JonDonym – the anonymisation service
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Product Overview
JonDo is a proxy client and will forward the traffic of your internet applications encrypted to the mix cascades and so it will hide your ip address. JonDoFox is recommended for anonymous web surfing. The live-dvd offers a secure, pre-configured environment for anonymous surfing, e-mail, chats and more.
JonDo Proxy
Hide your IP address
JonDoFox
Secure and anonymous surfing
Your traces in the web.
13 Best Proxy Server Services for 2021 – Free and Paid
195 locations worldwide
Unlimited proxy connections
Dedicated IPs
Firefox/Chrome extensions
Smartproxy offers one of the best proxy services for both residential and business use. It’s best suited for conducting basic online scrapping tasks such as data harvesting. You get back-connect proxies, anonymous browsing, global connectivity – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
The setup process is straightforward. You have the option of choosing between Firefox and Google Chrome extensions. The dashboard of both is very easy to navigate. All features are well-arranged. Best of all – support is available via chat to help you at all times.
This is a feature-rich proxy service. It has 195 data centers spread across 8 cities worldwide. This enables you to benefit from over 40 million IPs. You can comfortably access geo-blocked services. The service supports simultaneous proxy connections.
Smartproxy provides robust and reliable residential proxies. IPs are assigned to physical devices such as computers and smartphones. That way, internet service providers recognize IP addresses as actual visitors. This lessens the risk of getting blocked. You’ll also find data center proxies that support an unlimited number of concurrent connections. Unlike the former, it’s cheap and comes with a substantial bandwidth allotment.
This proxy service limits IP sessions to a maximum of 30 minutes. A different address is immediately assigned once the allocated time elapses. It prevents users from engaging in abusive behavior.
On the downside, some users complain of slow internet speeds when using this service. But that’s not surprising – there’s no SOCKS5 protocol. Other than that, the pricing starts at $50, which is reasonable. Should it disappoint, you’ll have up to 3 days to claim your money back.
Cloud proxy manager
Website unblocking
Mobile device IPs
Pay-as-you-go plans
Bright Data is one of the best alternatives to free proxy services online. It offers feature-rich tools for gathering information. Over 10, 000+ professionals currently trust this vendor globally.
You’ll be greeted with a neat dashboard. It has a quick walkthrough guide of the available services. Each feature also has a snippet preview.
Moreover, you can manage the online proxy server services from the console. That’s because it offers pay-as-you-go plans (PAYG). Here, bandwidth, IP pool size, and network ports are easy to allocate.
As for the features, it’s a bed of roses.
Data unblocker unlocks websites with toughened anti-crawling technologies. In addition, you get access to over 72 million real-user IPs to enhance its effectiveness. The company also bills you for successful requests only.
The proxy service has a wide range of options. Firstly, it has a search engine crawler. It provides real-time data collection by scrapping Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others.
Secondly, it comes with mobile proxies that use 3G/4G connections. These are assigned to actual mobile carriers from around the world. Furthermore, it comes with over seven million residential IPs.
But that’s not all.
You can use Bright Data’s application programming interface (API) to create custom apps. It’s compatible with Java,, C Sharp (C#), and Shell. Public proxy server providers, on the other hand, don’t offer such a feature.
Proxy management is incredibly flexible. There’s a Google Chrome extension for a start. Installing a custom web server script is a good alternative. You can also use its cloud manager that costs $150/month extra.
The company provides a dedicated account manager for support. While that sounds good, they’re available during business hours only.
But, on a more positive note, it offers a 7-day risk-free trial. Should it impress, you can upgrade from as little as a dollar on PAYG.
Real-time web crawler
Over 100 million IPs
Automatic proxy rotator
24/7 support
Oxylabs ranks highly among the best proxy servers for businesses. It offers global coverage and a pool of over 100 million IPs. Its services are ideal for performing various proxy-driven jobs, e. g. marketing intelligence tasks.
It has a colorful dashboard that’s easy to navigate. You can use it to access statistics of your usage. There are separate sections for billing and ordering new services as well.
You can’t manage proxies from the dashboard. However, Oxylabs’ products plugin well into the software that supports proxies. Oxylabs even offers a Google Chrome extension, which allows users to test the proxies or browse around the internet. Likewise, proxies work well with third-party proxy managers such as FoxyProxy.
You’ll find different types of server proxies for various needs. SOCKS5 Proxy comes in handy for using proxies with custom programs or protocols.
Residential Proxy pools handle bulk scrapping. They provide unlimited simultaneous connections for by-passing IP blocks online. It’s also possible to geo-target locations up to the city level.
You can optimize your business activities using datacenter proxies. For example, datacenter proxies help companies to find markets with counterfeit products. This type of proxy service can also be used for the identification of malicious attacks. Examples include finding viruses in files, identification of phishing links, and locating data breaches published online.
You’ll find a proxy rotator that automates IP switching. It enables you to forget about proxy management while carrying out scraping operations.
What’s more?
Oxylabs Real-Time Crawler can help gather data from websites that employ advanced anti-bot solutions with a higher success rate. The Real-Time Crawler also supports providing already parsed data from select websites.
The downsides?
