Proxy guides

Choose your client, check a proxy setting, or find the cause of a failed request.

• Setup

  How to use a proxy

  Set up a free proxy in cURL, Firefox, Windows or macOS. Copy the right host and port, test the connection, and restore your original settings.

  • Address and protocol
  • cURL
  • Before changing settings
• Python

  Python Requests proxy setup: HTTP and SOCKS5

  Configure HTTP and SOCKS5 proxies in Python Requests with explicit timeouts, HTTPS certificate checks and connection-error handling.

  • Use an HTTP proxy for an HTTPS request
  • Set connection and read timeouts
  • Switch to SOCKS5 with remote DNS
• Protocols

  HTTP vs SOCKS5 proxies

  Compare HTTP, HTTPS CONNECT and SOCKS5 proxy settings, destination support and DNS resolution. Choose a protocol your client can use.

  • Settings comparison
  • HTTP and HTTPS CONNECT
  • SOCKS5 and DNS
• Troubleshooting

  Proxy not working? Find the failure

  Match a proxy error to its next check: connection refused, timeout, TLS failure, HTTP 407, 403 or 429. Includes direct and proxied cURL diagnostics.

  • Timeouts and direct requests
  • Refused connections
  • Protocol errors