7 Best Free Proxies in 2023: Tested and Secure Free Proxy Solutions
If you're looking for a trustworthy free proxy service, we've done the research for you. We've scanned over 100 free Internet proxy providers and selected the ones that have shown excellent security and stable performance during our testing. Our list of free proxy servers will save you time and effort in finding the most reliable provider.
7 Best Free Proxies in 2023: Overview
- Anonymous
- Datacenter Proxies
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+9 more
TypeAnonymous Datacenter Proxies Residential Proxies SOCKS5 Proxies Rotating ISP Proxies Search Engine Proxies Shared Proxies HTTP Proxy Sneaker Proxies Backconnect Proxies Dedicated Rotating Proxies
- Russia
- Germany
-
+21 more
LocationsRussia Germany France Italy Netherlands Spain US Brazil India Mexico UK Canada Japan Belgium Czech Republic Lithuania Portugal Slovenia Ukraine Denmark Hungary Romania Greece
- 4,7 Users feedback
- 4,5 Experts evaluation
- 4,5 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Various pricing options
- Unlimited threads
- Versatile scraping APIs
- 99.99% uptime
- 3-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7 support
- Overall expensive pricing
- Mobile Proxies
- Mobile VPN
-
+1 more
TypeMobile Proxies Mobile VPN Desktop VPN
- Russia
- Germany
-
+51 more
LocationsRussia Germany France Italy Netherlands Spain Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola US Brazil India Mexico Turkey UK Canada Japan Belgium Czech Republic Lithuania Portugal Slovenia Ukraine Denmark Hungary Romania Greece South Korea Sweden Finland Switzerland Norway Poland Cyprus Malaysia Singapore Indonesia Australia China Colombia Egypt Pakistan Philippines Seychelles South Africa Taiwan Thailand Vietnam Ireland Israel New Zealand
- 4,6 Users feedback
- 4 Experts evaluation
- 4 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Unblocks many media websites and materials
- Works with various devices stably
- Proper kill switch
- Ability to connect up to 5 devices at the same time
- Allows changing encryption
- Crystalline policies
- Hidemy’s support demonstrates constant and helpful work
- Cannot bypass Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+ digital bulwarks
- Both local and distant speeds can drop to depressing results
- Residential Proxies
- Static Residential Proxies
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+6 more
TypeResidential Proxies Static Residential Proxies SOCKS5 Proxies Mobile Proxies Rotating ISP Proxies ISP Proxies HTTPS Proxies Dedicated Private Proxies
- Russia
- Germany
-
+22 more
LocationsRussia Germany France Italy Netherlands Spain US Brazil India Mexico Turkey UK Canada Japan Belgium Czech Republic Lithuania Portugal Slovenia Ukraine Hungary Romania Greece Norway
- 4,2 Users feedback
- 4 Experts evaluation
- 4,5 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Unlimited concurrent sessions
- Dedicated account manager
- Chrome extension
- Web unlocker
- Data Collector and Data Collector IDE
- Expensive proxies
What Are Free Proxies?
Like paid proxies, free services are buffers between you and the web. When you have a web request, it goes not from your IP but from a proxy server. A proxy reaches out to the target web page and returns to you with the web page’s content. In that manner, it allows you to bypass geoblocking and censorship.
Proxies save bandwidth and control access to specific websites and content. So, those act as an intermediary between you and the web and forward your web requests.
But good free proxies also take a lot of other essential roles. For example, they enhance security by acting as a web filter! They also speed up connections by caching data. At an individual level, a free proxy server might be helpful in those situations where you need instant access to the blocked content.
Best Features of Free Proxy:
- Free and easily accessible;
- Allow accessing geo-restricted content and bypassing censorship;
- Best proxy providers ensure anonymity and personal data protection.
Is Free Proxy Dangerous?
There is a downside to every free offer in the market, and it cannot be otherwise since the primary purpose of business is to make profits. So what risks does the use of free Internet proxy imply?
