Published 2026-10-05
Test a cheap proxy in ten minutes
You do not need a benchmarking suite. Five commands tell you most of what you need to know.
1. Does the exit IP change as expected?
Request an IP echo service through the proxy and compare it with your own address. For a rotating line, repeat the request and confirm it changes. For a static line, confirm it does not.
curl -x http://USER:PASS@HOST:PORT https://api.ipify.org2. Is it where you paid for it to be?
Look the address up in a free geolocation database. Treat small disagreements between databases as normal and large ones as a flag.
3. How fast is it?
Time a page you care about, ten times. The median matters more than the best run.
curl -x http://USER:PASS@HOST:PORT -o /dev/null -s -w "%{time_total}\n" https://example.com4. Does your protocol work?
Repeat check 1 with a SOCKS5 URL if you plan to use SOCKS5.
curl --proxy socks5h://USER:PASS@HOST:PORT https://api.ipify.org5. What is the failure rate on your real target?
Run a hundred requests against the actual site you will scrape and count successes. This is the number that decides whether a provider is cheap for you, whatever its price list says.
Frequently asked questions
What success rate is good enough?
It depends on your retry cost. On a metered line each retry is paid traffic, so a lower success rate raises the effective per-GB price.
Try it for $5
Minimum top-up is $5. Run your own target through it before you scale.