How We Review Proxy Providers
Every rating on ProxyGraphy is the result of hands-on testing, not marketing copy. Here is exactly what we measure, how we score it, and how we keep our process free from commercial influence.
Our Testing Principles
Before the methodology, four principles define how we approach every single review.
Independence
Ratings are determined by test data, not by advertiser relationships. Affiliate commissions never influence a score.
Reproducibility
We use the same test suite, the same target URLs, and the same scoring rubric for every provider so comparisons are valid.
Transparency
We disclose affiliate relationships, testing dates, and any testing allocations received from providers clearly on every page.
Currency
The proxy industry changes fast. We re-test on a rolling schedule and update reviews when pricing, infrastructure, or product quality shifts.
The 10-Step Testing Methodology
Every review follows this process in full. No shortcuts for newer or smaller providers.
Provider Research & Background Check
Before purchasing a single gigabyte, we spend time understanding who is behind the service. We examine the company's founding year, country of incorporation, history of data breaches or controversies, user reputation on forums like Reddit and BlackHatWorld, and whether their IP sourcing practices are clearly disclosed. Providers that cannot explain where their IPs come from — or use vague terms like "ethically sourced" without elaboration — are flagged immediately.
Account Setup & Onboarding Experience
We sign up as a regular paying customer — no special treatment, no review accounts. We evaluate the registration flow, how clearly pricing is presented, whether there are any hidden fees or auto-renewal surprises, and how quickly the service activates after payment. This reflects what a real customer will actually experience on day one.
Performance & Speed Testing
We run latency and throughput tests from multiple origin points using standardised HTTP benchmarking tools. Each provider is tested across at least three geographic regions against the same set of target URLs. We measure average response time, p95 latency, and sustained download throughput under concurrent connections. Tests are repeated at different times of day to catch peak-hour degradation.
Success Rate & Reliability Testing
Speed means nothing if requests fail. We measure the percentage of requests that complete successfully against a controlled set of targets — including search engines, e-commerce sites, social platforms, and travel aggregators. We also record the rate of CAPTCHAs served, soft blocks (empty or distorted responses), and hard blocks (403/429 responses). Providers are tested over a minimum 72-hour window to capture variance, not just a single snapshot.
IP Pool Quality & Anonymity
We check every proxy type the provider offers against leading IP reputation databases — including Spamhaus, Maxmind GeoIP2, IPinfo, and IPQS — to determine what percentage of IPs are flagged as datacenter, hosting, VPN, or abusive. We also run our own browser fingerprint leak tests to verify that headers are stripped correctly (X-Forwarded-For, Via, Proxy-Connection) and that DNS and WebRTC leaks are absent.
Geo-Targeting Accuracy
We verify that proxies labelled for a specific country, region, or city actually resolve to that location via independent geolocation services. We test country accuracy across at least 10 target locations per provider and city-level accuracy where that feature is advertised. Providers that return consistently mismatched geo results despite claiming precision targeting are penalised in our scoring.
Pricing, Plans & Value Analysis
We map every pricing tier across pay-as-you-go, monthly subscription, and annual plans. We calculate the effective cost per GB, cost per IP, and cost per concurrent connection depending on the billing model. We note minimum spend requirements, unused-bandwidth rollover policies, refund terms, and whether a free trial or money-back guarantee is offered. All prices are verified directly on the provider's pricing page at time of review, not from third parties.
Customer Support Evaluation
We contact every provider's support team through their available channels — live chat, email, and ticketing — with a standard set of technical questions as well as a deliberately tricky edge case. We measure first-response time, the accuracy and depth of the answers, whether support is available 24/7 or limited hours, and how they handle complaints. Support quality is one of the most differentiating factors at similar price points.
Dashboard, API & Documentation
We evaluate the usability of the provider's control panel — proxy generation, usage statistics, whitelist management, sub-user creation, and API access. We test the API for completeness and reliability, and read through the documentation for accuracy and clarity. A powerful proxy product with a confusing dashboard or an API that regularly returns errors loses points here.
Long-Term Reliability Check
For providers we have reviewed before, we re-run a subset of tests at least every six months and compare results against our historical data. We also monitor community feedback continuously — a provider that aced our benchmarks two years ago but has since degraded will have their rating updated to reflect the current reality. Our review dates are always visible on every review page.
