The Best SOCKS5 Proxies of 2024
SOCKS5 is the newest proxy protocol. Versatile, fast, and anonymous, SOCKS5 proxies enable many tasks that wouldn’t be possible with HTTP(S) IPs. You can use them for gaming, video streaming, torrents, web scraping… Just about anything. They can be residential, data center, ISP, and mobile addresses.
But finding a good proxy service isn’t easy – and getting reliable SOCKS proxies is even harder. This article will help you choose the best SOCKS5 proxy provider for your needs.
The Best SOCKS5 Proxy Providers of 2024:
1. Smartproxy – the best value SOCKS5 provider.
2. Webshare – flexible plans and complete self-service.
3. SOAX – proxies with flexible filtering options.
4. Oxylabs – the best premium SOCKS5 proxy provider for business.
5. Bright Data – SOCKS5 proxies with the most features.
What Is a SOCKS5 Proxy?
How Does a SOCKS5 Proxy Work?
A SOCKS5 proxy server routes your connection through itself via a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection. In the meantime, it masks your real IP address and location just like a regular proxy server.
Comparing SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 Proxies
SOCKS Proxies vs HTTP Proxies
HTTP proxies work with the >HTTP(S) protocol – in other words, websites. They often have only ports 80 and 443 open, which rules out different kinds of traffic.
SOCKS proxies are much more versatile – you can use them to unblock content and work with all kinds of data. Just make sure that your provider actually has the ports you need open. Some close off everything that’s not 80 or 443, making their SOCKS proxies effectively the same as HTTP IPs.
Main Uses of SOCKS5 Proxies
- Hide your IP address – the classic use case. SOCKS5 proxies are actually very good at it because of the way they work.
- Chat and make video calls – for example, you can use these proxies with Skype, Telegram, or similar apps.
- Use streaming websites – the first example that comes to mind is Twitch, but it applies to any streaming site.
- Download torrents – they are compatible with qBitorrent, uTorrent, and similar peer-to-peer communication software.
- Play games – we haven’t tried it personally, but we’ve often heard about using it with popular online games.
- Access forbidden content – a common use case is going around firewalls or entering places where TCP connection is prohibited. Or simply avoiding geographical restrictions.
- Perform illegal activities – people also use SOCKS5 proxies for carding, to hide their IP address and emulate the card holder’s location. Note that this activity is highly illegal, and we do not condone it.
The Best SOCKS5 Proxy Providers
1. Smartproxy
Best value SOCKS5 provider.
Residential proxies:
55 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
500 thousand IPs
Mobile proxies:
10 million IPs
Locations:
Up to 195 locations
- Extras: API, browser extension, anti-detect browser, extensive documentation
- Support: award winning 24/7 support
- Free trial: 3-day trial available (residential), 14-day money-back option (datacenter, mobile)
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $7 for 1 GB
– Datacenter: $7.5 for 3 IPs ($2.5/IP)
– Mobile: $8 for 1 GB
Smartproxy offers residential, dedicated datacenter, and mobile IPs with SOCKS5 support. The provider stands out with award-winning customer support, detailed documentation, and convenient proxy management tools. So, both beginners and experienced users will find the service fitting.
Smartproxy controls large residential and mobile proxy pools with locations all around the world. The proxies rotate with every request, but there’s an option to hold sticky sessions for up to 30 mins. You can get dedicated datacenter addresses only in the US.
What can you expect performance-wise? An almost perfect success rate and a fast response time. Besides having a robust infrastructure, the provider manages to keep mid-range prices.
However, its datacenter proxies lack some features like locations and targeting options.
Read the Smartproxy review for more information and performance tests.
2. Webshare
Flexible plans and complete self-service.
Residential proxies:
30 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
Unknown size
ISP proxies:
Unknown size
Locations:
Up to 195 locations
- Extras: API, basic documentation
- Support: Monday to Friday (6am-6pm PST) support via email
- Free trial: a free plan with 10 shared addresses available
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $7 for 1 GB
– Datacenter: $3 for 100 IPs ($20.08/IP)
– ISP: $8 for 20 IPs ($0.9/IP)
Webshare sells residential, ISP (shared, dedicated) and datacenter (shared, dedicated) proxies that support the SOCKS5 protocol. The prices don’t bite, the service includes a powerful API, and offers great user experience.
