HTTP Proxy: Complete Guide

What is an HTTP Proxy?

An HTTP proxy is an intermediary server that handles HTTP requests between your client (browser, script, application) and web servers. It operates at the application layer (Layer 7) of the OSI model and understands HTTP protocol semantics.

Unlike SOCKS5 proxies which work at a lower level, HTTP proxies understand and can modify HTTP headers, making them ideal for web-specific use cases like web scraping.

HTTP vs HTTPS Proxy

Best Use Cases for HTTP Proxies

Configuration Examples

import requests

proxies = {
    "http": "http://user:pass@gate.proxies.sx:8080",
    "https": "http://user:pass@gate.proxies.sx:8080"
}

response = requests.get("https://example.com", proxies=proxies)
print(response.status_code)

curl -x http://user:pass@gate.proxies.sx:8080 https://example.com

const axios = require('axios');
const HttpsProxyAgent = require('https-proxy-agent');

const agent = new HttpsProxyAgent('http://user:pass@gate.proxies.sx:8080');

axios.get('https://example.com', { httpsAgent: agent })
  .then(res => console.log(res.data));

See our complete setup guides for more configuration examples including Chrome,Firefox, and mobile devices.

HTTP vs SOCKS5: When to Use Each

For a complete comparison, see our protocols guide or the dedicated SOCKS5 deep-dive.