondly, proxies can optimize user’s web activity and improve security levels by encrypting requests.
Business use In most cases, businesses use proxies to gain advantage over competitors by gathering insightful information. The proxy gives them the ability to extract and process large amounts of publicly available data on competitor prices, products, services, reviews or even market trends that can accelerate businesses in their decision-making process regarding adapting marketing, sales and pricing strategies.
Such information would be impossible to extract without proxies in place due to recurring blocks. When data gathering is in progress, a large number of requests are made to a web server.
The difficulty arises when these requests come from the same IP address because websites identify this activity as suspicious and block the IP address for security reasons. Proxies prevent this as IP addresses can be constantly changed if rotating proxies or a proxy rotator is used. This way data gathering can continue to take place anonymously and efficiently.
In addition to data gathering, many businesses use proxies for email security as there are huge amounts of emails that contain malware attachments, ransomware or suspicious URLs. Proxies help to scan each inbound email and filter out malicious content.
Another common use case is brand protection, as proxies are employed to scan the web searching for stolen content or counterfeit is the difference between paid proxies and free proxies? With a free proxy you can access almost every proxy benefit, which is great until something goes wrong. Utilizing such services means that no one is responsible for technical faults, which happen to be a common occurrence in this case.
It is not easy to find a free, long-life proxy as they quickly become outdated and the providers usually turn into paid ones or disappear over time. Furthermore, using free proxies can pose a serious threat because you never know if your data is secure and you may run the risk of falling victim identity theft.
Paid proxies are responsible for their services, with contracts and agreements in place to protect the user. For businesses, there is no other option but to pay for a dedicated proxy service and avoid any potential security issues. If you choose a reliable proxy provider, you should not need to worry about servers crashing or disappearing for no reason as many will offer dedicated account support.
A reliable proxy provider will also have ethically sourced proxies. Deciding what proxy provider to choose is not an easy task as there are many criteria to consider, but we have singled out a few key points:
Reliability: 24/7 customer support and account managers, service trials and a money-back guarantee are must-haves for a reliable proxy provider. Pay attention to client reviews as well
IP pool size and location: IP pool size and location variety are critical for those who will be scraping large amounts of data from various countries
Success rates and speed: a reliable proxy network success rate should be at least 90%, with the best providers guaranteeing 95% or higher
Integration and support: proxy providers must ensure their documentation is clear and understandable, including integration tutorials and clear instructions
The future of proxiesBusinesses mostly use proxies for large-scale data gathering and extraction, but this is not an easy process. It consists of many complex tasks, especially when anti-data gathering measures are becoming more sophisticated and making it harder to collect publicly available information without being blocked. To address this, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) innovations are gradually being applied. Ultimately, proxies are extremely valuable solutions for both individuals and businesses that need to make accurate data-driven decisions. For individuals, proxies can help to access geo-blocked content, improve security levels, and optimise a web activity. For businesses, not only will they provide an extra layer of security, but they are quickly becoming an indispensable tool to gather publicly available information.
Frequently Asked Questions about free fastest proxy server
What is the fastest proxy server?
Hide.Me advertises itself as the fastest free proxy server, due to not keeping their own logs in order to help speed up the service.Aug 12, 2021
What is the best free proxy server?
Best Free Proxy ServersKProxy. This seems to be the single most frequently recommended free proxy server. … ProxySite. This free web proxy also gives you the opportunity to manually switch between servers. … Hide.me. … HMA. … Hidester. … Anonymouse. … Megaproxy. … NewIPNow.More items…
Is there any free proxy server?
NewIPNow NewIPNow is a free web proxy service that allows you to safely access websites and choose the IP you wish to use. You can access it through a Firefox browser extension or their website. They have several servers located in the USA.Jun 10, 2021