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.
![14 Best Proxy Servers Review [Update Oct'21] - Hacker Noon](https://bilderupload.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/iOS-Proxy-Settings.jpg "14 Best Proxy Servers Review [Update Oct'21] - Hacker Noon")
14 Best Proxy Servers Review [Update Oct’21] – Hacker Noon
Dmitry LeikoEntrepreneur, product owner, SEO specialist, cryptocurrency enthusiast. All you need to know;) [email protected]Privacy and data security are crucial for every Internet user. We all want to keep personal information secure and protect the internal network from any threats or undesirable attacks. That is why so many people benefit from using proxy servers. A proxy server appears to be an intermediary between your computer and the web. It works as a web filter, preventing a flow of excessive information from floating around your internal network. Besides, proxy servers significantly expand opportunities for web surfing. Overall, there are paid and free proxy servers providing different features and types of IP addresses. The final rating in this article includes 13 proxy and VPN portant! As always, I have agreed on special rates for my readers, which will be available only by clicking on my referral links. Enjoy! ;)10 Best PAID Proxies:Smartproxy – The most universal solution;BrightData – Top choice for the business;Proxy-Seller – The most cost-effective packages;RSocks – The most flexible choice; – Large IP pool;ProxyHub – Reliable prices;SmartDNSproxy – Best for streaming platforms;NetNut; – Best for personal use;StormProxies. 3 Best Free Options:Hide My Ass;Hidester; using a proxy server, you do not leave any traces around the web as the details of your internet surfing are saved not to your computer but to this specific server. It makes your web activity more secure and anonymous. However, as the server does store some information about you, sometimes it is possible to identify your web activities. Although, it does not seem to be a problem if you deal with a good and reliable proxy server. Overall, most people use proxies to get rid of intrusive advertiser tracking and annoying privacy instructions. Besides, there are quite enough proxy server providers letting you benefit from paid (or even free) VPN (Virtual Private Network), to provide better privacy and security. So, if you seek a reliable tool to protect your data from unauthorized collection, you’d better consider both of these options or choose an instrument that combines them. More about the difference between Proxy and VPN you can learn more from this video:In other words, if you do not use a proxy, advertisers, government agencies, and hackers can easily track your online activity, type of device, and location when you visit a non-secure website. Unfortunately, the number of such sites dramatically increases over time. This fact makes it possible to block you from browsing through certain content or to overwhelm you with annoying ads. Providing anonymity and online privacy is crucial for most internet users. Thus, using proxies becomes a part of our everyday routine. However, it is not always clear how to choose the best proxy server. Thus, I have prepared this rating of the best proxies in 2021. To select the most appropriate options, I made sure to pay attention to the following criteria:Functionality;High anonymity;Affordability;Reliability;Minimal traffic allowance limitations;Types of IPs in the pool;Any specific features you can benefit I proceed to detailed consider the best proxy servers out there, let’s look into the types of proxies and what they are used is a Proxy? As aforementioned, a proxy is a gateway between your computer and the Internet. The proxy server provides an additional security layer that interacts with any website you visit. Proxies allow using different IP addresses that make it impossible to identify you. Thus, any website you are visiting cannot see your real IP address, but only the IP address provided by a proxy server. Herewith proxies IPs are regularly changed. Proxies are widely used among individual users as well as businesses. There are several reasons why people turn to proxy servers:Getting access to blocked content;Optimizing web surfing and speeding up common requests;Improving security and privacy by data encryption;Gathering information about competitors (data on products, pricing, services, marketing trends, etc. );Providing email security (to avoid any suspicious links or malicious content);Enhancing brand protection by scanning the web to indicate false representation or plagiarized es can significantly benefit from using proxy servers. Otherwise, they would not be able to gather and process competitors’ data. The point is when you try to process a large amount of information from a competitor’s website, where this activity is often identified as suspicious. Thereupon, this website can easily block your IP. But it will never happen if you use a good proxy server that changes IPs over time by a proxy rotator (or rotating proxies). There are different types of proxies – residential / data center, shared, semi-dedicated, and dedicated sidential proxies: they provide genuine IPs that allow imitating user’s behavior;Datacenter proxies: they provide private IPs coming from intermediary organizations. Proxy servers of this type usually guarantee better anonymity and