9 Best SOCKS5 Proxy Services (Cheap & Premium) in 2023

SOCKS5 is a protocol that navigates online traffic through a proxy server while changing your IP address. It works great if you need to bypass internet blocks and access censored content in your area. Plus, SOCKS5 can be used for various purposes, including gaming, video streaming, torrents, or web scraping.

SOCKS5 is a protocol that navigates online traffic through a proxy server while changing your IP address. It works great if you need to bypass internet blocks and access censored content in your area. Plus, SOCKS5 can be used for various purposes, including gaming, video streaming, torrents, or web scraping.SOCKS5 proxies differ from other proxy services because they are more secure. Therefore, the protocol prevents unauthorized parties from using the server for malicious purposes. Yet, the SOCKS5 proxy is flexible with no software, protocol, or traffic limitations, meaning that the server can work with traffic from any protocol. Lastly, the proxy uses the UDP protocol suite that is faster and more trustworthy than other alternative technologies. UDP packets are self-sufficient, meaning that they have all the needed data to find the destination while not relying on external connections and transfer orders.

Top 9 SOCKS Proxy Providers – Brief Overview

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. 

We studied, compared, and determined the top 9 companies that provide SOCKS5 proxies, while focusing on the following criteria to identify the most appropriate providers: customer reviews, price, and set of features.

Here Come Top 9 SOCKS5 Proxy Providers:

 

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, in some cases, where 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 to come through the chosen SOCKS proxy without notifying the application.

If you are interested in any traffic based on TCP or UDP, SOCKS5 can utilize and 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. SOCKS5 proxy server is challenging to detect but still possible, depending on the program settings, tools, and use cases. For example, if the SOCKS5 proxies are used 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 but have several differences. When using a SOCKS5 proxy, you start with an SSH application that can be found on the client computer and make a connection to the proxy server through it. In addition, computers like Mac and Linux have SSH by default, meaning that 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?

Proxies have numerous benefits, including increased anonymity, access to censored content, web traffic analysis tools, and parental blocks. SOCKS5 proxies are reliable premium proxies that are ideal for traffic-intensive tasks. Different providers offer similar benefits, including up to 2M+ IPs from 80+ countries.

SOCKS5 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 tend to offer affordable prices and versatile benefits for every customer. Whatever you plan to use proxies for, they should serve your purpose – that is why it is essential to pay close attention to the features. 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 figure out which type is more tailored for your needs. Let’s break down the nuances, comparing SOCKS5 proxies with available alternatives.

SOCKS5 Proxies VS HTTP(S) Proxies

The main difference between SOCKS5 Proxies and HTTP(S) Proxies is how you can work with data. For example, HTTP has two network traffic processing and transmission schemes, such as tunneling and caching, while SOCKS5 processes any network traffic without sending it to the client. In other words, HTTP has a goal to work with network resources through a browser, while SOCKS5 ensures compatibility with other protocols. 

SOCKS5 Proxies VS SOCKS4 Proxies

The main difference between SOCKS5 Proxies and SOCKS4 Proxies is that SOCKS4 does not support authentication and UDP proxies. 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 a high level of anonymity.
• They work with traffic-intensive tasks.

Among the most significant downsides are as follows:

• SOCKS5 proxies are not recommended for online payments and anything related to sensitive personal information as the data, going through them is unencrypted.
• SOCKS5 proxies are not supported by all applications and usually cost more compared to HTTP(S) IPs.

Top 9 SOCKS5 Proxies Review

1. 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.

2. Oxylabs -The Best Premium SOCKS5 Proxies For Business

Key Features:

• 102.367.458 IPs
• Dedicated account manager
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Custom setup
• ASN and country filtering
• Quality HTML parser
• 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.

3. Shifter – Best Proxy for Web Scraping

Key Features:

• 99.99% Uptime
• Super speeds
• Over 31 million IPs
• 24/7 customer support
• Multiple subnets
• Non-sequential IPs
• 3 days money-back guarantee
• Unlimited sessions
• HTTP/S and SOCKS protocols
• Advanced control panel
• Unlimited bandwidth

Best Suited For: web scraping

4. Rayobyte – The Most Affordable Proxy Provider 

Key Features:

• Residential proxies, ISP proxies, and Data Center 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
• Unique C-class subnets

Best Suited For: e-commerce web scraping, SEO monitoring, market research, price monitoring, tracking, review monitoring, non-profit data collection.

5. 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
• 50+ geo locations
• Concurrent threads
• Self-managed control panel

Best Suited For: market research, travel fare aggregation, ad verification, pricing intelligence, SEO monitoring, online gaming, sales intelligence.

6. 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 IPs
• Backconnect rotating proxies

Best Suited For: price monitoring, ad verification, SEO monitoring, data collection, market research, speed testing.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9.  Proxy-Cheap – Best For Flexible Pricing

Key Benefits:

• 127+ proxy locations
• Flexible pricing from $3/GB
• 24/7 support live chat
• Worldwide network – 6,738,293+ IPs
• Self-service dashboard
• Instant setup proxies
• Proxy generator 

Best Suited For: market research, sales & e-commerce, sneaker & tickets, and data scraping.

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