Depending on the product, Webshare’s IPs cover from 20 to 195 countries worldwide. They come in lists of static addresses, but there’s a feature to rotate proxies with every connection request. You can also opt to automatically refresh the list as often as every five minutes.
Webshare’s strong infrastructure makes it stand out in the market. Its datacenter and ISP proxies are fast and stable, and you’re offered a complete self-service – it gives you full control over your subscription. You can decide on the number of proxies, their locations, and otherwise customize the service by adding traffic, concurrency, or reserving network priority.
On the other hand, all that versatility plays into pricing – Webshare charges for most of the features, so you’ll have to really think through your project.
Read the Webshare review for more information and performance tests.
3. SOAX
SOCKS5 proxies with flexible filtering options.
Residential proxies:
155 million IPs
ISP proxies:
2.6 million IPs
Mobile proxies:
30 million IPs
Locations:
100+ locations
- Support: 24/7 support via chat and email
- Extras: limited API, node access, customer success manager
- Free trial: 3-day trial for $1.99 available
- Pricing starts from $99 for 15 GB ($6.6/GB).
SOAX offers rotating residential, mobile, and ISP proxies that come with SOCKS5 support. It controls a massive IP pool with more than 100 countries for the residential and mobile addresses. The ISP proxies support locations only in the US.
SOAX massively increased their residential and mobile proxy pools. The proxies are also highly flexible, and its residential IPs are the only on this list to support UDP protocol. Both types come with many rotation settings (sticky sessions for up to 60 mins, custom rotation is also available), and targeting options (up to ASN level). These features are included into all packages, so you can save a buck or two compared to providers like Bright Data.
Sadly, even with as big a proxy pool as SOAX has, our tests showed the infrastructure performance is slightly decreasing. Additionally, all of its products come with obligatory IP whitelisting, and no option to pay as you go.
4. Oxylabs
The best premium SOCKS5 proxy provider for business.
Residential proxies:
100 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
2 million IPs
ISP proxies:
Unknown pool size
Mobile proxies:
20 million IPs
- Locations: over 200 locations
Support: 24/7 support via chat or email; dedicated account manager - Extras: API for proxy management, browser extension, extensive documentation
- Free trial: 7-day free trial for businesses, 3-day refund for individuals
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $8 for 1 GB
– Datacenter: $8.25 for 3 IPs ($2.75/IP)
– ISP: $21 for 10 GB ($2.1/GB)
– Mobile: $9 for 1 GB
Oxylabs is the best choice if you’re looking for premium SOCKS5 proxies. The provider supports SOCKS5 protocol with residential, mobile, dedicated datacenter, and semi-dedicated ISP proxies, so you can choose the one that best suits your project. Oxylabs’ proxy pool is one of the largest in the market, so you won’t have issues with scaling your project. The proxies are also well maintained by an experienced team that can offer you advice and 24/7 support.
The provider covers over 200 locations worldwide. The proxies are rapid – they usually have one of the best success rates and response times.
That said, Oxylabs targets business customers, so plans might be slightly more pricey if you’re only looking for a few IPs.
5. Bright Data
SOCKS5 proxies with the most features.
Residential proxies:
72 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
770 thousand IPs
ISP proxies:
700 thousand IPs
Mobile proxies:
7 million IPs
- Locations: up to 195 locations
- Support: 24/7 support via chat or tickets
- Extras: API, Proxy Manager, browser extension, extensive documentation
- Free trial: 7-day free trial for businesses; up to 15 datacenter IPs and 2 GB/month for free
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $8.4 for 1 GB
– Datacenter: $0.06/GB + $0.48/IP
– ISP: $15 for 1 GB + $0.5/IP
– Mobile: $8.4 for 1 GB
Bright Data is another premium proxy provider. It offers SOCKS5 with all of its products – residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies. The provider controls a large proxy pool with versatile targeting and filtering options.
Bright Data has a well-maintained proxy network – you won’t be disappointed by the proxy performance. Most of its services have a good success rate, and a fast response time.
The provider is known for its variety of features, customization options, and proxy management tools, such as the open source Proxy Manager. If you need something other proxy sellers lack, you’ll most likely find it here.
