26 types of Proxies, Their Benefits and Applications

A proxy server (or simply proxy) is an intermediary between the user and internet resources! Among the possible tasks of proxy servers are: masking your real IP address, forwarding requests to the Internet, caching request data, and filtering traffic.

The way a proxy works can be explained using the example of you, your friend, and the cakes baked by your friend's mom: You (the client) send a request to your friend (the proxy server) - "Ask your mom for some cakes for me". Your friend (the proxy server) goes to your mom (the internet resource) and says - "Can I have some cakes?" The mom (the internet resource) gives the cakes to your friend (the proxy server). Your friend (the proxy server) comes back to you (the client) and hands you the cakes. In this situation, your friend (the proxy server) just forwards your request to your mom and brings back the data (cakes). When using a proxy with IP masking, the mom won't be aware that you are the end consumer of her pies, thinking it's your friend.

There are many different types of proxy servers. By the end of this article, you will become an expert in choosing a proxy server and will be able to select the right one based on your specific needs. Don't believe it? Just keep reading and you’ll learn more about differences in types of proxies!

Need private and fast mobile proxies?
Make mobile proxies right now!
Start free 48-hour trial

Types of Proxies by IP Address Source

All existing IP addresses have an owner. When you buy (or more accurately, rent) an IP address for use in a proxy, you are effectively getting it from one of 3 types of owners: either a data center (also known as a server or host), a resident (an individual with their own home Wi-Fi from an internet provider), or a mobile operator.

Server or Data Center Proxies

When you use "data center proxies / server proxies / hosting proxies", your device connects to a server in a commercial data center. These are usually large centers that own many IP addresses. Due to robust infrastructure (high computational power and servers connected to the internet via high-speed fiber optic cables), data centers offer high connection speeds. However, server IPs are frequently compromised, and internet resources are already aware that these IPs are proxies from data centers and block them.

• Pros: high speed and performance, low cost.
• Cons: high chance of being blocked.
• Application: working on non-demanding resources (regular websites with low IP protection).

Residential Proxies

"Residential proxies" use the IP addresses of real users, which are provided by regular internet providers and tied to home devices such as routers. This IP address is perceived by websites and services as reliable and legitimate, significantly reducing the risk of being blocked compared to data centers. However, there is an ethical issue on the market regarding the acquisition of residential IPs, as some unscrupulous proxy providers may gain access to these IPs without the explicit consent of the owner.

• Pros: more reliable and uncompromised IPs.
• Cons: high cost, potential speed issues, risks of unethically obtained IPs.
• Application: working on more demanding internet resources, including trading platforms and social networks.

Mobile Proxies

"Mobile proxies" utilize IP addresses that mobile operators allocate to real users of mobile devices. In essence, these are the counterpart of residential proxies, but for mobile devices (like phones) instead of stationary devices (like home routers). The key feature of mobile IPs is that they are not assigned to a single individual but to a specific cell tower, but to a specific cell tower of the mobile operator. Throughout the day, the tower can assign the same IP to one phone and then to another. This system is necessary to ensure that mobile phones maintain their internet connection even as people travel around the city, moving between the coverage areas of different towers. Websites are aware of this characteristic of mobile IP addresses. This is why, for example, Facebook considers it perfectly normal for 10-100-1000 different users to come from the same mobile IP address within a single day.

• Pros: maximum reliability and integrity of IP, minimal risk of IP blocking, IP rotation.
• Cons: high cost, possible speed issues (depends on the signal level of the mobile device).
• Application: efficient operation without blocking even on the most demanding internet resources.

Need private and fast mobile proxies?
Make mobile proxies right now!
Start free 48-hour trial

Types of Proxies Based on Exclusivity of Use

Dedicated Proxies

«Dedicated proxies» – are proxies provided for exclusive use by one user or device. This is a more premium product, guaranteeing that at any given time, only you are using that IP address.

• Pros: exclusive control of the proxy IP address, minimizing the risk of IP blocking.
• Cons: higher cost.
• Application: works with the most demanding resources.

