Have you ever wondered how information is being sent to your device through the internet? The first thing you have to remember is that any device that is connected to the internet has an IP Address, or Internet Protocol Address. Imagine the IP Address as a physical address – for example, if you want to view a certain website, then the server of that website will send your IP Address all of the information: the pictures to load, the layout, and all of the objects there is on the webpage, just to name a few. Without IP Addresses, communication between two devices connected to a network will be difficult, whether it’s computer to computer, computer to server or some other configuration. The system is pretty straightforward but not without its caveats.
IP Addresses and Firewalls
Your IP Address is more often than not, easy to determine by the websites that you visit. Have you ever noticed that when you visit certain sites, it would show a small flag of your location somewhere on it? Well, that’s the website tracking what your current IP Address is – and in turn, it might reveal your current location or your internet service provider. But don’t put your tin foil hats on yet and turn off your computer, there are a couple of safeguards built in. Most devices like computers, smartphones, servers and routers have firewalls installed on them. Firewalls are basically walls that stop unauthorized connections from accessing your computer in their tracks.
Firewalls are great and all, but note that they work both ways. Firewalls can stop both incoming and outgoing traffic from your computer to the internet. And it’s being utilized in schools and in offices. You might have experienced being unable to access Facebook at school or unable to access to YouTube at work and the culprit here would most likely be how your firewall is setup. Depending on how good your IT team at your location is, going past this firewall can range from child’s play to hacker level. There are a lot of simple guides out there on how to do the child’s play tricks, but if you’re stuck in a rut and none of that is working, then let’s dive in to more advanced tricks.
Proxy Sites
One of these tricks is the use of proxy sites. A Proxy site can allow you to send and receive information from different websites and servers without actually going to those sites and servers. They essentially ‘trick’ your firewall or the filters that are setup on your computer or network that you’re going to an allowed website, but you’re actually visiting to a blocked site. If you’ve ever experienced the “Page cannot be displayed” error, then proxy sites can relieve you of that error. There are a lot of benefits that result from this kind of connection.
One of the benefits of using a proxy site is it can bypass the firewall that’s setup on your computer or network; it’s fairly easy and risk free way to access content that would otherwise be unavailable to you. Another great benefit of using a proxy site is it can hide your current IP address so you don’t have to worry about being tracked, especially with websites that you’re cautious of. It can even make a website believe that you’re trying to log in from another country. If you want to open websites, pages, or apps available to only certain countries, then a proxy website might do the trick. For a practical application, some Saturday Night Live videos in YouTube are actually blocked outside of the US but if you use a proxy site for USA then you’ll be able to watch and have a laugh. A proxy can also contribute to speeding up the loading speed of the website that you’re trying to open. Depending on your internet service provider, a proxy can highly improve your internet experience, and even improve your ping or latency if you’re into competitive gaming.
And this is just scratching the topic. You might be curious about all the magic that happens behind the scenes, we’ll discuss that after this list of best proxy sites.
There are many proxy sites. Some are free, some have paid features with extra perks, and some are downright terrible and might compromise your security. So we’ve done our research and we’ve found a lot of proxy sites that are working as of the moment. Whether you’re looking for a proxy site for USA, a proxy site for Canada, or a proxy site for India, we got you covered. We’ll let you know what we think about each one so you can make an educated decision on how you’re going to surf the internet with style.
Best Proxy Sites
There is no best proxy server, each has its pros and cons but we do have our recommendations. This is in no particular order and we’ve made sure that all of them are up and active as of now. You might notice that there are some sites with a similar user interface (UI) to other websites, that’s completely normal as some proxy sites uses the same frameworkor proxy server provider but they aren’t necessarily the same. We also made sure to include not only the “instant” proxy websites, but other proxy related sites as well. Let’s dive right in.
1. Proxysite
This proxy site is pretty much your bread and butter proxy site. By bread and butter, it has all of the common proxy features with a beautiful UI that is not very confusing. It makes it easy for you to visit your favorite sites because it has quick access buttons for Facebook, Google, YouTube, as well as some commonly blocked sites such as Reddit. A notable feature is that it has multiple options for IP addresses; you can easily assume an IP address for the US and EU. Canadians rejoice because and trying to access sites from the USA or Europe, then this is a great candidate for a proxy site for Canada.
Downside: you can’t choose which location in the US or EU it will choose so you might need to refresh if you get a not so desirable IP location.