Bright Data’s pricing is no less flexible: you can commit to monthly plans or pay as you go. In any case, you’ll be charged slightly above the market rate for the premium experience, and some features will cost you extra.
6. NetNut
SOCKS5 proxies with flexible pricing.
Residential proxies:
85 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
150 thousand IPs
Mobile proxies:
250 thousand IPs
ISP proxies:
1 million IPs
- Locations: over 100 locations
- Support: 24/7 support via email, Skype (larger plans)
- Extras: API for resellers, mediocre documentation
- Free trial: 7-day free trial available
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $99 for 14 GBs ($7.07/GB)
– Datacenter: $100 for 100 GBs ($1/GB)
– ISP: $350 for 20GBs ($17.50/GB)
– Mobile: $99 for 13 GBs ($7.60/GB)
NetNut is known for its ISP proxies, but this provider also offers all types of IPs with SOCKS5 protocol support. NetNut is an enterprise-segment-oriented proxy provider, so expect reliable service.
The provider’s proxies come from large, well-maintained proxy pools. Its residential proxies have global geo-coverage. The targeting options are great (up to ASN level), but there’s no custom rotation. However, you can keep the same IP for as long as it’s available or create sticky sessions with some products.
Since it’s an enterprise provider, NetNut’s cheapest plans don’t have many features. However, at an extra price, you can get more targeting options, dedicated support, IP whitelisting, and request-based pricing.
But premium service comes at a premium price – the provider’s prices are one of the highest on this list. So, if you’re only looking for a few GBs, you might find the rates quite intimidating.
7. Infatica
Affordable premium proxies for enterprise use.
Residential proxies:
15 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
5 thousand IPs
Mobile proxies:
5 million IPs
Locations:
100+ locations
- Support: 24/7 support via chat, email, and tickets
- Extras: API
- Free trial: 3-day trial for $1.99 available
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $8 for 1 GB
– Datacenter: $15 for 5 IPs ($3/IP)
– Mobile: $8 for 1 GB
Infatica sells residential, mobile, and rotating datacenter proxies with SOCKS5 support. The provider mainly targets businesses, so it has great customer support, and the pricing scales well if you buy in bulk.
Infatica controls a medium-sized – 15 million – residential IP pool in over 100 locations and 5 million mobile IPs in 50 locations. You can target any location by country, city, or ASN. Its rotating datacenter proxies are more modest – 5 thousand US addresses that come in lists.
Infatica’s residential proxies are fast, but we encountered more connection errors compared to the top options. Infatica’s rotation options are also flexible – proxies rotate with every request, but you can hold sticky sessions between 5 and 60 minutes.
The main drawbacks – pricing and lack of user experience. The provider’s dashboard lacks clarity. For example, you won’t be able to see traffic use in the main page – you’ll have to dig deep to find it.
8. IPRoyal
Affordable SOCKS5 proxies.
Residential proxies:
32 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
Unknown size
Mobile proxies:
2.5 million IPs
ISP proxies:
5 thousand IPs
- Locations: up to 195 locations
- Support: 24/7 support via chat
- Extras: proxy tester, browser extension, extensive documentation
- Free trial: none
Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $7 for 1 GB
– Datacenter: $1.75 for 1 IP
– ISP: $1.8 for 1 IP
– Mobile: $130 for a month of unlimited bandwidth
If you’re looking for affordable SOCKS5 proxies, take a look at what IPRoyal has to offer. You can choose from all proxy types: dedicated datacenter, mobile, ISP, or residential, so there’s a lot of flexibility for the projects you want to run.
IPRoyal controls a pool of 32 million residential proxies and 2.5M mobile IPs that you can target up to the city level. They rotate with every request or you can create sticky sessions for anywhere between 1 second to 24 hours. The provider’s ISP proxy pool is more limited with 500K IPs in over 30 locations. Datacenter IPs mostly come from Asia, but there’s a sizable amount in the US and Western Europe, too.
We’re mainly concerned with the provider’s IP reputation – the proxies have a high fraud score and appear to be frequently abused. The addresses have a lower success rate and response time compared to other providers on this list. Additionally, its residential proxies have a low number of unique IPs.
9. Dataimpulse
Affordable residential proxies with SOCKS5 support.
