If you have ever added a proxy to an antidetect browser, you have seen the dropdown with HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5, and what you pick there decides whether the proxy connects or throws an error. This article shows how the protocols differ in practice, which one suits a browser, a parser or Telegram, and why SOCKS5 does not make your traffic more protected by itself.
How HTTP and HTTPS proxies work
An HTTP proxy understands the language of the web. The browser sends it the whole request, with the page address and the headers, and the proxy goes to the site itself and returns the answer to you. If the site works over plain http, the proxy sees everything you send, including form data and cookies.
With https sites the scheme is different. The browser sends the proxy a CONNECT command with the site address, the proxy opens a tunnel and then simply passes encrypted data in both directions. It knows which domain you go to and how much data went through, but it cannot see the page content, passwords or cookies.
By "HTTPS proxy" antidetect browsers and parsers mean exactly an HTTP proxy that can open such tunnels, so in practice it is the same protocol.
The main limit of an HTTP proxy is that it works only with web traffic over TCP. Messengers, games and torrent clients use their own protocols and cannot be connected through such a proxy. UDP does not pass through an HTTP proxy either, and below we explain why that matters even for an ordinary browser.
How SOCKS5 works
SOCKS5 does not care what goes through it. The program tells the proxy which address and port to connect to, the proxy sets up the connection and then passes data in both directions, treating a web page, an email and game traffic the same way.
The protocol was described in the RFC 1928 standard back in 1996. It carries TCP and UDP, works with IPv4 and IPv6 and supports login by username and password.
Two things to remember when you set up SOCKS5.
First, SOCKS5 does not encrypt anything by itself. Protection on https sites comes from TLS, and it works the same through both protocols.
Second, DNS. It matters only if you enter the proxy in the built-in settings of a browser. With the socks5 scheme the browser looks up the site IP through your own connection, and this request goes past the proxy. With the socks5h scheme the proxy looks up the address of the site. If you work through an antidetect browser or a proxy extension, you can ignore this setting.
Why UDP support matters for antidetect browsers
A browser on a real device uses UDP all the time. HTTP/3 (the QUIC protocol) runs over it, and that is how YouTube and other modern sites open. WebRTC also uses it, and that is how the browser finds its external address for calls and video chat.
If a proxy passes only TCP, the browser in the profile starts behaving differently from a real device. HTTP/3 falls back to HTTP/2, and WebRTC either finds no external address and returns an empty list, or sends the request past the proxy and shows your real IP. An empty WebRTC answer is suspicious by itself: a real browser on a normal network does not do that, and antifraud systems use such differences to recognise a proxy.
For this to work, the antidetect browser must support UDP as well: for example, Octo Browser got such support in version 3.0.6, and the browser itself detects whether the proxy can pass UDP. You can check the result on browserleaks.com/quic and networktest.twilio.com.
SOCKS5 and HTTPS compared
Which traffic it works with:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: web only, http and https
- SOCKS5: any traffic, web, mail, messengers, games
UDP (HTTP/3, WebRTC):
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: no
- SOCKS5: yes
Does it see the content:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: on http sites yes, on https sites no
- SOCKS5: no
DNS requests:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: go through the proxy
- SOCKS5: through the proxy with the socks5h scheme
Encryption:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: none of its own, https is protected by TLS
- SOCKS5: none of its own, https is protected by TLS
Where it is supported:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: browsers, antidetect browsers, parsers
- SOCKS5: antidetect browsers, Telegram, torrent clients, games
What to choose for different tasks
Take the protocol your program supports. After the connection is established both protocols work as a tunnel, so the speed depends on the proxy channel and the distance to the server more than on the choice in the list.
- Antidetect browser (Dolphin Anty, AdsPower, Octo): SOCKS5. UDP goes through SOCKS5, and HTTP/3 with WebRTC work like on a real device. An HTTP proxy will also connect, but without UDP.
- Scraping with Scrapy: HTTP. Scrapy without extra modules works only with HTTP proxies.
- Scraping with Python requests: HTTP or SOCKS5. For SOCKS5 you need to install the requests[socks] package.
- Telegram: SOCKS5. Telegram supports SOCKS5 and MTProto, an HTTP proxy cannot be added to it.
- Games, calls, torrents: SOCKS5. These programs need UDP.
If a proxy does not connect, first try another protocol: a wrongly chosen protocol should be checked before anything else.
Summary: choose the protocol your program understands. For antidetect browsers, messengers, games and torrents take SOCKS5, for parsers without SOCKS5 support HTTP is fine.
FAQ
Is SOCKS5 faster than an HTTPS proxy?
No. After the connection is established both protocols pass data as a tunnel, and the speed is set by the proxy channel and the distance to the server.
Does SOCKS5 encrypt traffic?
No. Encryption on https sites comes from TLS, and it works the same through SOCKS5 and through an HTTPS proxy. On plain http sites the data goes openly through either of them.
Why does a proxy need UDP support?
