Online anonymity is not just convenience, but a real necessity. Without anonymity, IP address, browsing history of various websites, user location, and other equally important data become accessible and can be easily tracked. Additionally, some websites remain blocked in certain regions and countries, and with anonymity, you can access information without restrictions.
Today, proxy servers are called one of the main tools of anonymity, among which Oxylabs and Proxy-Man stand out. However, it’s worth figuring out which of them deserves the title of best proxy provider.
What are Proxy Servers?
A proxy server is an “intermediary” through which an internet request from a specific user, sent to a selected website, passes. As a result, the following happens: instead of the computer directly sending a user request, the proxy does it, and the user receives a response from the website through the proxy server.
ℹ️ The entire process looks like this: User → Proxy Server → Website → Proxy Server → User.
Proxy providers offer their services for such key tasks and purposes:
- Maintaining anonymity on the Internet (protection from IP address surveillance, from tracking, data collection).
- Bypassing blocks, censorship (viewing content from blocked websites in different regions).
- Automation, parsing (eliminates the probability of blocks during mass requests).
- Protection of corporate networks (for filtering unwanted websites, controlling employee traffic).
Specific purposes of using proxy servers largely depend on the particular type of server. Today, many providers are known, but most often the following popular providers are compared with each other – Oxylabs vs. Proxy-Man.
Review of Oxylabs Proxy: Main Services and Extra Solutions
Oxylabs proxy service is a Lithuanian company that has been operating since 2015. Main specialization: providing proxy services, useful solutions for web scraping, public data collection. The company is included in the list of fast-growing European companies in its field.
The main list of offerings is providing proxy services. The company has a huge network that provides about 177 IP addresses in 195 countries worldwide.
Main Oxylabs proxy types:
- Residential – IP from regular ISPs, flexible rotation and sessions.
- Datacenter – shared and dedicated IP.
- Mobile – real mobile IP.
- ISP proxies – IP from providers.
- SOCKS5-proxies – list of universal protocols for TCP/UDP traffic.
Among additional solutions, the provider offers tools for web scraping and bypassing blocks (Scraper API, Web Unblocker and Datasets), as well as AI tools (AI Studio and OxyCopilot), with which a natural language request turns into a full-fledged parsing task.
Proxy-Man: Excellent Oxylabs Alternative
One of the main Oxylabs alternative can be called another popular proxy provider – Proxy-Man. This is a unique online platform that provides instant proxy rental services, allowing clients to choose between datacenter, residential, and mobile proxies. Such a fully automated solution provides instant activation immediately after payment, and an additional advantage is called a convenient dashboard with API access.
Main list of capabilities:
- Support for a huge number of protocols – HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5.
- Maximum flexibility of settings – choice of location, proxy type, IP volume and more.
- Intuitive interface – there is a possibility of customization through API.
The provider offers flexible rental conditions without any subscriptions and with transparent pricing policy. In addition, clients receive 24/7 support from specialists.
Oxylabs vs Proxy-Man: Comparing Proxy Providers
Choosing proxy providers is a complex task, considering the wide functionality, capabilities and services provided by the two companies. Therefore, you should use the comparative table:
| Parameter | Proxy-Man | Oxylabs |
|---|---|---|
|
Proxy types |
Mobile, Residential, Datacenter |
Residential, Datacenter, ISP, Mobile |
|
Activation |
Instant, immediately after payment |
For trial access, you need to send a request, activation via API |
|
API and automation |
Yes, full API, panel |
Yes, API, set of complex tools (Scraper API, AI Studio) |
|
Prices |
Mobile from ~$0.45/IP; residential from ~$1.30/IP |
Oxylabs pricing: Residential from ~$4/GB; mobile $9/GB; datacenter ~$1.2/IP |
|
Customer support |
Fast, flexible, accessible |
Good, but possible delays in getting a response |
|
Target audience |
Testers, marketers, medium-level scrapers |
Enterprise, web scraping professionals |
Proxy-Man vs Oxylabs Proxy: Which Provider Is Better?
Despite all the advantages of Oxylabs, Proxy-Man is called the best choice for several reasons:
- Instant activation – no delays.
- Flexible rental, transparent pricing conditions.
- Maximum convenience, simplicity in using all functionality.
- Huge assortment, geotargeting.
- 24/7 and prompt customer support, API.
When working with Proxy-Man provider, users note stability, quick resolution of any problems.