The high price tag is the only disadvantage. Plans start from $180/month for the cheapest options.
On the upside, customer support is excellent. You can request help via email or live chat 24/7. Its higher tiers even come with a dedicated account manager.
Automatic IP rotation
Time-based sticky IPs
Dedicated 4G mobile proxies
Caching for bandwidth saving
IPRoyal is among the best proxy platforms that has extensive network coverage. It includes top locations such as:
US
UK
China
Germany
And more.
Best of all, it has affordable prices with no minimum requirements.
The vendor takes pride in offering a wide selection of services. Apart from the usual ones, it provides sneaker proxies for lovers of sports shoes. It bypasses restrictions in fashion sites that limit customers from making bulk purchases.
Another notable mention – the 4G mobile proxy. It’s powered by real user devices and residential IPs from cellular networks. The setup boosts trust and reduces the chances of getting banned. So you can do web scraping, competitor research, and complete SEO tasks with confidence.
The company has a pool of over two million IP addresses. And it adds hundreds of new proxy sites daily thanks to the IPRoyal Pawns program. It uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) approach that allows customers to share their bandwidth. In exchange, the vendor pays them for using their internet connections as proxies.
You can use randomize that frequently rotates your IP on autopilot. But sticky is the best option if you want to use one address. It comes with a time limit of 24 hours before it changes. That’s, however, not a guarantee – the system can swap it any time.
SOCKS5 enhances security by using multiple authentication methods to process data. Likewise, there’s HTTPS for end-to-end encryption between your device and the internet.
IPRoyal also claims it uses caching to save bandwidth and supercharge internet speeds. We were able to use less data when testing its proxy network. However, it took ages to load websites and download files. To add salt to injury, the vendor doesn’t have a refund policy. The good news is you can buy its proxy services for as little as $1. 00. The payment options include credit cards and bitcoin.
Offers free unlimited browsing
Support for any browser
BitTorrent client support
Fast ping times
is one of the best free proxy server software on the market. This solution offers a long list of features that you will love – auto-connect, IP leak protection, and BitTorrent support among others. The best thing about it – you’ll experience zero ads by using this product.
So, is it worth it?
is lightweight and easy to set up. All you need to do is install the Google Chrome/Firefox extension. There’s also an in-browser tool available, great for those that don’t like add-ons.
The features side is where it gets interesting. Unlike Smartproxy, gives you SOCKS5 for free. It allows you to enjoy swift response times during gaming and media streaming. Torrent lovers will enjoy the fast peer-to-peer file-sharing that this free proxy server offers. You also get to enjoy limitless bandwidth usage throughout.
has WebRTC in place to shield your IP from leaking. You can use an auto connection to switch between servers. To maximize protection, this vendor doesn’t record any logs of your activity.
This free proxy service lets you choose server locations. Only three regions are supported – Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Of course, nothing is perfect. We couldn’t find the total number of IPs offered. The support team couldn’t tell us anything about it. also doesn’t support multiple connections. But given it’s a free proxy program, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Over 40 million IPs
Rotating sticky IPs
Avoid bot detection
Scalable
ScraperAPI is one of the best proxy sites for web scraping. It has over 40 million IPs from many countries, with a user-friendly scraping tool. It can handle CAPTCHAs and other forms of bot detection, as well as JavaScript.
Proxies automatically rotate in the background. Just enter the URL of any site and you will get the raw HTML in return. If you’d like a more permanent session, you can easily use a static IP as well.
You also get custom header support, automatic retries, and desktop and mobile user agents. In other words, you can make your traffic appear like it’s coming from a computer or a phone.
Nonetheless, it is not as advanced as others, meaning you’ll have to parse the data yourself. Its simplicity and full API access, however, make it ideal for developers with their own scraping solutions. You can even call the API via web browser, as follows:
“yourAPIkey]&url=[URL]”
A seven-day free trial for up to 5, 000 requests lets you see if it’s the right fit. This requires no credit card, so you won’t accidentally get billed.
After the trial expires, you can decide whether to upgrade to one of three well-priced plans or negotiate an Enterprise solution.
The good news is low-volume users can access a free proxy server that permits 1, 000 requests per month. Here’s what the rest of the plans offer:
Hobby: $29/mo – 250, 000 requests, and 10 concurrent threads.
Startup: $99/mo – One million requests, 25 concurrent threads, and US geotargeting.
Business: $249/mo – Three million requests, 50 concurrent threads, 12-country geotargeting, and access to residential proxies.
If you still decide it’s not for you after purchasing a plan, there’s a seven-day money back guarantee.
Although all plans use rotating proxy pools, it is only the business plan that unlocks access to residential IPs.
Its dedicated proxy pools for different types of scraping really stand out. This includes products, search engine results, social media content, and more.
As for customer support, staff are available 24/7 by email or live chat. Business users get priority in the email queue, while Enterprise customers get a dedicated support channel. Everyone has access to documentation and help pages.
To manage your account ScraperAPI provides a web-based dashboard. Here you can access billing and view usage statistics. You’ll also find your API key and lots of useful code for PHP, Node, Ruby, Bash, and Python/Scrapy. A lot of this can be pasted directly into your custom scripts.
