10 Best SOCKS5 Proxy Services (Cheap & Premium) in 2023
SOCKS5 is a protocol that changes your IP address and directs online traffic via a proxy server. It is the most secure tool for bypassing internet blocks and accessing geo-restricted content. This protocol is widely used in web scraping, gaming, torrents, and video streaming. Our team has researched and compared the top 10 companies that provide SOCKS5 proxies based on customer reviews, prices, and features to identify the best providers.
Top 10 SOCKS Proxy Providers – Brief Overview
- Anonymous
- Datacenter Proxies
-
+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
- Residential Proxies
- Static Residential Proxies
-
+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
- Datacenter Proxies
- Residential Proxies
-
+4 more
TypeDatacenter Proxies Residential Proxies Static Residential Proxies SOCKS5 Proxies Mobile Proxies Rotating ISP Proxies
- Russia
- Germany
-
+11 more
LocationsRussia Germany France Italy Spain US Brazil India Mexico Argrentina Turkey UK Greece
- 4,7 Users feedback
- 4,5 Experts evaluation
- 4,5 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- 24/7 live customer support
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5 protocols supported
- A pool of IPs: 100m+ IPs around the world
- Dedicated Account Manager
- Reliable proxy resources
- Limited pricing options
- Static Residential Proxies
- Sneaker Proxies
-
+2 more
TypeStatic Residential Proxies Sneaker Proxies Rotating Residential Proxies Cloud Hosting
- Germany
- France
-
+19 more
LocationsGermany France Italy Netherlands Spain US Brazil India UK Canada Belgium Lithuania Portugal Denmark Hungary Finland Switzerland Norway Poland Cyprus Singapore
- 3,8 Users feedback
- 3,2 Experts evaluation
- 3,5 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS4
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- One of the largest pools and location coverage
- Tier-1 bandwidth
- Good pricing
- 3 days money-back guarantee
- Sufficient scrapping performance for some sites
- High proxy speed
- Connection errors
- Limited session control
- Anonymous
- Datacenter Proxies
-
+2 more
TypeAnonymous Datacenter Proxies Mobile Proxies ISP 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 Users feedback
- 3,5 Experts evaluation
- 4,1 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Customizable pricing plans
- Ethically sourced proxies
- Flexible proxy service
- Locations diversity
- Unlimited treads
- Specialization in datacenter proxies
- Residential Proxies
- Mobile Proxies
-
+2 more
TypeResidential Proxies Mobile Proxies Dedicated Proxies Private SOCKS proxies
- Germany
- France
-
+18 more
LocationsGermany France Italy Netherlands Spain US Brazil India UK Canada Lithuania Portugal Denmark Hungary Finland Switzerland Norway Poland Cyprus Singapore
- 3,5 Users feedback
- 4 Experts evaluation
- 4,2 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Supports SOCKS
- On-demand proxy refreshing
- Extensive coverage (residential IPs from all over the world and datacenter IPs from 40+ locations)
- 1 GBPRS speed
- 1k+ subnets to source proxies from
- 3-day money-back guarantee
- Loads of use cases and guidance on selecting the right proxy solution
- A wide spectrum of payment methods accepted
- Limited bandwidth
- English is the only interface language available
- Residential Proxies
- Mobile Proxies
-
+1 more
TypeResidential Proxies Mobile Proxies US ISP Proxies
- Germany
- France
-
+16 more
LocationsGermany France Italy Netherlands US Brazil India UK Canada Lithuania Portugal Denmark Hungary Finland Switzerland Norway Poland Singapore
- 4,7 Users feedback
- 3,4 Experts evaluation
- 3,6 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Excellent location coverage
- Large proxy network
- Proxy connection speed
- Neat and convenient dashboard
- Flexible payment options
- Expensive
- No apps
- SOCKS5 Proxies
- Mobile Proxies
-
+2 more
TypeSOCKS5 Proxies Mobile Proxies Private Proxies HTTPS Proxies
- Russia
- Germany
-
+33 more
LocationsRussia Germany France Italy Netherlands Spain US Brazil India Mexico Argrentina UK Canada Japan Belgium Czech Republic Lithuania Portugal Slovenia Denmark Hungary Greece South Korea Sweden Finland Switzerland Norway Cyprus Malaysia Singapore Indonesia Australia China Thailand New Zealand
- 4,5 Users feedback
- 4,3 Experts evaluation
- 4,4 Proxybros rank
- SOCKS5
- HTTP
- HTTPS
- Supports both HTTPS and SOCKS5
- High connection rate
- Good choice of subnets
- Refund and replacement
- 99% uptime
- Downloading via torrent is not allowed
- Site hacking searching for the vulnerability of platforms is allowed
When choosing the SOCKS proxy server, it is essential to know that it has two different versions: SOCKS4 and SOCKS5. SOCKS4 only supports TCP protocol, while SOCKS5 supports both TCP and UDP protocols. Besides, the SOCKS5 proxy is compatible with various authentication devices.
