The 6 best SOCKS5 proxy providers in 2025

In today’s data-driven world, especially with the advent of AI, you need reliable and versatile tunnels that carry any type of traffic without altering it. SOCKS5 proxies do exactly that. They let you scrape sites, stream data, run headless browsers, and solve CAPTCHAs, all through the same connection. 

In this guide, we’ll dive deep into the best SOCKS5 proxy providers of 2025. We’ll explain why SOCKS5 matters, how to choose a provider, and compare the top six services in detail. 

By the end, you’ll have a clear picture on how to pick the best SOCKS5 proxy service for your specific needs.

What are SOCKS5 proxies?

SOCKS5 stands at the transport layer, forwarding raw TCP and UDP packets directly between your client and a server. 

Unlike HTTP or HTTPS proxies that rewrite headers or limit traffic types, SOCKS5 gives you a clean, unmodified tunnel. You keep full anonymity because the proxy doesn’t modify request headers or payloads. 

That means websites and services see your traffic as if it comes from a real device on the network. 

You also gain support for various protocols, including HTTP, FTP, SMTP, gaming protocols, and real-time voice or video, making SOCKS5 the go-to choice for diverse tasks. 

With flexible authentication options such as username/password, token-based keys, or IP allowlists, you control who uses each endpoint and how. 

Quick SOCKS5 test

To confirm your SOCKS5 setup, run:

curl --socks5-hostname your_user:your_pass@proxy.soax.com:22554 http://icanhazip.com

This command returns the proxy’s public IP address so you can verify that your traffic really goes through the tunnel. (Replace your_user and your_pass with your SOAX’s user and pass keys).

Why SOCKS5 for web scraping

When you scrape the web, you often face login forms, multi-page crawls, and CAPTCHAs that break under simple HTTP proxies. SOCKS5 solves these challenges:

• Session stickiness: You maintain the same IP address across multiple requests, ensuring that login tokens, cookies, or session IDs remain valid throughout usage.

• UDP support: Many advanced CAPTCHA solvers and headless browsers send UDP traffic for audio CAPTCHAs or WebRTC challenges. SOCKS5 carries both TCP and UDP in the same stream.

• Lower overhead: Since SOCKS5 doesn’t repackage HTTP headers or apply proxy-specific logic to traffic, it adds just a few milliseconds of latency compared to direct connections. You’ll see higher throughput per thread and faster crawl speeds.

What to look for in a SOCKS5 scraping provider

When you evaluate SOCKS5 providers, focus on these seven criteria. Each one directly affects your project’s success and cost.

1. Rotation and session control: You need to decide whether to rotate IPs after each request or maintain a sticky session for minutes or hours. Per-request rotation provides maximum anonymity but may disrupt multi-step tasks. Sticky sessions keep your login flows alive, but also risk detection if you leave an IP address unchanged for too long.

2. Stealth and CAPTCHA integration: Look for ready-made integrations with top CAPTCHA-solving services. Some providers offer browser plugins or SDK hooks that let you inject solver logic without additional code.

3. Concurrency and bandwidth: Check how many parallel streams you can run on a single port and what per-thread speed you’ll get. Also, review API rate limits, as exceeding these caps can stall your entire scrape.

4. Geo-targeting: Set precise location filters, by country, region, city, or even ISP, to help you gather location-specific data, such as local pricing or regional SEO metrics. Some providers also expose ASN-level targeting for advanced network routing.

5. Authentication and security: Choose a provider that offers multiple auth methods, through simple username/password pairs, secure token-based keys, or IP allowlists. Make sure they use TLS for credential exchange and store your secrets securely.

6. Pricing model: Providers charge either per gigabyte of traffic or per active port. Consider your expected traffic volume and concurrency requirements. Per-port billing can be cheaper if you run long sessions with low bandwidth, while per-GB suits bursty, data-heavy crawls.

7. Ethical sourcing: Real residential IPs give you the highest trust and lowest block rates. However, confirm that providers collect addresses only with user consent and comply with the GDPR, CCPA, or other relevant local privacy rules. Avoid services that use hidden bots or shared data center pools, as these can lead to IP bans.

What is a SOCKS5 proxy provider?

A SOCKS5 proxy provider runs servers that speak the language of the SOCKS5 protocol. You connect your client or code to these servers, which relay your traffic to the intended destination. Proxy providers typically source IPs from these four types of pools:

• Residential proxies: These are home-user connections that blend into normal web traffic. They work well for CAPTCHAs and login workflows because sites trust them.

• Datacenter proxies: Data centers run virtual servers that cost less and deliver high stability. They’re best for large-volume, low-risk tasks.

• ISP proxies: Internet service providers directly assign these IPs. ISP Proxies combine low block rates with competitive prices.

• Mobile proxies: These are SIM-based IPs from 3G/4G/5G connections. They mimic real smartphone traffic and bypass many anti-bot filters.