So that the browser in the profile behaves like on a real device. Without UDP, HTTP/3 and WebRTC work differently, and antifraud can recognise the proxy by these differences.
How HTTP and HTTPS proxies work
An HTTP proxy understands the language of the web. The browser sends it the whole request, with the page address and the headers, and the proxy goes to the site itself and returns the answer to you. If the site works over plain http, the proxy sees everything you send, including form data and cookies.
With https sites the scheme is different. The browser sends the proxy a CONNECT command with the site address, the proxy opens a tunnel and then simply passes encrypted data in both directions. It knows which domain you go to and how much data went through, but it cannot see the page content, passwords or cookies.
By "HTTPS proxy" antidetect browsers and parsers mean exactly an HTTP proxy that can open such tunnels, so in practice it is the same protocol.
The main limit of an HTTP proxy is that it works only with web traffic over TCP. Messengers, games and torrent clients use their own protocols and cannot be connected through such a proxy. UDP does not pass through an HTTP proxy either, and below we explain why that matters even for an ordinary browser.
How SOCKS5 works
SOCKS5 does not care what goes through it. The program tells the proxy which address and port to connect to, the proxy sets up the connection and then passes data in both directions, treating a web page, an email and game traffic the same way.
The protocol was described in the RFC 1928 standard back in 1996. It carries TCP and UDP, works with IPv4 and IPv6 and supports login by username and password.
Two things to remember when you set up SOCKS5.
First, SOCKS5 does not encrypt anything by itself. Protection on https sites comes from TLS, and it works the same through both protocols.
Second, DNS. It matters only if you enter the proxy in the built-in settings of a browser. With the socks5 scheme the browser looks up the site IP through your own connection, and this request goes past the proxy. With the socks5h scheme the proxy looks up the address of the site. If you work through an antidetect browser or a proxy extension, you can ignore this setting.
Why UDP support matters for antidetect browsers
A browser on a real device uses UDP all the time. HTTP/3 (the QUIC protocol) runs over it, and that is how YouTube and other modern sites open. WebRTC also uses it, and that is how the browser finds its external address for calls and video chat.
If a proxy passes only TCP, the browser in the profile starts behaving differently from a real device. HTTP/3 falls back to HTTP/2, and WebRTC either finds no external address and returns an empty list, or sends the request past the proxy and shows your real IP. An empty WebRTC answer is suspicious by itself: a real browser on a normal network does not do that, and antifraud systems use such differences to recognise a proxy.
For this to work, the antidetect browser must support UDP as well: for example, Octo Browser got such support in version 3.0.6, and the browser itself detects whether the proxy can pass UDP. You can check the result on browserleaks.com/quic and networktest.twilio.com.
SOCKS5 and HTTPS compared
Which traffic it works with:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: web only, http and https
- SOCKS5: any traffic, web, mail, messengers, games
UDP (HTTP/3, WebRTC):
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: no
- SOCKS5: yes
Does it see the content:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: on http sites yes, on https sites no
- SOCKS5: no
DNS requests:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: go through the proxy
- SOCKS5: through the proxy with the socks5h scheme
Encryption:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: none of its own, https is protected by TLS
- SOCKS5: none of its own, https is protected by TLS
Where it is supported:
- HTTP/HTTPS proxy: browsers, antidetect browsers, parsers
- SOCKS5: antidetect browsers, Telegram, torrent clients, games
What to choose for different tasks
Take the protocol your program supports. After the connection is established both protocols work as a tunnel, so the speed depends on the proxy channel and the distance to the server more than on the choice in the list.
- Antidetect browser (Dolphin Anty, AdsPower, Octo): SOCKS5. UDP goes through SOCKS5, and HTTP/3 with WebRTC work like on a real device. An HTTP proxy will also connect, but without UDP.
- Scraping with Scrapy: HTTP. Scrapy without extra modules works only with HTTP proxies.
- Scraping with Python requests: HTTP or SOCKS5. For SOCKS5 you need to install the requests[socks] package.
- Telegram: SOCKS5. Telegram supports SOCKS5 and MTProto, an HTTP proxy cannot be added to it.
- Games, calls, torrents: SOCKS5. These programs need UDP.
If a proxy does not connect, first try another protocol: a wrongly chosen protocol should be checked before anything else.
Summary: choose the protocol your program understands. For antidetect browsers, messengers, games and torrents take SOCKS5, for parsers without SOCKS5 support HTTP is fine.
FAQ
Is SOCKS5 faster than an HTTPS proxy?
No. After the connection is established both protocols pass data as a tunnel, and the speed is set by the proxy channel and the distance to the server.
Does SOCKS5 encrypt traffic?
No. Encryption on https sites comes from TLS, and it works the same through SOCKS5 and through an HTTPS proxy. On plain http sites the data goes openly through either of them.
Why does a proxy need UDP support?
So that the browser in the profile behaves like on a real device. Without UDP, HTTP/3 and WebRTC work differently, and antifraud can recognise the proxy by these differences.
