Top 5 free proxy providers in 2024

Proxies are servers that help individual users or businesses mask IP addresses online. When you connect to a proxy, your IP address is concealed and changed to that of a proxy. This way, you can protect your identity and browse the web anonymously.

While the technology is very useful, choosing the best solution isn’t easy. You have to factor in performance, reputation, and also the overall price-to-value ratio. As you might have noticed already, some proxies are quite pricey. However, if you don’t want to invest right away or you simply do not have the budget, we’ve got you covered.

In this article, we introduce you to the top 5 providers for the best free proxies. Unfortunately, when it comes to free proxies, risks are involved, so it’s important to do your research. Let’s get to it.

Best free proxy servers providers in 2024

1. Webshare – best free proxy provider in 2024
2. Smartproxy – best provider for free residential proxy trial
3. Oxylabs – most versatile, high-performing provider
4. ProxyScrape – most generous free provider
5. IPRoyal – most accessible, hasse-free provider

Providers for the best free proxies: a comparison

To choose the best free proxies, we researched numerous providers first. If they passed our initial evaluation, we then conducted in-house tests before using data to rank the final top 5. Let’s take a look at the main factors we focused on when testing and evaluating proxy server providers:

• Performance. To measure the performance of proxies, we checked metrics such as speed, reliability, and connection stability. Only providers with top scores made it to our top 5 list.
• Proxy server types. Since there are numerous different types of proxies, we looked for a provider that can offer a variety.
• Customer support. We investigated how proxy providers handle customer support, including how fast they respond and how quickly they resolve issues or answer questions.
• Pool size and location. To meet specialized geo-targeting requirements, we made sure to only include providers that can offer vast pools of proxy servers in diverse locations.
• Ethics and reputation. We looked into the customer feedback and the transparency of proxy server procurement practices. Transparency and a good reputation are especially important when reviewing free proxy servers.

1. Webshare – best free proxy provider overall

Core features:	10 free datacenter IPs, 1GB of bandwidth per month
Protocols:	HTTP, SOCKS5
Locations:	195 countries
Performance:	99.97% uptime

Visit Webshare

Our top pick for the best free proxy is Webshare. It has a free plan featuring 10 datacenter IP addresses based in the US, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. The provider also offers 1GB of bandwidth per month, allowing users to test the service out without worrying about the trial ending. Of course, you can also use the plan permanently if 10 IP addresses suffice your scraping needs.

Webshare claims to offer 99.97% uptime, so you can expect great performance – the connection should be fast and stable. During in-house testing, the provider stood out for its intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard.

Webshare doesn’t offer free residential proxies, and while that may seem inconvenient, the provider actually demonstrates high standards and transparency – Webshare has an established system and the highest standards for residential proxy acquisition. In addition, as of May 2024, Webshare has a solid 4.3 rating on Trustpilot out of 600+ ratings.

If you require support, you can contact Webshare agents via email or 24/7 chatbot. Even if you opt for a free plan, the Webshare team can guide you through the proxy server setup process with tutorial videos and dashboard pop-ups. Other amazing perks include a self-service dashboard, smooth onboarding process, and extensive documentation.

2. Smartproxy – best provider for free residential proxy trial

Core features:	3-day free trial, 100MB free trial for residential proxies
Protocols:	HTTP(S), SOCKS5
Locations:	195 countries
Performance:	99.99% uptime

Visit Smartproxy

Smartproxy is a trusted, well-known proxy provider with a huge IP address pool. While there’s no permanent free plan, the provider offers a 3-day trial to test residential proxies. In addition, Smartproxy has a few extra features that are free: an anti-detect browser, browser proxy extensions, proxy address generator, and more.

While it may seem unfortunate that Smartproxy offers a free trial only for their residential IPs, they are some of the fastest ones on the market. The residential IPs are located in the US, Europe, and Asia. In addition, Smartproxy’s dashboard is very intuitive, making it easy to use even for an inexperienced customer.

Even if you run into some issues, the company offers outstanding 24/7 customer service via live chat or email.

