Free proxies get a bad reputation, and most of the time it is deserved. Public lists scraped off the internet tend to die within hours, and plenty of them are run by operators nobody can identify. But a smaller group of established proxy companies also run their own free tiers, and those are a different story. They come from a known business, sit on infrastructure the provider actually maintains, and give you a real way to test protocol support, geo-targeting, and connection stability before committing any budget.
This guide looks at seven of those options, pulled straight from each provider's own product pages rather than secondhand roundups, so the numbers reflect what is currently on offer rather than what was true a year ago.
What a free proxy can actually do for you
At its core, a proxy sits between your device and the site you are trying to reach, swapping your IP for one of its own. If you have never touched proxy configuration before, it helps to understand the mechanics first. A good starting point is any guide covering proxy setup on Windows 10, since the same authentication and port fields show up across almost every provider's dashboard, free or paid.
Free tiers generally fall into two camps. The first is a public list of scraped IPs, refreshed on a schedule and offered with no login required. The second is a scaled-down slice of a paid provider's real network, usually capped by bandwidth, IP count, or trial length. The second category is what this list focuses on, because it gives you a genuine preview of the paid product rather than a pool of anonymous, unverified addresses.
What to check before you pick one
Before testing any free proxy, look at four things: how often the IP pool refreshes, which protocols are supported (HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, SOCKS5), whether there is a hard bandwidth or IP cap, and what happens to your traffic while it passes through the proxy. Free public lists in particular carry real risk here, since nobody vets who is running the server on the other end. If you plan to route anything through one, understanding how to avoid 403 errors during scraping will save a lot of troubleshooting once IPs start getting flagged.
Free proxy providers compared
Free Proxy Provider breakdowns
1. Webshare
Webshare leads this list because its free plan is not a trial at all. It stays active indefinitely, giving you 10 static datacenter IPs and 1 GB of monthly traffic on HTTP and SOCKS5. That is enough to validate a script or test rotation logic without ever entering payment details, and Webshare's free plan is the closest thing on this list to a genuinely permanent free tier.
Key features:
- 10 static datacenter IPs
- 1 GB monthly traffic included
- HTTP and SOCKS5 support
- Free plan never expires
- Paid upgrade from $1.40 per GB
2. Oxylabs
Oxylabs takes a similar approach with a smaller but still permanent allowance: 5 US-based datacenter proxies and 5 GB of bandwidth every month, spread across HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5. Businesses that pass verification can also unlock a 7-day trial covering the full datacenter and residential stack, which is a meaningful step up if the free tier proves useful. Oxylabs free proxies sit on the same backend as the paid network, so performance during testing reflects what you would actually get after upgrading.
Key features:
- 5 free US datacenter IPs
- 5 GB monthly bandwidth cap
- HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5
- 7-day trial for businesses
- Runs on the paid network
3. IPRoyal
IPRoyal runs a public list of HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS proxies that refreshes every ten minutes, aimed at quick checks rather than sustained scraping sessions. It pairs well with IPRoyal's separate free trial track for verified companies interested in the residential network, though that access requires a direct request rather than instant signup.
Key features:
- Public HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS list
- Refreshes every ten minutes
- No signup needed to browse
- Separate trial for verified companies
- Best for quick, short checks
4. ProxyScrape
ProxyScrape publishes one of the larger public lists in this space, holding more than 20,000 live proxies across 180-plus countries at any given time, refreshed every 60 seconds and rechecked continuously by automated monitors. It covers HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, and SOCKS5, and the whole list is downloadable through a free API or a GitHub mirror, which makes it easy to plug into an existing scraper. Because these are aggregated public addresses rather than proxies the company owns outright, treat them the same way you would treat any residential proxy basics guide suggests approaching unknown IP sources: verify before trusting them with anything sensitive.