To sum up, ScraperAPI is an excellent solution for web scraping. It takes the hassle out of managing proxies by doing all the hard work in the background. Plans are affordable and it gets extra points for providing one of the best free proxy plans on the market.
Affordable pricing plans
Offers ads-free experience
Unlimited bandwidth allocation
Portable KProxy browser
Kproxy is one of the best proxy server options, no matter what budget you have. This solution is great for both novice and expert users that have undemanding web browsing needs.
Let’s check out the features.
The configuration process is fast. You can choose between Google Chrome and Firefox extensions. If you lack either, Kproxy’s proxy browser is readily available. Also, the product is currently compatible with the Kiwi Internet Access App for Android.
Kproxy has a lot to offer in terms of functionality. For starters, it automatically selects a server for you. You also have the option of switching between 5 countries, among which Canada, France, and the USA.
IP leak protection is enabled by default for hiding your location at all times. WebRTC’s protocol also allows you to browse restricted websites easily. But it gets better – this proxy program has a separate plugin for bypassing network filters. This inclusion helps you to access blocked sites by system administrators at work or school.
At times, users can engage in abusive behavior leading to a ban of IPs. Such an incidence usually affects user experience. To avoid that, you can use server management to delist affected regions. You can isolate slow proxies from your network.
Just as, Kproxy gives you limitless bandwidth. But there’s a catch. It limits downloads/uploads to a maximum of 300 megabytes. This means that you can’t use this service to transfer large files.
Another drawback is the limited choice of private proxies on the free plan. But that shouldn’t worry you. From just $10/month, you can enjoy 120+ servers located in North America and Europe. That’s quite a bargain.
Free proxy service
Unlimited bandwidth support
Online proxy browser
IP leak protection
HideMyAss (HMA) is an easy-to-use free proxy server that has basic features for browsing. First-time users will surely appreciate using this solution to browse online anonymously.
Unlike other developers that provide browser extensions, HMA comes with none. It has a simple web-based proxy for accessing online sites. All you need to do is enter a web address and select a preferred server to connect to.
This solution has many great features. The use of bandwidth is unrestricted. You can browse, mine data, and download an unlimited number of files. There are no ads whatsoever.
On the server side, you have a choice of six countries to use, including two regions in the US and one in the UK. But that’s just it. Crucial features such as Kproxy’s IP blocking are missing. You also won’t be able to select a network based on server location.
Security is another area of interest when using dedicated proxy services. HMA offers URL encryption for hiding your IP address. You can also block scripts such as JavaScript used for tracking visitors on websites. You can also disable cookies.
However, it lags behind the competition on various fronts. SOCKS5 for speeding up internet speeds is lacking. This makes the use of demanding services such as gaming and streaming problematic. IP leak protection only does a basic job of shielding your address, so your service provider may still be able to track your online activity.
Overall, this free proxy service works okay in accessing blocked websites online.
Free web-based service
Auto IP selection
Four locations available
Dedicated IP per session
If you’re looking for the best free proxy server, get VPNBook. The service provides dedicated IP and unlimited browsing sessions. As if not enough, there’s a web browser to make it better.
Getting started with this product is easy. Just as HMA, it offers an online proxy browser. You can pick the fastest server for you. You can also select a preferred region from the dropdown list of data centers. During sessions, a sticky bar is always available for swapping websites fast.
VPNBook tops the best proxy server list when it comes to security. It provides SSL browsing by utilizing AES-256bit data encryption. WebRTC is in place to protect your IP from leaking. It also blocks other scripts, which websites use for tracking user activities. To cover one’s tracks, it doesn’t keep your history.
But wait – there’s more.
Finding a solution that’s compatible with all devices is a challenging task. To address this problem, VPNBook loads websites via iFrames. This feature combines HTML and CSS, fitting for all screen sizes. You’ll have a smooth experience browsing from mobile phones.
Whereas other online proxy sites offer dynamic addresses, VPNBook gives you a static one. This lessens interruptions in platforms sensitive to IP changes. The vendor also blacklists people that abuse their servers. In doing so, it preserves the integrity of the service for other users.
On the downside, this product is strictly for personal use. It’s also ad-supported. Apart from the bad side, you can get a premium version for $7. 95/month. It provides support for gaming, VoIP, torrents, and much more.
Lightweight on system resources
Quick links access
Limitless bandwidth support
Fast gigabit connection
When it comes to functionality, ProxySite tops the list of the best free proxy services. This solution is not only feature-rich but also built for performance. Users that need to access blocked websites will greatly appreciate this product.
The setup process is simple. ProxySite comes with a browser-based proxy. It has shortcuts for accessing popular sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. You also have the option of selecting one of 25+ servers between the US and EU.
But it doesn’t end there.
ProxySite comes with proxy configurations. It provides an endless list of custom presets to utilize. With it, you can easily simulate popular browsers, devices, and operating systems. The most notable ones include Blackberry, iPhone, macOS, and Windows 7/10.
Developers are also not left out. There’s a slot for changing the user agent of your browser. This enables you to test websites that you’ve created. It’s also ideal for running custom bots for data mining tasks.
