A high anonymity proxy, also called an elite or level 1 proxy, forwards your requests without passing on your real IP address and without adding headers that announce a proxy is in use. The website sees one ordinary visitor at the proxy’s IP. People use one for web scraping, price and ad checks, SEO tracking and keeping separate accounts apart. To find the best high anonymity proxy in 2026 we compared 13 paid providers on IP type, location targeting, session control, trials and price. If you want to start straight away, see ProxyEmpire’s rotating residential proxies.
Quick answer
ProxyEmpire is the best high anonymity proxy provider in 2026. It gives you 30M+ residential IPs in 170+ countries and 4M+ 4G/5G mobile IPs, username and password authentication on HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5, and country, region, city, ZIP, ISP and ASN targeting at no extra charge, from $3.50/GB down to $1.50/GB. You can test it with a $1.97 trial.
Best high anonymity proxy providers compared
All 13 providers at a glance| # | Provider | IP types | Targeting | Residential price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ProxyEmpire | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, region, city, ZIP, ISP, ASN | $3.50 → $1.50/GB | Best overall |
| 2 | Oxylabs | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN, coordinates | $6.00 → $2.50/GB | Enterprise data projects |
| 3 | Decodo | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN | $4.00 → $2.00/GB | Easy free start |
| 4 | Byteful | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, region, city, ISP | $3.25 → $1.95/GB | Bandwidth that never expires |
| 5 | ResiProx | Residential, mobile | Country, region, city, ISP | $3.50 → $1.75/GB | Residential and mobile on a budget |
| 6 | Proxy-Seller | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, city, ISP | $3.50 → $1.45/GB | Widest choice of proxy types |
| 7 | NodeMaven | Residential, mobile, ISP | Country, city, ISP, ZIP | $5.31 → $2.75/GB | Quality-filtered IPs |
| 8 | Bright Data | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, city, ZIP, ASN, carrier | $4.00 → $2.50/GB | Largest listed network |
| 9 | SOAX | Residential, mobile | Country, region, city, ISP, ASN | $5.00 → $1.50/GB | Flexible sessions |
| 10 | Rayobyte | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, state, city, ASN | $3.50 → $0.70/GB | Low rate at 1 TB |
| 11 | IPRoyal | Residential, mobile, ISP, datacenter | Country, state, city | $7.00 → $3.36/GB | Long sticky sessions |
| 12 | Webshare | Residential, ISP, datacenter | Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN | $3.50 → $1.50/GB | Free starter plan |
| 13 | ProxyRack | Residential, mobile, datacenter | Country, city, ISP | $1.10 → $0.85/GB | Bulk bandwidth |
The price column shows each provider’s regular rate on its smallest residential plan, then the lowest regular rate it publishes at 1 TB or less; promotions are covered in the reviews. Bright Data is shown at its current 50% discount (list $8.00 → $5.00/GB). Rayobyte’s $0.70 rate starts at 1,000 GB, Byteful’s smallest plan is 10 GB and ProxyRack’s is 100 GB. Figures were read from the providers’ own pages between 26 September and 1 October 2026.
How we compared high anonymity proxy providers
What decides how anonymous a proxy really isAny competent paid proxy hides your IP. Header behaviour takes two minutes to test yourself (see below) and few providers document it, so we ranked on what does differ between them: the kind of IP a website sees, how precisely you can choose it, how long you can keep it, and what a test costs.
The 13 best high anonymity proxies in 2026
Private residential and mobile proxy providers, reviewed
ProxyEmpire
Best overallProxyEmpire runs residential, 4G/5G mobile, static residential and datacenter proxies on one account, and checks that each IP is correctly classified as residential, mobile or datacenter, so the address a site sees matches the type you paid for.
- Country, region, city, ZIP, ISP, ASN and OS fingerprint targeting included, with rotating or sticky sessions on HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5
- 99.9% uptime, bandwidth that rolls over and 24/7 support from real people
- Not the lowest rate at volume (Rayobyte and ProxyRack go lower), and banking, payment, crypto and government sites are blocked on every plan
Oxylabs
Enterprise data projectsOxylabs lists 175M+ residential IPs in 195+ countries and targets down to ZIP, coordinates and ASN, with scraper APIs from the same vendor.
- Some of the most precise location targeting available
- Residential, mobile, ISP and datacenter proxies from one vendor
- No residential trial, and the smallest plan is 5 GB for $30
Decodo (formerly Smartproxy)
Easy free startDecodo lists 115M+ residential IPs in 195+ locations and lets you try them free for three days, with a 14-day money-back guarantee on the first purchase.
