How rotation and sticky sessions differ
Rotating proxies assign a new IP automatically, either per connection or after a timer. This spreads your requests across many addresses so no single IP carries all the load, which is what you want when gathering data at volume.
Sticky (session) proxies pin one IP to your session for a set window. The site sees a consistent visitor across page loads, which is essential whenever an action depends on staying logged in or preserving state, such as adding items to a cart before checkout.
Matching the mode to the task
Use rotating proxies for broad data collection: search results, price monitoring, SERP checks, and any job made of many independent requests. Rotation spreads the load so each IP carries only a small share of it.
Use sticky proxies for anything stateful: signing into an account, completing a checkout, filling multi-page forms, or managing social profiles. Switching IP mid-flow can trigger security prompts or log you out, so a stable session is safer.
Rotating vs sticky at a glance
The right choice depends on whether the task is stateless or stateful.
| Rotating | Sticky | |
|---|---|---|
| IP behavior | New IP per request or interval | One IP held for the session |
| Best for | High-volume scraping, SERP and price checks | Logins, checkout, multi-page forms, account work |
| Strength | Spreads load across many IPs | Keeps account and cart state |
| Nefo residential | Rotating per request | 1 minute to 24 hours |
| Nefo mobile | Rotating | Up to 2 hours |
Using both with Nefo
Residential exits in 227 countries and territories support both modes over HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5. Sticky is chosen with a -session-<id> token in the username, so you tune the lifetime per job without changing plans.
Bandwidth is prepaid from 5 GB and never expires, so bulk scraping and account workflows can run side by side. See rotating proxies and pricing.
Frequently asked questions
If your IP changes mid-session, the site sees a logged-in user suddenly jump locations and may flag it, force re-authentication or log you out. Sticky sessions avoid this by keeping one IP for the whole flow.
On residential proxies you can set sticky sessions from 1 minute up to 24 hours using a -session-<id> token in the username. Rotating mobile proxies stick for up to 2 hours. See how sticky sessions work.
Yes. Both modes run on the same residential pool and the same balance, so you can rotate for scraping and use sticky sessions for logged-in work without a separate plan.
For stateless, high-volume requests, yes, because traffic spread across many IPs keeps the load on any one address low. For stateful actions rotation hurts more than it helps.
Start with rotating for simple data collection, then move to sticky once you need to log in or complete multi-step flows. If you need an address that never changes, consider static ISP proxies.