accelerated data request responses. Shared proxies: they provide IPs used by multiple users at the same time. They are cheaper than private proxies but still suitable for getting access to banned content and avoiding other particular restrictions. Semi-dedicated proxies: they are similar to shared proxies but the number of IP users is limited. Only 3 users can benefit from one IP simultaneously. If you use this type of proxy for surfing on social media websites, your account can be blocked because of other users’ suspicious activities. Dedicated proxies: these are private proxies implying you do not share your IP with anyone else. Proxies of this type can guarantee the highest level of security. They are usually used by 10 Best Paid Proxy Service in 2021Disclaimer: In this article, I only describe my experience. 1. – The Most Universal SolutionSmartproxy provides data center and residential proxies. They also have mobile IPs available. The pool of rotating residential IPs collates with more than 40 million addresses. Driven by the quick rotation system, proxies provided by the service are rarely banned. While there are certain limitations on the bandwidth in accordance with your pricing plan, the number of concurrent threads you can run is unlimited. The service gives you an opportunity to choose a proxy you need from the list of servers in the dashboard. Thus, you can select an appropriate option according to the type of session, location, or other parameters. Smartproxy provides browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Besides, pro customers can benefit from a functional API. The service has good customer support that operates 24/7. The prices depend on the types of proxies you need, as well as upon the traffic allowance. For example, the minimal pricing plan including residential proxies and 5 GB of bandwidth will cost you $75 per month. While the minimal plan for data center proxies (with a 100 GB traffic limit) will cost you $50 per month. These two options are suitable for individual professionals and freelancers. Conversely, the service also provides extended and more complex options for businesses. Regarding the range of use, Smartproxy is highly effective in avoiding blocks or cloaking, ad verification, conducting competitor research, affiliate testing, etc. You can also use residential proxies to manage your social media accounts without the risk of being blocked. Pros:Live customer support operates 24/7;Browser extensions provided;Comparatively affordable prices;Unlimited threads;Mobile IPs are available. Cons:Geo-targeting is quite restricted;Traffic limits. 2. BrightData () – Top Choice for the BusinessWhat is so special about this proxy server? First of all, it aggregates more than 72 million IP addresses. Luminati provides all types of proxies including rotating residential IPs, static addresses, and mobile IPs. You can benefit from LPM (Luminati Proxy Manager) which allows optimizing bandwidth usage, setting rules for IP rotation, excluding certain IPs, etc. This tool can be easily integrated with macOS, Windows, or Linux. Luminati is effectively used for business purposes providing all necessary features for data gathering, price comparison, ad verification, brand protection, SEO monitoring, and many more. However, not only companies but also individual professionals can benefit from this platform. For example, affiliate marketers can use Luminati to validate ad placement, verify affiliating links, and optimize marketing sidential proxies provided by Luminati support HTTPS, HTTP and SOCKS5 protocols. Regarding customer service, there are multiple ways to get assistance. If you have any questions about the platform, you can contact them directly by phone, email, social media, or messengers. There are also a lot of tutorials, video lessons, webinars, and documentation to learn more about the product. The service provides various payment plans. For example, you can buy a monthly subscription or make up your own custom plan, paying only for specific features you need. The prices for a monthly subscription start at $500, which is more expensive when making comparisons to other competitors. However, this is one of the best proxy providers, targeting the audience with very specific IP pool;All types of IPs are available;Specific targeting options;Free trial provided;Free proxy manager. Cons:Prices are comparatively high;Minimum deposit $20. 3. Proxy-Seller – The Most Cost-Effective PackagesUse promo code “HACKERNOON15” to get 15% off for any order. Enjoy! The first thing that catches the eye while dealing with Proxy-Seller for the first time is the alluring pricing options. It is fairly ranked first among the most cost-effective and versatile solutions. Though the service is comparatively new and the server network is not that vast, it is earning loyalty for the ease of use, impressive performance, and a variety of proxies available. In particular, you can benefit from SOCKS proxies as well as from packages of IPv4 and IPv6 proxies. While highlighting Proxy-Seller’s affordability, you can buy one proxy for a week just to try the service that will cost you $0. 