Access Proxysite here: proxysite.com
2. FilterByPass.me
One of the things that I enjoyed using FilterByPass.me is that it loaded things faster than most other proxy sites. It generally has all of the basic features and It has a specialized UI for Facebook so if you have a slow internet connection, you will still be able to access Facebook.
Downside: You to disable your ad-blocker first because you won’t be able to continue any further than the first page if it’s enabled. It also doesn’t specify what server it will connect to, not even the general location (US or EU).
Access FilterByPass.me here: filterbypass.me
3. 4everproxy
In this list, all of the websites aren’t necessarily proxy sites per se; sometimes it’s a proxy provider. 4everproxy is an example and provides the proxy service to a lot of other websites. You can say like it’s a mother proxy site. But you will still be given an updated list of active proxy sites that you can access with a click of a button.
Downside: It is not a direct proxy site but you can access other sites through here.
Access 4everproxy here: 4everproxy.com
4. Skullproxy
Skullproxy is a contender for those just looking to access sites available for all and not necessarily geo-locked websites. It has quick access links to common sites plus a great UI. If ever you’re stuck in school or at work and you’re itching to get on Facebook or you simply just wanted to Google something, then this site was definitely made for you.
Downside: Like other sites on this list, it has no server options. Additionally, we tested Facebook and it worked, but Netflix had difficulty in pulling up and eventually didn’t load up for us at all.
Access skullproxy here: skullproxy.com
5. Proxify
This website is for the proxy power user, meaning to say you really want to make sure that your tracks are always covered. We say that because you can instantly switch from location to location with a single click. Proxify also has 48 servers that you can connect to. It also has the standard fare of features, so if you’re tech savvy about how you go about your internet business, then we highly recommend this site for you. Easily, this is the perfect proxy site for USA internet users.
Downside: It’s a paid proxy service costing US$20 for the basic 48 servers and instant location switch features.
Access proxify here: proxify.com
6. Whoer.net
Of all of the sites here, Whoer.net really wowed us when it comes to options. It is very specific when it comes to servers, and when we say servers, we mean a whole trove of servers. If you’ve ever wanted to have an IP address coming from Paris, Moscow, New York or London, then this proxy site definitely takes the cake. If you don’t want to be hassled by decision making when it comes to servers, there is a random server option. And happily for us, Netflix booted up no problemo.
Downside: Each page that you visit has a big banner at the top showcasing their VPN service. It’s not exactly our idea of aesthetically pleasing.
Access Whoer.net here: whoer.net/webproxy
7. Proxfree
Proxfree is a godsend for those that want results straight away. This proxy site has a fairly large catalog of servers to choose from, which puts it at the top of our recommendations, but what really caught us here is that it actually shows you the ping to each one. If you’ve ever tried playing multiplayer games on your web browser then you know how important this is. Just select the server with the lowest ping and you know that you just selected the optimal server that fits your connection. It easily loaded sites from our location, so we can say that it’s an awesome proxy site for India and anywhere in South and Southeast Asia.
Downside: The UI could use a little bit more work and Netflix simply could not load up.
Access Proxfree here: proxfree.com
8. Netmap.su
Unlike most of the sites on this list, Netmap.su is primarily in Cyrillic text (if you know Russian, this is no problem). Not many people are willing to take a plunge with a site that is in a different language, but those brave enough to test it out will have access to proxy servers in Bulgaria, Russia, Australia and a shocker: Japan. Yes, if ever there are sites out there that are Japan specific, then this is the site to be in. You still have all of the common features, which is a great plus in our book. We highly recommend this as a proxy site for China and those near or around Russia because proximity wise, using the Russian server would theoretically be loads faster than using a server in the USA.
Downside: You might pull up your favorite websites in Cyrillic but you can easily change that by changing the server. You might have long load times if you’re accessing this site from the US.
Access Netmap.su here: netmap.su/proxy
9. Kproxy
Kproxy is a proxy server that just works. It won’t baffle you with all of the options like SSL and such from the get go, but it still does the job fine. And from what we’ve gathered through our initial testing, it surfs fast and doesn’t really need setting up. It’s great for people that just want to get onto the internet without all of the options and settings, and for someone that doesn’t necessarily need to be in a specific geo location. If you’ve chosen this website as your favorite then there is also the option of downloading their extension for easy access.
