A proxy server is a computer network that acts as an intermediary between your computer and the internet. It takes your requests, processes them, and sends them out under a different identity that you have chosen.
Which types of proxies are worth buying, and which are good enough to meet up to your online marketing, privacy, and security needs? Read on to find out as we review the top-rated proxy sites.
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There are many proxy services available at this time in the forms of the free web proxy, dedicated proxy, backconnect proxy, and IP port proxy. While some are free, others are paid services but picking out the best one from among the lot remains a problem.
This article would compare the top proxy sites and show you the features each one provides. So you can easily pick out the one that is best for you and that best suits your needs.
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROXY: COMPARISON TABLE
1 . BACKCONNECT PROXY
- Paid proxy service
- Provides residential IPs
- Uses SOCKS/HTTP(s) protocol
- Gives you fast speed and good privacy
2. PRIVATE PROXY
- Paid proxy service
- Provides datacenter IPs
- Uses SOCKS/HTTP(s) protocol
- Blazing internet speeds and good privacy
3. SHARED PROXY
- Paid proxy servic
- Provides datacenter IPs
- Uses SOCKS/HTTP(s) protocol
- Gives you fast speed and good privacy
4. PUBLIC IP:PORT PROXY
- Free proxy service
- Gives you mixed IPs
- Uses SOCKS/HTTP(s) protocol
- Gives you poor speed and privacy
5. WEB PROXY
- Free proxy service
- Gives you datacenter IPs
- Uses Glype/PHP/CGIProxy protocol
- You get fair internet speed and privacy
6. VPN
- It’s a paid service
- Offers you datacenter IPs
- Uses PPTP/OpenVPN/L2TP protocol
- Offers you blazing speed and good privacy
7. TOR
- Free service
- Offers residential IPs
- Uses Tor protocol
- Offers slow internet speed but complete privacy
BEST PROXY SERVICES IN 2020: REVIEWS
1 . BACKCONNECT PROXY
Also known as a rotating reverse proxy, this proxy type is mainly for large scraping projects or web crawling. It allows your IP address to change every 5 or 10 minutes to ensure that your data extraction task is continuous. So when you need a good amount of different residential IPs for your project, Backconnect proxies are a good choice for you.
Backconnect proxy runs a P2P routing network which has a huge quantity of residential IPs as its servers. Requests from users of Backconnect proxy go through the P2P proxy network. So when you get 10 proxy ports or 10 backconnect proxies, your IP address would be rotated within these numbers.
ADVANTAGES OF USING BACKCONNECT PROXY
- Helps you prevent IP ban as you go about web crawling and scraping with tools
- Compatible with SEO tools like Scrapebox
- Can be used to create a huge number of accounts and do multiple registrations online for social media marketing
- Can be used on sneaker sites to cop sneakers
CONS
- Slow speed
- Unstable connection
Some examples of the best Backconnect rotating proxy providers include:
LUMINATI
- Offers you over 30 million residential IPs
- A good business proxy
- You get a 7-day free trial period
SMARTPROXY
- Offers you more than 10 million IPs in different locations
- Easy to use
- Gives you advanced IP rotation
- You get 24/7 customer support
MICROLEAVES
- Offers you over 26 million residential IPs
- Prides itself as the largest P2P proxy network
- You have a 3-day trial period with a money-back guarantee
STORM PROXIES
- Has a rotating pool of 70,000 IPs
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 2-day money-back guaranteed
PROXYRACK
- Offers over 2 million residential IPs
- Uses SOCKS protocol
PRIVATE PROXY
A private proxy is also called a dedicated proxy and is one of the best datacenter proxies you can get. It’s called a dedicated proxy because only one user makes use of this, and enjoys the performance. So the possible consequences of using a shared or already used proxy are eliminated in this scenario. Due to the absence of user congestion, this proxy is faster.
ADVANTAGES OF USING PRIVATE PROXY
- Very fast internet speed
- A good proxy for scraping projects
- Great for use with sneaker bots
- Unblock IP censorship
- Allows you to manage multiple social media accounts on the same device
- Unblock geo-restrictions and access blocked content
CONS
- It’s expensive
- It’s hard to get a fresh IP address due to IPv4 exhaustion
Some examples of the best Private proxy providers include:
LIMEPROXIES
- Keeps you anonymous
- 24/7 customer support
- Blazing internet speed
- Dedicated IPs
MPP GROUP
- It’s a dedicated proxy to cop sneakers
- Offers 143,360 datacenter IPs in the US and EU
- Fast speed
- 24/7 customer support
HIGHPROXIES
- Great for management of multiple social media accounts
SQUID PROXIES
- Fast speed
- Dedicated IPs
- Unlimited bandwidth
YOURPRIVATEPROXY
- Offers you dedicated datacenter IPs
- It supports the SOCKS5 protocol
- A free trial period of 24 hours
PROXY-N-VPN
- The data center is located in the US and the UK
- Can be used on social networks to create and manage multiple accounts
FREE PUBLIC IP:PORT PROXY
This proxy is also known as Open Proxy and they can be found easily online. Millions of public proxy servers exist and each one is for different purposes.