76. Or you can opt for the 1-month, 2-month, 6-month, or 1-year pricing plan. Plus, the number of proxies in your package can vary according to your needs. You can buy one or one hundred proxies – pick as many as you need, customize your payment plan however you want, and you will find out it is still the most cost-effective solution on the has excellent around-the-clock customer service and various channels to reach them out such as live chat, email, and even social media. Besides, it allows using numerous payment methods, including Bitcoin, QIWI, WebMoney, and some other less popular ones. As for the overall performance, the tests demonstrated great results. The ping duration varies between 50-150 ms, the average speed reaches 50 Mbps, and the upload speed exceeds 350 Mbps in some cases. Although the refund policy is pretty limited, you can get your money back within 24 hours after you have paid for your proxies. Apart from that, refreshing your proxies is possible every month that is a nice touch for SEO variety of pricing plans and opportunities to customize them;24/7 customer support;Numerous payment methods;Money-back guarantees;Great performance. Cons:No free trial;Smaller server network when comparing with competitors. 4. – The most flexible choiceThis service provides data center, residential, and mobile IPs. The pool of proxies exceeds 3 million IPs that you can share with others. The service offers several payment plans and does not set limits on traffic allowance. RSocks supports HTTPS, HTTP andSOCKS5 protocols. One of the most specific features of this platform is that it has particular pricing plans for mobile IP addresses. The list of IPs is regularly updated depending on the payment plan (every 5 minutes, or every hour, or two hours). RSocks has one distinguishing feature that makes it stand out among competitors. If you do not use your proxies for some time, you can pause them saving your money. Similarly, you can benefit from a proxy checker to select shared proxies according to your parameters. RSocks’ pricing plans do not imply limitations on the number of IPs in use or the bandwidth. Instead, you can choose an appropriate option based on your personal needs and requirements. Thus, the prices for shared proxies start at just $10 per month. While the residential proxies’ minimal plan will cost you around $30 per pricing options;Unlimited traffic allowance;Good customer support;Different types of proxies provided;Mobile IPs are availableCons: Geo-targeting options are quite limited. 5. – The Most Flexible ChoiceOxylabs is a Lithuanian company that specializes in providing mainly residential and data center proxies. This is one of the most appropriate options for business purposes. So, if you seek the proxy server that will help you with business intelligence, brand protection, marketing research, and ad verification, you can rely on service provides a great many tools apart from proxies. For example, extracting data tools help in marketing research and brand protection. Oxylabs has a vast pool of data center IPs including more than 2 million addresses covering over 80 locations around the globe. As for residential proxies, they provide even wider choices as there are around 70 million IP addresses in every country and city of the world. You can also opt for static or rotating residential proxies to ensure the speed of your web-performance. Another special feature worth mentioning is next-gen residential proxies based on AI and machine learning. They are meant to improve your overall browsing experience and better bypassing of any for pricing, the minimal plan for the set of residential proxies starts at $300 per month and implies limitations on traffic allowance (20 GB). As for data center proxies, you are freer to define a comfortable pricing plan. For example, you may opt for a set of 100 IPs that will cost you $180 per month or prefer to pay $1. 8 for one IP choice of proxies;A lot of pricing plans; Good customer support;Variety of special all proxies support SOCKS5 protocol;Mobile proxies are only available together with residential proxies. 6. – Reliable pricesThis is probably the most universal solution out there. Both individual users and businesses can benefit from Proxy-Hub. The service provides dedicated and semi-dedicated private proxies. There are no restrictions and limits on the bandwidth. Besides, Proxy-Hub offers various payment options including online wallets, Bitcoin, and credit cards. All proxies support HTTP protocol and guarantee a high level of anonymity. You can get a fresh set of IPs every month or keep the same from the previous oxies provided by the service work well with social media accounts, on such platforms as Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube. Proxy-Hub supports all types of SEO tools (BDM, SrNukeXcr, Scrapebox, GSA, Ultimate, etc. ). Furthermore, you can benefit from the Proxy Manager, which is available on both Chrome and Firefox. Regarding the prices, they depend on the number of proxies you need, as well as their type. Thus, the minimal package including 10 semi-dedicated proxies will cost you $10 per month. While the price for the same number of dedicated proxies reaches $20 per month. The service provides a 3-day trial period and clear refund guarantees. Thus, if you are not satisfied with ProxyHub’s functionality, you can request a refund within 3 days and get full and dedicated proxies provided;Fresh proxies every month;Affordable prices;Refund guarantees;A high level of security and anonymity provided. Cons:Only two types of proxies available. 