Downside: You’re in the dark as to what server you’re going to connect to. It has several options for servers but it doesn’t specifically say what the location is for that server.
Access Kproxy here: kproxy.com
10. Megaproxy
Many of the sites listed here have very elaborate user interfaces, and that’s really nice and all, but you only get to see the nice UI once on the landing page. The other 99% of the time, you’re in the website that you really want to visit. Megaproxy is smart in making sure that they focus more on what’s important rather than going all in on the UI. It works for the sites that we tried, and is excellent for those in North America looking for a proxy site for USA or a proxy site for Canada.
Downside: As I’ve said earlier, it has a very bare UI, which might not dissuade others, but nevertheless a con. It does limit your access if you visit too many sites; you have a lot of bandwidth to work with, however.
Access Megaproxy here: megaproxy.com
11. Kingsurfproxy
Kingsurfproxy is another site with a very basic UI, but don’t let that fool you – it’s as powerful as any other site on this list. One of the notable features of this site is that it doesn’t bombard you with a top banner on each website that you visit. It just simply shows you the website that you want, with no horseplay sprinkled in between. The server it connects to is in the UK.
Downside: Sometimes loads site slowly, but only for a select few.
Access Kingsurfproxy here: kingsurfproxy.com
12. Fast USA Proxy
With a user interface pulled right out of the Matrix movie, you can’t go wrong with this proxy site. It has all of the functions of other sites on this list and doesn’t rely on a flashy UI to deliver a great service. Sporting an all-black color scheme, it’s basically your gateway to the rest of the internet. And like what the movie said, there is no spoon – there are no challenges in your way with this website, plus it loads Google with ease.
Downside: The UI might be a con for some. It also doesn’t give you a list of servers to choose from.
Access FastUSAProxy here: fastusaproxy.com
13. Fishproxy
Some of the sites here sport a similar UI to others on this list. Fishproxy has similarities to kingsurfproxy but it still has its own charm. You can possibly use this as a mirror proxy site if your favorite proxy site is down.
Downside: Not much to see on the landing page, and may sometimes load select sites slowly.
Access Fishproxy here: fishproxy.com
14. Zalmos
If we can award a “Best in User Interface” to any of the sites here, Zalmos would win it. To describe how this site looks like, we would call badass. And as we said before, you only get to see the UI once and the majority of the time, you’re on the website of your choosing so Zalmos did not only get perfect marks in the UI department, it also is a challenger in the features department. You get the standard run of the mill features and then some. You have the option to choose between France and the Netherlands as you server mediator. Perfect for those looking to access the internet from Asia to Europe. A great option for a proxy site for India.
Downside: No USA option here. And you only have two EU countries to choose from.
Access Zalmos here: zalmos.com
15. Hide.me
Hide.me has not only a very smart website name, but it also offers a very good proxy site service. You have a lot of options to tweak how you’re going to access the internet; especially, made for those that are tech savvy. It’s a highly recommended site in the internet for a very good reason: it has a top-notch interface and you won’t confuse yourself with too many options before you jump into actually using the proxy service. You can choose US, German and Netherlands IP Addresses and for some, that’s more than enough options.
Downside: The website offers VPN on every screen which might be irritating to some, but some others might be willing to compromise a quarter of their screen to access their favorite website.
Access Hide.me here: hide.me
16. Zacebookpk
We haven’t really touched the rest of Asia in this list and it’s time that we address that. Saying that Zacebookpk is a good proxy site for Pakistan is an understatement. It’s a proxy site that is meant for Pakistani users. The interface is straightforward and doesn’t dilly dally, but with its simplicity lies its beauty. The standard features you can find on this site also add up to how nice it is to visit as it didn’t have any problems loading YouTube and other sites. For geo-locations that you can choose from, Zacebookpk has servers that are generally situated in France.
Downside: A downside is that there is a constant banner indicating the site at the top of the screen. For people with small screens, it can take up 33% of your screen real estate.
Access Zacebookpk here: zacebookpk.com
17. Orangeproxy
Sporting a main server in the USA, this site is great for those looking to access geo-locked websites located in the USA. Another great addition to its user interface is an array of links to common search engines like Google, Duckduckgo and Bing. We tried to access social media websites like Facebook and Twitter with much success. You’ll always be in the know with your friends if you use this proxy site.
Downside: YouTube and Netflix simply don’t work on this site. We tried.