This is the best paid proxy server software for managing cookies. It gives you a list of all the browsing data stored on your device. This allows you to use or selectively delete them before visiting any website. As simple as it sounds, some sites rely on these files to track you. And removing them helps you cover your steps.
Speed is also worth mentioning. ProxySite has a gigabit network that delivers faster connectivity. When combined with SOCKS5, you’ll be able to stream on the fly.
Of course, ProxySite isn’t perfect. During testing, sites such as Google blocked our requests. The user interface of most websites that we visited also appeared distorted.
The pro version that includes a VPN will set you back $9. 99/month. It offers premium security, more servers, and compatibility with most websites.
Supports multiple browsers
Standalone apps for smartphones
Good speed
Servers in 17 countries
Whoer is the best proxy server software for people that have multiple devices. It has an app for Windows, Mac, Linux, web browsers, and smartphones. It’s ideal for families/groups of friends of up to 5 members.
When using Whoer, you’ll find a dedicated application/extension for your favorite device. Once you install, it takes a single click to get started. The free plan only allows you to use one server location. Premium users get to choose from 17 regions.
The browser extensions have WebRTC for protecting you against IP leaks. There’s also a kill switch. When the internet connectivity fails, it will shield your address from being visible. A great reason to put Whoer on our Best Proxy Server list.
Another great addition is end-to-end encryption via SSL. It utilizes a 256-bit file encoding, which secures the connection between your server and device. Whoer’s servers leave no trace of your online activity.
For pro users, internet speeds are blazing fast. You can watch Netflix, play online games, and share torrent files. In comparison, the free version throttles connections to a maximum of 1mb/s. Even though you won’t be able to run heavy tasks, it’s still okay for browsing.
But.
Whoer offers fewer server locations in the US and UK. Similarly, the limitation of bandwidth on the free plan is a turnoff. It’s also impossible to select an IP proxy.
Then again, the free version covers all the important bases. If you like it, you can go pro for $9. 90/month. Whoer has a 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee.
2. 5 million IPs
Mobile VPN
Static and Residential
Extensions for Chrome and Firefox
If you want to buy proxy services, GeoSurf is one of the longest-running providers on the web. The Tel Aviv-based company covers every major city in the world via 2. 5 million IP addresses.
It offers both residential and static IPs. The former is delivered on rotation by an API. Therefore, you can make as many simultaneous requests as needed without being blocked or slowed down.
If you’d prefer a static IP, GeoSurf covers over 130 countries in over 30 designated market areas in the US. They are more prone to identification, though.
Georsurf’s other key feature is a VPN for mobile. VPNs easily allow you to hide behind proxies as you browse or otherwise use the internet. This one complies with Android and iOS and uses numerous protocols, including OpenVPN and PPTP. This feature is limited to 120 locations.
For a proxy site, GeoSurf is certainly pricey. But it comes with a long track record and many extra features.
The starter plan is $450/month for ‘130+ IPs’ and 38GB of traffic. At the top end, you get unlimited IP access for $2, 000/month, and 250GB of traffic. All plans are auto-recurring. Enterprise plans can be negotiated if you contact the team. Due to the price, GeoSurf is more suitable for medium to large businesses than individuals.
The sign-up process is a little labored. First, you must give your name, email, and country, and then a salesperson will arrange a Skype chat. You can’t just buy a plan and get going.
Once you’ve been prodded and chosen a plan, you can manage your account from a web dashboard. Here you can see billing info, traffic usage, and access the gateways.
There are many ways to implement your proxies, including mobile. A toolbar can be added to Chrome and Firefox browsers. You can delete your browser data and switch IPs with just a few clicks.
To set your whole computer behind a proxy, you can use the Desktop VPN – some of the best proxy server software Windows, Mac, and Linux. Users can surf the web with any browser this way, but it also allows you to use other applications.
Meanwhile, developers might connect to the API directly to run scripts and other operations that can benefit from some of the best proxy servers around the globe. All it really lacks is support for SOCKS5 protocol.
Although its service is brilliant, the current incarnation of the website could do with improvement. Many pages have stock text filling up space. Moreover, there are pages for ‘Instagram Proxies’ and ‘Ad Verification Proxies’. This, however, is just marketing for the exact same plans. There are no dedicated proxies for Instagram or ad verification. Nonetheless, you can use GeoSurf for those purposes.
Performance-wise, it provides a lot of unique IPs, but falls short to Bright Data and Smartproxy. It also doesn’t quite match up to the speed of Smartproxy or Oxylabs.
In conclusion, we found their IPs to be clean and plentiful, and the overall infrastructure to be fast and secure. A legally binding agreement that states they don’t pass on your personal info was good to see. In the future, we’d like a clear free trial (you have to ask for a live demo or wait for a special promotion). And, SOCKS support would be nice.
Great scraping tool
Automatic proxy management
Residential proxies available
Lots of plans
Zyte grew as an internal platform for web scraping company ScrapingHub. After using the name Crawlera for over a decade, it’s gone for something a little more inclusive now.
Under the hood, however, it is a continuation of the same rotating proxy network. It’s one of the best proxy sites for bots and scraping. Most importantly, it doesn’t trigger CAPTCHAS or IP bans.