For this article, we studied and compared multiple proxy providers to determine the top 10 companies that provide SOCKS5 proxies. We focused on the following criteria to identify the most appropriate providers: customer reviews, price, and features.
What Is SOCKS5 Proxy?
SOCKS5 is the most modern version of the SOCKS protocol tailored to be more suitable for irrational forms of traffic. SOCKS5 is valuable for that software that can be hard to use with most proxies. For instance, when the applications do not allow you to use proxies due to performance or abuse prevention, you can use “Socksfiers,” also known as proxy “wrappers”. Socksfiers can force the application traffic through the chosen SOCKS proxy without notifying the application.
Diving deeper into the benefits of SOCKS5, if you are interested in any traffic based on TCP or UDP, this connection can efficiently work it through. Additionally, several applications directly support SOCKS5, even though they do not have an entry for proxy configuration in the main settings, while other applications use the operating system’s default proxy configuration. The SOCKS5 proxy server is challenging to detect. However, depending on the program settings, tools, and use cases, it is still possible. For example, if you use the SOCKS5 proxies for web scraping, they will not differ from most types of other proxy servers, including the detection rate, amount of proxy IPs, and sorting requests.
SOCKS5 Best Features:
- Concealing the IP address – high level of anonymity
- Working with all kinds of data
- Outstanding for high-volume traffic
- Immense demand
How Does SOCKS5 Work?
SOCKS5 proxies are similar to HTTP proxies yet have several differences. When using a SOCKS5 proxy, you start with an SSH application found on the client’s computer and connect to the proxy server through it. In addition, computers like Mac and Linux have SSH by default, meaning you can install a putty application to do this.
The first process is called tunneling, where the client laptop makes a web request to the SSH application, sending the HTTP connection through the existing SSH connection with a present proxy server. After all, the proxy server will send an HTTP connection to the website and wait until it responds. When the website responds to the proxy server, the tunnel will back that connection to the SSH application, where the SSH application will return the response to the client computer. The benefit of tunneling is that the metadata will be exposed on the proxy server instead of the client’s laptop.
What Are SOCKS5 Proxies Used For?
They have numerous benefits, including increased anonymity, access to censored content, web traffic analysis tools, and parental blocks. SOCKS5 proxies are reliable premium connections that are ideal for traffic-intensive tasks. Different providers offer similar benefits, including up to 2M+ IPs from 80+ countries.
These proxies guarantee fast speeds that suit any business needs. They help companies monitor copyright infringements on the web and ensure the content is legitimate and visible on versatile browsers. Unlike HTTP(S) connections, a SOCKS5 proxy can go through a UDP connection and work with any traffic-intensive scraping, including video streaming and live calls.
SOCKS5 Proxies: Comparison
Based on the pool of services analyzed, top solutions offer affordable prices and versatile benefits for every customer. Whatever you plan to use proxies for, they should serve your purpose – that is why paying close attention to the features is essential. Test-driving them will help to ensure the quality matches the money paid for the service. However, a trial is not always the case, so you’d better determine which type suits your needs. Let’s break down the nuances, comparing SOCKS5 proxies with available alternatives.
SOCKS5 VS HTTP(S)
The main difference between SOCKS5 and HTTP(S) is how to work with data. For example, HTTP has two network traffic processing and transmission schemes, tunneling and caching, while SOCKS5 processes any network traffic without sending it to the client. In other words, HTTP aims to work with network resources through a browser, while SOCKS5 ensures compatibility with different protocols.
SOCKS5 VS SOCKS4
The main difference between SOCKS5 and SOCKS4 is that SOCKS4 does not support authentication and UDP proxies. By contrast, SOCKS5 supports numerous authentication methods as well as UDP proxies.
SOCKS5 Proxies: Strengths and Weaknesses
Pros of SOCKS5 proxies include the following:
- SOCKS5 proxies can be used with any data, including web pages.
- These proxies ensure the highest level of anonymity.
- They work with traffic-intensive tasks.
Among the most significant downsides are as follows:
- SOCKS5 is not recommended for online payments and anything related to sensitive personal information, as the data going through them is unencrypted.
- Not all applications support SOCKS5.
- These proxies usually cost more than HTTP(S) IPs.
Top 10 SOCKS5 Proxies Review
1. Smartproxy – Best Elite Proxies for Any Online Activity
Key Features:
- 50M+ IPs
- Locations around the globe
- City-targeting
- No CAPTCHAs
- Choice of sticky or rotating session
- 99.99% uptime
- Flexible pricing
- The selection of dedicated datacenter, residential, and mobile proxies
- IP randomization
- Unlimited GBs
- The average connection speed of 0.3s
- Unlimited threads
Best Suited For: web scraping, market research, accessing geo-restricted data, verifying ads, encrypting traffic.
