So, now you are the owner of a set of premium private proxies! What’s next? Of course, in most cases you already know how you will use the IPs, but still we would like to share with you some insights on the software products that will increase the efficiency of using proxies in your daily life.
Why Use Proxy Client Programs?
Simply put, you need the proxy clients for managing the proxies that you already have. You can engage them on ‘as needed’ basis and, using a friendly interface, you can create your own rules for turning on and off the servers in your pool, or even rotate the IPs without a special rotating mechanism.
Most of such client programs do not have or even promote proxies, so you will be responsible for selecting the right IPs before you even use such tools. To make your life easier, you can get datacenter proxies or residential proxies from a reliable provider to avoid any problems that may not even be connected with the apps.
Best Proxy Client Programs
Since the users of our proxies often want to have the best tools in their arsenal, we would like to publish some of our best picks when it comes to proxy client programs and apps. So, here is our list of top software to use with proxies.
1. Proxifier
Proxifier is one of those apps that you absolutely cannot avoid if you ever use paid proxies. And deservingly so! It supports multiple proxy protocols (HTTP, SOCKS4 and 5, and HTTPS), with Proxifier you can specify apps on your machine that will be used with the proxy and the ones that won’t, and you can make chains of proxies for traffic routing optimization.
Proxifier can be super useful in large networks. You can configure a proxy service for forward connections and manage it remotely from a single point. The app also doubles as a VPN (or its alternative) when used selectively for some apps and target websites.
Finally, we can note a user-friendly interface for the app and a portable version for running Proxifier from a USB drive without installing it. And, all popular operating systems are supported here (MacOS, Linux and Windows).
2. WinGate
WinGate is a big player in the corporate proxy management arena among other proxy managers in the lists. It was made with enterprise clients in mind for monitoring networks and network resources. But yes, you can use it for single machine connections as well.
You have a Proxy Manager in WinGate that functions as a gateway for enhanced security features. It can be used for preventing and detecting intrusions and malicious attacks from the outside as well as from the inside of the network.
The app supports all the protocols that are relevant to proxy servers and their operation including HTTP(S), SMTP, POP3 and more.
3. FoxyProxy Basic
FoxyProxy Basic comes from another league of proxy clients. It is available only as an extension for Chrome or Firefox. That makes it a handy tool online from inside the browsers.
The beauty of the tool lies in its simplicity. You can easily toggle your proxy settings by pressing the toolbar icon and all other options will be available if you select it from the same dropdown menu.
The extended functions of the tool allow you to monitor the proxy use on an application by application basis. This way you can assign certain proxy servers to the apps of your choice.
4. ProxyCap
With ProxyCap client you can easily set up proxies and fine-tune the rules for engaging such servers for all parts of your network regardless of its size. It works in a very elegant way: you simply assign proxies to the applications that require them and define the engagement scenarios for such IPs.
ProxyCap offers a very simple and easy-to-use interface that you can navigate quite intuitively while creating the use scenarios for your IPs.
It supports all popular proxy protocols (SOCKS5 and HTTP(S)) and features an internal proxy checker for verifying the validity of your paid servers.
5. Proxy Switcher
With Proxy Switcher you have the functionality of changing your proxy settings almost instantaneously. This tool is compatible with a whole selection of popular modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Explorer.
You have both a Lite and a Pro versions of the tool. With the free version you can have a set of features for managing proxies, including the servers requiring authorization. And the Pro version could give you more functionality for geolocation of the IPs.
6. Proxy SwitchyOmega
Well, Proxy SwitchyOmega is popular! Yes, it is super popular with over two million installations as a Chrome extension alone. The Firefox extension is available as well, but it is still being tested.
With this tool managing proxies is extremely convenient and easy. You can have a range of proxy configurations saved in SwitchyOmega to change the settings in the browser.
Another great feature of Proxy SwitchyOmega is the automatic proxy activation for select apps and programs. In fact, there are so many ways you can use the app for programming the tool with macro commands related to proxies that we have posted a detailed article on the use of Proxy SwitchyOmega with recommendations on the use of static residential proxies and other types of servers with it.
7. Proxy Switcher and Manager
You can get a good idea about the functionality of Proxy Switcher and Manager right from the name. It is yet another solid proxy management extension that lets you create profiles (and that’s what makes it unique) or accounts for storing various sets of proxies. You can switch between the profiles at any time to activate them.
What’s more, you can export and import the profiles to make them usable on other machines. It’s a very useful function if you want to continue using the same IPs from a different device.
The extension is also available for Firefox and Edge. And all the popular types of proxies are supported.
8. MM3 Proxy Switch
With MM3 Proxy Switch you can get a lovely tool for managing your proxy from a variety of browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge and even Vivaldi). This extension works as a usual proxy manager, where you add a set of private proxies into it, including the credentials and authentication data, and activate them on as needed basis with a click of OK.
