Editorial standards
How we test everything we rank
Every number on 5Proxy comes from a run we can describe: the same rig, the same targets, the same window, the same weights. This page is the index to those methods — and to the disclosures that explain how we stay independent.
Full method · updated quarterly
Scraping tool benchmark methodology
10,000 requests per target, three regions, twelve live sites behind Cloudflare, DataDome and PerimeterX, validated against a hand-labelled gold set.
Annual study · charts and data tables
Proxy market research 2026
Pool sizes, pricing trajectories, protocol adoption and block-rate trends across residential, mobile, ISP and datacenter networks.
Editorial policy
Compliance & scraping policy
How we treat robots.txt, rate limits and personal data during testing — and the legal framework we expect readers to work within.
Transparency
Affiliate & independence disclosure
Exactly how 5Proxy is funded, which links earn commission, and the firewall between commercial relationships and scoring.
Scoring weights
A published score is a weighted composite, not an opinion. These are the pillars and their share of the final number — identical for every provider and tool in the catalogue.
The test rig
Test rig — identical for every scraping tool we score.
| Component | Specification | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Runner | 4 vCPU / 8 GB cloud instances in Frankfurt, Ashburn and Singapore | Removes single-region bias from latency and block-rate figures. |
| Concurrency | 25 parallel workers, 200 ms jitter, exponential backoff on 429 | Mirrors a realistic production crawler instead of a burst test. |
| Volume | 10,000 requests per target, per tool, per region | Large enough for the success-rate delta between tools to be significant. |
| Targets | 12 live sites across e-commerce, travel, SERP, social and job boards | Covers Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX and plain-origin defences. |
| Window | 72 continuous hours, repeated quarterly | Captures peak-hour degradation and pool rotation behaviour. |
| Validation | Gold set of 500 hand-labelled records per target | Distinguishes a 200 OK from an actually usable payload. |
What we measure, by category
- Proxy networks
- Success rate, p95 latency, pool overlap, ASN spread and geo accuracy measured over multi-day runs against protected and plain-origin targets.
- Scraping APIs
- Cost per 1,000 successful requests including retries, payload completeness against a gold set, and error semantics under sustained load.
- Antidetect browsers
- Pixelscan, CreepJS and IPHey consistency with a matched exit, plus cold launch time and RAM per profile on identical hardware.
- Pricing
- Effective rates recomputed from public list prices at each cycle, with minimums, overage and commitment terms stated rather than hidden.
Frequently asked questions
How does 5Proxy score proxy providers?+
Six weighted pillars — success rate (30%), speed and stability (20%), data quality (15%), pricing transparency (15%), developer experience (10%) and support and compliance (10%). Every provider runs through the same rig, the same targets and the same 72-hour window, so scores are comparable across the catalogue.
Do affiliate commissions influence your rankings?+
No. Scores come from measured data before any commercial relationship is considered, and rank order is never sold. Some outbound links are affiliate links, disclosed on every page and in our affiliate disclosure — providers cannot pay to appear, to move up, or to have a negative finding removed.
How often do you re-test?+
Full benchmark cycles run quarterly, with spot re-tests whenever a provider changes its pool sourcing, pricing model or protocol support. Pages carry the date of the run behind their numbers.
Can I reproduce your results?+
That is the intent. We publish the rig specification, concurrency and jitter settings, target categories, request volumes and validation method so an engineer with the same accounts can rebuild the test and check our figures.
How do you test antidetect browsers?+
Each profile is launched against Pixelscan, CreepJS and IPHey with a matched residential exit, then re-checked for timezone, locale, WebRTC and canvas coherence. We also record cold launch time and RAM per open profile on identical hardware.