In order to qualitatively review proxy services, our team is guided by the main criteria we’ve been using for years, common logic, and financial part of the question. We keep it simple: one journey, six things that matter. Here’s how we test proxy providers – told the way we actually run it.
1) We start with the map (Coverage)
Before speed tests or fancy graphs, we ask: can this network reach what you need?
We verify IP types (residential, ISP/static, datacenter, mobile), look for real country/city depth, and check niche targeting (ASN, carrier, ZIP) so you’re not stuck at the border.
2) Then we meet the traffic (Quality & Performance)
We spin up scripted workloads against real targets and watch what happens.
Success rates, ban rates, latency (p50/p95), jitter, and concurrency ceilings – measured across dayparts and regions – tell us if the network holds up under pressure, not just in a glossy dashboard.
3) We take the wheel (Control & Compatibility)
Rotation modes, sticky sessions, APIs, and protocol support (HTTP/S, SOCKS5, IPv6).
If it won’t play nicely with headless browsers, proxy managers, or your CI, it doesn’t make the cut—no matter how fast it looks on paper.
4) We test the safety net (Reliability & Support)
Uptime history, status pages, incident response, and human help.
We note how the service behaves during bursts and failures, and how quickly support moves from first reply to real fix.
5) We count the actual cost (Pricing & Value)
Per-GB vs per-IP, effective cost per successful request, and any gotchas (overages, ports, concurrency upsells).
Trials and refunds matter because proof beats promises.
6) We check the compass (Ethics & Transparency)
Opt-in sourcing, acceptable-use clarity, KYC where appropriate, and data-handling posture (logs & retention).
If sourcing is murky, we mark it down – full stop.
How we score (100 points)
- Performance & Quality — 30
- Coverage — 20
- Control & Compatibility — 15
- Reliability & Support — 15
- Pricing & Value — 10
- Ethics & Transparency — 10
Scores reflect repeatable tests: scripted requests to major targets, three dayparts, two regions, with success/ban rates and latency percentiles logged.
What we publish (and why)
- Plain-English findings first, raw metrics alongside.
- Date-stamped runs so you know when we measured.
- Clear caveats if a provider shines for one use case but not another.
Update cadence
We re-run core tests regularly and after major product or pricing changes. If a provider ships something that could change your decision, we retest and update the page.
Short story, long effort: we use real traffic, chase real edges, and weight what actually moves outcomes. That’s the methodology behind every score you see on this site.
Our review principles
- We focus on the value that a particular service brings to the user. The success and popularity of a given provider means nothing for us. Our experience shows that fresh proxy providers often can deliver better results at lower price.
- Evaluation from the point of view of an average user with regular needs, not an expert with a lot of experience, since most users need their needs to be met more than achieving crazy high speeds or keeping some industry benchmarks invented by competition.
- Coherence and usefulness of the review, the desire to give an objective assessment, despite the possible negative experience and personal factors. We evaluate proxies not from the point of view of any one function, but we give a complete picture considering all major factors without lowering rating just because of the price, speed, pool size, etc.