The 6 Best Craigslist Proxy Providers of 2023

Main Uses of Craigslist Proxies

You can reap the benefits of Craigslist proxies in many ways; however, the most common uses are posting in different countries and cities than your own locale, bulk posting, and scraping. 

Target Other Countries and Cities on Craigslist

Craigslist operates in 700 cities and 70 countries. As you probably already know, it caters to local communities. That’s why requests from different countries and even cities are restricted. As a result, you won’t be able to post anything on the New York board if you live, say, in the UK. If you try, you’ll find Craigslist blocking your IP address.

Does that mean your business should forgo Craigslist as a sales platform? Not necessarily. Simply use a Craigslist proxy server, and it will make you look like a local. 

Post Multiple Craigslist Ads

Did you know that Craigslist actually allows bulk posting? There are only a few small details. To use the Craigslist API, you have to:

• Be a high volume poster (post hundreds of ads every month)
• Limit your posts to three categories: jobs (offered), apartment rentals for sale by dealer.
• Be selected on a case-by-case basis by Craigslist itself.

Everyone else is limited to one advertisement in one category every 48 hours. Pretty disappointing, right? Don’t worry, there’s a way around it. You’ll need a Craigslist proxy server to post multiple ads successfully.

However, even with proxies, you need to keep some things in mind. Use separate proxies for separate postings. Don’t make posts at the same time; they should be at least slightly different and without spammy words such as “free” or “weight loss.” 

Scrape Craigslist

Unlike other online platforms, Craigslist does not have an API for data retrieval. In other words, you can’t collect data from it automatically – you’d effectively have to copy it by hand. Thankfully, you can 1) build your a Craigslist scraper with any programming language of your choice and integrate proxies or 2) go with commercial web scraping or proxy-based APIs that already include proxies. Most of the providers on this list offer both – proxies and web scraping tools. 

Without a proxy server, Craigslist will quickly detect an unusual number of requests and block your IP from the website. With good residential proxies you’ll be able to scrape Craigslist at scale without getting blocked.

What data do people want from Craigslist exactly? Some users scrape Craigslist to keep an eye on items that are being sold (tickets, for example). Others use scrapers to find something for personal use. Businesses use Craigslist proxies to retrieve website data so that they can generate leads. Usually, they go through the postings and collect email addresses.

How to Choose the Best Proxy Service for Craigslist

Here’s a few tips for getting your Craigslist proxies right the first time:

• Get residential IPs for scraping – they rotate automatically, so residential proxies will be much easier to work with. They are also harder to identify as they come from real residential devices. 
• Choose a provider with many locations (and make sure you can actually target them) – this is to ensure you’ll be able to access whichever Craigslist board you need. But finding a provider with high location coverage isn’t enough – you must also be able to target them. 
• Consider custom rotation options – sometimes you’ll need for your IP address to stick for some time. For example, when you need to post a new listing. 
• Don’t buy SOCKS5 proxies – they won’t bring you any benefits, only extra expenses.

Avoid Free Craigslist Proxy Servers

When it comes to money, we all love to save a buck or two when the opportunity appears. But no matter how tempted you are to give free proxies a shot, we advise against it. Free proxies are highly problematic. 

First of all, there are hardly any free services on the market that would work well with Craigslist. Another thing worth noting is that free proxies don’t guarantee that they are safe to use. Still unconvinced? You can read more on the topic here. 

The Best Proxies for Craigslist Posting and Scraping

1. Smartproxy The best balance between features and price.

2. Oxylabs The best premium residential service.

Oxylabs is a premium provider that controls the biggest – 100 million – residential proxy pool and covers all the countries worldwide. In terms of filtering, you can target any location up to ASN or even ZIP code level. The proxies rotate with every request, and you can hold sticky sessions for up to 30 minutes.

Besides class-leading proxy performance, the service also has impeccable user experience. It’s easy to use, you’ll get a dedicated account manager, extensive documentation, and professional customer service support. 

Sounds perfect, right? However, premium services are never cheap. So, we wouldn’t recommend Oxylabs for one-off Craigslist tasks.

Features:

• Proxy pool: 100 million residential IPs
• Locations: every country, thousands of cities, ASN and ZIP code targeting
• Rotation: every request, sticky sessions up to 30 mins
• Support: 24/7 via live chat, dedicated account manager
• Extras: API, browser extension, extensive documentation

Pricing:

Starts from $15 for 1 GB. 7-day free trial for businesses, 3-day refund for individuals.

