SOCKS5
SOCKS5 forwards any TCP traffic rather than HTTP requests alone. {socks5Vendors} of the 42 providers Proxy Compare tracks list support for it, read 5 Oct 2026. You need it for anything that is not a web request, and it is close to universal here without being guaranteed.
Why it costs you money
Most scraping never needs it, and paying for it is common anyway. It matters when the traffic is not web traffic, which is the case for mail clients, game traffic and some automation tooling. If your work is HTTP requests, the HTTP endpoint is the same network at the same price.
See it in the data
Related terms
- Ports vs IPsA numbered endpoint you connect to. On some providers a port is the billing unit, and it is not the same as an address.
- BackconnectOne gateway address that fans out to the whole pool behind it, so your code never handles an address list.
- Exit nodeThe address a target website actually sees. Everything before it in the chain is invisible to the site you are fetching.
- Datacenter proxyAn address belonging to a server in a datacenter. Far cheaper than residential, and the first thing a careful site blocks.
- Every term we define
Questions
Do I need SOCKS5, or is HTTP enough?
HTTP is enough for web requests. SOCKS5 forwards any TCP traffic, so you need it for anything that is not a web request. {socks5Vendors} of the 42 providers here list support for it, read 5 Oct 2026.
Is SOCKS5 faster?
Not on its own. It does less to your traffic than an HTTP proxy, which can help, but the route and the exit decide the speed far more than the protocol does.
Does SOCKS5 hide more about me?
No. It changes what can be carried, not what the destination learns. The address the target sees is the same either way, and so is everything it can infer from your request pattern.