A network proxy server can be utilized for many purposes, including boosting internet speed, increasing security, and bypassing geographical limitations. By employing proxy network software, users can enhance their overall internet experience.
When choosing a network proxy software, it's crucial to assess the organization's specific needs and select a solution that meets those requirements.
What Is a Network Proxy Used For?
Let's start with the proxy definition. A proxy network software or server acts as a middleman between a user and an Internet source, like a website, to get information for the user. They protect users on the internet by adding another layer of data security.
A proxy server is used for many different things depending on how they are set up and what they do. Its use is to help people browse the Internet anonymously, get around geo-blocking, and control web requests.
Which Software Is Used for Proxy Server?
The primary purpose of a proxy server is to provide security and anonymity and to cache frequently requested content. Several software options can be used to set up a proxy server, each with its features and capabilities.
Best Residential Proxies
Many businesses and individuals favor residential proxies because they provide a high level of anonymity and are less likely to be detected and blocked by websites and online services. They are commonly used for various purposes, including web scraping, ad verification, online market research, and access to geo-restricted content.
A proxy server can add an extra layer of security, hide your IP address to protect your privacy, enforce access control policies, get around internet restrictions, provide proxies for cybersecurity, and improve network performance through caching.
This article will help you choose the best Proxy Network Software for 2023.
1. SOAX
SOAX is an award-winning data collection solution with over 1000 global clients. It aims to be a data pioneer, providing the best-in-class experience for data-driven businesses. Its tools allow clients to access unlimited data and facilitate a seamless exchange of information. The company prioritizes performance and security for its clients.
It was founded by passionate innovators with significant funding from experienced investors. The mission of the company is to empower people and create lasting change. Its commitment to excellence has been recognized with awards for Best Starter Package, Best High Performer, and Leader by Proxyway and G2.
Benefits and Advantages
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Fast average response time of 1.19 seconds
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ISP/City-level targeting for any city at no extra cost
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Ethically sourced IP pool and GDPR compliant
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Global coverage with a pool of more than 8.5 million best residential proxies
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User-friendly API with detailed documentation available
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24/7 live support in multiple languages
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Dedicated support manager (with a minimum spend requirement)
SOAX proxy network isn't cheap, but it has many great features, like geo-targeting for specific cities and ISPs, which makes it useful in many situations.
Pros
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Geo-targeting at the level of the city and ISP
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Mobile IPs
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Ample documentation and support
Cons
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No extension/apps
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Not low-cost
SOAX's pool of 8.5+ million IPs isn't particularly large compared to some of its peers. But when you think about the fact that this number only includes residential proxies, it's pretty impressive.
As already said, SOAX only offers WiFi and Mobile proxies, which it says are owned by ISPs and given to real devices like laptops and smartphones.
SOAX, like its competitors, rotates its proxies automatically to ensure that its customers have constant access since proxies tend to go offline frequently.
Customers can also set a time limit, after which the proxies will be changed automatically. By default, IPs are changed every 3600 seconds, but this can be adjusted to 90 seconds if desired.
With SOAX's Node feature, users can set a static IP address that won't change while in use. If a node goes offline, users can either wait for it to come back online or switch to another node manually. Access to the Node feature is unavailable online, so those seeking static IPs need to contact SOAX directly.
Another good thing about SOAX is that it has options for targeting. The service says that its pool of IPs comes from more than 185 countries, and you can also narrow them down to specific cities and IPs. This lets SOAX be used in more situations that need this level of targeting.
Also, city-level and ISP-level targeting are included in all plans at no extra cost. You can also use the three-day trial plan to test the targeting.
It's essential to know that SOAX plans to give users a certain number of ports. For example, the WiFi and Mobile Regular plans come with 600 ports, with which you can make up to 600 proxy connections. With the cheaper Micro and Starter plans, you can simultaneously have up to 300 connections. On the other hand, Business plans provide up to 1000 connections at the same time.
But remember that each port can only handle up to 30 requests per second. Your scraper will need to be set up to handle this. SOAX warns that if the ports are already full, it will immediately put any new requests on hold. This can hurt the overall performance.
Experience the benefits of SOAX, and visit their official website to buy residential proxies.
2. Shifter.io
Shifter.io is an innovator and a forerunner in the world of online proxy services. Because of its enormous network of high-quality residential proxies, which ranks among the largest available networks, it is an excellent choice for data-driven marketing.
Shifter caters to users who place a high priority on maintaining their online privacy by providing access to more than 30 million residential proxies located in significant cities and countries all over the world.
In addition, Shifter's rotating residential proxies are paired with a remarkable backconnect server. This server changes the user's IP address every five minutes by utilizing a pool of residential proxies, which offers additional protection for the user's privacy.
Pros
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Shifter has a large pool of over 30 million proxies, making it the third-largest among service providers after Brightdata and Smartproxy.
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Its proxies serve major cities and countries globally, providing extensive global reach.
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Shifter proxies come with unlimited data transfer, providing infinite bandwidth for users.
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The company offers a money-back guarantee to customers to ensure their satisfaction.
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Shifter employs secure protocols like SOCKS5 and HTTPS to encrypt data and maintain a dynamic backend IP address that is difficult to track.
Cons
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Several of them are a bit slow.
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Customer service sometimes takes longer to respond because they have so many people to help.
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Proxy servers can't get into secure sites.