Key features:
- 20,000+ live public proxies
- Coverage across 180+ countries
- Refreshed every sixty seconds
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, SOCKS5 support
- Free API and GitHub mirror
5. Decodo
Decodo, previously known as Smartproxy, offers the broadest protocol variety on this list, letting you sample residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies within a single three-day trial. The catch is a tight 100 MB traffic allowance, so it suits a quick comparison of proxy types more than an extended test run.
Key features:
- Residential, datacenter, ISP, mobile access
- Three-day trial window
- 100 MB traffic allowance
- Fully paid network sampled
- Formerly branded as Smartproxy
6. Hide.me
Hide.me skips the dashboard entirely. Its browser extension tunnels traffic through hide.me's servers with no account creation, no data limit, and no activity logs kept on the free tier. It will not replace a dedicated scraping proxy, but for quick anonymous browsing or checking how a page renders from another region, it is one of the simplest options here. Anyone automating logins or repeated actions on a single platform, rather than just browsing, should weigh the tighter trust requirements covered in guides on Instagram proxy automation, since free rotating IPs rarely hold up against platform-level detection.
Key features:
- No account creation required
- No data cap on free tier
- Browser extension-based access
- No activity logs kept
- Best for casual anonymous browsing
7. NetNut
NetNut is the outlier: instead of a public list or a self-serve free tier, it gates trial access behind a sales conversation. Approved businesses get a rotating residential IP allowance over seven days across HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5, which is a slower path to testing but gives access to genuine residential IPs rather than datacenter substitutes.
Key features:
- Rotating residential IPs only
- Requires sales team approval
- Seven-day trial length
- HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5 support
- Real residential, not datacenter, IPs
Free proxies versus paying for one
Free tiers are genuinely useful for confirming that a provider's dashboard, authentication method, and protocol support fit your workflow. What they will not do is hold up under sustained scraping, account management, or any task where getting blocked actually costs you something. Bandwidth caps of 1 to 5 GB run out fast once you are pulling real data, and public lists carry no accountability if a session gets logged or a connection quietly drops. Once a free plan confirms a provider is worth using, moving to a paid tier removes the caps and, in most cases, adds dedicated support and consistent IP ownership.
Frequently asked questions
Are free proxies safe to use?
Free proxies carry more risk than paid ones, since public lists are maintained by unknown operators who may log or alter passing traffic. Provider-run free tiers from companies like Webshare or Oxylabs are safer, since they run on infrastructure the company already maintains and backs commercially.
What is the difference between a free proxy list and a free trial?
A free proxy list is a public set of scraped IPs anyone can use without signing up, while a free trial gives temporary access to a provider's real paid network, usually capped by bandwidth or days. Trials generally offer far better reliability, support, and protocol coverage than open lists.
Can free proxies handle web scraping?
Free proxies work for small, low-volume scraping like testing a script or checking a handful of pages, but bandwidth caps and heavily shared IPs make them unreliable at any real scale. For steady scraping without frequent blocks, a paid residential or datacenter plan performs noticeably better over time.
How often should a free proxy list be refreshed?
Public free proxy lists should refresh every few minutes at most, since addresses go offline quickly once overloaded or blacklisted by target sites. Providers like ProxyScrape update every sixty seconds and IPRoyal every ten minutes, which keeps failure rates far lower than lists refreshed only once daily.
Do free proxies support HTTPS connections?
Most established free tiers, including Oxylabs and IPRoyal, support HTTPS alongside HTTP and SOCKS protocols, letting encrypted traffic pass through the proxy safely. Support still varies by provider, so confirm protocol compatibility on the product page before relying on any free plan for tasks involving sensitive data.
Final thought
There is no single best free proxy for every situation. Webshare and Oxylabs are the strongest picks if you want a no-expiry allowance to test against; ProxyScrape and IPRoyal work well for quick, disposable checks, and Decodo or NetNut make more sense if you specifically need to sample residential IP quality before buying.
Match the choice to what you are actually testing rather than picking whichever name shows up first in search results, and the free tier will do its job of pointing you toward the right paid plan.
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