Free v/s Paid Proxies
There are both free and paid proxy servers available on the internet. Free proxies are slow, unreliable and insecure. Using them often result in incomplete data during web scraping. For this reason, we do not recommend using free proxies for web scraping.
Types of Proxy Servers used for Web Scraping
There are several types of proxy servers, classified based on their source, protocol and accessibility. The following are the major types of proxies used for web scraping.
1. Data Center Proxies
Data center proxies are the most common type of proxies, with IP addresses provided by data centers rather than internet service providers (ISPs). They are fast and inexpensive compared to other types of proxies. However, websites can easily detect and block them, making them less suitable for large-scale web scraping.
2. Residential Proxies
Residential proxies use IP addresses assigned by ISPs to home users. They are more difficult to detect and block compared to data center proxies, making them ideal for web scraping. However, they are more expensive and slower than data center proxies.
3. Static Residential (ISP) Proxies
ISP Proxies are a hybrid between Data Center Proxies and Residential Proxies. These proxies are provided by ISPs but hosted on data centers. They are stable, fast and less likely to be blocked. ISP proxies are relatively expensive and are recommended for long-session or login-based web scraping tasks.
4. Mobile Proxies
Mobile proxies use IP addresses assigned by mobile network providers (4G/5G). They are highly effective for web scraping as they are difficult to detect and block. However, they are very expensive and have limited bandwidth (slower) compared to other types of proxies.
5. Rotating Proxies
Rotating proxies automatically change the IP address used for each request or after a set period of time. This helps to avoid detection and blocking by websites, making them ideal for large-scale web scraping. Rotating proxies can be based on data center, residential or mobile IPs.
6. HTTP / HTTPS / SOCKS Proxies
Proxies can also be classified based on the protocol they support. HTTP and HTTPS proxies are used for web traffic, while SOCKS proxies can handle any type of traffic, including email and file transfers. HTTPS proxies are preferred for secure web scraping as they encrypt the data transmitted between the client and the server.
Proxy Recommendations
The following are the proxy services which we recommend for web scraping and data extraction. These services work well with WebHarvy as well as with other web scraping software.
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1. Bright Data
Bright data (formerly Luminati Networks) is a proxy network that requires consent from its residential peers, has tight compliance procedures for its customers and serves Fortune 500 enterprises. You can easily switch between shared proxies, data-center private proxy, residential IPs and mobile IPs. IPs are available in every country, city, ASN and carrier with 99.9% uptime.
Signup for Bright data Proxy Networks
How to setup Bright Data Proxy Server Network with WebHarvy ?
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2. Private Proxy
Private Proxies provide HTTP(S) anonymous proxies which allows you to hide your computer's IP address by entering them in your Browser or Web Scraping Software. Only private dedicated proxies from a unique pool of proxies are provided. They offer a free monthly swap option whereby you can resolve blocked proxies.
Signup for free trial of Private Proxies
Use coupon code WEBHARVY to get 25% discount for any package which you purchase from PrivateProxy.
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3. Trusted Proxies
Trusted Proxies provide high-speed reliable proxies for web scraping and SERP (Google, Bing etc.) extraction.
Signup for Trusted Proxies Proxy Server Cloud Account for WebHarvy
How to setup Trusted Proxies Proxy Server Cloud account with WebHarvy ?
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4. Looking for a free proxy server?
When you use a proxy server, your computer, instead of communicating directly with the website, communicates with the proxy server which in turn communicates with the website and relays down its response to you. So, the proxy server becomes a crucial component in your connection which determines the connection speed, security and reliability. Which is why paid proxy servers are recommended. While using free proxy servers you have a higher chance of getting blocked, missing data and aborting the web scraping process. If you still would like to try, please check the following links.
Scrape data anonymously using WebHarvy
WebHarvy is an easy to use, visual web scraping software which can scrape data from any website, without limits. WebHarvy can scrape text, images, phone, email/website addresses etc. from multiple pages of websites and save the data in spreadsheet format to files or databases. If you are interested in knowing more, we highly recommend that you download and try the FREE 15 days evaluation version of WebHarvy.