Shifter provides startups, digital entrepreneurs, and Fortune 500 companies with access to residential proxies and data scraping tools. These tools are part of a comprehensive set of tools that Shifter offers for the purpose of data collection. The proxy network that Shifter provides enables both individuals and businesses to collect a massive amount of data in a timely and effective manner, all while evading IP bans and blocks.
As a company that operates a proxy network, Shifter stands out as it provides a large number of residential proxies, has an excellent price-to-quality ratio, provides customer service around the clock, and has a quick network.
In addition, Shifter provides a comprehensive catalog of APIs for scraping, such as the Scraper API, which can be used to obtain raw HTML; the SERP API, which can be used to access real-time data from search engine results pages; and the Amazon Product API, which can be used to retrieve product data, bestsellers, and other information from Amazon.
If you are looking for a dependable and inexpensive way to scrape and gather data that also produces the best possible results, Shifter is an excellent option to consider.
Shifter provides high-performance backend connection proxy servers with a throughput of gigabits per second, availability of 99.9%, and no limits on the number of concurrent sessions supported.
Shared proxies and dedicated servers in data centers are both options that are provided to customers in the United States. However, these choices are only available within the United States.
Even if you exceed your bandwidth limit, your internet connection will remain uninterrupted, thanks to Shifter's unmetered access to all of its backconnect proxies. This is one distinctive characteristic that sets Shifter apart from other similar services.
The reasonably priced options offered by Shifter and the product's rising demand have been significant factors in the company's recent rapid rise in the industry.
This proxy network software provider has a vast pool of residential proxy IPs, with competitive pricing and round-the-clock customer support. They offer high-speed proxy networks and a wide range of scraping APIs, along with advanced analytics and monitoring tools to track performance.
Additionally, they implement stringent security protocols to safeguard client data. Shining brighter than competitors, they provide cutting-edge technology, high-quality services, and exceptional customer service to deliver the best proxy and scraping service possible.
3. Privoxy
Advertisements found online can be helpful because they can direct you to businesses and products you could purchase. On the other hand, they can make web browsers appear cluttered and slow down the loading rate of web pages. An ad blocking software that can prevent online browsers from displaying any or all advertisements is one potential solution to this problem.
One of the most effective advertisement blockers available is the Privoxy proxy network software, which has existed for more than 15 years. This review will demonstrate what Privoxy proxies for SEO can do in the background, such as how it blocks advertisements and what other features it possesses. You should know all the information you need to make an informed decision regarding this ad blocker and whether or not you want to use it.
Pros
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Two-Fold Ad Blocking
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Highly customizable
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Privoxy for the LAN
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Privoxy is free to use because it is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2.
Cons
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Privoxy needs extra configuration to work at its best, which may make it hard for people who aren't tech-savvy
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Privoxy only works with Windows browsers
4. Squid Proxies
Squid Proxies is a proxy network software company based in the US that has been in the business for more than ten years. They offer both shared and private HTTP/HTTPS proxies.
The company has a few products, but they are easy to understand. There are no residential proxy networks, mobile, or ISP proxies here, and you don't have to worry about whether or not rotating proxies might work for you. There are only private and shared proxies.
The network is also tiny, with only proxies in the USA, UK, Australia, China, Estonia, India, Romania, Israel, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Only the USA gives you a choice of cities, but it's a good 12: Anaheim, CA; Atlanta, GA; Cheyenne, WY; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Henderson, NV; Kirkland, WA; Los Angeles, CA; Madison, ME; Phoenix, AZ; San Jose, CA; and Tampa, FL.
Still, Squid Proxies is easier to set up and use than many of its rivals. Even if you get stuck, fast support is available 24/7 to point you in the right direction.
Pros
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A good deal and easy to set up
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Support that responds to tickets
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Money-back guarantee for seven days
Cons
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Few details
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Only private or shared proxies from a data center
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No dedicated Craigslist, Nike, or Ticketmaster proxies
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No live support
5. NGINX
NGINX is a free software for serving web pages, reverse proxying, caching, balancing the load, streaming media, etc. It started as a web server made to be as fast and stable as possible. In addition to being an HTTP server, NGINX can act as a proxy site server for email (IMAP, POP3, and SMTP) and as a reverse proxy and load balancer for HTTP, TCP, and UDP servers.
NGINX was created to solve the C10K problem, a term made up in 1999 to describe how hard it was for existing web servers to handle many connections at once. NGINX's event-driven, asynchronous architecture changed how servers worked in high-performance situations and became the fastest web server available.
After making the project open source in 2004 and seeing its use grow by leaps and bounds, they founded NGINX, Inc. to continue developing NGINX and sell NGINX Plus, a commercial product with extra features for enterprise customers. In 2019, NGINX, Inc. joined F5, Inc. Today, NGINX and NGINX Plus can handle tens of thousands of connections simultaneously and power even the busiest sites on the Internet than any other server.
Pros
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Flexible configuration
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Reverse proxy and load balancing
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Robust community
Cons
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Limited protocol support
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Complex configuration
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Resource-intensive
Proxy servers have become crucial for improving websites' and applications' performance, security, and reliability. With a wide range of options available, choosing a solution that meets the organization's specific needs is essential.
Factors such as performance, flexibility, and ease of use should be considered when deciding. With the right network proxy software, such as SOAX, organizations can achieve better website and application performance, enhanced security, and improved reliability.
