If you want to access the internet anonymously, scrape sites efficiently, or view geo-restricted content, IPv4 proxies are an invaluable tool. They provide access to thousands of IP addresses that you can quickly rotate through to mask your identity and location.
However, the growing proxy market is filled with dubious low-quality providers that may compromise your privacy or sell your browsing data.
As an experienced cybersecurity professional, I‘ve extensively tested top proxy services to reveal the best options available in 2024 for protecting your online privacy.
What Are IPv4 Proxies and How Do They Work?
An IPv4 proxy acts as a middleman between you and the wider internet. When you connect through a proxy, your internet traffic flows through the proxy server first before reaching your computer. This masks your real IP address, making it appear like requests are coming from the proxy IP instead.
Here‘s a quick overview of how proxies work:
- Your computer connects to the proxy server via port 8080, 3128 or whatever port it‘s configured to use.
- The proxy receives your website or resource request and forwards it on your behalf.
- The target site sees the IP of the proxy server instead of your true IP address and sends back the response.
- The proxy receives the response and passes it back to your computer.
This adds a layer of separation that prevents the sites you interact with from seeing your true identity and location.
Proxies support features like IP rotation to constantly switch to new IP addresses with each request. This makes proxies very difficult to detect and block compared to VPNs.
Advanced proxies utilize sticky sessions where your traffic continues routing through the same IP to avoid breaking login sessions across IP changes.
Main Advantages of Using Proxies
Proxies unlock a number of advantages not possible with a VPN alone:
- Bypass Geographic Blocks – Access region restricted content by appearing to connect from another country.
- Scraper Development – Scrape sites without getting IP banned by rotating thousands of IPs.
- Ad Verification – Check ad campaigns and site performance from different locations.
- Price Monitoring – Check pricing differences based on geography.
- Brand Protection – Monitor mentions of your brand across regions.
- Unblock Websites – Access censored or government blocked sites by masking your location.
- Enhanced Privacy – Browse anonymously by hiding your real IP address.
Key Proxy Types: Residential vs Data Center
There are two main types of IPv4 proxy services:
Residential Proxies
Residential proxies utilize real mobile and home IP addresses from internet users. Since they originate from residential ISP networks, websites have a very hard time detecting them compared to data center proxies.
This makes residential proxies ideal for activities like:
- General web scraping
- Accessing sneaker and retail sites
- Competitor research
- Ad verification and price monitoring
- Social media automation
However, residential IPs have some downsides:
- Slower speeds compared to data centers
- Low bandwidth caps usually under 10GB/month
- Potential privacy issues if provider doesn‘t anonymize IPs
Data Center Proxies
Data center proxies are hosted in, you guessed it, data centers. They offer ultra high bandwidth and speeds perfect for tasks like:
- Large scale web scraping
-Downloading or streaming large files - Running heavy bot traffic
However, their obvious data center IP addresses means they are prone to getting detected and blocked by many sites.
When evaluating providers, residential rotating proxies offer the best all-round solution for most use cases. Rigorously test data center proxies before relying on them for any critical projects.
6 Highest Quality IPv4 Proxy Providers
Here are the best places to get IPv4 proxies after extensive testing over the past year:
1. Oxylabs
Oxylabs leads the proxy market with over 100 million residential IPs available across 190+ countries. Some benefits:
- Diverse proxy locations including both major cities as well as residential IPs from rural areas across the globe.
- Automatic proxy rotation after each request to avoid detection. Sticky sessions also available.
- Unlimited bandwidth options for high volume data extraction.
- Integrations for sites like Instagram, Google, Amazon etc.
- 99.99% uptime SLA over the last 12 months.
Oxylabs pricing starts at $500/month for 2M requests which comes down to $0.25 per 1k requests, making them quite cost effective for large volumes.
They offer a 7 day free trial with 50k requests to test the proxies out.
2. Bright Data
Bright Data operates one of the largest paid proxy networks with over 72 million residential IPs according to the company.
Some notable aspects:
- Massive pool of IPs across almost every country letting you easily access region-specific sites.
- Unlimited connections and high concurrency for large scale data scraping.
- Integrations optimized for sites like Instagram and LinkedIn that block data center IPs.
- Free network penetration testing tool to validate working proxies before use.
- 7 day free trial with no credit card required to test performance.
Bright Data has transparent pricing starting at $500/month for 5M requests ($0.10/k requests) when billed annually. Costs further reduce at higher monthly volumes.
Their residential proxies are ideal for large scale web scraping and ad verification projects.
3. Smartproxy
Smartproxy offers over 40 million residential IPs located across all US states and major global cities along with data center proxies.
Useful aspects include:
- Automatic rotation to new IP after each request for high anonymity.
- Residential proxies work seamlessly with sites like Google, Instagram, Doordash etc.
- Unmetered bandwidth options up to 1Gbps.
- Integrations for proxying sites protected against scraping.
- 99.9% uptime SLA over the past year.