2. Bright Data – Category Leader #1 in Web Data
Key Features:
- Datasets
- Data collection
- Proxy infrastructure
- Ad verification
- E-commerce
- Travel aggregation
- Brand protection
- SEO monitoring
- Market research
- Search engine results crawling
- Website testing
- Request a custom solution
Best Suited For: business leaders, decision-makers, analysts, software engineers, IT professionals.
3. Oxylabs -The Best Premium SOCKS5 Proxies For Business
Key Features:
- Dedicated account manager
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Custom setup
- ASN and country filtering
- Quality Parsing DOM
- Chrome extension
- Auto-retry system
- Built-in security tools
- Effortless integration
- 24/7 live support and instant help
- Datacenter, residential, and next-gen residential proxies
- Scraper APIs
Best Suited For: market research, brand protection, travel fare aggregation, ad verification, cybersecurity, SEO monitoring, price monitoring, and email protection.
4. Shifter – Best Proxy for Web Scraping
Key Features:
- 99.99% Uptime
- Super speeds
- Over 50+ million IPs
- 24/7 customer support
- Multiple subnets
- Non-sequential IPs
- 3 days money-back guarantee
- Unlimited sessions
- HTTP/S and SOCKS 4/5 protocols
- Advanced control panel
- Tier-1 bandwidth
Best Suited For: web scraping.
5. Rayobyte – The Most Affordable Proxy Provider
Key Features:
- Residential, Mobile, ISP, and Datacenter proxies
- Proxy Pilot (Beta) and Scraping Robot
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Concurrent connections
- Free trial
- Instant activation
- HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS protocols
- Free replacement
- Customizable pricing plans
- 20 000+ unique C-class subnets
Best Suited For: e-commerce web scraping, SEO monitoring, market research, price monitoring, tracking, review monitoring, non-profit data collection.
6. LimeProxies – Best for DNS Leak Protection
Key Features:
- 256-bit encryption
- DNS + IPv6 leak protection
- Multi-mixed subnets
- Dedicated proxy control panel
- 5-minute setup
- 24/7 customer support
- 1gbps speed
- Instant IP refreshing
- Dynamic IPs
- 1M+ residential IPs in 50+ geolocations
- Concurrent threads
- Self-managed control panel
Best Suited For: market research, travel fare aggregation, ad verification, pricing intelligence, SEO monitoring, online gaming, sales intelligence.
7. SOAX – Best for Specific Geo-Targeting
Key Features:
- Elite proxies
- Detailed geo-targeting (including ISP-level)
- No usage limitation
- 100% whitelisted
- Data gathering tool
- High speed and performance
- Residential and mobile IPs
- Backconnect rotating proxies
Best Suited For: price monitoring, ad verification, SEO monitoring, data collection, market research, speed testing.
8. ProxySeller – Best for Social Networking
Key Features:
- Flexible payment options
- SOCKS5 and HTTPS protocols are available
- Access data within 5 minutes after purchase
- 400 networks and 800 subnets
- Multifunctional panel control
- IP masking
- Encryption
- 24/7 customer support
Best Suited For: social media marketing, gaming, and surfing.
9. ProxyBonanza – The Cheapest Proxy Provider
Key Features:
- HTTP and SOCKS5 proxy protocols
- 114 locations around the globe
- Dedicated customer service
- Fast and trustworthy proxy servers
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Web browser
- Cheap proxy packages
Best Suited For: automation and international marketing.
10. Proxy-Cheap – Best For Flexible Pricing
Key Benefits:
- 127+ proxy locations
- Flexible pricing from $1.99/GB
- 24/7 support live chat
- Worldwide network – 11M+ IPs
- Self-service dashboard
- Instant setup proxies
- Proxy generator
Best Suited For: market research, sales & e-commerce, sneaker & tickets, and data scraping.
FAQ
To choose the appropriate proxy, you need to understand their main differences. SOCKS5 is a newer version of SOCKS4. It has several unique features like authentication options, support for IPv6 IP addresses, remote DNS queries, and compatibility with the UDP protocol, while SOCKS4 does not offer that all.
Once you purchase SOCKS5, you can use it for various purposes. For example, you can hide your IP address, chat and make video calls, use streaming websites, download torrents, play different games, access blocked content, etc.
While the SOCKS5 proxy has numerous advantages, it also has some drawbacks. For example, the data that goes through SOCKS5 proxies is unencrypted, which means it is not advisable to use for browsers where you need to leave your personal information or online payments. Besides, not all applications support SOCKS5, and the prices are higher than other proxy types like HTTP(S) IPs.
Technically, you can find a free SOCKS5 proxy, though it is not advisable due to the lack of features. Free proxies are slow and unreliable because you need to share them with others. Yet, you might experience downtime because the provider will not be interested in resolving it. If you are on a budget, you can try to find more affordable SOCKS5 proxy providers that can offer you a good deal.
We studied and determined the 10 best SOCKS5 proxy providers that offer great pricing options, features, and customer help. Do not hesitate to scroll up and read about the Top 10 SOCKS5 Proxies.
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