Are you searching for a free proxy list but stumbled on a few comments online against using them? Well, they were right. Let’s discuss why you shouldn’t use free proxies and what alternatives you have.
Why Should You Never Use Free Proxies?
There’s No Such Thing As a Free Lunch
Setting up and maintaining proxies cost money, so why should they come for free, without any return? Someone is getting something out of it, and more often than not, it will be at your expense.
The Risks of a Free Proxy Server
First of all, Information Leaks. It is a known fact that free proxies come with various downsides, including but not limited to unclear origins and the difficulty of knowing who is between you and the web. You might think the proxy server is safe, and it will only make your connection secure. But a lot of the time, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Figure out what you need! Some of the possible uses are for personal use, bypassing geographic content restrictions, running safe web searches, or ticket buying. One of these may be a good fit for your business, too, like with sneaker copping on social media accounts.
For example, most free proxy servers don’t allow connecting via HTTPS, which means that your connection won’t be encrypted. So, those free proxies can cost you an arm and a leg because Your usernames and passwords can get compromised; Your bank login or your credit card information can get stolen; All your actions on websites can become visible to 3rd parties; Hackers can monitor your connection and gather sensitive data.
But it’s not all. If you use free proxies, their owner can inject 3rd party data into websites you visit, both to HTML and Javascript code. Therefore, you’ll get slower loading times, and malicious ads may show up where there shouldn’t be any. This can happen even with websites you trust and have visited many times before without proxies.
They’re Slow and Unstable
If cybersecurity risks don’t convince you to stay away from free proxies lists, maybe a more practical reason will: They’re slow and unstable. If you’re searching for proxies, you need them to work, right?
Let’s say you’re copping sneakers, and time and time again, you can’t seem to win any drops. Wouldn’t it be frustrating to waste your time and money that you invested into other expensive gear, to come out empty-handed just because of poorly maintained free proxies? Maybe you’re not copping sneakers, but I’m sure you have something that annoys you when using proxies.
What Are the Alternatives?
A free VPN? No! It’s the same as free proxies: the provider will mine your data or even turn your own device into a proxy. The best thing would be to choose a trustworthy proxy service provider & do your own research. There are tons of reviews you can read or watch.
For example, Smartproxy, one of the best providers we have reviewed, has a micro plan, where a month of unlimited IPs costs $75. It’s better to be safe than sorry – opt for someone with a great reputation and glowing reviews from their users. Our favorite places to look that up are Trustpilot, Quora, and Reddit communities.
Source: Security Feed