Smartproxy pricing starts at $75/month for 5GB of residential proxies which comes out to $15/GB, with costs dropping to $2.5/GB at higher monthly usage.
Their residential proxies are great for basic web scraping while the data centers excel at heavy bandwidth usage.
4. GeoSurf
GeoSurf focuses on providing residential proxies optimized for market research and ad verification use cases.
Helpful aspects:
- Dedicated proxy IPs avoid issues with sharing proxies.
- Advanced proxy rotator that spoofs browser fingerprints for anonymity.
- Custom zone targeting to access specific city or region level resources.
- Integrated virtual phone numbers to link to proxies for verification.
- Powerful analytics dashboard to monitor campaign progress.
GeoSurf has a custom pricing model composed of a base monthly fee plus additional charges for dedicated IPs, zones etc. The Pro plan starts at $199/month for 10Gbps shared bandwidth.
The location targeting makes it easy to access local resources in chosen cities globally.
5. Luminati (Holistic)
Luminati offers a wide range of residential and data center proxies focused on performance and reliability.
Key features:
- Over 30 million residential IPs with regular refreshing to avoid blocks.
- Country targeting available to access location specific content.
- Unlimited concurrent connections and very high connection speeds.
- Advanced proxy manager for load balancing and monitoring resource usage.
- Cloud based proxy gateways for rapid deployment without hardware.
Luminati pricing starts at $500/month for 10M requests which works out to ~$0.05/k requests, quite competitive for large scale usage.
Their reliable infrastructure and proxy network make them ideal for demanding projects.
6. Storm Proxies
Storm Proxies provides a solid all-round proxy solution perfect for basic web scraping needs.
Some notable aspects:
- Dedicated proxy IPs avoid issues with sharing proxies.
- Automatic cycling of dead or banned proxies for optimum uptime.
-Geo-targeting to access proxies in specific cities or countries as needed.
- Integrations available for sites like Craigslist, Ticketmaster, sneaker shops etc.
- 24/7 live chat support in case any issues come up.
Storm Proxies pricing starts at a very affordable $50/month for 1GB of traffic, with volume discounts bringing this down to ~$2.5/GB.
Their residential proxies are quick and easy to setup for entry-level web scraping and data collection.
7 Key Factors for Comparing Providers
When researching proxy services, keep these criteria in mind:
1. Reliable Uptime – Look for uptime SLAs above 99% and rapid proxy cycling to maintain reliability.
2. Location Diversity – More location options makes it easier to access country specific resources.
3. Unlimited Bandwidth – No limits on monthly data usage especially for data center proxies.
4. Quick Setup – Easy proxy configuration across devices and apps without extensive tweaking.
5. Competitive Pricing – Compare monthly fees, bandwidth limits, IP allowances when calculating total costs.
6. Responsive Support – Evaluate availability of support channels like live chat in case issues arise.
7. Free Trials – Legitimate providers offer a trial to test proxies before purchasing.
Carefully vetting providers across these metrics will help you avoid low quality proxy services.
FAQs About IPv4 Proxies
What is an IPv4 Proxy?
An IPv4 proxy acts as a middleman that forwards your internet requests through a proxy server so online services see the proxy‘s IP instead of your real IP address. This allows you to browse anonymously and access blocked or geo-restricted content.
Why Use IPv4 Proxies?
The main reasons to use proxies are:
- Hide your IP address and browse anonymously
- Bypass geographic blocks on content
- Scrape data without getting IP banned
- Access sites blocked by your ISP or government
- Check ad campaigns and pricing from different locations
- Research competitor sites more efficiently
Are Proxies Legal?
Using consumer IP proxies is completely legal in most countries. However, you need to ensure the provider properly anonymizes IPs and obtains user consent before routing traffic through residential IPs.
Avoid using proxies for clearly illegal activities like downloading pirated content.
Are Proxies Better Than VPNs?
Proxies provide greater IP diversity compared to VPNs which typically use one shared IP address. This makes proxies much harder to detect and block. However, VPNs still provide better overall privacy and security in most cases.
The best solution is to route your traffic through a proxy and then encrypt it with a VPN for maximum privacy when browsing anonymously online.
How Do I Set Up a Proxy?
Proxy setup varies slightly across operating systems and browsers. Most major browsers like Chrome allow configuring proxies in their network settings panel.
On Windows, you can set up proxies at the OS level through the network configuration. Proxy providers also offer setup instructions tailored to different devices and platforms.
Final Thoughts
IPv4 proxies unlock a versatile set of tools for web scraping, ad verification, market research, brand monitoring and accessing geo-restricted content from anywhere.
However, you need to choose a high quality proxy provider carefully to avoid services that may leak your data or compromise your privacy.
Vet providers thoroughly across metrics like uptime, locations, bandwidth limits, and free trial availability before purchasing proxies.
Used ethically, consumer IP proxies provide an invaluable service for empowering internet users who want better control over their web surfing experience.
The providers covered in this guide have proven track records for providing reliable, high performance residential and data center proxies to take your online anonymity to the next level!
