First of all, if you landed on this article and are just a bit unsure of what a proxy is, check out Oxylabs’ blog post on it. They definitely know what they are on about!
Now back to what you came here for. So, are you looking to buy cheap proxies?
Proxies are the intermediary between the internet and you. They work on masking your computer’s IP address to render your connections anonymously and securely. By using them, you add an extra layer to protect your actual IP address that could potentially disclose your personal information, browsing history, and much more.
There are different types of proxies. Two of the common types are:
- Datacenter Proxies: Datacenter proxies are probably the most common type of proxies out there. They mask your identity by giving you a new IP address, which makes it appear as if you’re in a different location. They’re affordable and come with tons of benefits (i.e., datacenter proxies hide your identity while surfing the web). However, these proxies are also easily detectable by web servers since your requests don’t trace back to an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
- Residential Proxies: Residential proxies are the same as residential IPs. They’re connected to a residence and provide you with a legit IP, and therefore, the requests these proxies issue, look less suspicious compared to datacenter proxies. You just need to ensure you’re buying them from a legitimate proxy service provider.
From a business perspective, the risks and costs incurred by using cheap proxies are rather high. In the long run, compared to the extra few dollars that make the price difference between a cheap and elite proxy, you might as well want to choose premium proxies to work with.
Here are the top five reasons why you should avoid cheap proxies.
Table of Contents
#1. Cheap Proxies Are Not Premium Proxies
Cheap proxies cost less for a good reason: their infrastructure is on a low-cost side.
On top of that, if you’re not using high anonymity proxies, you further risk disclosing your real IP address. In fact, if some users set their proxies to work on a program installed on a VPS and aren’t bothered about disclosing the IP of the VPS, even that can cause issues if you’re automating social media accounts using these cheap proxies.
Therefore, by disclosing the genuine IP behind the behaviors of multiple social media accounts, the odds of getting them banned, as well as the IPs blocked are extremely high.
#2. An “Unreliable Provider”
If you browse any hacking or marketing forum, you’ll see tons of threads accusing some proxy providers of providing unreliable services.
The price of a proxy doesn’t reflect a provider’s reliability, and that is true. But if you notice closely enough, you’ll see that cheap proxies are often advertised at incredibly low prices. This fake/false advertising causes a problem for the entire industry.
For providers offering low prices, we must say that if it sounds too good to be true, then it might not be true at all. You should always consider a provider’s history and look for online reviews as the quality of a proxy provider is reflected in their services. Simple Trustpilot check to hear what people have to say about different proxy service providers will do.
#3. Flagged IP Addresses
Cheap private proxies tend to re-use their IPs, and therefore, buying cheap proxies from a provider will get you flagged IPs.
A big issue with flagged IPs is that they will limit the domains and/or platforms where you could connect with your proxies. On top of that, a flagged IP is entirely restricted to specific web platforms and websites. Therefore, you wouldn’t be able to connect.
On several other platforms, cheap proxies might trigger captcha verification due to having flagged IPs, making it impossible to automate some tasks using these proxies. Thus, buying cheap proxies really might be not a wise decision.
#4. Small IP Pool
This is yet another significant issue encountered when using low-priced proxies. To keep the costs low, providers look for the cheapest data center packages, thereby limiting the number of locations, servers, and IP pools.
This will be a problem if you plan to scale up in your operations. Simply, the lack of IPs that you can work with might limit you. What’s more, you could end up getting IPs that you’ve previously used, rather than fresh IPs for your proxy package.
#5. Poor Connectivity & Uptime
As we’ve already mentioned, when something is too good to be true, you know there’s some “fishy” stuff going on. Some proxy providers can sell cheap proxies because the locations of their servers are in old datacenters with outdated infrastructure.
This can lead to inferior connectivity due to bloated connections and lagging servers. If you’re running a business, choosing elite proxies over cheap proxies will help you in the long run.
A proxy server with old infrastructure will also provide terrible uptime, making it nearly impossible for your project to develop. There’s no point in having a cheap proxy if it’s down 24/7. Thus, consider checking a proxy’s connectivity and uptime before implementing it in your business project.
Wrapping Up
While we aren’t trying to discourage the use of cheap proxies, we simply want to raise awareness of the issues one might face choosing cheap proxies over elite proxies, especially if they’re a business person.
Proxies, if used in the wrong way, could cost your business a lot. Thus, always consider the key factors, and don’t assume cheap proxies are better just because you can save a few bucks.