IP addresses are assigned to a computer by the ISP when the computer wants to go online, so it serves as an identity online. If the computer is to be used as a proxy server, you will have to install a program like Squid which runs on the computer and makes it act like a proxy port.
ADVANTAGES OF USING FREE PUBLIC IP:PORT PROXY
- It offers you servers in different countries and allows you to change your location
- It gives you options between SOCKS and HTTP protocol to choose from
- Compatible with SEO software
CONS
- Doesn’t offer you safety
- Not fit for regular browsing
- Proxies die fast
Some examples of the best public IP:Port proxy providers include HideMy.name, ProxyNova, Proxy List, ProxyList+, and Free Proxy Lists.
WEB PROXY
A web proxy is a website that acts like a proxy server and is the easiest to use proxy type. From a web-based proxy, enter the URL you want to access and you will be connected. This proxy eliminated the need to download or configure any proxy app and its easy to find online. This proxy type however doesn’t offer you a fast internet connection and gives no security in most cases.
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Since the proxy service is free, it’s loaded with a lot of intrusive ads that could slow down your web surfing. It’s also a security risk to you as they could be a lot of malware on the site.
ADVANTAGES OF USING WEB PROXY
- Unblock websites in the office or school for free
- Use the internet anonymously
- Allows you to bypass internet censorship
CONS
- Slow speed
- No security
Some examples of the best web proxy providers include:
PROXYSITE.COM
- Its proxy servers are located in Europe and the US
- There are 20 free proxy servers available
PROXYFREE.COM
- Its proxy servers are located in Canada, the US, the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands
- There are 15 free proxy servers available
PROXY.TOOLUR.COM
- Its proxy servers are in the US, France, Netherlands, and Germany
- There are 12 free proxy servers available
WHOER.NET WEB PROXY
- Its proxy servers are in Russia, the US, the UK, Netherlands, and France
- There are 10 free proxy servers available
KPROXY.COM
- Its proxy servers are in the US and Europe
- There are 10 free proxy servers available
VPN
VPN is short for Virtual Private Network. It tunnels all your traffic through its servers and sends your requests using a different IP address thereby keeping you anonymous. It also provides you with anonymity as the tunnels encrypt your data and save you from attacks and data theft. With a VPN, what you get is security, anonymity, and unblocking websites.
ADVANTAGES OF USING A VPN
- Security
- Privacy
- Unblock restricted access to websites
- Protects your connections
- Fast internet connection
CONS
- It’s an expensive service
- VPN IP addresses are shared
Some examples of the best VPN providers include:
LIMEVPN
- Heavy encryption
- Fast internet speed
- Allows torrenting
- 30-day money-back guarantee
EXPRESSVPN
- Fast speed
- Strict no-logs policy
- Keeps you anonymous
- Encrypts your data
- 30-day money-back guarantee
PUREVPN
- 5 multi logins/split tunneling
- More than 750 servers in 141 countries
- 7-day money-back guarantee
VYPRVPN
- More than 700 servers
- No third parties are involved
- 3-day free trial period
NORDVPN
- Encrypts data heavily
- Allows for torrenting
- 30-day money-back guarantee
HIDEMYASSVPN
- More than 910 servers located in 190 countries
- 30-day money-back guarantee
TOR
Tor is short for The Onion Router and is a system of networks that function similarly to a proxy or VPN service. The difference with Tor is that your traffic doesn’t just go through one proxy or VPN server before reaching the internet but rather it goes through a series of multiple networks. This creates a layered connection and is where it gets its name from; the onion router.
As you request is bounced around different computer networks, your data like IP address and location get hidden in the process. The computer networks that are used in the Tor network are referred to as relays, and they are three types; middle relays, end relays, and bridges. All connections from the start are encrypted, and in the final stage, the traffic is decrypted.
ADVANTAGES OF USING TOR
- Provides a high level of anonymity
CONS
- It’s slow
About the author
Rachael Chapman
A Complete Gamer and a Tech Geek. Brings out all her thoughts and Love in Writing Techie Blogs.
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