If you work with proxies, you probably have them from more than one provider, in more than one format, tracked in a spreadsheet that's been lying to you since last Tuesday. Every provider has a dashboard, and every dashboard says their proxies are great. ProxyLister is a vendor-neutral ProxyOps platform: you bring proxies from whoever you buy them from, and it helps you manage, check, benchmark and pool them. It never resells proxies. It's in beta, and some of the features you'd expect are still being released, which I'll be specific about.
The problem with asking the seller
The person selling you proxies is the worst possible judge of how good those proxies are. Not because they're dishonest, but because their dashboard measures what they want measured, against targets they chose.
What you actually care about is whether a proxy works against the sites that matter to you, right now, and how one provider compares to another on those same sites. That's a neutral question, and it needs a neutral tool.
I don't sell proxies. That's the whole feature.
— the line I keep coming back to
What the workspace does
The ProxyOps workspace is where your proxies live once they're out of the spreadsheet. You get them in, you check them, you compare them and you group them into pools you can use from code.
- Import proxy lists, sync from URLs or connect provider APIs
- Run health checks against the targets that matter to you
- Benchmark providers against each other
- Build rule-based Smart Pools and use them via API
From a messy list to a usable pool
How a set of proxies moves through ProxyLister.
- Bring proxies in from a list, a sync URL or a provider API.
- Health checks run against the targets you pick, not a generic test page.
- Benchmarks put providers side by side on the same targets.
- Rules decide which proxies belong in which Smart Pool.
- Your code asks the pool for a proxy through the API.
Workspace vs the public directory
| Aspect | ProxyOps workspace | Free proxy directory |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your own proxies managed in one place | A public list of live-checked free proxies |
| Who it's for | Teams and developers using paid proxies | Anyone who needs a quick free proxy |
| Features | Health checks and benchmarks and Smart Pools | Filters and exports |
| Status | Beta with a free plan | Live |
The free directory, and why it exists
Alongside the workspace there's a public directory of free proxies that are checked live, with filters and exports. Free proxies are what they are: unreliable, shared and best treated as disposable. The directory doesn't pretend otherwise. It just tells you which ones answered recently, which is more than most free lists bother with.
It's also an honest way to show what the checking engine does, in public, without asking anyone to sign up first.
Use them responsibly. A proxy directory is a tool, not a permission slip. What you do through a proxy is still your responsibility, and so are the terms of the sites you visit.
What's not finished
ProxyOps is in early access. A free plan is open and doesn't ask for a card. But I'd be lying if I said everything on the roadmap is live.
Alert delivery is still being released. You can monitor, but getting notified the way you'd want in production isn't fully there yet. Some Smart Pool features are also still on their way. Paid plan limits are being published rather than finalised, and teams or enterprise setups are handled by contact for now.
- Alerts: still being released
- Some pool features: still being released
- Paid plan limits: being published
- Teams and enterprise: by contact
How I'd try it
- Start on the free plan with some proxies you already pay for.
- Add the targets you actually care about as health check targets.
- Run a benchmark across the providers you use, on the same targets.
- Build a Smart Pool with a simple rule and call it from a script.
- Tell me what broke or what you missed.
Signs you need something like this
- You buy proxies from more than one provider
- Your proxy list lives in a spreadsheet
- You only find out a proxy is dead when a job fails
- You can't compare providers on your own targets
- You hardcode proxies instead of asking a pool
Where to find it
The workspace and the free directory are both at proxylister.com. The rest of what I build is on spicanet.net/products.
ProxyLister: proxylister.com. Originally published on spicanet.dev.
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