Zyte does not sell users on the number of IPs it has access to or how clean they are. Instead, it applies its own complex rotation system over IPs it rents from other providers. That is to say, you’re buying a robust web scraping tool that utilizes proxies, rather than the proxies/IPs themselves.
The IPs aren’t well suited for other purposes, which is a downside. Furthermore, plans are based around the number of requests.
Two key features make up the Zyte experience. First is a ‘Smart Proxy Manager’ of thousands of data centre IPs from across the world. Everything is rotated automatically in the background. The tool is able to assess your requested site for its load and ban likelihood. Then, it adjusts your request rate to keep you on the green list.
If an IP proxy is blocked, it assesses why and retries with a new IP address.
Second, is the ‘Automatic Extraction’ tool. This saves you using a third-party crawler. Simply enter a URL into the intuitive dashboard and it will pull the data without coding.
Product databases, news articles – there are lots of possibilities. Plus, you can use the Extraction API with your own more advanced methods off the back of Zyte’s infrastructure.
The proxy manager starts from $29/month for up to 50, 000 requests, 50 of which can be concurrent. The $349/month ‘Advanced’ plan supports 2. 5 million monthly requests, 200 of which can be concurrent. Enterprise solutions start at $999.
For automatic data extraction, pricing starts at $60 per 100, 000 requests. The upper limit is 500, 000 requests per month. Alternatively, you can rely on bespoke data services from $450 per month, but you’ll need to speak to a sales rep.
You can try both tools for free for 14 days, with a limit of 10, 000 requests.
Residential proxies are now available, but they’re a paid extra, on top of any other plans you purchase. The smallest plan is $300 per month for 25GB of traffic and access to over 500, 000 IP addresses.
At the other end, you can get 200GB of traffic and priority in the support queue for $1, 000 a month.
Customer support is excellent, albeit tiered. On the cheaper plans you must rely on a ticket, reading the help pages, or asking the community forum. Responses are guaranteed within one business day, but we received a reply within an hour for a test question.
The high-priced plans get priority in the queue, while Enterprise clients have a dedicated account manager.
In short, Zyte is an excellent proxy program for those that need to use many IPs for data mining. You can find better services, however, if you require proxies for other means.
What is a Proxy?
A proxy is an access point that acts as a gateway to the internet. All traffic requests to and from a website are processed by a computer server. This approach protects your real identity from being exposed.
Under typical circumstances, workplaces, schools, and libraries block specific sites from access. Likewise, some websites are geo-restricted. Using a proxy helps you freely access those web pages.
Some of the best private proxy server services offer enhanced security features – SSL encryption, audit logs, firewall, and more. They provide an additional layer of defense between computer systems and outside traffic. This plays a huge role in shielding users/organizations from hackers.
Paid Proxies Versus Free Proxies
Both have upsides and downsides. While the former provides more options, the latter has basic functions to get the job done.
Here are the details.
Pros
Service providers offer free proxy services to you at zero costs. However, vendors enforce restrictions on bandwidth, server resources, and more. Such limitations are usually in place to maintain the quality of service. That way you handle lightweight tasks such as browsing and opening blocked sites. It allows users to test the waters before going pro.
Paid proxies offer more features at a premium price. You can choose between different regions and specific IP addresses. It also guarantees you 99% anonymity and privacy online. You’ll experience fast connections by browsing at full speeds.
Over the years, competition has drastically lowered the cost of these services. A good example is Whoer that charges $9. 90/month with support for up to 5 users. That’s as cheap as a cup of Starbucks coffee.
Cons
The majority of best internet proxy server providers have a zero cost plan in place. But the truth is – there’s nothing as free lunch. Vendors usually use this approach to upsell products and services.
Web browsers store cookies when you visit websites. These are small files that are generated based on user behavior online. When you use free proxies, developers collect and sell this data to third-party advertisers. Vendors such as VPNBook directly serve advertisements to you. In simple terms – you indirectly pay for the service.
The other drawback is related to security. When using free proxy services, your anonymity isn’t guaranteed. IP leaks are bound to happen and this can expose your real identity. However, if you’re an occasional user, that shouldn’t be a matter of concern.
On the flip side, paid proxies aren’t that reliable. Downtimes and server breakdowns can occur at any time. Dealing with them is extremely annoying.
Types of Proxies
There are many proxies available. They mostly differ on essentials such as configuration, software, and functionality.
Here we’ve covered 6 of the most common proxy types:
Shared Proxy
This type of proxy is built on an extensive computer networking infrastructure. It’s normally used to serve several clients at the same time. This allows vendors to split the costs amongst users; hence, make the service affordable. To ensure quality, the majority proxy of service providers utilize load-balancing to handle traffic spikes. It helps to distribute large requests across a web of interlinked data centers. This setup enables users to enjoy a smooth experience all through.
Semi-Dedicated Proxy
This is a type of proxy that combines the benefits of shared and dedicated proxies. It usually allows a maximum of 5 users per server. This grants superior service at budget-friendly prices. However, you risk service interruption due to overloading by a single user. It’s a great option for casual users that need privacy online.