There are various ones, and the core risk is that, as practice shows, about 71% of all free proxy providers do not use HTTPS encryption. HTTPS prevents data eavesdropping, modification, or corruption and protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks. The latter, in turn, is of great importance to secure Internet activity!
According to research, the number of unsecured proxies on the market is immense — it exceeds 21% of all services. What’s more, 16% of all providers tend to modify HTML code, while the other 8% tend to change JavaScript. They use it to steal cookies and inject ads.
But suppose you have been lucky to find proxies that use HTTPS encryption. Does this mean the risks vanish? Unfortunately, no. The data security issue remains even if your proxy provider goes for HTTPS. Proxies enable anonymity on the Internet, but your identity and activity are all visible to the proxy owner. After all, you have no guarantees the latter doesn’t sell your data to third parties or use it for other malicious purposes. Free proxies are also associated with viruses, cookie stealing, and poor efficiency. You can learn more details about each of them here. So, it is always dangerous to use unpaid versions. But if you still need such an app, choosing only tested free services, which we listed in this article, is a good idea.
Free vs. Paid Proxies
Suppose you need to access a webpage that does not work in your region. You only need the content of this particular page and would like an unpaid tool to bypass geoblocking. A free Internet proxy is an adequate solution in this scenario. The choice depends on users’ goals and the tasks they expect proxies to complete.
And now, let us suppose you need to collect large volumes of data for your business. So, you would like to have a pool of fast and effective proxies to do web scraping for you. In this situation, even the best free services should be no help because they cannot provide the due level of performance.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Free Proxies
The key benefits of free proxies are as follows:
- You get your proxy server free, and that’s probably their primary advantage.
- Best proxy providers ensure anonymity and a certain level of security (encryption, cookie disabling, the option of hiding the operating system, etc.).
Some of the most severe weaknesses of free services include but are not limited to:
- Security guarantees could be better in contrast to paid proxies. Thus, you never know how exactly the proxy provider uses your data and the data about your Internet activity. Moreover, if the data is not encrypted, it can be easily accessed by third parties! That means they might steal your card information, account information, and other sensitive data.
- Along with the low level of security, unpaid proxies show poor performance. Uptime percentage and speed are far lower than those in paid proxies, not to mention quick burnout and faulty kill switches. All these performance drawbacks make even top free proxies a poor fit for large-scale scraping projects.
To summarize, the only advantage of free proxies over paid ones is that you do not pay money to use them. Paid ones provide better security, anonymity, reliability, and speed, to name but a few. Due to the serious security and performance limitations, one must be careful when using free services. A good strategy is only to choose tested solutions such as those on our free proxy server list.
Top 7 Free Proxies in 2023: Reviews
1. Smartproxy — Best for Web Scraping Opportunities
Key features:
- This provider of elite datacenter, residential, and mobile proxies has a monthly trial period for its scraping solutions.
- The pool of 40M+ residential proxies allows limitless and block-free web scraping and helps to avoid geo-targeting restrictions.
- Smartproxy’s vast selection of 195+ proxy locations allows city-level targeting.
- The service offers various free solutions, including X Browser, Chrome and Firefox browser extensions, an Address generator, and No-Code Scraper.
- Smartproxy boasts a lightning-fast average speed of 0.3s.
- The service offers four specialized scraping solutions tailored explicitly for SERPs, Social Media platforms, eCommerce sites, or general websites.
- With this service, you can get any needed help: during setup or usage. You can reach 24/7 support via live chat, email, Skype, or Telegram.
Best suited for: Various web scraping uses.
2. Hidemy.name — Best Variety of Proxy Types
Key features:
- Hidemy.name specializes in VPN services but likewise has a database of proxy lists. The company’s spider robot automatically collects the proxies from these lists.
- The service provides effective geo-targeting with 88 countries available in its assortment. There are Australia, Germany, France, Japan, Mexico, and UAE, to name but a few.
- Users can sort proxies by type (HTTP, HTTPS, Socks 4, Socks 5) and anonymity level (high, average, low).
- All proxies in the database undergo speed tests, that is, how long it takes a particular proxy to load a small web page.
- There are statistics for the living proxies for the last two days.