3. Bright Data The most versatile provider.

With a giant pool of 72M residential IPs, Bright Data is one of the largest proxy providers in the market. It offers a wide range of features and precise targeting options (such as ASN and ZIP code). 

Additionally, Bright Data has a number of helpful tools to control your proxies, such as its open source proxy manager, which allows you to rotate your proxies however you like. 

On the downside, Bright Data isn’t beginner friendly – it’s very complex to use and pricey. But developers will find the service very powerful. 

Features: 

• Proxy pool: 72 million residential IPs
• Locations: every country, thousands of cities, ASN and ZIP code targeting
• Rotation: every request with customizable sticky sessions
• Support: 24/7 via live chat, tickets, dedicated account manager
• Extras: API, browser extension, Proxy Manager, extensive documentation

Pricing:

Starts from $10.50 for 1 GB. 7-day free trial for businesses, 3-day refund for individuals.

4. SOAX Very flexible rotation & location targeting options.

5. Infatica Affordable proxies with flexible targeting.

Infatica caters to businesses and offers a network of 10 million peer-to-peer residential IPs. You can target any of 150 locations up to ASN level. It has relatively flexible IP rotation – with every request, or between 5 and 60 minutes.

In terms of the user interface, Infatica’s panel isn’t the most convenient to use, but it includes all the necessary features. And we were pleasantly surprised with its customer support – fast and thorough responses.

Overall, Infatica has difficulties matching top services in user experience, proxy network size, or features. For example, you won’t be able to pay as you go or find API access. But its rates scale very well for bulk use. 

Features:

• Proxy pool: 10 million residential IPss
• Locations: 150+ locations with country, city, region and ASN targeting
• Rotation: every request, or between 5 and 60 minutes
• Support: 24/7 support via tickets, chat or email 
• Extras: extensive documentation

Pricing:

Starts from $96 for 8 GB ($12/GB). 3-day trial for $1.99 available.

6. Rayobyte Residential proxies with non-expiring traffic.

Rayobyte sells residential proxies in over 150 countries with the option to filter individual cities. Its pricing system lets you purchase a specific amount of traffic, which remains available until you’ve used it. 

The starting rates for Rayobyte’s residential proxies rival premium providers steep, but once you buy over 50 GBs, they drop significantly. So, it makes sense to buy more traffic in advance. If you encounter any issues while using the service, Rayobyte’s customer support reps are ready to help you out 24/7. 

The rotation settings are not very flexible; the residential proxies rotate with each request, or you can keep them for as long as they’re available, with no option to set custom intervals. What’s more, our tests showed that the proxies were pretty slow.

Features:

• Proxy pool: unknown
• Locations: 150+ with country & city targeting
• Rotation:  every request, as long as available
• Support: 24/7 support via email, ticketing system, or live chat
• Extras: extensive documentation

Pricing:

Starts from $15 for 1 GB. 2-day free trial with 50 MB.

7. IPRoyal Cheap proxies with flexible filtering options.

IPRoyal is the cheapest residential proxy provider on this list. It controls a significantly smaller – 2 million – proxy pool than the competition. But the service has flexible rotation and filtering options.

IPRoyal’s customer service is available 24/7, and the support reacts fast. You won’t have to commit to monthly plans, and the traffic won’t expire. 

Besides a relatively small proxy pool, the IPs aren’t the best performers. We’ve encountered more errors during our tests than with other providers, and the proxies were slow. But they’ll work with less demanding Craigslist tasks. 

Features:

• Proxy pool: 2 million residential proxies
• Locations: 150+ with country, state & city targeting
• Rotation: every request, 1 s – 7 days
• Support: 24/7 via live chat
• Extras: proxy tester, browser extension

Pricing:

Starts from $7 for 1 GB. No free trial.

8. NetNut Residential proxies for large-scale use.

NetNut is another provider that’s after larger clients. The service comes with 52 million monthly IPs and 150 countries to choose from. It includes city-level targeting and rotation every request or as long as the IP is available.

Over the years, NetNut greatly improved user experience, but it’s still very much in the making. Besides detailed usage statistics, don’t expect easy navigation or quick answers from customer support. Additionally, NetNut charges even more than premium providers and doesn’t have pay-as-you-go. But once you scale over 250 GBs, the price gets more favorable. 

Features:

• Proxy pool: 52 million residential proxies
• Locations: 150+ countries with country and city targeting
• Rotation: every request or as long as the IP is available
• Support: 24/7 via email, live chat, Skype (larger plans)
• Extras: API (for resellers), basic documentation

Pricing:

Starts from $100 for 5 GBs ($20/GB) . 7-day free trial for companies.