Proxy Scraper Explained: Top Tools for Efficient Proxy Scraping

A proxy scraper is a tool or a script that collects, validates, and manages proxies from online sources, mostly free or public proxy lists.

Proxies are used for anonymous browsing or handle large-scale requests like web scraping and data gathering. If you’re on a budget then a proxy scraper can be a great way to get access to proxies without having to pay for them.

The proxies gathered using a proxy scraper allow you to mask your original IP address using rotating proxies to avoid detection and prevent bans. However, there’s a catch: the proxies need to be active and ethically sourced to maintain steady performance across web scraping and data-gathering activities.

Through this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about proxy scrapers to better understand and use them in your web-scraping operations.

Proxy Scraper Comparison

Proxy Scraper Functionality

First, proxy scrapers will crawl and search for specific publicly available proxies from online sources or databases to collect available proxy IP addresses.

The collected proxy IP addresses are then tested to ensure they are active, and meet the user's needs to handle large-scale requests.

The proxies are then gathered and filtered based on preferences. These usually include parameters like geographic location, protocol type (HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5), or latency.

Our aggregated analysis shows most well-functioning proxy scrapers on the market maintain an updated list of valid proxies by frequently refreshing and re-checking IP addresses to ensure any that may have become inactive are automatically removed.

Additional capabilities like APIs and database integrations are also great for web scraping and data gathering operations and are often found in the best proxy scrapers.

New to web scraping? Know the fundamentals with our detailed guide on web scraping.

What Is a Proxy List?

A proxy list is a collection of information on each proxy that a proxy scraper gathers from various sources. If you analyze a typical proxy list, you can find information such as port, protocol and authorization details alongside additional information like latency, uptime, and geolocation.

While most information comes in handy when selecting a proxy of your choice, it is important to pay attention to the protocol types (HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5, etc.) before using them.

Privacy and Security Considerations

Proxy scrapers are useful as they take care of the hassle and cost of purchasing or finding proxies. However, as a user, you need to be aware of privacy and security risks associated with them.

A proxy scraper's main goal is to gather and provide proxies, but when they are gathered from free proxy sources on the internet you risk exposing yourself to poorly configured or malicious servers which compromise your cybersecurity and anonymity.

The reason for this is that most free proxies lack proper encryption and some can be honeypots set up by hackers so they can easily log your data and activity.

Analysis also shows that free proxies are often overused and substantially less performant than their paid alternatives. The IPs your proxy scraper collects from a free proxy server are often flagged and banned by websites as a result of this overuse making them perform poorly when web-scraping.

Ethical and Legal Considerations

It's also important that you use proxy scrapers with care, ensuring the data sources it collects proxies from are publicly accessible and permit the use of their proxies since routing traffic through unauthorized servers can lead to legal consequences, including violations of privacy laws or terms of service agreements.

Want to know more about ethical proxy sourcing? Check out our guide that highlights the importance of ethical proxy sourcing.

Best Proxy Scraping Tools

No we know the basic idea of proxy scraping – what it is and its functionality and risk associated with improper use of proxy scraping tools, it is important to pick the best proxy scraping tools.

The Ping Proxies have gathered the best tools for proxy scraping based on our research and past experience.

ProxyScrape

ProxyScrape is known for its Web Scraping API and proxy provider which offers some free proxies to customers.

It offers customers HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS 5 but their latency and quality is questionable.

The proxy lists are transparent and include all the crucial information needed for easy selection.

Open Proxy Space

Open Proxy Space stands out with its anonymous proxies which also offer TLS support.

All proxies that Open Proxy Space scape are frequently updated in its database, so you’re never left with expired proxies. You also get free proxies, and as expected, the latency is poor but can be handy for basic browsing.

Open Proxy Space API is flexible with integration and export. The best part is you get free tools like a Proxy Checker, Proxy Generator, and Proxy Filter, making proxy management more efficient.

GatherProxy

GatherProxy keeps it simple with its lightweight and effective tool, which can be used to discover free public proxies from around the world. The best part of it is that you don’t have to go through a setup and access high-speed proxy servers.

It offers a vast proxy pool of free HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, and SOCKS5 proxies. With its API, you can integrate proxies into your workflow or other software.

While most GatherProxy offerings are free and perform well, the paid proxies take a leap in terms of performance, privacy, and security while remaining affordable.

Proxy Scraper Checker

Proxy Scraper Checker is a basic command-line tool and a traditional proxy scraper. While you might have to struggle initially with the commands, you can use it to scrape and check available proxies from the checkerproxy.net proxies archive.

The best part of the Proxy Scraper Checker is it separates the active HTTP and SOCKS proxies into a text file. Plus, it is compatible with Shell, Docker, and Rust Package Registry, allowing you to use it in the desired environment without restrictions.

GSA Proxy Scraper

GSA Proxy Scraper offers an internal proxy server and lets you add the IP/IP Port to the other programs. It stands out with its Port Scanner, which helps you find hidden, high-quality proxies that are less likely to be publicly listed but you need to bear in mind that you must get permission from server owners prior to using proxies.

The tool is on the technical side, and you get advanced features like automated proxy scraping and testing, URL Metrics Scanner, and Search Engine Parser. On top of all, you get export options and filter unwanted proxies, enhancing usability.

GSA Proxy Scraper comes with a perpetual license, but you might struggle to get used to the interface. It feels legacy, less intuitive, and leaning is involved.

Proxybroker

Proxybroker is yet another conventional proxy scraper tool, but it is built on Python. It is known for its flexibility, which lets you check proxies and their type and level of anonymity. Plus, you can scrape for proxies based on HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, and SOCSK5 protocols.

It looks for free public proxy lists daily and allows the flexibility to add custom sources like websites or raw data. You don’t have to worry about expired or duplicate proxies, as it removes them before presenting a proxy list.

It can be used seamlessly on Windows and MacOS. However, look out for problems associated with compiling dependencies, which can be avoided by using the latest stable Python release and updated tools.

Conclusion

Proxy Scraper is a reliable tool that helps you get free proxies. As a user, you need to be cautious and make sure that proxy scraping is done ethically and from reputed sources, and even if you follow this advice, you’ll likely still end up with relatively poor quality proxies when compared to paid alternatives.

Explore the massive collection of ethically sourced datacenters and residential proxies at Ping Proxies. All proxies are verified and ready for data gathering, so you don’t have to worry about bans, rate limits, or your privacy and security when using them.