- Hidemy.name has a free anonymity check, email checker, proxy server verification, and speed test.
Best suited for: Mass action such as increasing views or visits.
3. Bright Data — Best for 99.9% Success Rate
Key features:
- Bright Data only provides free Internet proxy solutions as a part of its seven-day free trial. The key benefit is that users enjoy the high quality of paid proxies during the free trial without actually paying for them.
- There is a vast data center proxy pool of more than 72 million IPs.
- Because those free proxies are paid proxies available for free during a period, they show excellent performance. They are 99.9% network uptime, unlimited concurrent sessions, zero bandwidth, and target limitations.
- The company has an impressive geographical coverage (i.e., 98 countries).
- Bright Data’s clients can manage their proxies using the Bright Data Control Panel.
- Users can get help managing their free services from 24/7 customer support or an account manager.
Best suited for: Short-term web scraping projects.
4. 4everproxy — An HMA Alternative for Better Privacy
Key features:
- 4everproxy is a VPN provider that likewise offers free proxies.
- Its free services are simple. One enters the website domain, chooses the IP location, and sets up security parameters (cookies, scripts, and encryption).
- All connections are TLS secure, and users can enable the HTTPS option.
- All sessions get erased two hours after the user closes the browser.
- The service allows for a double proxy connection: you can use one location for the web server and the other for IP.
- A list of quick links to popular websites is accessible with free proxies: YouTube, Imgur, Reddit, etc.
Best suited for: accessing YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, and other popular platforms.
5. CroxyProxy — An HMA Alternative for Streaming
Key features:
- CroxyProxy offers a free proxy browser with a user-friendly design. You type the target URL or request and click “go,” as in traditional browsers.
- Its free proxies work on most video sites, as CroxyProxy provides full video streaming support. More specifically, the platform supports HTML5 video and audio.
- The service uses HTTPS and SSL encryption.
- There is a permalink option that allows sharing links to open pages.
- Because its proxy works as a browser, there is no need for complicated configuration, which makes it a good fit for inexperienced users.
- CroxyProxy provides comprehensive proxy guides with tips on selecting the best proxy server.
Best suited for: Accessing video websites.
6. ProxySite — Sufficient for Social Networking
Key features:
- ProxySite has a simple interface: you choose the server and type the URL of the target website. There are 20 US servers and 18 EU servers to choose from.
- The platform uses SSL encryption.
- The two popular sites that ProxySite supports are Facebook and YouTube.
- There is a panel where you can manage the platform’s browser settings to pass requests to the target web pages.
- It allows bypassing filters by accessing the site you need and passing the information to you.
Best suited for: Accessing content on social media platforms.
7. KProxy — A Simple Downloadable Proxy Extension
Key features:
- Their free proxies work as a free proxy browser: you only need to provide the URL of the target website to access it.
- KProxy has a downloadable extension available in the Chrome Web Store and can be used on Android. There are likewise add-ons for Edge and Firefox.
- The platform encrypts the connection to ensure safety.
- KProxy guarantees its proxy server works on 100% of websites.
- There is a detailed configuration guide on how to use KProxy’s extension.
Best suited for: A free portable proxy solution.
FAQ
Free solutions are generally less secure than paid proxies are. The least you can do is to ensure your provider uses HTTPS and SSL encryption. It is also a plus if it clearly explains how often it deletes your activity’s data! It is also an excellent sign when a proxy provides additional security options such as cookies and script setup.
Some of the best providers offer free speed tests and publish their proxies’ performance statistics. By using these instruments, you can choose those free proxies that show the best speed at the moment.
Due to security and performance limitations, free proxies are a poor fit for web scraping. One possible option to get good free proxies for your scraping project is a free trial offered by a credible proxy provider.
Using paid proxies is generally better than using free ones. It is critical when you need to collect large volumes of data or when you need to ensure your Internet activity stays hidden from third parties.
Whether or not your free proxies are suitable for video streaming depends on the provider. Some top proxy providers offer full video streaming support, and you can use their free proxies to access video and audio content.
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