Dedicated Proxy
A dedicated proxy allows a single user to utilize all resources. This solution offers more agility and computing power to the client. It’s also efficient, stable, and secure. The chances of getting your IP banned are minimal. You’ll have greater control over managing your online tasks. All these benefits do come at a high price, though.
Socks5 Proxy
Security is a top priority for people that prefer to be anonymous online. That’s where SOCKS5 proxy comes into the picture. It covers the highest standards of data encryption. It supports protocols such as TCP/UDP layer 4 and SSL layer 7. Using it allows you to transfer coded information over HTTP/HTTPS, SFTP, P2P, and more.
Residential Proxy
If you need the best anonymous proxy server, get a residential proxy. With it, IP addresses get attached to actual devices – smartphones, gaming consoles, or computers. Connections generated by this solution are usually undetectable. The service makes websites give you the greenlight by identifying you as an actual visitor.
Reverse Proxy
A reverse proxy is a computer network that mediates between a web resource and visitors. It usually retrieves information from the source server on behalf of users. This configuration is ideal for organizations that need a high level of security. It’s useful for filtering bad traffic and blocking cyberattacks.
Proxy vs VPN – What is Better?
VPN and proxy do the same task of protecting the identities of users online. While both serve the same purpose, their mode of operation is different.
A proxy program transfers your data across the internet in raw format. This approach increases the likelihood of exposing your real identity.
A VPN provides end-to-end encryption between your device and the remote computer. You
Hacking Web Intelligence – SearchSecurity
The following is an excerpt from Hacking Web Intelligence: Open Source Intelligence and Web Reconnaissance Concepts and Techniques by authors Sudhanshu Chauhan and Nutan Panda and published by Syngress. This section from chapter 8 explores anonymity with a proxy.
There are many ways to be anonymous and there are many aspects of being anonymous. Some might focus on the personal details to be hidden such as in social networking sites by using aliases, generic information or fake information, generic e-mail id, and other details. Some might want to be anonymous while browsing so that nobody can track what resource they are looking into. Some might want to hide their virtual identity address such as IP address etc.
There are different ways to achieve the above conditions. But the major and popular solutions available are either proxy or virtual private network (VPN). Though there are other methods to be anonymous but still these two are widely used and we will focus on these majorly in this chapter.
PROXY
Proxy is a word generally used for doing stuffs on behalf of someone or something. Similarly in technology, proxy can be treated as an intermediate solution that forwards the request sent by the source to the destination and collects response from the destination and sends it to the source again.
It is one of the widely used solutions used for anonymity. The only reason to use proxy is to hide the IP address. There are different proxy solutions available such as web proxy, proxy software etc. Basically all the solutions work on a basic principle to redirect traffic to the destination from some other IP address. The process might differ from solution to solution but the bottom line remains the same.
Though proxy can be used for many other purposes just apart from being anonymous, we will focus only the anonymity as the chapter demands the same.
Before focusing into the very deep technical aspects of proxy let’s look into some work around to be anonymous. As in earlier chapters we learned how to use search engines efficiently and power searching. Now it’s time to look into how a search engine can be used as a proxy to provide anonymity.
As Google is a popular search engine it can also be used as proxy with its feature called as Google Translate. Google provides its services in many countries apart from the English speaking ones and it also supports multiple languages. The Google Translate option allows a user to read web content in any other language a user wants. For a generic example, a non-English content can be translated to English and vice versa. So this feature allows a user to use Google server to forward the request and collect the response on his/her behalf, which is the basic fundamental of a proxy.
Now for testing the same, first we will look into our own IP address using a site called and later use Google translator to check the same site. The work of this site is to tell the IP address used to send the request to the site. If for the normal browsing and browsing through Google Translate the IP address differs, it means we achieved anonymity using Google Translate.
Now visit Select any language in source and any other language in destination to translate this web page as shown in below image.
Now click on Translate to check the whether the IP address matches with the IP address disclosed in above image for direct browsing or not.
We can see from the above image that the IP addresses of direct browsing and of browsing using Google Translate are different. Thus it is proved that we can use Google Translate as proxy server to serve our purpose. In many cases it will work fine. Though it’s just a work around it’s very simple and effective. In terms of full anonymity it might not be helpful but still we may use this method where we need a quick anonymity solution.
PROXY IN TERMS OF ANONYMITY
As we came across one example where we can use search engine feature as proxy. But the point to be considered is anonymity. There are different levels of anonymity based on different proxy solutions. Some proxies just hide our details but keeping the same in their logs, and sometime some proxies can be detected as proxy by the server and some might not. That’s not the best solution if you want full anonymity. There are some solutions available which cannot be detected as proxy by the destination server and also delete all the user details the time user ends the session. Those are the best solutions for full anonymity. It all depends on our requirement to choose what service or what kind of proxy we want to use because fully anonymous proxy might charge the user some amount to use the solution.
TYPES OF PROXY SOLUTIONS
Now there are different types of proxy solutions available some are based on anonymity and also based on its type such as whether application-based or web-based. So let’s start exploring some of the available options in application-based proxy.
APPLICATION-BASED PROXY
Application-based proxy is just a software or tool which can be installed in our operating system to use it as proxy solution.
