Forward Proxy

A forward proxy is the "classic" proxy: it sits between a client and the internet, taking the client's outbound requests and forwarding them to their destinations. The target server sees the forward proxy's IP, not the client's. When people say "proxy" in the context of scraping, automation, or anonymity, they almost always mean a forward proxy.

The forward proxy hides and represents the client. This is what lets you change your apparent location, rotate IPs, and distribute requests so they look like many users. Residential, datacenter, ISP, and mobile proxies are all forward proxies distinguished by where their IPs come from.

Contrast this with a reverse proxy, which represents servers rather than clients. A forward proxy answers the question "how do I reach the internet as someone else?" A reverse proxy answers "how do I receive internet traffic on behalf of my servers?" The direction of representation is the whole distinction.

Forward proxies are configured at the client: you set a host, port, and credentials in your browser, scraper, or bot, and outbound traffic flows through the proxy. Providers expose a single gateway endpoint that fronts a large IP pool, so one configuration can rotate across thousands of addresses.