Shared Proxies

«Shared proxies» – these are proxies that are used by multiple users at the same time. Unlike dedicated proxies, which are provided for the exclusive use of one client, shared proxies are accessible to several users at the same time. This reduces the reliability of the IP and increases the load on the server, lowering speed and quality.

• Pros: lower cost.
• Cons: reduced speed and quality compared to dedicated proxies.
• Application: tasks that do not require high speed when working with less demanding websites.

Unethical proxy providers may sell proxy connections as dedicated to multiple different buyers concurrently, effectively making these proxies shared in terms of quality, but at the premium price of dedicated proxies. By creating your own mobile proxies on iProxy.online, you are guaranteed 100% exclusive ownership of the proxies and IPs, along with complete, unshared control over the proxy connection.

Types of Proxies by Availability

Private Proxies

«Private proxies» – these are proxies that are provided for exclusive use by one user or a group of users. Such proxies are offered on a paid basis and provide higher speed, security, and reliability. Private proxies can be dedicated or shared.

• Pros: quality guarantees from the proxy provider.
• Cons: paid usage.
• Application: all applications are possible depending on the quality of the proxy from the provider.

Public Proxies

«Public proxies / open proxies» – these are proxies that are available for use by anyone without authentication. Passwords for these proxy connections are either published openly or not required at all for connection. Public proxies are always shared, as they are accessible to an unlimited number of users.

• Pros: free access.
• Cons: low speed and security, no quality guarantees, unpredictability, and short lifespan.
• Application: situational one-time access through a proxy to the least demanding internet resources.

Types of Proxies Based on Level of Anonymity

Transparent Proxies

«Transparent proxies» – these are proxies that serve as an "open" intermediary between you and the internet. They do not change the IP and do not require any special connections from the client. The client usually does not even realize that their requests are passing through a proxy. Transparent proxies are used as a technical element by internet providers or corporate network owners for optimization purposes.

• Pros: optimization of network operations.
• Cons: lack of anonymity.
• Application: used not by individual users, but by providers or corporate networks to address their technical tasks.

Anonymous Proxies

«Anonymous proxies» replace the client's IP address with their own. This means that the visited internet resource cannot identify or track the real IP, location, and identity of the user.

• Pros: anonymity, protection from IP blocking, bypassing geographical restrictions and network blocks.
• Cons: reduced speed due to the addition of a proxy server as an intermediary, dependence on the quality of the proxy (speed, stability, data security, and IP reliability).
• Application: IP masking.

Elite or Highly Anonymous Proxies

«Elite proxy / high-anonymity proxy» provides the highest level of privacy. Unlike regular anonymous proxies, elite proxies not only hide the client's IP address but also conceal the fact that the request was sent through a proxy. This makes the interaction with the internet resource virtually indistinguishable from a direct connection.

• Pros: maximum anonymity and no suspicion from internet resources.
• Cons: higher cost.
• Application: working without blocking on the most demanding internet resources, as well as tasks requiring guaranteed confidentiality.

Carefully select your proxy provider, as the proxy provider may have access to your data! iProxy.online guarantees maximum data security for clients by complying with the highest international standards for handling personal data, such as the EU's GDPR. We also recommend that you always ask how the proxy provider manages logs of your activity through the proxy.

Types of Proxies According to Protocol and Application

In our diverse world, proxy servers have various scenarios for accessing the Internet. These scenarios are documented in internet protocols. Below, we will discuss different scenarios for the operation of proxy servers, tailored to specific user tasks.

HTTP Proxies

«HTTP proxies» – proxies that support the HTTP protocol (HyperText Transfer Protocol) are among the most popular today. Typically, when referring to "the most common proxies", these are HTTP proxies. HTTP proxies hide your real IP address from websites, cache traffic, and speed up access to busy websites by connecting to multiple servers.

• Pros: most internet resources operate through HTTP.
• Cons: HTTP proxies only support HTTP traffic, lack of ability to work with internet resources that do not support HTTP, not the highest connection speed, if the proxy does not support HTTPS, data is transmitted without encryption, which reduces security.
• Application: bypassing blocks, providing anonymous access to websites, controlling and filtering unwanted traffic, managing network access for employees.

