What a proxy is
A proxy is a server that sits between your computer and the destination website. Your request goes to the proxy, the proxy forwards it to the destination, the response comes back through the proxy. To the destination site, the request appears to come from the proxy’s IP: not yours. Why do this:- Hide your real IP for privacy
- Appear from a different geographic location for testing or access
- Distribute many requests across many IPs so no single IP gets rate-limited
Types of proxies
By origin
| Type | Where IPs come from | Trust signal | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | Real users’ home internet via their ISP | High: looks like regular human traffic | $$ |
| ISP / Static Residential | IPs registered to real ISPs but hosted in datacenters | High: looks residential to most checks | $$$ |
| Datacenter | Cloud / hosting providers | Low: clearly identifiable as datacenter | $ |
| Mobile | Real mobile devices on real carrier networks (4G/5G) | Highest: shared by many real users via CGNAT | $$$$ |
By rotation
| Type | Behavior | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| Rotating | New IP per request (or per timed interval) | Scraping, high-volume distributed work |
| Sticky | Same IP for a configurable duration | Logins, multi-step workflows, account management |
| Static / Dedicated | Same IP forever (until you give it up) | Per-account IP assignment, sneakers, ticketing |
By protocol
| Protocol | Use for |
|---|---|
| HTTP / HTTPS | Default for browsers, REST APIs, most scraping libraries |
| SOCKS5 | Lower-level: apps requiring SOCKS, non-HTTP TCP |
| UDP | Real-time apps, gaming, custom UDP protocols (ISP only, port 65535) |
Authentication
Two common ways to authenticate to a proxy:- Username/password: credentials are part of the proxy string. Works from any IP. Default everywhere.
- IP whitelist: you add your IP to the proxy account’s allowed list. No credentials needed in code. Only works from a fixed IP.
How to pick
Quick rule:- Stealth matters most → Residential or Mobile
- Speed/cost matters most → Datacenter
- Dedicated IP per account → ISP
Common terms
- Pool: the set of IPs available to draw from
- Bandwidth: GB of data transferred through the proxy (the unit most billing is in)
- Threads: concurrent connections you can run at once
- ASN: Autonomous System Number; identifies an ISP network
- CGNAT: Carrier-Grade NAT; common in mobile networks where many users share one public IP
- Session ID: a string in the proxy username that pins you to the same IP for sticky sessions. Change it anytime to switch to a new IP.
- Lifetime: how long a sticky session is held before the IP rotates (in minutes)
Next steps
- Quickstart: get a working proxy in 5 minutes
- Pick the right product: decision tree
- Free trial: test before buying