Each pool serves different use cases. SOCKS5's key advantage is that you can switch between them without changing protocols or rewriting URLs.

Overall best SOCKS5 proxy provider

In 2025, SOAX is the best SOCKS5 proxy provider, offering an optimal blend of performance, reliability, and ethical sourcing on a single platform. When you choose SOAX, you get:

• 99.99% uptime: Our global network maintains near-perfect availability, so you avoid costly downtime.

• Ultra-low latency: Our benchmarks show average round-trip times of extremely low  milliseconds in North America and Europe.

• 191 million IPs in 195+ countries: You’ll always find fresh addresses for any region or niche market.

• One unified API:You can switch between residential, mobile, and ISP SOCKS5 endpoints with a single code snippet.

Here’s a Python example to get you started with SOAX’s SOCKS5 endpoints:

import requests

proxies = {
    "http": "socks5h://your_user:your_pass@proxy.soax.com:22554",
    "https": "socks5h://your_user:your_pass@proxy.soax.com:22554"
}

response = requests.get("http://example.com", proxies=proxies)
print(response.status_code, response.text[:200])

This script sends your HTTP request through SOAX’s SOCKS5 tunnel and prints the first 200 characters of the response. (Replace your_user and your_pass with your SOAX’s user and pass keys).

Best six SOCKS5 proxy providers in 2025

Below, we examine each provider to help you understand its strengths, use cases, and potential trade-offs.

#1 SOCKS5 proxy provider: SOAX

SOAX leads the SOCKS5 proxy market due to our unmatched performance and ethical sourcing. 

Reliable SOCKS5 connectivity

SOAX operates hundreds of proxy servers worldwide, optimized for low latency and high availability. Our network uses smart routing and automatic failover, ensuring your connections remain active even if a server goes down. Independent benchmarks show average round-trip times under 345 ms in North America and Europe.

Here's a chart that shows our latency improvements after our latest infrastructure upgrade:

Ethically sourced residential and mobile IPs

If you’re looking for the best residential SOCKS5 proxy pool, look no further. We build our IP pool through user-consented software and transparent agreements. That means you scrape with real home and mobile addresses, which sites trust more than datacenter IPs. You avoid legal risks and reduce block rates, giving you more successful requests. 

Massive, diverse proxy pool

Access over 191 million IPs across 195+ countries, with filters down to city, region, or even ISP level. Whether you’re doing localized price comparisons, geo-specific SEO checks, or breaking into restricted content, you’ll always find fresh IPs where you need them with SOAX.

Here's a chart of our unique IPs per second:

Ultra-high throughput and low jitter

Each of our SOCKS5 ports handles up to 20 Gbps, allowing you to run thousands of concurrent threads. SOAX’s optimized infrastructure keeps jitter below 5 ms, ensuring stable speeds during peak loads.

Unified API for all IP types

With a single code snippet, you can switch between residential, mobile, and ISP proxies. You don’t need to manage separate endpoints or URLs with SOAX; just adjust your API flags to change IP sources on the fly.

Advanced rotation and targeting options

Choose per-request rotation for maximum anonymity, or use sticky sessions lasting up to 24 hours for stateful tasks, such as multi-page logins. Use ASN, city, region, or country flags in API calls to fine-tune your routing.

Pricing model

SOAX offers flexible billing to match your workflow. You can provision SOCKS5 ports starting at $90 per port per month, with unlimited bandwidth, or opt for pay-as-you-go usage at $4 per GB, offering volume discounts for high-volume customers.

#2 SOCKS5 proxy provider: Oxylabs

Oxylabs serves enterprise needs with a vast network and dedicated features that promise reliability at scale.

Enterprise-grade IP pool and targeting

You can access over 100 million IPs scattered across residential, datacenter, and ISP pools in 180+ countries. You can also use fine-grained filters, such as city, region, carrier, or ASN, to capture the exact data you need.

Dedicated UDP tunnels for CAPTCHAs and streaming

Oxylabs offers specialized UDP tunnels optimized for headless browsers, audio CAPTCHAs, and real-time data streams. When handling non-HTTP traffic, you won’t lose packets or break sessions.

Custom rotation and security controls

You can set IP rotation intervals by the minute or hour and lock down access via IP allowlists or API key restrictions. That way you have full governance over who can spin up endpoints and when they can be created.

Developer-friendly SDKs and docs

Their SDKs– available in Python, Node.js, Go, Java, PHP, and more– let you automate endpoint provisioning, monitor usage, and integrate proxies into complex pipelines in under ten minutes.

Pricing model

Oxylabs charges per gigabyte of traffic, with volume discounts starting at 1 TB. Enterprise plans include custom Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and dedicated account management.

#3 SOCKS5 proxy provider: Decodo (formerly Smartproxy)

Decodo (formerly Smartproxy) focuses on ease of use and flexible proxy pools, making SOCKS5 accessible for all teams.