SOCKS Proxies

«SOCKS proxies» use the SOCKS (Socket Secure) protocol and can transmit any type of traffic, including web requests, email, file transfers, and online gaming traffic. These proxies can process and redirect various types of network traffic, regardless of the application protocol used. An important advantage of SOCKS proxies is that they do not analyze the transmitted data, allowing even the most resource-intensive tasks to be performed. Due to their versatility, these proxies easily bypass blocks, as they are not dependent on the protocols used by applications.

• Pros: versatility, no analysis or modification of traffic, ability to perform a wide range of tasks, including those involving large data sets.
• Cons: lack of administrative control, for some tasks, proxies with a different protocol need to be used.
• Application: working with services that do not support HTTP (e.g., torrents or gaming traffic), transferring large data sets.

SSL / HTTPS Proxies

«SSL / HTTPS proxies» support traffic with the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) protocols. These protocols are used to protect data transmitted between the client (e.g., a web browser) and the server, ensuring encryption of information and protection from interception. An SSL proxy can accept encrypted requests from the client, decrypt them, analyze them, and then re-encrypt them before sending them to the target server. This allows the proxy to filter and control encrypted traffic.

• Pros: enhanced traffic protection.
• Cons: potential loss of confidentiality and reduced speed due to traffic decryption.
• Application: Handling sensitive data through a proxy.

DNS Proxies

Every time you search for a website, such as "iProxy.online", your provider finds the IP address of that site in the address database and informs your device. This process is called a DNS query. Many geographical restrictions or website blocks work by altering or blocking DNS queries. For example, internet providers or governments can configure their DNS servers to either not return the correct IP address for certain domain names or redirect requests to the IP addresses of blocked resources (such as "stubs" or pages with a blocking message). "DNS proxies" intercept and process DNS queries from the client before forwarding them to the DNS server. The primary task of a DNS proxy is to act as an intermediary between the client and the DNS server, providing additional functions such as caching, filtering, and redirection of requests. The DNS proxy will take your request and independently query the IP address of the desired site. If it receives a refusal, it will find a server that provides the desired IP address. DNS proxies can also direct your request to corporate domains and protect against the provision of false IP addresses for fraudulent purposes.

• Pros: effective bypassing of geographical blocks, filtering of unwanted domains.
• Cons: limited anonymity, possible delays in processing requests.
• Application: bypassing blocks, expediting access to websites, filtering and protecting against unwanted sites, managing network access for employees, redirecting DNS queries.

Let's say you want to access a streaming service that is only available in the USA, but you are in another country. If you use a DNS proxy, the following will happen:

1. Your DNS query for the streaming service will be rerouted through the DNS proxy to a server in the USA.
2. This server will return an IP address that allows you to access the streaming service as if you were in the USA.
3. As a result, the streaming service will "assume" that you are in the permitted geographical area and give you access to the content.

Smart DNS Proxies

"Smart DNS proxies" are a specialized type of DNS proxy that selectively redirects only the portion of traffic that is blocked due to geographical reasons. All other traffic is directed straight through.

• Pros: higher speed compared to DNS proxies.
• Cons: similar to DNS proxies.
• Application: similar to DNS proxies.

SMTP Proxies

The SMTP protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the primary internet protocol that ensures the operation of email. SMTP proxies act as intermediaries between the user and the mail server. "SMTP proxies" are useful for filtering spam, malware, and other threats in incoming and outgoing messages. In organizations, SMTP proxies can be used to track and analyze email traffic, which helps in identifying suspicious activities and preventing data leaks. SMTP proxies can verify user credentials, ensuring that they have the right to send or receive emails through the corporate email system.

• Pros: filtering spam and malicious messages, enhanced security, monitoring and control of email traffic, caching and performance optimization, compliance with corporate policies.
• Cons: costs of implementation and maintenance, complexity of setup, delays in receiving and sending emails.
• Application: used not by individual users, but by mail servers and corporate networks.