All the configurations are made available for editing, and you can alter the proxies for specific device configurations. All the apps’ settings are well-documented on the web site of the software in a variety of european languages.
9. Redsocks
Redsocks was developed by the open-source developers and for the proxy users under Linux. If you are running Ubuntu, Debian or some other Linux distribution, you can benefit from the features of Redsocks to manage proxies on your machine.
The app supports both HTTP and SOCKS proxies and it can work on the system level. You can couple this tool with Tor for extra protection of your forward connections.
10. OpenText Socks Client
Opentext provides a special Socks client tool for managing proxies. It is a Windows-based app that you can use for SOCKS and HTTP proxies for balancing the load on your neworks and to prevent any attacks on your system (or LAN).
It is a paid tool, so make sure you ask for a trial before committing the funds here. On the plus side, you will have most types of the proxies supported by the manager (both IPv4 and IPv6 types of addresses).
11. WinDivert
WinDivert is a free-to-use tool to put your traffic through a proxy of choice. It is a very powerful and popular app that you can use for choosing network settings related to all sorts of proxy servers.
You also have an API here for high-level language applications. The app is available via the GitHub repository for all those users who want to give it a shot!
12. FreeCap
FreeCap is free! Which is a great thing about a tool that can be helpful for proper tunneling of traffic and proxy management. All types of proxies are supported here, including HTTP and SOCKS. The main limitation of the app is that it is Windows software only.
One of the best features of FreeCap is its intuitive interface. So, if you really enjoy using the app, it might be a good thing to reward the developers with a donation.
13. Proximac
As the name suggests Proximac is a proxy management tool that was developed exclusively for MacOS users. It is used as a free alternative for Proxifier, that is a paid proxy client. The app supports only one type of proxies – SOCKS5.
That is a good alternative to having a VPN. The project is a freeware and more developers are welcome to join the project.
14. CCProxy
CCProxy is a slightly different tool in this list. It can let you build your own proxy server and use it inside your network for outgoing connections.
This app is, of course, something that is useful for a sysadmin with a network requiring an Internet connection that should be established only through a proxy. This software tool is old enough to have proven its efficiency. It is used inside thousands of LANs that benefit from the simplicity and flexibility of it.
Best Proxies For Proxy Client Programs
All of the top proxy clients that we have selected and described above need a good set of proxies to be managed by such programs.
We at PrivateProxy go an extra mile in providing our clients with the premium proxy servers that can solve your network and business needs when coupled with the clients from the list. You can find a set of residential or datacenter IPs suitable for scraping, geo-specific online missions or gaming in our vast pools of proxies. We can recommend and supply to you datacenter rotating proxies for fast e-commerce data extraction operations or extra reliable residential proxies for copping sneakers online.
In all your proxy activities our team of account managers will be just a click away to assist you in setting up and using your IPs. You think of the information you need for your business decisions, and we will make sure you will have hasslefree access to it online.
Conclusion
All the proxy management tools are so popular because proxy servers generally require some time for setting up and using. Automating these processes becomes a very useful function. So, if your daily network routines involve using or controlling proxy servers, you will greatly benefit from this best software to use with proxies compiled in one list above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please read our Documentation if you have questions that are not listed below.
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What is a proxy management client?
It is a software tool or an app that helps you with managing proxies. It can be used in automating certain proxy use and traffic tunneling scenarios for some parts of the network equipment, or for some apps within one machine. Sometimes such a client can be a browser-based extension.
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How did you decide what proxy clients should appear in your top list?
Our list is based on the opinions of our proxy customers, who use the suggested clients on a daily basis. We have summed up their experience and feedback on the most popular and useful tools mentioned by them to compile our list of top proxy management clients.
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How can I benefit from the use of a proxy manager?
With a proxy manager you can optimize and automate the use of proxies by your machine or network. You can also turn off and on proxies on as needed basis without going through a lengthy setup process on your system.
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Guide: Web Scraping With Node.JS
JavaScript holds the position as an extremely popular language for work with web environments. Constant improvements and later release of the Node.js increased the popularity even more. JavaScript became an essential tool for lots of different work scenarios and environments, because of the ability to be used both in web and mobile applications. In this article, we will look at JavaScript and Node.js peculiarities and discuss how to perform web scraping using Node js with projects from scratch.
Why Should You Use Node.JS for Web Scraping?
In recent years, Node.js proved its worth as the lightweight and strong tool for data harvesting. Popularity of the platform is related to multitasking and ability to operate a number of different tasks for scraping with Node js simultaneously.
More than this, Node.js is a widely used instrument that can boast a big number of users that support it with addons and other tools. Node.js became so noticeable due to the main feature of implementing JavaScript on the side of the server. This technology can give you the main advantage of using the full potential and resources of the system. But on the other hand, you will lose the ability to store cookies or work in the browsers’ windows. For better experience in web scraping with Node js you can use a rich set of functions. For example, you can open connections for networks or even read and write data on your storage.
