Proxy
A proxy — short for proxy server — is a middleman computer that sits between your device and the website you are trying to reach. Instead of connecting directly, your request goes to the proxy first, the proxy forwards it on, and the site sees the proxy's IP address rather than yours. The response travels back the same way.
People use proxies for privacy, to reach content that varies by country, and — in data collection — to spread requests across many IP addresses so no single one looks unusual. A website only ever sees the address that knocked on its door, so routing through different proxies makes a batch of requests look like ordinary traffic from many places rather than a flood from one machine.
Proxies come in a few flavors: datacenter proxies (fast and cheap, hosted in server farms) and residential proxies (real home IP addresses, harder to tell apart from a normal visitor). The right kind depends on the job, but the core idea is always the same — put an intermediary between you and the site so your requests arrive under a different address.
How it relates to scraping
Any scraper that pulls more than a handful of pages leans on proxies. If a thousand requests came from one IP in a minute, a site would flag it instantly; spread across a pool of proxies, each address makes only a few polite requests and blends in. With 1Scrape this is invisible to you — the proxy infrastructure is handled behind the scenes, so you just set your search and download a CSV without ever touching an IP setting.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my own proxies to use 1Scrape?
No. 1Scrape manages all the proxy infrastructure for you — there is nothing to buy, configure, or rotate. You fill in a short form and get a clean CSV; the plumbing that keeps a run reliable is our problem, not yours.
What is the difference between a proxy and a VPN?
Both route your traffic through another server, but a VPN encrypts your whole connection at the device level, while a proxy usually handles traffic for a single app or request. For scraping, what matters most is having a pool of many IP addresses rather than just one.