How We Calculate the Star Rating
Our final score is a weighted composite across six dimensions. Each dimension is scored on a 1–10 scale from our test data, then multiplied by its weight. The result maps to a 1–5 star rating displayed on every review and provider card.
We use a weighted model rather than a simple average because not all factors matter equally. A proxy that is blindingly fast but fails one in three requests is not a good proxy — performance and success rate together account for half the score, reflecting that reality.
Score → Star mapping
Performance & Speed
Latency, throughput, and consistency under load.
Success Rate
Request completion rate against real-world targets over 72 hours.
IP Quality & Anonymity
Reputation scores, header hygiene, leak test results.
Pricing & Value
Cost per GB/IP relative to performance delivered.
Support Quality
Response time, accuracy, availability.
Usability
Dashboard clarity, API reliability, documentation quality.
Our Affiliate Disclosure
ProxyGraphy earns revenue through affiliate commissions when readers purchase proxy services through links on our site. This means that if you click a provider link and subscribe, we may receive a percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you.
We want to be unambiguous about what this means and does not mean for our reviews:
- Affiliate relationships do not influence our test methodology, scoring weights, or written conclusions.
- Providers without affiliate relationships are reviewed with the exact same rigour as partners.
- A low score stays low even if the provider is an affiliate partner.
- We will recommend a non-affiliate provider over an affiliate one if the test data supports it.
- Affiliate links are never disguised — they go through our
/aff/path and are covered by our Privacy Policy.
Our long-term reputation depends on readers trusting our scores. A dishonest five-star review that disappoints a user destroys that trust permanently — no affiliate commission is worth that.
What We Don't Test
Transparency means being upfront about limitations too. There are areas we do not currently measure in our standard methodology:
- Long-term IP burn rate — How quickly IPs get flagged with continuous use over weeks — this varies heavily by use case and target.
- Carrier-specific mobile targeting — Whether a specific carrier (e.g. AT&T vs Verizon) can be selected within a mobile proxy pool.
- Real-world CAPTCHA solve rates — CAPTCHAs appear based on dynamic risk scoring — we measure whether they are triggered, not the rate of solving.
- Self-hosted / on-premise deployment — Enterprise products that require custom procurement are outside our standard retail test scope.
Review Update Schedule
Proxy provider quality is not static. We maintain a rolling update schedule so ratings reflect current performance, not historical snapshots.
Full re-test cycle for all reviewed providers regardless of changes.
Pricing section updated within 7 days of a confirmed change.
New proxy types, new regions, or new gateway infrastructure trigger a targeted re-test.
A significant volume of negative user reports on forums triggers an unscheduled re-test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions readers ask us most about how our reviews work.
QDo proxy providers pay for their reviews on ProxyGraphy?
No. Reviews are never paid for and we do not accept payment in exchange for a positive review or a higher rating. We use affiliate links on some provider pages — meaning we may earn a commission if you purchase through our link at no extra cost to you — but this does not influence our scores, rankings, or written conclusions. Providers with affiliate relationships are reviewed with the same methodology as those without.
QDo you buy proxies with your own money to test them?
Yes, in the majority of cases. We purchase standard plans using our own funds to ensure we receive the same product and experience as any paying customer. In some cases, a provider may offer a testing allocation — when this occurs, we disclose it on the review page and apply the same test methodology regardless.
QHow often are reviews updated?
We aim to re-test and update every review at least once every six months. Significant product changes — pricing restructures, new proxy types, infrastructure changes — trigger an out-of-cycle update. The last-reviewed date is shown on every review page so you always know how current the data is.
QWhat proxy types do you test?
We test all proxy types a provider offers: residential (rotating and sticky), datacenter (shared and dedicated), mobile (4G/5G), and ISP/static residential. Not every provider offers every type, and our tests are scoped to what the provider actually sells.
QHow do you pick which providers to review?
We prioritise providers based on search demand, community discussion volume, unique positioning in the market, and reader requests. We also proactively seek out smaller providers that may offer strong value in specific niches. There is no minimum spend or partnership requirement for a provider to be reviewed.
QCan I request a review of a specific provider?
Yes. Use the Contact page to submit a request and we will add it to our review queue. We cannot guarantee a timeline but all requests are considered.
See Our Reviews in Action
Browse every provider we have tested — with scores, full test breakdowns, and side-by-side comparisons.