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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 type of proxy server that routes Internet traffic at a lower level than traditional HTTP proxies. Because of that, it can handle various types of traffic, including TCP, UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP. This makes SOCKS proxies versatile for different applications, from online gaming to P2P file sharing.
Unlike HTTP proxies, which only work with Web traffic, SOCKS5 proxies can handle any type of traffic. Thus, they provide more flexibility and control over network traffic compared to traditional HTTP proxies. Additionally, SOCKS5 proxy servers natively offer support for authentication, allowing users to access restricted content securely.
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.
Most proxy providers offer HTTP proxies, but only a few of them also feature SOCKS proxy servers. Here, you learned why SOCKS proxies are so versatile and what elements to consider when evaluating the best SOCKS proxy providers. Forget about spending time and money to test those providers, because we compared them for you!
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5 days ago
I’ve heard SOCKS5 proxies are great for gaming. Has anyone here used them for reducing lag or avoiding IP bans?
6 days ago