7. – Best for the streaming platformsThis is one of the most affordable services out there and definitely one of the best options for personal use. Smart DNS Proxy is useful for unblocking content and keeping your private data secure. It also provides a VPN service included in the cost of the subscription. You can use Smart DNS Proxy on every device as there are mobile and desktop apps for Mac, Windows, Android, and service targets the audience of individual users that seek anonymous online surfing and web security. Thus, you can benefit from unblocking websites and streaming platforms, as well as from utilising the VPN service itself. Overall, Smart DNS Proxy aggregates all necessary tools for secure web surfing and protecting personal information within several payment plans. It provides several smart DNS servers in over 30 countries around the globe (the UK, the US, Canada, Europe, plus some regions of South Africa, etc. Moreover, the VPN servers cover even more locations (up to 40 worldwide). However, if you use the VPN service, the speeds can be less impressive while comparing with the smart DNS service providing a much smoother performance. On the other hand, the VPN service provides unlimited bandwidth, great encryption, and no logs. You can rely on a safe connection while using public main advantage of the smart DNS service is that it allows you to get access to over 300 streaming platforms in more than 30 locations, as well as bypassing geo-restrictions. Whilst the level of anonymity and security could have been higher, this is still one of the best solutions for individual users due to its affordability. The prices for a package of basic services (including VPN) start at just $5. 90 per month. There is a 14 days free trial. Pros:Smooth performance provided by smart DNS service;VPN service is included in the cost of subscription;Affordable prices;5 simultaneous connections;Effective for bypassing geo-restrictions. Cons:The speed can be lower if you use a VPN service;The level of security and anonymity could have been higher. 8. NetNut mainly targets businesses and companies that seek residential proxies together with the highest degree of anonymity and enhanced web performance. This is not the cheapest proxy provider out there, but it is definitely good value for money. NetNut has a pool of more than 10 million residential IP addresses. It provides advanced features for geo-targeting, residential and static IPs, plus different pricing options, etc. Otherwise, you can benefit from a 7-day free has anonymous proxies in every location around the globe. There are two main advantages of this platform. First of all, it is fast; secondly, it is easy to use due to its smart rotation system. NetNut has several payment plans. Some of them are based on the bandwidth, whilst others are request based. The minimal 20GB plan including static residential IP addresses, email support, and Chrome extension, will cost you $300 per month. Subsequently, when using this service you can rely on the highest level of security, full anonymity, and access to any content, in spite of restrictions. This is a classic type of proxy server that conceals your IP when you surf on the Internet. Also, it contributes to the faster web performance as your own server is not used when you browse websites. You are able to contact a customer support manager 24/7. When your package is running out you will get informed by email. The service provides money-back guarantees. So, if it does not meet your expectations, you can request a refund within 7 Huge pool of IPs;Money-back guarantees;Various pricing plans;Free trial;Customer support available 24/ for businesses than for personal use;This is not one of the most affordable services. 9. – Free Proxies and Best VPNI think this is the best choice for personal use. has a skillset similar to SmartDNSproxy, providing a lot of useful tools for secure online surfing. The service targets an audience of individual users and offers multiple content-unblocking functions at affordable prices. The customer support operates around the clock. Additionally, there is a free trial and refund guarantees. Being mainly a VPN provider, the service can guarantee sufficient speed and satisfyingly smooth performance. While using this service, you can rely on the full anonymity and security of your personal data. Yet, by far not every VPN service can satisfy the needs of customers who instead turn to more expensive proxy services. However, appears to be a good alternative. By using this platform, you can benefit from over 300 shared IP addresses, covering more than 81 locations. Thus, there is no problem getting access to the most popular streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. There are various pricing plans that are equally affordable. For example, if you need a monthly subscription, it will cost you $8. While the price of an annual subscription reaches $36 (that is $3 per month). Apart from that, if you think the service does not meet your requirements, you can get a full refund within 30 of the most suitable solutions for personal use;Affordable prices;High level of security and anonymity;24/7 customer support;Good VPN service that does not affect the speed. Cons:There are not so many proxy options. 