FTP Proxies

"FTP proxies" are used to handle and transmit traffic related to the FTP (File Transfer Protocol). This is a standard network protocol for transferring files. An FTP proxy acts as an intermediary between the FTP client and the FTP server, providing an additional level of management, security, and control over file transfers. However, an FTP proxy may not support all the features of modern FTP clients and servers, which can limit its use in certain scenarios.

• Pros: filtering malicious files, caching and performance optimization, adherence to corporate policies.
• Cons: costs of implementation and maintenance, complexity of setup, reduced speed.
• Application: used not by individual users, but by corporate networks to enhance data security.

TOR Onion Proxies

"TOR Onion proxies" are a component of the Tor network that provides anonymous access to the internet, protecting users' privacy and making it difficult to track their activity. The Tor network was developed to ensure user anonymity and prevent surveillance by providers, governments, and other organizations. The Tor Onion Proxy uses multi-layer encryption and routing through a chain of nodes (relays) in the Tor network, where each node decrypts only one layer of encryption before passing the data on, so no single node knows the full route of the data from sender to receiver. This ensures a high level of anonymity and makes it difficult to track a user's activity on the internet.

• Pros: high level of anonymity, bypassing blocks, access to darknet sites.
• Cons: significant reduction in speed, high legal risks.
• Application: high confidentiality for professional work with highly sensitive data and high risks.

SEO Proxies

This is a proxy server whose characteristics are pre-selected and optimized for tasks related to search engine optimization (SEO). Typically, these tasks may involve scraping search engine results from specific geolocations. For these tasks, it is important to have the ability to choose the geolocation of the proxy and rotate IP addresses. Strictly speaking, "SEO proxies" are not technically a separate type of proxy; various types of proxies can serve as SEO proxies. Therefore, iProxy recommends always clarifying with the proxy provider which specific type of proxy they are offering as an SEO proxy.

• Pros: pre-selected characteristics for SEO tasks.
• Cons: risk of paying too much, potential inefficiency of chosen attributes.
• Application: buying "SEO proxies" removes the necessity to delve into different proxy types.

CGI Proxies

"CGI proxies" allow you to browse web pages anonymously through a web interface. A CGI proxy operates based on the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) – a technology that enables web servers to run programs capable of processing user requests and transferring data between the client and the server. The user simply needs to enter the URL into a special form on the proxy's web page. This is useful for web development and for ensuring user anonymity.

• Pros: ease of use (web access), effectiveness in bypassing blocks, and anonymity.
• Cons: low performance, limited functionality.
• Application: anonymous website access, website testing.

DHCP Proxies

"DHCP proxies" are used to provide centralized management and distribution of IP addresses in networks with multiple subnets or complex network configurations. The primary goal is to relay DHCP requests from clients in one subnet to a DHCP server located in another subnet, allowing clients in different parts of the network to obtain an IP address from a central DHCP server.

A DHCP proxy is like an older brother who assists in passing on requests for cakes (IP address requests) from younger sisters (computers) to their mother (the DHCP server) and returns with them, making sure everyone is satisfied.

When the sisters want cakes, they shout to the older brother: "Brother, can you ask Mom to give me a cake?" The older brother hears the request and goes to Mom in another room. He tells Mom: "Mom, Tanya wants a cake." Mom gives the cake to the older brother, and he brings it back to Tanya.

Thus, the older brother (DHCP proxy) acts as a mediator, relaying the children's (computers') requests to Mom (the DHCP server) and bringing back the cookies (IP addresses).

• Pros: management and support for segmented networks, high level of security.
• Cons: potential for low speed.
• Application: managing IP addresses in segmented networks, supporting clients connected via VPN or MPL networks.

SIP Proxies

"SIP proxies" manage and direct calls and video calls using the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). They connect users across different networks, ensure security, and distribute the load on servers. SIP proxies also enable calls to reach users wherever they are and help devices behind NAT or firewalls connect to each other by relaying the necessary data.

• Pros: managing mobile users.
• Cons: possible delays in establishing connections.
• Application: helps organize calls within large networks, supports communication with users who frequently change locations or are outside the main network.

