Proxies change your IP per application and scale to thousands of rotating addresses — the tool for automation, scraping and multi-account work. For private everyday browsing you almost always want a VPN instead. Full breakdown: VPN vs Proxy.
| VPN | Proxy | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Whole device, every app | One app or one request at a time |
| Encryption | Always (tunnel) | Usually none (HTTP/SOCKS5) |
| IPs | One at a time, shared | Thousands, rotating per request |
| Pricing | Flat monthly | Per GB or per IP |
| Best for | Privacy, streaming, travel, restrictive networks | Scraping, automation, ad verification, multi-account |
Only companies with a verifiable identity and published terms. 6 of 7 offer a free tier or trial.
Bright Data Ltd.
Free: Free trial for verified businesses
Paid from $4+/GB
Best for: Enterprise-grade scale and compliance requirements
⚠ KYC-gated: consumer use cases are largely excluded by policy.
Decodo (formerly Smartproxy)
Free: 3-day free trial with 100 MB
Paid from $1.50/GB
Best for: Affordable residential pool with easy onboarding
IPRoyal
Paid from $1.75/GB pay-as-you-go
Best for: Pay-as-you-go traffic that never expires
Oxylabs (Teso LT)
Free: 1-week trial for businesses
Paid from $4+/GB
Best for: Large-scale scraping infrastructure
ProxyScrape
Free: Free public proxy lists (unverified, shared, no accountability)
Paid from $2.50/mo
Best for: Quick disposable public proxies — never for logins or sensitive data
⚠ Free public lists are shared with unknown third parties; treat them as untrusted infrastructure.
SOAX Ltd.
Free: $1.99 3-day trial
Paid from $2.20/GB
Best for: Mobile and residential IPs with precise targeting
Webshare Software (Oxylabs group)
Free: 10 free datacenter proxies forever (1 GB/month bandwidth)
Paid from $2.99/mo
Best for: Testing and light automation on a budget
⚠ The rare genuinely free proxy tier from an identifiable company.
A VPN encrypts all traffic from your whole device through one tunnel and one IP — built for human browsing and privacy. A proxy forwards traffic for a single application without system-wide encryption, but scales to thousands of rotating IPs billed per gigabyte — built for automation, scraping and multi-account work.
Free public proxy lists are unaccountable shared infrastructure: operators can read unencrypted traffic and inject content, so never use them for logins or personal data. The safe free options are free tiers from identifiable companies — Webshare's 10 free datacenter proxies are the standout — or a reputable free VPN when you only need one different IP.
A proxy whose IP belongs to a real consumer internet connection, so websites see an ordinary home user rather than a datacenter. Residential proxies cost per gigabyte (roughly $1.50–$8/GB) and are used where datacenter IPs get blocked: protected consumer sites, ad verification, and price monitoring.
A VPN. Streaming platforms need a stable, encrypted, app-wide connection, and consumer VPNs maintain streaming-compatible servers. Proxies are rotated per request and mostly unencrypted, which streaming apps detect and block quickly.