SOCKS5 Vs HTTP Proxies: What Is The Difference?

Proxies became the go-to solution for private users as well as businesses and organizations that want to stay anonymous while using the internet. Proxies act as a protective shield between the user and the internet by simply changing the original IP address with another one of their own.

The practice effectively helps hide the original identity, which makes it ideal for all kinds of actions such as price monitoring, competition monitoring, better ad targeting, and so on. There are many different types of proxies, and today we’re going to go over all of the differences between SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies.

What are SOCKS5 proxies?

SOCKS stands for secure sockets, and it’s a type of proxy used for general purposes. They are very simple, and they create a TCP connection with other servers. Once you establish the connection, the data is sent to the server and back to the client.

SOCKS5 proxy is the latest version of SOCKS proxies, which businesses and organizations use to monitor their competition because it effectively works around most firewalls designed to block access. They allow users to access all websites without any restrictions, making them ideal for all types of web scraping projects, data gathering, and so on.

How do they work?

SOCKS proxies provide a few key benefits that can help businesses improve their operation and assist them with monitoring their competition. Instead of connecting to the front-end side of a website, SOCKS proxies can easily access the back-end services protected by a firewall by establishing a TCP connection.

They are straightforward and easy to use. The only requirement is SSH access to a node, gateway, or cluster. Users can simply connect to back-end resources of any website, similarly to VPN services. They also offer exceptional performance and fewer errors as they don’t rewrite data packets. SOCKS proxies act like relays between two or more devices allowing users to extract information quickly and effectively.

What are HTTP proxies?

On the other hand, HTTP proxies are still widely used by people and companies that want to access advanced HTTP website protocol functions. They can understand the incoming traffic from a TCP connection, while SOCKS can’t.

They are used to extract information from otherwise blocked websites. When you send an HTTP protocol to a server, it responds with a link that allows you to access the information you need. They provide anonymity required to complete all kinds of tasks such as price monitoring, competition monitoring, etc. In other words, they allow you to access information without anyone knowing about it.

How do they work?

HTTP proxies improve data security by providing you with a secure connection to any HTTP server. They are widely used by people who want to stay safe when connecting to the internet from otherwise unsafe networks. They are excellent for on-site web scraping and running bots. The data it sends back is clear and safe for further use. That makes it an ideal choice when accessing data or private information you want to protect at all times.

The differences in use between the two

Even though both of these are a type of proxy, they offer very different results. For example, SOCKS5 proxy is a general-purpose proxy that works with any kind of network protocol on any port. They allow users to slip behind a firewall and gain full access to an otherwise blocked website or feature.

HTTP proxies are somewhat similar to SOCKS proxies as they also use a TCP connection to access information protected by a firewall. The difference is that HTTP proxies can read and interpret network traffic between clients and their servers. SOCKS proxies, on the other hand, are only used to transfer data, not read traffic.

HTTP proxies can handle all HTTP traffic, track individual requests and cache replies to further improve website performance. Internet service providers widely use them to route traffic through specific ports.

Both types are very flexible and reliable when it comes to providing full anonymity. With that said, SOCKS proxies have much better security features when compared to HTTP proxies. They are also faster, making them ideal for file transfer and download. On the other hand, HTTP proxies can connect with all tools, while SOCKS proxies can only connect only with a few different devices.

Conclusion

Both of these types of proxies can allow users to access otherwise blocked information. However, while a SOCKS5 proxy focuses on accessing and extracting large amounts of information, HTTP proxies have more connection options. Still, they also have a limited amount of data they can download.

The bottom line is – a SOCKS5 proxy is lightweight, and it offers a broader application. It also uses a tunneling method allowing you to access protected information with ease. HTTP proxies are more sophisticated and can only work with HTTP and HTTPS webpages.