Proxies are expensive, especially when you need a premium residential connection. But before you rush to spend a lot of money on proxies, you should consider testing your project on a free proxy. There are some caveats you should know about before making this decision.
It’s essential to have an understanding of what you should expect from a residential proxy and what type you can get for free. Here, I will explore some free residential proxy solutions, arguing that they might be a good starting option.
What are residential proxies?
Residential proxies are made to mimic an ordinary household internet connection. Like other proxies, they can route your internet connection by acting as an intermediary. However, unlike some other types, they are run on physical devices and use an IP verified by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
When you order an internet service, your ISP must assign a specific IP address - a unique string of characters, to your house. Your devices will use this IP address to inform the web servers about your location, enabling data transfer. Such a process ensures that everyone on the web views you as an ordinary visitor.
Residential proxies use such connections for a great advantage in legitimacy. Web servers are unlikely to be suspicious of your activity and block access or check whether you are a bot with CAPTCHAs.
It greatly increases the speed of certain tasks - web scraping, online automation, or bulk purchasing. The connection itself might be a bit slower compared to other proxy types - datacenter, for example, but the lack of possible interruptions makes it an efficient choice nonetheless.
Additionally, residential proxies are beneficial for accurate location targeting. Since residential IP addresses are verified by an ISP, they can target locations on a city or even street level. Web servers can check the information from an ISP and know for certain where the IP originates from.
The residential proxy type requires an advanced setup from providers, so they are rarely free and often cost more than other types. The price is justified by the need to run physical devices and have a household that cooperates by providing its network access. Still, there are a couple of ways to use residential IPs free of charge.
Two types of free residential proxies
The most straightforward way to access a residential proxy server for free is to use a free proxy list. Providers or IT specialists sometimes provide these lists openly if they are willing to share the access they created. Oftentimes, these are IPs not currently in use or banned on certain websites.
Anyone can access such proxies, and there is no limit to concurrent users, so you are likely to have performance issues. I found that some of the free proxies are not even accessible during busy hours of the day. Probably, this is because of the high number of connections.
It also must be noted that such lists, if not from reputable providers, carry security risks. The provider can view everything you do with a proxy. If there is no customer-provider relation defined in terms and conditions, you won’t have any way of stopping it from spying on you.
In more extreme cases, free IPs from lists might intercept your connection and, at least in theory, infect your device with malware. That’s why it’s important to choose an already existing provider. They are unlikely to waste their good reputation by intruding on potential customers.
However, if you are going to choose an established provider, an even better option is to take a free trial for a residential proxy. You will have access to a fully functioning product without any bans or disturbances. Such proxies are often top-of-the-line products as the provider wants to advertise the best it has to offer.
Unfortunately, you’ll have limited time to use the proxy and might need to enter your payment card details. But this is a small price to pay for security and peace of mind. Besides, you can test several free trials from different providers and compare them before purchasing.
Use cases of free residential proxies
While there are options, getting a residential proxy free of charge isn't a viable long-term solution. Hopping between free trials or checking proxy lists is just too inconvenient. That's why I recommend exploring free residential proxy solutions only in specific cases.
Some anonymous browsing or bypassing of geo-restrictions can be achieved with free residential proxies. While slow and inconsistently performing, they will allow you to hide your IP address with another from a different location.
It might be a viable option if you only need a few minutes to check something. Longer tasks might require a more stable connection.
Testing software with free proxies can save you from a lot of hassle. It's a huge disappointment to purchase a proxy only to find out that it doesn't work with the needed software. There can be many reasons - unsupported location, protocol, and authentication methods, are the most common.
For example, many anti-detect browsers require HTTPS proxies, so if you choose a SOCK5 proxy, it might not work. Instead of taking a risk, it's better to test the software with a free proxy.
Websites testing is also a viable use case for free proxies. It can be implemented from two angles. Web developers use free residential proxies when looking for bugs security vulnerabilities, or checking if the code works as intended for visitors from around the world.
As a visitor, you might use free proxies to check the website's proxy detection level. Websites easily notice most free proxies. If the website in question cannot detect a free proxy, you might not need to spend a fortune on proxies to access it.
Conclusion
It’s definitely worth exploring free residential proxies before purchasing one yourself. However, keep in mind that it comes with certain performance issues and security risks. It is a short-term solution that is best used for testing software and websites or simply browsing anonymously.