Types of Proxies Based on the Direction of Proxied Traffic

Based on how proxy servers direct information, they are categorized into Forwarding Proxy and Reverse Proxy.

Forwarding Proxies

"Forwarding proxies" are the most well-known type of proxy, and they are typically used by end users to mask their IP addresses. In this case, proxying occurs before interacting with the target external resource (such as a website), so that the target resource "sees" the substituted IP. In addition to IP substitution, the proxy server can perform filtering and caching functions.

• Pros: anonymity, IP substitution, and other benefits depending on the proxy subtype.
• Cons: risks of detection and blocking, connection delays, and access interruptions.
• Application: hiding the client's IP address, bypassing restrictions, and blocking specific resources – usage details depend on the chosen proxy subtype.

Reverse Proxies

"Reverse proxies" act as a bridge between external clients and internal servers. Reverse proxies hide a company's internal infrastructure, safeguarding it from direct external threats. Here, proxies are not intended to protect the visitor of the target resource (such as a web service), but to protect the resource itself. Clients communicate only with the proxy server, not directly with the internal servers, thereby reducing the company's risks.

• Pros: enhanced security, load balancing across network infrastructure elements.
• Cons: dependence on the intermediate server and its bandwidth.
• Application: used not by individual users, but by corporate and private subnets for distributing loads among internal servers, hiding internal IP addresses, and encrypting and decrypting SSL/TLS connections.

Types of Proxies According to Usage Type

Private-to-private proxies

"Private-to-private proxies" are designed for use in private networks to ensure security and route traffic between trusted nodes. The primary goal is to provide secure and controlled data exchange between internal systems. Proxy servers can log all requests and actions within the network, allowing user activity to be monitored, violations to be detected, and security audits to be conducted.

• Pros: high level of security, data confidentiality, internal network optimization, support for corporate policies.
• Cons: no internet access, additional expenses for equipment and experienced administrators, dependence on stable connections between users.
• Application: used not by individual users, but by corporate and private subnets for connecting remote offices or branches, providing remote access for employees, routing traffic within the network, ensuring data security, controlling access and compliance with policies, optimizing and caching data.

Public-facing Proxies

"Public-facing proxies" is a broader concept compared to reverse proxies. This type of proxy server acts as an intermediary between an internal corporate or private network and the external internet. These servers can perform not only proxy tasks but also any other tasks related to filtering, auditing, and security. For example, they can require identity verification for accessing resources and perform data encryption.

• Pros: protection of corporate or private intranet infrastructure, filtering malicious traffic, restricting access for unwanted users, load optimization, content caching, data compression.
• Cons: vulnerability risks, complexity of configuration, dependence on intermediate server and its bandwidth.
• Application: used not by individual users, but by corporate and private subnets for internal network protection, access control for external users, load balancing between servers, anonymization, encryption and decryption of SSL traffic.

Conclusion

Proxy servers play an important role in providing anonymity, security and optimizing your online experience. Depending on your tasks and requirements, you can choose the right type of proxy: from public and cheap options to more secure and productive private or dedicated servers. Understanding the features of all types of proxy servers allows you to effectively use them for specific tasks, such as anonymous access, blocking, protecting corporate networks, or automating data collection. Regardless of the type chosen, proxy servers remain a key tool for users seeking to improve their online security and privacy.

iProxy.online mobile proxies are suitable for a wide range of tasks from mass scraping and botting to point and complex work with social networks and the most demanding sites. At the same time, creating your own proxy server on your Android device will offer you an unprecedented low cost of $6-10 per month for unlimited GB traffic and unlimited IP rotation!

iProxy.online mobile proxies are suitable for a wide range of tasks from mass scraping and botting to point and complex work with social networks and the most demanding sites. At the same time, creating your own proxy server on your Android device will offer you an unprecedented low cost of $6-10 per month for unlimited GB traffic and unlimited IP rotation!

Need private and fast mobile proxies?
Make mobile proxies right now!
Start free 48-hour trial