As for Smartproxy’s reputation and ethics, just like Webshare, the company is transparent about how it acquires residential proxies. Smartproxy claims to trust only reputable providers who conduct thorough verification processes. Unsurprisingly, the provider has a whopping 4.7-star rating out of 1.8K+ reviews on Trustpilot, and a 4.6-star rating out of 100+ reviews on G2.

To claim your free web proxy service, you’ll have to select a paid plan and insert your credit card details. While it’s done to prevent free trial abuse, it’s certainly not ideal from the customer’s perspective. However, you can easily cancel that trial yourself on the dashboard.

Overall, Smartproxy offers easy onboarding, an intuitive dashboard, API, browser extension, free geo-targeting, detailed documentation, anti-detect browser, proxy address generator, proxy checker, and more.

3. Oxylabs – most versatile, high-performing provider

Core features:	Free proxy trial available through support, Scraper APIs 7 days for free via SS dashboard
Protocols:	HTTP(S), SOCKS5
Locations:	195 countries
Performance:	99.9% uptime

Visit Oxylabs

Oxylabs is one of the leaders in the web scraping market, offering free proxy services for 7 days. The company has a wide range of proxy types, including residential, datacenter (shared and private), mobile, and ISP (static and rotating). The’re also an entire scraping infrastructure (Scraper APIs) for collecting and parsing public data from SERPs, most websites, and eCommerce platforms.

When it comes to the performance and IP range, Oxylabs has both aspects covered. Oxylabs proxies leverage a pool of 102M+ IPs and a 99.9% uptime – your connection to Oxylabs proxies will be steady and fast, and you’ll be able to access any location.

Where Oxylabs truly stands out is the dedication to ethical residential proxy procurement processes. The provider carefully sources residential proxies from reliable partners, making the majority of the network composed of Tier A+ model proxies. It appears the customers are satisfied with Oxylabs, too – the company has a 4.8-star rating on Trustpilot and a 4.5-star rating on G2.

While you can use the self-service dashboard to claim a free trial for Scraper APIs, the same cannot be said for the proxy servers. To get a free proxy trial, you have to contact the support team at [email protected]. Fortunately, the provider offers 24/7 live chat support, and there’s extensive documentation and video tutorials to help you resolve issues autonomously.

To get the best deal after the 7-day free trial, use the code cybernews30 at the checkout to get 30% off Residential, Mobile, Shared Datacenter Proxies, or Web Unblocker.

4. ProxyScrape – most generous free provider

Core features:	100 datacenter proxy IPs, unlimited bandwidth
Protocols:	HTTP, SOCKS
Locations:	129 countries
Performance:	99.9% uptime

Visit ProxyScrape

Fourth on our list is ProxyScrape with 100 free shared datacenter proxies. What’s nice about ProxyScrape’s free plan is that, unlike other providers, it comes with unlimited bandwidth.

While ProxyScrape’s free proxy servers come from many different sources, they’re constantly monitored. This way, the provider can ensure users can enjoy high-performing proxies possible. When it comes to performance, ProxyScrape promises a 99.9% uptime, ensuring a fast and stable connection. However, when it comes to the proxy locations (the 100 free IPs), most of them are located in the US and some in Canada, so not a lot of choice there.

ProxyScrape has a convenient help center and offers a 24/7 live chat support – all pretty standard. That said, even our top choice – Webshare – doesn’t yet offer live chat assistance.

On the flipside, ProxyScrape is not transparent about its proxy acquisition practices. While that’s less than ideal, the customers seem happy – the company has a great 4.7-star rating on Trustpilot.

5. IPRoyal – most accessible, hasse-free provider

Core features:	Publicly available list of free IPs
Protocols:	HTTP(S), SOCKS
Locations:	195 countries
Performance:	99.9% uptime

Visit IPRoyal

Last but not least on our best free proxy provider list, we’ve got IPRoyal. Unlike other providers, IPRoyal has a publicly available list of free HTTP(S) & SOCKS proxies on the oficial website. It’s really convenient because you don’t have to sign up, enter your card details, or contact anyone – using the information provided in this list, you can set up the proxies manually via your device settings.

IPRoyal also claims that proxies are updated every ten minutes, so you should be getting a good and steady connection. Like most providers, IPRoyal also guarantees 99.9% uptime. However, what’s really outstanding is the wide range of free IP locations available: it looks like IPRoyal has IPs in most continents. The only downside is that you’re not able to pick specific states in the US.