Access 4everproxy here: 4everproxy.com
18. JustProxy.co.uk
Justproxy doesn’t excel in the UI department and it does exactly what it says on the box: it’s just a proxy. But again, don’t judge a book by its cover – it’s just as good as all of the other sites in this list with all of the standard fare of settings and tweaks. The server that it connects to is – you guessed it – the UK. We tried YouTube and loaded it up quite nicely. Jolly good if you ask me!
Downside: It asks to answer some CAPTCHA challenges for some select websites and sometimes the CAPTCHA will not load. Still, it’s able to load up the basic sites.
Access JustProxy here: justproxy.co.uk
19. Hidenseek.org
In the proxy website space, there are definitely a lot of websites that look the same. Hidenseek.org has a very similar UI to orangeproxy and has the same options when it comes to quick links. They most likely share the same framework or the same proxy provider. Even so, it works 100% for Google searches and if you’re into Wikipedia adventures, this proxy site is just fine.
Downside: Like orangeproxy, it also doesn’t load YouTube and Netflix.
Access hidenseek.org here: hidenseek.org
20. Proxy.org
Proxy.org is another one of the oddball sites because it doesn’t technically function as a proxy site but rather a list of proxies. And these proxy websites can of course be accessed just by a click of a button. Aside from the other proxies listed here, by accessing this site you can choose from 904 other available proxy sites. On a UI standpoint, it’s very clean and free of any clutter. If you’ve come to surf any website, then that’s what you’ll get.
Downside: There are some listed proxy sites that are currently down as of writing but the majority of those listed are working. You might experience going back and forth to this website if you happen to choose sites that are down.
Access proxy.org here: proxy.org
21. Hidester
If ever that you’re in China and you can’t access Facebook or your other social media sites, then Hidester is the website that you’re looking for. This website is generally made for traffic coming from China and it even says on the website that it’s China Optimized. You have options to connect to both US and EU servers. It’s a straightforward proxy site that gets rid of the hullabaloo that you have to go through with other sites like CAPTCHA challenges and gets the job done. And to reiterate, it’s probably the best English language proxy site for China.
Downside: Our only gripe is that you actually have to be in China to fully utilize this site. Based on our testing, it loaded slowly in the South/Southeast Asian region.
Access Hidester here: hidester.com
22. Xitenow
If you’re curious as to what it feels like to access the internet from Saudi Arabia, then Xitenow is your website choice. The interface is not difficult to operate and you get to your blocked website in no time. You still have all of the basic features through this website, and for the majority of our readers, those features are probably all that you’ll ever need. Xitenow is a very viable option if you’re trying to browse the internet from North America and it opened social media websites and search engines pretty flawlessly when we tried.
Downside: The only option here is Saudi Arabia and it sometimes takes a while to open websites from our location.
Access xitenow here: xitenow.com
23. NewIPNow
The developers behind NewIPNow know what’s really important for those that go to proxy sites and they definitely made sure that using their site is hassle free. On a UI standpoint, it has all of the standard buttons and textboxes that you’ve come to expect from proxy sites but it absolutely excels in the features department. It shows you the ping to each server which allows you to select the best server for your current connection. You can also easily switch IP Address locations by operating the top bar.
Downside: From the websites that we’ve tried, NewIPNow had difficulties loading the images.
Access NewIPNow here: newipnow.com
24. Websurf.in
If you’re into Wikipedia Adventures – which is basically bouncing from page to page in Wikipedia, then Websurf.in is for you, especially if Wikipedia is one of the sites that are blocked in your school or office. Websurf.in has all of the features you could ask for in a proxy site, and the settings can be easily ticked on and off with a click. A great feature with this website is that you have your quick links at the ready. We recommend this site if you want to use a proxy site for India.
Downside: The UI is average and you have to scroll down to start typing the website you want to visit. Not exactly the website that you can jump straight into the action with.
Access Websurf.in here: websurf.in
25. Anonymouse
Anonymouse is great if you want an early 2000s website vibe. Though it looks like an old website, it does allow you to access sites just as any proxy on this list. Since it is one of the older sites, some IT Teams forget to block it on the network so if you’re having trouble accessing the other sites on this list, try anonymouse and it might just work out for you.
Downside: A major gripe with anonymouse is that for secured connections, or websites that start with HTTPS like Facebook, and other social media sites, you’ll need to sign up to the VIP service.