Ultrasurf
It is an application-based proxy solution which can be found at. This is now available as Chrome plugin also. Though this is in beta stage if we are lazy to download and install it in our system and then use, we might use the Chrome plugin that will serve our purpose. The plugin can be found at.
Let’s first explore its plugin version then we will go deep in to the application version. The best part of this plugin is that it’s simple to use and it supports many languages such as English, French, Portuguese, and Roman etc. Once the chrome plugin gets added in the browser, we will see its icon on the right top addon bar just in the right side of the address bar. When we have to use that just click on the icon, a small window will open then click on the switch available in that window to ON. Then the addon will connect to its server. Once it is connected to the server only then we can browse anonymous. In case of we forgot to switch on the addon or the addon is trying to connect to the server or the addon is unable to connect the server then all the thing we browse will be as normal browsing. So put it in mind to switch on and let it connect to the server before browsing or else all the anonymity process will go to vain.
The application version can be downloaded quite easily from the link It’s just a compressed file, extracting the file we can get the application. The best part of this process is that we need not to install the application. We can simply double click on that and that will configure the required settings in our system and let us browse anonymously. The default settings allow to open the Internet Explorer by double clicking the application. We can change the application settings using its options tab.
Though the tool was earlier developed for anticensorship protest in china, now it’s used widely as a proxy solution. It not only just helps user to hide the details but also allows a user to communicate using encryption mechanism. This can be used in many different areas but the most general use can be while browsing using free Wi-Fi hotspot. Because in that case, there is a chance of rogue access point collecting all the information about us.
The main advantage of using this tool is connection speed. Generally when we use any kind of proxy solution as it redirects the traffic through that server the connection speed reduces drastically and user can feel that; but in this case it’s very fast as compared to other proxy solutions. Apart from that we can see the connection speed in the tool itself and it provides three connection options, user can switch to any one of them any moment to avoid speed drop. To distinguish between normal browsing and browsing using Ultrasurf, this tool provides a cool lock symbol in the right corner of the browser to make sure that user is browsing anonymously.
A small drawback about this tool is that this tool supports only Windows. And another drawback is that the IP-checking solutions detect it as proxy server. But as we discussed earlier, this can be used in different other conditions based on our requirements and it’s easy to use. Just download, run, and browse anonymously.
JonDo
JonDo previously known as JAP is a proxy tool available at It is available for wide range of operating systems such as Windows, Mac, for different flavors of Linux, and also for Android mobile. The full-fledged documentation of how to install and use makes it very essential as a proxy solution. Different proxy solutions come up with different types. It also provides one of its type for Firefox anonymous browsing known as JonDoFox.
Before exploring JonDo let’s first look into the Firefox anonymous browsing solution i. e., JonDoFox. It can be found at
As JonDo, JonDoFox is also available for different operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and Linux. User can download as per his/her operating system from the above URL. The documentation of how to install is also available just next to the download link. But let’s download and install while we discuss more about the same.
Windows users will get after downloading. After installing the same it will create a Firefox profile in name of JonDoFox. If user selects the same, the profile consists of many Firefox addons such as cookie manager, adblocker, etc., which will come to act. But to use it for full anonymity user needs to install certain dependent softwares such as Tor etc.
It’s good to use JonDoFox but user has to install all the dependent softwares once after installing the same. Some might not love to do so but still this is a great solution to browse anonymously.
Like JonDoFox, JonDo can also be downloaded from the above URL. It will give you the installer. Windows user will get an exe file “” after downloading. The installation can be done for the operating system we are using and also for the portable version that can be taken away using the USB drive. User needs to choose according to his/her requirements. The only dependency of this software is JAVA. But as earlier we discussed how to install the same we are not going to touch that here again and by the way while installing this software it also installs JAVA, if it won’t find the compatible version available in the operating system. Once JonDo is installed, we can double click on its desktop icon to open the same. By default after installation it creates a desktop icon and enables it to start in Windows startup.
JonDo only provides full anonymity and fast connection to premium users. But we still can use the same. But first time we need to activate it with its free code. Test coupon can be found at but we need to provide our e-mail address to get it.
After providing the e-mail address we will get a link in our e-mail id. Visit the link to get the free code. Once we get the free code, put it in the software to complete the installation process.
If you want to use JonDo you need to install JonDoFox also; as we already covered JonDoFox, we can assume that it is already present in the system. When both the softwares are installed in a system, if we want to use just JonDoFox then we can simply use that by opening Firefox with JonDoFox profile. To test whether we are browsing anonymously, we just need to check the IP address using
If we want to use JonDo then we need to configure the same in the browser. In case of Mozilla go to Tools → Options → Advanced → Network → Connection Settings→ select Manual proxy configuration and use 127. 0. 1:4001 as the default port used by JonDo is 4001.
Once it’s done, open Firefox with JonDoFox profile, we will see a JonDo icon in the top left corner. Click there and it will open a tab. Select “Test Anonymity” to check the IP address.
JonDo provides us with a set of proxy servers that can be changed quite easily from the dropdown box. So it is also known as JonDo the IP changer proxy solution.
As we already discussed about how to use JonDo and its paid solution for full anonymity. This tool has variety of features but the major one is its compatibility with different operating systems. This makes JonDo unique in proxy solutions.