Residential proxies:
5 million IPs
Datacenter proxies:
Unknown size
Mobile proxies:
Unknown size
Locations:
Up to 150 locations
- Support: live chat, 24/7 support via chat
- Extras: API for resellers
- Free trial: 5 GB for $5 available
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $50 for 50 GB ($1/GB)
– Datacenter: $50 for 100 GB ($0.5/GB)
– Mobile: $50 for 25 GB ($2.5/GB)
Dataimpulse sells cheap residential, datacenter, and mobile proxies with SOCKS5 protocol support. You can target up to the ZIP code level, and IPs rotate with every request or you can create custom sticky sessions for up to 120 minutes.
While it doesn’t have a large IP pool (5M residential IPs), Dataimpulse is a fine choice for those looking for a bargain. The most expensive proxies on Dataimpulse’s list – mobile proxies – are still significantly cheaper than the market’s average. However, expect extra features, like precise targeting, to cost you extra.
Dataimpulse’s proxies are relatively slow for now. However, it can be a great choice for smaller projects or as a secondary IP source.
10. Rayobyte
SOCKS5 proxies with flexible pricing.
Residential proxies:
Unknown size
Datacenter proxies:
Unknown size
Mobile proxies:
Unknown size
ISP proxies:
Unknown size
- Locations: over 100 locations
- Support: 24/7 support via chat, email, tickets
- Extras: API for resellers
- Free trial: trial with 50MB available
- Pricing starts from:
– Residential: $7.50 for 1 GB
– Datacenter: $2.5 for 1 IP
– ISP: $5 for 1 GB (static); $7.50 for 1 GB (rotating)
– Mobile: $50 for 2 GB ($25/GB)
Rayobyte offers residential, mobile, ISP, and static datacenter proxies with SOCKS5 support. The provider’s tens of thousands of IPs cover over 100 locations worldwide (depending on the product), and have decent targeting options.
Rayobyte caters to individuals and small-medium businesses, so the prices are around the market’s average or lower if you buy more traffic. There’s also a lot of flexibility – you can choose from two scaling payment options: pay as you go or get a traffic-based plan.
Apart from inflexible rotation, the main drawback of Rayobyte’s service is its proxy infrastructure. The response times for residential and mobile proxies are quite high, especially compared to multiple faster providers on this list. However, it’s still a good choice if you’re on the lookout for a varied service.
Benefits of SOCKS5 proxies
- You can use SOCKS5 proxies with all kinds of data, not only webpages.
- They ensure a high level of anonymity. When you route information through such a proxy server, it assigns a new IP for you. Instead of accessing the website on your behalf, the server connects to it directly. This way, you disclose no information about your original IP address.
- They work great for traffic-intensive tasks.
Drawbacks of SOCKS5 Proxies
- They are usually more expensive compared to HTTP(S) IPs.
- Data goes through them unencrypted. So, you shouldn’t use them for online payments or anything involving personal information.
- They are not supported by some applications.
Why You Shouldn’t Get a Free SOCKS5 Proxy List
The idea of free SOCKS5 proxies sounds tempting – especially if your needs are small or you just want to try the proxies out. It’s a better option than free HTTP proxies (I’d never use those due to all the security risks), but still not something I’d ever recommend.
You’ll always have to share free SOCKS5 proxies with dozens of other people. This will make the proxies slow and unreliable. Also, the provider likely won’t be interested in maintaining the service, so on top of that, you can expect a lot of downtime and general instability. Not ideal, is it?
Instead, why not have a look at one of the proxy providers in our list? I’m sure you’ll be able to find both premium and cheap SOCKS5 proxies there. Many of the services offer a free trial or money-back guarantee to give you a taste of what using good proxies feels like. Believe me: it’ll cost you nothing and will be a much better experience than struggling with IP addresses that barely work.
Frequently Asked Questions About SOCKS5 Proxies
SOCKS proxies do have a place in web scraping. It makes little financial sense to use them for scraping websites, but they have other uses. One example would be scraping apps like WhatsApp. SOCKS proxies can also perform automated tasks that can be categorized as web scraping, such as checking the legality of video streaming servers or torrents.
Yes, and we have quite a few providers on our list that offer residential SOCKS5 proxies.
