Guides
Straight explanations of the things people ask us before they buy — what the proxy types actually differ on, which protocol to reach for, and how to get credentials working.
The three proxy types differ by who the IP address is registered to, not by how they are hosted. Here is what that means for speed, cost, and how often you get blocked.
HTTP proxies understand web requests; SOCKS5 forwards any TCP connection without reading it. Which one you want depends entirely on what you are connecting.
Your credentials arrive as ip:port:username:password. This walks through using them from curl, a browser, and the tools that most often need a proxy configured.