WEB-BASED PROXY
Web-based proxy solutions are the simple and efficient way of getting anonymity. The best thing is that we can use them anywhere. No setup needed. No dependencies. Best to use when using a shared computer or in public computers for browsing and sometime when using open Wi-Fi connections. The simple user interface makes it very popular to use. Just open the browser and open the proxy, and you are good to go.
There are many web-based proxy solutions. Some are just used for browsing and other may have more features like sending e-mails anonymously or reading news feeds. It’s just depending upon our requirement and the anonymity level provided to choose a particular web-based proxy solution.
If user just wanted to browse anonymously there are different live anonymous browsing options available. One of such is
It is a free site which provides its users to browse anonymously with two different languages, English and Dutch. Visit the site, choose the language in which you want to browse then type the site name in the Surf anonymously field and click on Surf anonymously to browse the site.
The only disadvantage of this site is it only supports protocol not. But apart from that it provides better anonymity as we can see from the below image, it’s not detected as proxy server. And the IP address is also from a different location.
As we discussed the pros and cons of this service still it’s very good proxy solution for anonymous browsing and there are some other features like send e-mail and check e-news available. But as we are more focused on hiding our details on browsing, right now we will conclude this here itself.
Zend2
It is also a web-based proxy solution unlike, which only supports protocol. So users cannot use to browse popular sites such as Facebook and YouTube as these sites force to use connection.
has no restrictions on -enabled sites or technically SSL-enabled sites. It allows user to surf both and sites. So user can use the same to check his/her e-mails also.
Apart from that for two popular web resources such as Facebook and YouTube, it also provides special GUI to use. For Facebook:. For YouTube:. The YouTube proxy page contains instructions how to unblock YouTube if it’s blocked in your school, college, office, or by the ISP while the Facebook proxy page contains general information how this web proxy works.
Though we can use all these three user interfaces to visit any site, as the bottom line of all, we want it to work as intermediary between user and the server. Apart from just surfing it also provides user some options to choose such as:
Encrypt URL
Encrypt Page
Allow Cookies
Remove Scripts
Remove Objects
User can check whatever he/she wants as per the requirement.
Similar to zend2 it also allows users to surf anonymously with some more options such as Encrypt URL, Allow cookie etc. The only drawback of the proxy solution is that it fails to resolve some of the e-mail-providing sites but apart from that its user interface contains some popular site links that can be visited directly using this such as Facebook, YouTube, DailyMotion, Twitter etc.
It is quite similar to as it only supports sites to browse but the only extra feature available here is that it contains options such as Encrypt URL,
Remove Objects etc.
HOW TO SET UP PROXY MANUALLY IN A BROWSER
There are many sites that provide proxy addresses in terms of IP and port but it’s not that easy to get the genuine site. It’s because the list might not be updated for some time and in the meanwhile the proxy server might not be working anymore. Though we can get still a good amount of sites, a good one is The major benefit that user will get using this is it provides user a updated list with latest proxy IP addresses and port number along with that the expected speed, anonymity level, and country name where that IP belongs.
Apart from that it also allows user to filter the requirements based on country, protocol supported, connection speed, anonymity level, and many more. So this is one of the finest sources in terms of using the proxy IP and port.
Though most of the case the IP and port will work but before using it, it’s better to test whether the IP is alive or not.
So simply choose an IP address and associated port based upon the requirement such as based on speed, protocol, anonymity level, and country. Try to choose the latest one which is updated in the list recently. Then open command prompt in case of Windows and terminal in case of Mac and Linux. In case of Windows, type “ipconfig” and the chosen IP address to check whether the IP is alive or not and in case of Mac and Linux the command is “ifconfig” with the chosen IP address.
Once we see the IP is alive, configure the same in browser. In case of Mozilla Firefox we did it earlier but let’s revise the process.
Go to Tools → Options → Advanced → Network → Connection Settings → select Manual proxy configuration and use the chosen IP address and port number in respective fields.
In case of Chrome go to Settings → Show advanced settings → under Network tab click on Change proxy settings → click on LAN settings → check Use a proxy server for LAN then use the chosen IP address and port number in respective fields.
This is how proxy can be configured manually.
About the author: Sudhanshu Chauhan is an information security professional and OSINT specialist. He has worked in the information security industry, previously as Senior security analyst at iViZ and currently as Director and Principal Consultant at Octogence Tech Solutions, a penetration testing consultancy. He previously worked at the National Informatics Center in New Delhi developing web applications to prevent threats. He has a (CSE) from Amity School of Engineering and Diploma in Cyber Security. He has been listed in various Halls of Fame such as Adobe, eBay, Yandex, and Freelancer. Sudhanshu has also written various articles on a wide range of topics including Cyber Threats, Vulnerability Assessment, Honeypots, and Metadata.
Nutan Panda is an Information Security professional with expertise in the field of Application and Network Security. He has completed his (IT) and has also earned various prestigious Certifications in his domain such as CEH, CCNA etc. Apart from performing security assessments he has also been involved in conducting / imparting information security training. He has been listed in various prestigious Halls of Fame such as Google, Microsoft, Yandex etc. and has also written various articles / technical papers.