Anonymous Proxy
A proxy that hides your real IP address but still signals to the target that a proxy is in use.
An anonymous proxy conceals your real IP address so the target website cannot see where you actually are, but it does not fully hide the fact that you are using a proxy. It typically sends a Via header or similar marker that tells the destination the request passed through a proxy - just not which client is behind it.
This is the middle of three anonymity levels. Transparent proxies leak your real IP outright. Anonymous proxies hide your IP but admit a proxy is present. Elite (high-anonymity) proxies hide both - no real IP and no proxy fingerprint in the request headers.
For many use cases, anonymous is not good enough. Sophisticated anti-bot systems flag any request that advertises a proxy, even if the real IP is hidden, because legitimate users rarely route through disclosed proxies. If a target scores traffic on proxy signals, an anonymous proxy can still get challenged or blocked.
When you need to look like an ordinary user, choose elite proxies and verify the anonymity level before use. A proxy checker inspects the headers the proxy forwards and classifies it as transparent, anonymous, or elite, so you know exactly what a proxy exposes.
Three levels, and how a site tells them apart
Proxies are usually sorted into three anonymity levels, and the difference is entirely about which headers arrive at the destination. A transparent proxy passes your real address in X-Forwarded-For and announces itself in Via. A site reading those headers knows both that you used a proxy and who you are, which makes the whole exercise pointless for anything but caching.
An anonymous proxy strips your address but keeps a marker that a proxy was used. The site cannot see you, but it knows the request is proxied, which on many platforms is enough to trigger extra checks.
An elite proxy, sometimes called high anonymity, sends the request as if it originated at the exit address. No X-Forwarded-For, no Via, no Proxy-Connection. From the header perspective the request is indistinguishable from a direct one.
Headers are only the first layer. A site that wants to know more looks at the TCP fingerprint, the TLS handshake, the order of the headers you send, whether your DNS queries match your claimed geography, and whether WebRTC reports a different address than the one connecting. An elite proxy solves exactly one of those problems.
What our headers look like
Every product we sell operates at the elite level: no forwarding headers, no proxy markers. You can verify it in one command:
Check what the destination receives
curl -x login_c_US:password@proxy.sotaproxy.com:10000 https://httpbin.org/headers
# What you should NOT see in the response:
# X-Forwarded-For
# Via
# Proxy-Connection
# X-Real-IP- Run this against a header echo service before you trust any provider, including us. It takes ten seconds and it is the only proof that matters.
- The address you see in the response is the exit address. If it matches your own, the request did not go through the proxy at all, which usually means a client that silently ignored the proxy setting.
- WebRTC sits outside the proxy path. In a browser context disable it, or a script can read your real address regardless of how anonymous the proxy is.
- DNS is the other leak. With SOCKS5 use the socks5h scheme so lookups resolve on our side rather than through your own resolver.
Where the word anonymous misleads
Anonymous to the site, not to the provider
Your proxy provider necessarily knows which account opened which connection. Anonymity here means the destination cannot identify you, not that nobody can.
Elite headers with a datacenter address
Clean headers do not hide that the address belongs to a hosting company. Many blocks are decided on the address, before any header is read.
Confusing anonymity with a VPN
A VPN moves all traffic from the device and is usually one address for everything. A proxy moves one application and gives you targeting and rotation.
Trusting a list that says elite
Free proxy lists label everything elite. Test the headers yourself, because half of them inject markers and some inject your own address.
Related terms
See this in practice
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