{"id":6315,"date":"2023-10-18T14:47:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royadata.io\/blog\/?p=6315"},"modified":"2023-10-18T14:47:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:47:43","slug":"paid-proxies-free-proxies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/royadata.io\/blog\/paid-proxies-free-proxies\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Paid Proxies Really That Much Better Than Free Proxies?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Difference\n<\/picture>\n

The internet-age old question:<\/p>\n

\n

Are paid proxies better than free proxies? What do you think? What does your gut tell you? What usually happens when the same general product is available for free, and also at a cost?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Instinctually we know that there must be some value in the service to start with, or else people wouldn\u2019t use it at all. In the case of proxies, that service is anonymity in online browsing. This is a huge benefit for pretty much everyone, especially those of us who don\u2019t want to be traced by our governments and sold to by the world\u2019s corporations. Proxies<\/a> can protect us from those negative things, while also opening up hundreds of doors that lead down very di\ufb00erent paths.<\/p>\n

These paths get complicated, dark, illegal, eye-opening, and completely drenched in the technical makeup of our modern world. However, the room that you stand in at the very beginning, the one with all the doors leading out, is based on anonymity<\/a>. That\u2019s what proxies are synonymous with, and what you should care about most.<\/p>\n

\n

So, paid or free?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The reality is that, in your heart of hearts (or your brain of brains), you know that paid proxies are better. Better for anonymity, and better for everything else. They\u2019re not just better, but leaps and bounds better. I get it, you still want to know why. I\u2019ll tell you why.<\/p>\n\n

<\/span>The Basics<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re legitimately considering which of these two proxies is better, you\u2019re going to want to understand the basics of the technology. When you have a computer and pay for internet access, you send your bills to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), like Comcast or AT&T in the U.S. This ISP comes to your house and installs internet, providing you with a modem and router. You hook up to the internet via an ethernet cable or WiFi and in a matter of seconds, you\u2019re surfing the web.<\/p>\n

\"The\n<\/picture>\n

This point of internet access, the literal cable running to your house, is assigned an IP address. This is a locational number, just like a physical address. It lets everyone know where you are on an internet map. You can check your IP address easily online at sites like WhatIsMyIPAddress<\/a> . When you browse the internet, every single website you visit registers that IP address \u2014 in short, anyone can see what your address is, they just have to look.<\/p>\n

A lot of people don\u2019t like this sort of exposure. Similar to renting a P.O. box so that your actual address is not easily accessible, a proxy<\/a> is a bu\ufb00er between the internet and your IP address.<\/p>\n

This works in a couple of di\ufb00erent ways depending on the method of a proxy, but you can visualize it best with a simple diagram<\/a>. Your computer is on the right. It connects to the internet, making a request to the world. A proxy sits in the middle, it receives your request to the world.<\/p>\n

\"How

The proxy then requests the same information to the internet, which is on the far left. The internet answers the proxy\u2019s call for information and transmits it back to the proxy. The proxy then disseminates the information back to you. In normal circumstances, there would be no proxy and the request would go back and forth, exposing you.<\/p>\n