Home / Best SOCKS5 Proxy
SOCKS is a lower-level protocol than HTTP, allowing proxy servers to route a much wider variety of traffic. This makes SOCKS5 proxy servers highly flexible and suitable for a wide range of use cases. For this reason, leading proxy providers also have SOCKS5 proxies. Now, a question arises. Which are the best SOCKS5 proxy providers? Read this guide to find out!
A SOCKS5 proxy is a versatile proxy server that operates at a lower level than traditional HTTP proxies, making it capable of routing various types of traffic, including TCP, UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP. This adaptability makes SOCKS5 proxies ideal for a wide range of applications, such as online gaming, P2P file sharing, and other non-web-based activities.
Unlike HTTP proxies, which are limited to web traffic, SOCKS5 proxies can manage any type of network traffic, offering greater flexibility and control. Additionally, SOCKS5 proxies include native support for authentication, enhancing security and enabling users to securely access restricted content or services.
In 2025, this functionality continues to make SOCKS5 proxies a preferred choice for users seeking reliable and versatile proxy solutions.
There are four possible SOCKS5 proxy IP types:
Given a type of SOCKS5 proxy, you can use it with any protocol of the transport layer or higher. At the same time, keep in mind that some providers open only ports 80 and 443, allowing SOCKS proxy servers to work only with HTTP and HTTPS traffic. This makes their SOCKS proxies more or less the same as HTTP proxies.
Here are seven common use cases for SOCKS5 proxies:
To compare the best SOCKS5 proxy providers on the market, you need to focus on some key elements. These are:
Explore the top 8 SOCKS5 proxy services listed and judged based on the aforementioned aspects. Which will be the best SOCKS5 proxy provider? Discover it soon!
Refer to the table below for a quick comparison of the best proxy providers for SOCKS5:
Smartproxy has recently added to its offerings all types of SOCKS5 proxy servers, except for ISP proxies. Datacenter proxies are usually the cheaper option, but this is not the case since only dedicated servers support SOCKS5.
Although its network is not the largest, the additional features, free trial, and multi-language customer support add much value to the experience. Note that no KYC is required to get started with SOCKS5 proxes.
Features:
Proxy Types:
Proxy Network:
Open Ports: For “various types of traffic, such as TCP, UDP, SMTP, and FTP”
Pricing:
Concurrency: Unlimited
Uptime: 99.99%
Customers and Partners:
Customer Support:
Ethics:
Reliability:
To learn more about Smartproxy, read our full Smartproxy review.
IPRoyal has a good pool of real SOCKS5 proxies, especially with regard to residential IPs. SOCKS5 support is very important for the company, which mentions it in all pricing tables on this site.
Compared with other providers, the pricing model is quite unique. Another peculiar aspect is Discord support. The recent introduction of KYC systems is certainly positive, but the lack of a truly free trial is still a major limitation.
Open Ports: Any
Uptime: 99.9%
To learn more about IPRoyal proxy services, read our full IPRoyal review.
Oxylabs comes with SOCSK5 proxies, but these are limited to TCP or UPD traffic only. In detail, you cannot use them for routing any type of traffic from a shared server. The price is not the lowest and considering their free trial policy, it is clear that the provider is targeting businesses.
Although ISP and mobile proxies also support SOCKS5, these are not mentioned on the SOCKS5 proxy landing page. That raises some questions about the quality of the SOCKS5 experience with those types of proxies.
Open Ports: Only TCP connections on residential SOCKS5 proxies and both TCP and UDP for dedicated datacenter proxies
To learn more about Oxylabs proxy services, read our full Oxylabs review.
Bright Data has one of the largest, fastest, most reliable, and ethical proxy networks in the world. No wonder it has been the market leader in proxies since 2014.
The provider offers SOCKS5 proxies of all types, but you can only use them through its Proxy Manager. Plus, these proxies support only ports 80 and 443. In other words, they can only route HTTP and HTTPS traffic. To gain access to additional ports, you must go through a dedicated compliance process.
Open Ports: Only 80 and 433 by default
To learn more about Bright Data proxy services, read our full Bright Data review.
Geonode is a low-cost SOCKS5 proxy provider that features several types of proxies. Even though SOCKS5 ISPs are not currently available, the provider recently announced that they will be added soon to the pool.
One of the main advantages of this provider is that its SOCKS5 proxies appear to support any port, and are not limited only to 80 and 443 traffic. However, a paid trial and a questionable refund policy do not help Geonode reach top positions. At least, it offers some useful free tools to get started with proxies.
Concurrency: Limited
Uptime: 99%
To learn more about Geonode proxy services, read our full Geonode review.
As you must have noticed, proxy providers typically offer one plan per proxy IP type. Then, you usually pay a fixed monthly subscription, per GB of usage, or per proxy. Because of the different nature of these offerings, providing a general response to the question is difficult.
At the same time, we can say that SOCKS5 proxies range in price from under $10/GB to hundreds of dollars per month. After all, this is not much relative to the benefits they introduce.
What is important to highlight is that prices generally decrease as GB volume goes up, making larger projects more cost-effective. Enterprises may also qualify for special deals and personalized plans. Contact the sales team for further details.
While most proxy providers in 2025 focus on HTTP proxies, only a few also offer SOCKS proxy servers.
In this guide, you explored the versatility of SOCKS proxies and the critical factors to consider when selecting the best providers. Rather than investing your time and money testing them individually, we’ve done the comparison for you, simplifying your decision-making process!
SOCKS5 proxies rely on the SOCKS protocol, allowing various types of traffic to be routed. Some supported protocols worth mentioning are TCP, UDP, FTP, POP, IMAP, HTTP, and HTTPS. Instead, HTTP proxies are only limited to web traffic. SOCKS5 provides more versatility, while HTTP proxies are restricted to HTTP and HTTPS requests.
Using a SOCKS5 proxy is legal in that it only involves routing traffic through a proxy server. However, legality issues may arise if you adopt the SOCKS5 proxy service to perform illegal actions. This is why it is important to choose transparent providers with KYC procedures, especially when dealing with shared servers.
A shared SOCKS5 proxy is used by multiple users simultaneously, sharing the same IP address. In contrast, a private SOCKS5 proxy is exclusively assigned to one user, ensuring full control over its usage. Private SOCKS5 proxies offer higher reliability and performance but come at a higher cost compared to shared proxies.
IPRoyal works fine for basic needs, but I did hit a few flagged IPs which interrupted my workflow. Not ideal for time-sensitive projects
3 months ago
I’ve heard SOCKS5 proxies are great for gaming. Has anyone here used them for reducing lag or avoiding IP bans?
4 months ago
View all 1 replies
I’m using SOCKS5 proxies for COD, and Fortnite, they can definitely help reduce lag if you pick a provider with low latency servers. Its mostly effective for avoiding IP bans, and strict region locks like PUBG or Genshin Impact.