Intuitive dashboard and API

With a few clicks, you can create new ports, view live session metrics, and download proxy lists. Their REST API mirrors dashboard features so you can script provisioning and rotation without UI interaction.

Hybrid residential and datacenter network

Smartproxy lets you combine 40 million rotating residential IPs with 1 million static datacenter IPs. Based on your task, you choose stealth or speed, all through a unified SOCKS5 endpoint.

Thread and burst control

You can assign concurrent thread limits per port and schedule automatic burst boosts during peak scraping hours. You’ll maintain stable throughput without manual tweaks.

Authentication

Authenticate via username/password or lock endpoints to specific IPs with allow listing. This allows you to rotate credentials programmatically through the API to invalidate old sessions instantly.

Pricing model

Smartproxy uses per-port billing, starting at $3.0/GB with unlimited traffic. Discounts apply when you scale above 10 ports.

#4 SOCKS5 proxy provider: Bright Data

Bright Data combines extensive coverage with advanced pricing and support for mission-critical operations.

Global IP coverage and diversity

Access 72 million IPs in 195+ countries, spanning all residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxy types. Their geo-targeting extends to city and AS-level filters.

Dynamic, real-time pricing

Bright Data’s rates shift based on network supply and demand. Run large scrapes during off-peak hours to lower your cost per gigabyte. Their dashboard shows live price trends so you can plan accordingly.

Enterprise SLAs and premium support

They also provide 99.9% uptime guarantees backed by credits, plus 24/7 support, dedicated account managers, and white-glove onboarding for complex projects.

Integration options

Use their REST API, mobile SDKs, or browser extensions. Built-in plugins for Selenium, Puppeteer, and Scrapy simplify setting up common scraping frameworks.

Pricing model

Pay per gigabyte, with volume tiers starting at 1 TB. Custom enterprise pricing is available for petabyte-scale needs.

#5 SOCKS5 proxy provider: Webshare

If you need a cost-effective SOCKS5 solution for light to medium tasks, Webshare delivers dependable performance at a budget-friendly price.

Affordable, pay-as-you-go proxy access

Webshare lets you buy individual SOCKS5 proxies starting at $2.80/GB, with volume discounts as you scale. You don’t pay for unused bandwidth or long-term contracts, which is ideal for testing, small scrapes, or occasional Geo-targeted checks.

Datacenter-based SOCKS5 endpoints

While Webshare uses datacenter IPs rather than residential addresses, its network offers consistent speeds (1–3 Gbps) and 99.9% uptime. You gain access to over 500,000 IPs in 30+ countries, enabling you to rotate proxies and circumvent simple IP bans.

Simple authentication and management

You authenticate with username/password pairs or IP whitelisting. Their clean dashboard lets you generate new proxy credentials, filter by country or subnet, and download lists in seconds. Webshare also provides a REST API for dynamic rotation and integration with your code.

Best use cases and limitations

Webshare is perfect for single-page scrapes, automating low-volume tasks, or handling multiple small accounts. However, you may hit limits if you need advanced geo-targeting, UDP support, or high-volume throughput. Webshare focuses on simplicity and affordability rather than enterprise-grade features.

#6 SOCKS5 proxy provider: IPRoyal

IPRoyal offers budget-friendly plans and versatile proxy options that scale with your needs.

Cost-effective subscription and credit plans

With IPRoyal, you can choose between monthly subscriptions or pay-as-you-go credits starting at $2.76GB for 10 GB. There are no hidden fees, and you can scale up or down based on traffic.

Wide range of IP types

You can access residential, datacenter, and mobile SOCKS5 proxies from a single endpoint. You can switch IP pools via API flags without reconfiguring your client.

Scalable throughput

Each port supports up to 7 Gbps, and you can add unlimited ports to handle thousands of concurrent threads. Their global network covers 70+ countries.

Simple integration support

Authenticate with username/password or tokens. Use their REST API to spin up endpoints or rotate credentials in real time. Their 24/7 support also helps you troubleshoot quickly.

Best SOCKS5 proxy providers comparison summary

Ethically sourced SOCKS5 proxies from SOAX

Picking the best SOCKS5 proxy service comes down to matching features with your project needs. You should weigh:

• Session control: Do you need per-request or sticky ports?

• Concurrency: How many threads and what bandwidth do you need per port?

• Geo-targeting: Which regions or cities matter most?

• Ethical sourcing: Are IPs user-consented and compliant?

• Pricing: Does per-GB or per-port fit your budget?

As of 2025, SOAX is currently the best SOCKS5 proxy provider, with our massive, ethically sourced pool, a unified SOCKS5 API, ultra-low latency, and flexible rotation. When you need reliable, high-performance tunnels for scraping, security, or AI data pipelines, start with SOAX SOCKS5 proxies.

Looking for the best SOCKS5 proxy provider? Start a SOAX trial.