Access Anonymouse here: anonymouse.com
26. Proxyone.net
This proxy site is easy to use and is sufficient for most of the research and entertainment that we look up on the internet. YouTube loads up with ease and proxyone.net makes sure that your viewing experience is pleasant by allowing you to play around with the quality of videos, unlike the other proxy sites that only provide basic video play back. If you’re itching to watch that YouTube video that isn’t shows you the error “The uploader has not made this video available in your country,” then open up proxyone.net and watch to your heart’s content!
Downside: The website is sometimes down, but you can refresh and come back to it at another time.
Access proxyone.net here: proxyone.net
27. dontfilter.us
Don’t filter us is another of recommendations because it can get you your website of choosing without bombarding you with too much options. It has all of the proxy site options hidden strategically so if you’re looking for additional security, you still have the options to tweak. It has the US domain so it’s plain to see that it’s a valuable proxy site for USA users.
Downside: The UI doesn’t have much to see and there’s no option to switch servers. It does take a while to load but when it does, it’s a great proxy site to use.
Access 4everproxy here: 4everproxy.com
And that rounds up our current list of proxies.
How Proxy Servers Work
The word Proxy means substitute and that is what it does. The proxy server receives your request for information, sends that request to the website server and gives it back to you. Another way to put it is to imagine the proxy site as a messenger. You send a message to the proxy site, the proxy site sends that message to the destination site, the destination site replies, goes to the proxy site, and finally back to you. With this system in place, the destination website will think that the person trying to access their website is the proxy website rather than you. So in essence, the proxy website acts as your substitute – that is, it catches all of the IP Address tracking that the destination website is doing, whether it’s for the sake of identifying the location demographics of their site traffic or using your location to provide you with an optimal advertisement. And if your local IT team blocked Facebook or YouTube, but did not block one of the many proxy websites, then you’re in luck! Just access that website and you shouldn’t be restrained any longer.
Proxy site settings
With each proxy site that you visit, there are some options that you can choose from to have a much better experience with your browsing. For those that are not really into all of that IT stuff, those options might be a bit daunting and downright confusing. But we can definitely assure you that those options can just be left forgotten and set to their defaults. But the curious, we’ll gladly explain how those options work and in what scenarios they’re best used for. But just a word of warning: Understanding all of the options does have a slight learning curve; but once you know how they work, you’ll be able to use it to your advantage to browse safely and securely. Here’s a list of the proxy site settings and a brief description of each.
- Encrypt URL – Encrypts the URL of the page that you are viewing so that it does not contain the target site in plain text. This is useful if your IT team has the ability to monitor which websites you are visiting by masking the actual site name with a string of characters and numbers. Tick this option if the settings on your computer block certain website names like facebook.com or youtube.com.
- Encrypt Page – Helps avoid filters by encrypting the page and decrypting it with Javascript once received. This setting is a workaround if the settings in your network can detect the website you’re trying to access based on the keywords on the page itself such as “social media” or “entertainment”.
- Allow Cookies – Cookies may be required on some interactive sites, such as those that require you to login. If disabled, you won’t be able to login to websites like Spotify or Twitter as it will simply return you back to the login screen. If enabled, however, your browsing habits might be tracked by advertisers.
- Remove Scripts – Protects your anonymity and speeds up page loading times. It would be best to leave it unchecked but if you do tick this option, you’ll be provided with an HTML only version of the webpage, which might negate some of the features of the website you’re trying to access.
- Remove Objects – Decreases your page load times by removing unnecessary Flash, Java and other objects from loading. If left unchecked, there is a possibility that your anonymity will be compromised, if and only if the website really is out to find out your IP Address and location. For most other cases, leave this unchecked, it’s fine.
Proxy sites have definitely proven to be a reliable resource today, especially since most of web traffic can be filtered not only by your office or school, but also by your internet service provider. Whether you’re just a casual internet user, or you’re into deep research which is just available in other countries, then a proxy site is a really good trick up your sleeve. And with all of the sites that we’ve listed here, just simply pick one and see for yourself how powerful proxy sites are in terms of guarding your security and bypassing local restrictions.
Of course some proxy sites come and go, so some of the items here might go down and we might end up adding more in their place. So don’t worry! If your favorite site is down, leave a comment below and our team of experts will look for a more awesome proxy site.
Happy safe browsing!