10. service collects around 70 000 IPs. While the pool of proxies is not that large, the prices are comparatively affordable. StormProxies mainly targets individual users and small-scale businesses. The platform provides multiple types of proxies. You can find private dedicated proxies with data center IP addresses, rotating residential proxies, and more specific backconnect rotating proxies. The last option implies a combination of residential and data center IP addresses. The first thing about StormProxies to highlight is that it does not have limits for traffic allowance. However, the final price of the package depends on the number of IP addresses in use, along with simultaneous connections. The pool of IPs covers a variety of locations. However, if you need a 5-minute rotating residential proxy, consider that their number is more limited (about 40K IP addresses). The service is easy to use and provides 24/7 customer support. All basic requirements such as high levels of anonymity and security are guaranteed. In addition to this, you can benefit from browser extensions and APIs. Regarding the pricing, the platform has various options for different budgets and requirements. Considering the quality of all basic features, this is one of the most effective, competitive and affordable services. The package of 5 private proxies will cost you $10 per month. While if you need backconnect rotating proxies, the minimal price starts at $39 per month (the package includes 40 simultaneous connections). Pros:No limits on the bandwidth;Various types of IPs provided;Affordable prices;Good customer support;High levels of anonymity and security are guaranteed. Cons:The pool of IPs is not huge enough;Geo-targeting options are limited. Overall, paid proxy servers expand opportunities for anonymous online surfing and enhancing the security of your personal information. They are essential for businesses as they allow doing research on competitors, optimizing SEO, verifying ads, and developing brand protection. However, if you plan to use proxies for personal needs such as bypassing geo-restrictions or getting access to blocked content, SmartDNSproxy and are the best options. Although they cannot guarantee the highest level of anonymity or provide a variety of proxies, they are the most affordable and still 3 Best Free Proxy Servers in 2021Free proxy servers can give you the same benefits as paid ones. However, the highest level of security and anonymity is rarely guaranteed. Correspondingly, free proxy servers cannot offer so many types of proxies to choose from. Also, they rarely deal with dedicated proxies. While using these services, you can face technical bugs that are a common thing among free options. If you succeed to find a reliable free proxy server, take into account that one day it could become a paid one. Regarding reliability, free proxy services can unexpectedly leave the market forcing you to search for alternatives. Besides, there are no strong guarantees that your data is absolutely secure when you use a free proxy server. Overall, it is much easier to lose a reliable free platform than to find one. As a rule of thumb, they do not consistently offer customer support, trials, or a huge pool of IPs. However, if this is not an issue for you, let’s look into the best free proxy servers. – Best Choice for Free and Paid PlansHideMyAss does not require you to install any extensions or software. You can benefit from a wide range of proxy servers for free, enhanced speeds, and a strong encryption system. While using this service, you can rely on fully anonymous surfing and the security of personal data. HMA gives you an opportunity to choose a particular city or a preferred IP address. It is a nice touch while considering that by far, not every free proxy service can offer such an option. There are available servers in the US and European cities. Overall, this service is fairly reliable. However, HMA can collect some of your personal details (IP, URLs, files, etc. ) and store them for 30 encryption system;An opportunity to select a server in a particular city;Sufficient speed;No limits on the bandwidth. Cons:The service stores some personal information for 30 days. – Best Free Web ProxyThis service hides users’ browsing activities and allows bypassing geo-restrictions. While using Hidester there is no reason to worry about anonymity as nobody will be able to track your web activity. The service is very easy to use. You do not need to sign up or download any software. The only thing it requires you to do is to enter a web address of the site you want to browse on Hidester. There are a pool of US and European IPs and some basic features to protect your privacy. For example, the service provides URL encryption, along with an opportunity to turn off cookies and remove scripts. Conclusively, there are no logs during sessions. The service assures you that it does not share your personal data with other resources or websites. According to customer reviews, the service seems to be reliable. Nevertheless, Hidester is a comparatively new platform, so nobody can guarantee how long it will be available for users. The service also provides some additional tools to ensure your web security. For example, there is a DNS leak test and a password level of privacy and security is assured;Useful features and tools;Easy to use;Cons:It does not have an extension for Firefox. mThis service has extensions for both Chrome and Firefox, including a portable