To put it simply, Node.js is a server-side instrument that can provide both JavaScript engine advantages and freedom needed for implementation. Node.js can be used on different platforms, which is especially important when working with parsing and scraping tasks. Other important points of Node.js for data harvesting include support of HTTP calls and high potential for scalability. Plus, it's fairly simple to learn the basics of this tool, due to the JavaScript base. Also, you can power up your project with datacenter proxies. This way you can collect data from different websites without unnecessary problems.
Web Scraping With Frontend JavaScript
In case of data harvesting tasks, frontend Java is rarely a comfortable to use solution. Primarily, due to the fact that you are forced to run JavaScript in your browser environment directly. Operations of this kind can’t be performed programmatically.
There would be even more problems in tasks that require collecting information from different pages. Troubles of this kind can be solved with the AJAX approach. Plus, you should remember that you can't combine data collection from pages that are located in different domains.
In simple terms that means, when you are harvesting data from a page on Wikipedia, your JavaScript solution can scrape data from a site in the Wikipedia domain. This limits your possibilities even more, and in some cases can be critical.
However, all these troubles can be overcome with the help of Node.js. With this tool, your JavaScript can be implemented on the server, avoiding all the problems we discussed before. Also, you can use private proxy solutions, to access restricted sites or avoid blocks while scraping.
JavaScript Web Scraping Libraries for Node.js
Most of the Node.js data harvesting projects can be improved and powered up by several popular libraries that we will discuss further. First, you can try scraping with Node js and Puppeteer library and get the needed API for headless control in Chromium. Web scraping with Node js and Puppeteer can be useful for any projects that involve testing, web crawling and even rendering.
Alternatively, you can look at the web scraping with Node js and Cheerio option for comfortable and fast work with the server side of the project. Or look at the extension called JSDOM, that can provide you with a DOM environment for Node.js This way you can create your own DOM programs and further organize them with API that you already have.
Another useful library that can help you perform web scraping with Node js and requests to HTTP, called Axios. With this extension, you can work with HTTP clients both in browser and in Node.js. Alternatively, you can bring your attention to Selenium. This library provides support for multiple languages at the same time, which can help in case of automated testing. Data harvesting tasks in this library can be solved with help of headless browser utilization. Also, you can consider using static residential proxies to get fast access to any needed site.
The last library that we will look at is called Playwright. This extension has support for scripts for running tests and other useful features. For example, you can start using the browser as the tool with a prescribed set of actions. In a headless browser option, Playwright can be used as the instrument for web scraping in Node js with dynamic website.
Building a Web Scraper in Node.js
To start a project for data collection in Node.js, you should create an environment for further work. Install Node.js and add all the packages that might be needed for your scraping tasks. Almost all the extensions that we discussed before can be installed through the npm install commands. You can also use headers in web scraping for the best results over long periods of time.
Now you can begin with opening a new directory for your program. After this, locate the prompt and create a new file there for your harvesting code. Then, you can start processing HTTP calls for data that you are interested in. Node.js has ready-made solutions for these tasks, so you better use Axios or requests approach to start data collection. DevTools option of your browser can help to look at the page code more attentively and decide what tools and extensions are better to use for parsing. You can find it through the “Inspect” menu of your browser.
With all the wanted code on hand, you can start collecting data through the extensions like JSDOM or Cheerio. This will give you the ability to fetch collected HTML code and parse it further. All the collected information later can be saved in the JSON format file. A document of this type is especially comfortable to use in JavaScript tasks, due to the ability to use API for data retrieval.
You can build a new JavaScript object and convert all the wanted data that you extract from this file into a JSON. This will be your last step in the data collecting tutorial for Node.js. For the even more smooth experience in scraping tasks, you can consider using datacenter rotating proxies for best performance over long periods of time.
Conclusion
In this article, we covered all the main topics about Node.js theory and implementation. Frontend JavaScript is lacking several main features that come as essential for data harvesting projects. At the same time, Node.js can provide all needed tools for comfortable work on scraping with Java Script. Big variety of libraries and abilities for customization also make Node.js a more suitable and popular tool for data collection.With all this knowledge behind, you can choose the right library and build your own project to perform web scraping with Ruby or Node.js from scratch. For best experience in all of your further data harvesting, consider using a set of residential proxies. This way you can access any site and page you want regardless of whether it is blocked or not. This type of connection can also be a perfect solution as a proxy for scraping software.
Daniel Tarasov 2023/09/28
Private proxy solutions can easily make any of your online tasks more secure and private. Proxy can have different types of protocols and in this article we will look deeper at SOCKS5 and discuss how to test SOCKS5 proxy in different scenarios.