What is a SOCKS5 proxy?
SOCKS5 is a proxy protocol that forwards any TCP connection, and UDP where the network supports it, without reading or rewriting the traffic. An HTTP proxy understands web requests; a SOCKS5 proxy simply carries the bytes, which is why tools that are not browsers, such as messaging apps, game clients, mail clients and custom scripts, usually expect SOCKS5.
With the socks5h scheme, the hostname is resolved by the proxy rather than on your machine, so DNS lookups also leave from the proxy's location instead of leaking your own. SOCKS5 vs SOCKS5h explains why that matters.
SOCKS5 support on every proxy product
- Rotating residential: port 11000 rotates, port 12000 keeps the IP from 1 minute to 24 hours
- Rotating datacenter: the same gateway and ports, cheaper and faster per GB
- UDP over SOCKS5 on residential Pool 1, on datacenter proxies and on IP Vault addresses
- Static datacenter IPs and static residential ISP IPs: a dedicated SOCKS5 port next to the HTTP one
- 24-hour residential IPs: SOCKS5 and HTTP on the same port
- 4G/5G mobile ports: SOCKS5 and HTTP
How to connect to a SOCKS5 proxy
Put the target in the username: a country, a region, a city or an ISP, and add a session ID with a lifetime to hold one IP. The proxy generator in the dashboard writes the line for you in the format your tool expects.
# SOCKS5, a new home IP on every request (port 11000)
curl -x socks5h://gw.nefo.net:11000 \
-U "USERNAME-country-us:PASSWORD" \
https://api.ipify.org
# SOCKS5 sticky: the same IP for 30 minutes (port 12000)
curl -x socks5h://gw.nefo.net:12000 \
-U "USERNAME-country-us-session-a1b2c3d4-lifetime-30:PASSWORD" \
https://api.ipify.orgWhat SOCKS5 proxies are used for
- Antidetect browsers and multi-account tools that take a SOCKS5 proxy per profile
- Messaging apps such as Telegram, which accept a SOCKS5 proxy with a username and password
- Scrapers and bots in Python, Node.js, Go and other languages
- Desktop apps and games that do not support HTTP proxies
- Any lawful task that needs your traffic to leave from another country
SOCKS5 proxy pricing
Residential SOCKS5 traffic is billed per gigabyte from a balance that never expires: 5 GB for $4.50 to start, falling to $0.53/GB on the 10 TB package. Datacenter SOCKS5 costs $5.70 for 10 GB and goes down to $0.29/GB. Fixed-address products are billed per IP instead, from $0.72 for 30 days on a static IPv6. There is no monthly plan to keep paying for; see the pricing page.
SOCKS5 vs HTTP proxies
Use HTTP or HTTPS when the tool is a browser or a web scraper and you want the simplest setup. Use SOCKS5 when the tool is not a web client, when you need UDP, or when you want DNS resolved at the proxy. Both use the same balance and the same targeting, so you can mix them freely. The HTTP vs SOCKS5 comparison covers the details.
Frequently asked questions
Residential SOCKS5 starts at $4.50 for 5 GB and falls to $0.53/GB on the 10 TB package; datacenter SOCKS5 goes down to $0.29/GB. Bandwidth never expires. See pricing.
The rotating residential proxies are real home IPs and all support SOCKS5. Datacenter, static, ISP and mobile proxies also have SOCKS5, so you choose the IP type and keep the same protocol.
Yes on residential Pool 1, on rotating datacenter proxies and on IP Vault addresses. Static ISP proxies carry TCP only.
Yes. Telegram accepts a SOCKS5 proxy with a server, port, username and password; copy them from the proxy generator in the dashboard.
Use port 12000 and add a session ID and a lifetime in minutes to the username. The IP stays the same for up to 24 hours. Sticky session proxies explains the options.
Yes. Add the city, region or ISP (ASN) to the username. 22,417 cities and 14,252 ISPs are available across 227 countries and territories.