Firefox version with all of the necessary tools integrated. KProxy provides proxy servers coming from Munich and Montreal for free. Overall it is a quite reliable proxy service for personal use, improving anonymity and the security of personal data. KProxy supports an HTTPS protocol and does not imply any limits on the speed. Still, there are some limitations on the bandwidth. In this regard, you can use a service for 3 hours at a stretch for free. Then, you have two available options – to pay for further use or to reconnect in 30 minutes. While taking into account this limitation, this service is still recommended due to the number of servers you can use. There are about ten available proxy servers that can guarantee at least 90% privacy and to use;Multiple proxy options;Two available extensions including a portable Firefox version;High level of security and anonymity. Cons:Limitations on time and traffic allowance for the free version. FAQ1. What is a Proxy? A proxy is a gateway between your computer and the Internet. Thus, any website you are visiting cannot see your real IP address, but only the IP address provided by the proxy server. Herewith proxies IPs are regularly changed. 2. Why Should I use a Proxy? There are numerous reasons why people use proxies. First, they provide anonymous online surfing, better speed, the security of your personal data, and so on. Second, proxies allow bypassing restrictions and getting access to any content at any time. Third, some people use proxy servers for business purposes. For example, it allows doing research on competitors, checking the correctness of ad placement, and improving brand protection. 3. How do Proxies Improve Web Security? Every Internet user has an IP (Internet protocol) that makes it possible to identify you as a user and get some of your personal details such as location. Websites you visit can get access to this information as well. That makes any internet user vulnerable to hacker attacks, obtrusive advertising, or even identity theft. It happens because we leave a lot of personal information all around the web. However, if you use a proxy server, you create a gateway between you and the Internet. When you visit any website it cannot see your real IP as the proxy server connects it instead of you and then redirect all necessary information. In this case, nobody can get your personal data and track your online activity. Thus, you can browse any website even if it is banned in your country. 4. What types of proxy servers exist? There are four main types of proxies – residential and data center, shared proxies, semi-dedicated, and sidential proxies: they provide genuine IPs that allow imitating user’s behavior;Datacenter proxies: they provide private IPs coming from intermediary organizations. This type of proxy server usually guarantees better anonymity and accelerated data request responses. Shared proxies: they provide IPs used by multiple users at the same time. If you use this type of proxy surfing on social media websites, your account can be blocked because of other users’ suspicious activities. Dedicated proxies: these are private proxies implying you do not share your IP with anyone else. They are usually used by nclusionOverall, proxy servers can significantly improve your user experience due to numerous factors. Better privacy, anonymity, and security are essential for every individual user. Today, the web is the main source of information about us. Our private life spreads on the Internet. And it is not a secret that corporations thrive on selling and manipulating our personal data. And the consequences can be quite disappointing. Proxy servers help to prevent any security leak contributing to our positive user experience. For businesses, proxies appear to be the basic and most effective way to remain competitive. With the wide range of tools provided by proxy services, it is much easier to manage brand reputation, gather marketing information, optimize SEO and overall web performance. In the near future, proxy servers will become an integral part of any business success. So, I hope this rating will help you sort out the types of proxy servers and select the most appropriate all my articles:Best Crypto Hardware Wallets;Best Free and Paid Crypto Trading Bots;Best Crypto Lendings;Best VPN Service. TagsJoin Hacker Noon Create your free account to unlock your custom reading experience.
What is a Proxy Server and How Does it Work? – Varonis
The actual nuts and bolts of how the internet works are not something people often stop to consider. The problem with that is the inherent danger of data security breaches and identity theft that come along with the cute dog pictures, 24-hour news updates, and great deals online.
But what actually happens when you browse the web? You might be using a proxy server at your office, on a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or you could be one of the more tech-savvy who always use a proxy server of some kind or another.
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What’s a Proxy Server?
A proxy server is any machine that translates traffic between networks or protocols. It’s an intermediary server separating end-user clients from the destinations that they browse. Proxy servers provide varying levels of functionality, security, and privacy depending on your use case, needs, or company policy.