Just like all providers on this list, IPRoyal has a great overall rating from users. The company has been reviewed 1.7K+ times and has an excellent 4.7-star rating.

While you can contact IPRoyal agents via live chat and email, there’s no phone support, so if you have any questions or problems to solve, you will need to rely on chat.

Best free proxy providers compared

	Webshare	Smartproxy	Oxylabs	ProxyScrape	IPRoyal
Free proxy deal	10 forever free IPs, 1GB/month	3-day free trial, 100MB free version	Free version through support	100 forever free shared datacenter proxy servers	Publicly available free proxy list
Locations	Regular	Broad	Broad	Narrow	Broad
Performance	99.97% uptime	99.99% uptime	99.9% uptime	99.9% uptime	99.9% uptime
24/7 live chat support	Coming soon	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Ethics and reputation	4.3 Truspilot rating, transparent proxy acquisition practices	4.7 Truspilot rating, transparent proxy acquisition practices	4.8 Truspilot rating, tier A+ model proxies	4.7 Truspilot rating, proxy acquisition practices unknown	4.7 Truspilot rating, ethical acquisition practices

The table represents data from May 2024

What else should you consider?

To make the final decision and pick the best free proxy provider, there are a few other factors to consider, including industry trends, residential proxy networks, and user testimonials.

Industry treds

Many proxy providers are implementing AI solutions into their products for more efficiency and reliability.

For example, Web Unblocker by Oxylabs is an AI-driven proxy solution specifically designed to bypass robust anti-bot systems and deliver public data from complex targets. You can try Web Unblocker for 7 days for free if you sign up via the self-service dashboard.

Residential proxy networks

Every provider on this list offers residential proxies. These proxies are hard to acquire and maintain, so the available pools can reveal how established our top providers are. Here are the network specifics:

• Webshare has 30M+ residential IPs in 195 countries with 99.97% uptime, starting at $7/month.
• Smartproxy has almost double the number of residential IPs – 55M+ across 195 countries. It brags 99.99% uptime, 0.6s response time, and unlimited number of concurrent sessions. Smartproxy’s plans start from $12/month.
• Oxylabs has 100M+ IPs all over the world with 99.9% uptime and a 0.6s response time. Although the cheapest plan is $99/month, Oxylabs also offers a pay-as-you-go plan for $8.
• ProxyScrape has a 10M+ residential IP network in 129 countries with a 2-second response time. Compared to its providers, the proxy number is not as big, they don’t have IPs in all the countries, and the response time is a bit higher (2s vs 0.6s average).
• IPRoyal has a network of 32M+ residential proxies all over the world with 99.9% uptime and rotating or sticky sessions.

Testimonials

When considering top proxy providers, it’s a good idea to check out the experiences of other users. Trustpilot is one of the biggest online review communities online. Here’s what the platform’s reviewers are saying:

• Webshare users rave about cost-friendly services and the great overall value for money. Several reviews praise the customer service and the easy refund process.

• Smartproxy users mention smooth sign up and onboarding processes, even for beginners. Many reviews note great customer services supported by trained and friendly professionals.

• Oxylabs customers point out an outstanding customer service that’s supported by knowledgeable, patient, and friendly agents. Customers also highlight the quality of Residential Proxies, praising excellent performance with great speeds and stable connections.

• ProxyScrape users are thankful for free services and point out that the provider pays attention to customer feedback. On the flip side, some users complain about the service not working with their targets.

• IPRoyal users also highlight helpful and speedy. On the other hand, a few negative reviews indicate unstable connections or being unable to access websites/applications.

Our winner: Webshare

With some shady companies, free proxy servers do not have the best reputation in terms of their security – actions can be monitored, data can be sold, and devices can be infected with malware. Luckily, in 2024, we have generous and secure providers for free web proxies. These providers either give you a forever free plan or offer a free trial to test the service risk-free.

All things considered, Webshare is the best free proxy service. It offers 10 free IPs and 1GB of bandwidth per month, HTTP and SOCKS5 protocols, ethical acquisition practices and an intuitive self-service dashboard that’s easy to navigate even for beginners.

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