Proxy Server

A proxy server is a computer that sits between your device and the website you are trying to reach. Instead of connecting directly, your request goes to the proxy, the proxy passes it along, and the reply comes back the same way.

Think of it like a mail forwarding service. You post a letter to the forwarding company, they put it in a new envelope with their return address, and send it on. The recipient replies to that address, and the company forwards the reply to you. They never learn your home address — and neither does the recipient.

How a proxy request actually works

1. You ask for a page, and your software sends the request to the proxy instead of the website.
2. The proxy opens its own connection to the website, using its own IP address.
3. The website responds to the proxy — as far as it knows, the proxy is the visitor.
4. The proxy hands the response back to you.

The website only ever sees the proxy's IP, its location, and its reputation. Yours stays out of the conversation.

The main types, and when each fits

• Residential — real IPs assigned by home internet providers. They look like ordinary people, so strict sites trust them. Slower and priced per GB.
• Datacenter — IPs from hosting companies. Fast and cheap, but easy to identify and block on defended sites.
• ISP (static residential) — hosted in a data centre but registered to an ISP. You get residential trust at datacenter speed.
• Mobile — IPs from 4G/5G carriers, shared by many real subscribers. The hardest to block, and the most expensive.

Separately, proxies differ by protocol. HTTP proxies understand web traffic and can cache it. SOCKS5 proxies simply move packets, so they work with any kind of traffic — email, torrents, games — not just browsing.

What a proxy does not do

This is where most people get caught out. A plain proxy hides your IP; it does not encrypt your traffic. Anyone able to observe the connection — your network operator, your ISP — can still see where you are going unless the site itself uses HTTPS. A VPN, by contrast, encrypts everything between your device and the VPN server.

A proxy also usually applies to one app at a time, whereas a VPN normally covers your whole device. Pick a proxy when you need many different IPs and fine-grained control; pick a VPN when you want blanket encryption and privacy.

Rotating versus sticky

A rotating proxy hands you a different IP on every request, which spreads a large job across many addresses and keeps simple rate limits at bay. A sticky session holds the same IP for a set period, which is what you need for anything multi-step — logging in, filling a cart, checking out. Serious projects use both, matched to the task.