If you’re using a proxy server, traffic flows through the proxy server on its way to the address you requested. The request then comes back through that same proxy server (there are exceptions to this rule), and then the proxy server forwards the data received from the website to you.
If that’s all it does, why bother with a proxy server? Why not just go straight from to the website and back?
Modern proxy servers do much more than forward web requests, all in the name of data security and network performance. Proxy servers act as a firewall and web filter, provide shared network connections, and cache data to speed up common requests. A good proxy server keeps users and the internal network protected from the bad stuff that lives out in the wild internet. Lastly, proxy servers can provide a high level of privacy.
How Does a Proxy Server Operate?
Every computer on the internet needs to have a unique Internet Protocol (IP) Address. Think of this IP address as your computer’s street address. Just as the post office knows to deliver your mail to your street address, the internet knows how to send the correct data to the correct computer by the IP address.
A proxy server is basically a computer on the internet with its own IP address that your computer knows. When you send a web request, your request goes to the proxy server first. The proxy server then makes your web request on your behalf, collects the response from the web server, and forwards you the web page data so you can see the page in your browser.
When the proxy server forwards your web requests, it can make changes to the data you send and still get you the information that you expect to see. A proxy server can change your IP address, so the web server doesn’t know exactly where you are in the world. It can encrypt your data, so your data is unreadable in transit. And lastly, a proxy server can block access to certain web pages, based on IP address.
What are Forward Proxies
A forward proxy server sits between the client and an external network. It evaluates the outbound requests and takes action on them before relaying that request to the external resource.
Most proxy services that you’re likely to encounter are forward proxies. Virtual Private Networks and Web content filters are both examples of forward proxies.
What are Reverse Proxies
A reverse proxy server sits between a network and multiple other internal resources. A large website might have dozens of servers that collectively serve requests from a single domain. To accomplish that, client requests would resolve to a machine that would act as a load balancer. The load balancer would then proxy that traffic back to the individual servers.
Some popular open source reverse proxies are:
Varnish
Squid
Why Should You Use a Proxy Server?
There are several reasons organizations and individuals use a proxy server.
To control internet usage of employees and children: Organizations and parents set up proxy servers to control and monitor how their employees or kids use the internet. Most organizations don’t want you looking at specific websites on company time, and they can configure the proxy server to deny access to specific sites, instead redirecting you with a nice note asking you to refrain from looking at said sites on the company network. They can also monitor and log all web requests, so even though they might not block the site, they know how much time you spend cyberloafing.
Bandwidth savings and improved speeds: Organizations can also get better overall network performance with a good proxy server. Proxy servers can cache (save a copy of the website locally) popular websites – so when you ask for, the proxy server will check to see if it has the most recent copy of the site, and then send you the saved copy. What this means is that when hundreds of people hit at the same time from the same proxy server, the proxy server only sends one request to This saves bandwidth for the company and improves the network performance.
Privacy benefits: Individuals and organizations alike use proxy servers to browse the internet more privately. Some proxy servers will change the IP address and other identifying information the web request contains. This means the destination server doesn’t know who actually made the original request, which helps keeps your personal information and browsing habits more private.
Improved security: Proxy servers provide security benefits on top of the privacy benefits. You can configure your proxy server to encrypt your web requests to keep prying eyes from reading your transactions. You can also prevent known malware sites from any access through the proxy server. Additionally, organizations can couple their proxy server with a Virtual Private Network (VPN), so remote users always access the internet through the company proxy. A VPN is a direct connection to the company network that companies provide to external or remote users. By using a VPN, the company can control and verify that their users have access to the resources (email, internal data) they need, while also providing a secure connection for the user to protect the company data.
Get access to blocked resources: Proxy servers allow users to circumvent content restrictions imposed by companies or governments. Is the local sportsball team’s game blacked out online? Log into a proxy server on the other side of the country and watch from there. The proxy server makes it look like you are in California, but you actually live in North Carolina. Several governments around the world closely monitor and restrict access to the internet, and proxy servers offer their citizens access to an uncensored internet.
Now that you have an idea about why organizations and individuals use a proxy server, take a look at the risks below.
Proxy Server Risks
You do need to be cautious when you choose a proxy server: a few common risks can negate any of the potential benefits:
Free proxy server risks
You know the old saying “you get what you pay for? ” Well, using one of the many free proxy server services can be quite risky, even the services using ad-based revenue models.
Free usually means they aren’t investing heavily in backend hardware or encryption. You’ll likely see performance issues and potential data security issues. If you ever find a completely “free” proxy server, tread very carefully. Some of those are just looking to steal your credit card numbers.
Browsing history log
The proxy server has your original IP address and web request information possibly unencrypted, saved locally. Make sure to check if your proxy server logs and saves that data – and what kind of retention or law enforcement cooperation policies they follow.
If you expect to use a proxy server for privacy, but the vendor is just logging and selling your data you might not be receiving the expected value for the service.
No encryption
If you use a proxy server without encryption, you might as well not use a proxy server. No encryption means you are sending your requests as plain text. Anyone who is listening will be able to pull usernames and passwords and account information really easily. Make sure whatever proxy server you use provides full encryption capability.
Types of Proxy Servers
Not all proxy servers work the same way. It’s important to understand exactly what functionality you’re getting from the proxy server, and ensure that the proxy server meets your use case.
Transparent Proxy
A transparent proxy tells websites that it is a proxy server and it will still pass along your IP address, identifying you to the web server. Businesses, public libraries, and schools often use transparent proxies for content filtering: they’re easy to set up both client and server side.
Anonymous Proxy
An anonymous proxy will identify itself as a proxy, but it won’t pass your IP address to the website – this helps prevent identity theft and keep your browsing habits private. They can also prevent a website from serving you targeted marketing content based on your location. For example, if knows you live in Raleigh, NC, they will show you news stories they feel are relevant to Raleigh, NC. Browsing anonymously will prevent a website from using some ad targeting techniques, but is not a 100% guarantee.
Distorting proxy
A distorting proxy server passes along a false IP address for you while identifying itself as a proxy. This serves similar purposes as the anonymous proxy, but by passing a false IP address, you can appear to be from a different location to get around content restrictions.
High Anonymity proxy
High Anonymity proxy servers periodically change the IP address they present to the web server, making it very difficult to keep track of what traffic belongs to who. High anonymity proxies, like the TOR Network, is the most private and secure way to read the internet.
Proxy servers are a hot item in the news these days with the controversies around Net Neutrality and censorship. By removing net neutrality protections in the United States, Internet Service Providers (ISP) are now able to control your bandwidth and internet traffic. ISPs can potentially tell you what sites you can and cannot see. While there’s a great amount of uncertainty around what is going to happen with Net Neutrality, it’s possible that proxy servers will provide some ability to work around an ISPs restrictions.
Varonis analyzes data from proxy servers to protect you from data breaches and cyber attacks. The addition of proxy data gives more context to better analyze user behavior trends for abnormalities. You can get an alert on that suspicious activity with actionable intelligence to investigate and deal with the incident.
For example, a user accessing GDPR data might not be significant on its own. But if they access GDPR data and then try to upload it to an external website, it could be an exfiltration attempt and potential data breach. Without the context provided by file system monitoring, proxy monitoring, and Varonis threat models, you might see these events in a vacuum and not realize you need to prevent a data breach.
Get a 1:1 demo to see these threat models in action – and see what your proxy data could be telling you.
Frequently Asked Questions about ip proxy service
What is IP proxy service?
A proxy server is basically a computer on the internet with its own IP address that your computer knows. … A proxy server can change your IP address, so the web server doesn’t know exactly where you are in the world. It can encrypt your data, so your data is unreadable in transit.May 7, 2021
What is a proxy service used for?
A proxy server is a system or router that provides a gateway between users and the internet. Therefore, it helps prevent cyber attackers from entering a private network. It is a server, referred to as an “intermediary” because it goes between end-users and the web pages they visit online.
What is the best proxy service provider?
Here’s the list of the best proxy servers that you can find in 2021.KProxy – Best free proxy.HMA – Best proxy browser.VPNBook – Best for security.ProxySite – Best for smartphones.Whoer – Best value for money.GeoSurf – Best for unlimited IP connections.Zyte – Best for scraping websites.More items…