- Residential, mobile, ISP and datacenter proxies plus scraping APIs
- 24/7 technical support and HTTP(S) and SOCKS5
- Pay as you go starts at $4.00/GB, above ProxyEmpire, Proxy-Seller and Webshare
Byteful
Bandwidth that never expiresByteful, formerly Ping Proxies, lists 35M+ residential IPs in 195+ countries, with residential bandwidth that never expires and sticky sessions of up to 24 hours.
- Residential, mobile, static residential and datacenter from one provider
- HTTP(S) and SOCKS5
- The smallest residential plan is 10 GB
ResiProx
Residential and mobile on a budgetResiProx sells rotating residential and rotating mobile proxies with country, region, city and ISP targeting, on HTTPS and SOCKS5.
- Unused traffic rolls over, and you can pay by card, PayPal or crypto
- One trial covers both residential and mobile
- Rotating residential and mobile only: no static, ISP or datacenter proxies
Proxy-Seller
Widest choice of proxy typesProxy-Seller lists 47M+ residential IPs in 220+ locations and sells residential, mobile, ISP, IPv4 and IPv6 proxies from one dashboard, all on HTTP(S) and SOCKS5.
- Rotation by time or request, or a sticky IP for the length of a task
- One of the lowest 1 TB residential rates in this comparison
- Residential traffic expires 30 days after purchase
NodeMaven
Quality-filtered IPsNodeMaven lists 30M+ residential and 295K mobile IPs and screens each IP for quality before assigning it. Its plans currently show 20% off, at $4.25 falling to $2.20/GB.
- Unused traffic rolls over to the next billing period
- ISP proxies from $2.99 per IP with unlimited traffic
- Regular residential rates are higher than most here, and there are no datacenter proxies
Bright Data
Largest listed networkBright Data lists 400M+ monthly residential IPs and 7M+ mobile IPs, and currently sells residential at half its list price: $4.00/GB pay as you go, falling to $2.50/GB on the 798 GB plan.
- The largest listed network in this comparison
- Dedicated ISP proxies at $3.50 → $2.50 per IP a month
- Strict KYC checks for new users, and monthly traffic does not roll over
SOAX
Flexible sessionsSOAX lists 155M+ residential IPs in 195+ locations, lets you set custom session lengths and charges one rate for residential and mobile traffic.
- Region, city and ISP or ASN targeting
- HTTP(S), SOCKS5 and UDP/QUIC support
- Plans are monthly spend tiers, and credits expire after 60 days
Rayobyte
Low rate at 1 TBRayobyte (formerly Blazing SEO) lists 40M+ residential IPs in 163+ countries. Its pay-as-you-go residential traffic does not expire, and the rate falls from $3.50/GB to $0.70/GB at 1 TB.
- The lowest per-GB rate here at 1 TB
- 24/7 live support, plus ISP, datacenter and mobile proxies
- Below 50 GB you pay $3.50/GB, and its residential page doesn’t state sticky session length or protocols
IPRoyal
Long sticky sessionsIPRoyal lists 64M+ residential IPs in 195+ countries, keeps sticky sessions for up to 7 days and never expires your traffic.
- HTTP(S) and SOCKS5
- ISP, datacenter and mobile proxies in the same account
- The highest residential rates in this comparison, and targeting stops at city level
Webshare
Free starter planWebshare lists 80M+ residential IPs in 195 countries on self-serve monthly plans, and a free plan with 10 datacenter proxies lets you test your setup first.
- Static residential (ISP) proxies in the same dashboard
- HTTP and SOCKS5
- No mobile network, and monthly bandwidth does not roll over
ProxyRack
Bulk bandwidthProxyRack lists 35M+ monthly residential IPs in 140+ countries and sells residential bandwidth in bundles, from 100 GB at $1.10/GB to 500 GB at $0.85/GB.
- Low per-GB rates from the first bundle
- Residential, mobile and datacenter proxies, plus an unmetered residential option
- No plan below 100 GB, and its residential pages don’t state support hours or rollover
Proxy anonymity levels: transparent, anonymous and elite
What the headers give awayA proxy’s anonymity level describes one thing: what it adds to the HTTP requests it forwards. Three headers matter. X-Forwarded-For is a widely used de facto header that lists the client’s IP address. Forwarded is its standard form, defined in RFC 7239, and can carry the original client address too. Via, defined in RFC 9110 (the HTTP standard), records the proxies a request passed through.
| Transparent (level 3) | Anonymous (level 2) | Elite / high anonymity (level 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your real IP | Sent in X-Forwarded-For or Forwarded | Hidden | Hidden |
| Says it is a proxy | Yes | Yes, for example with Via | No |
| The site sees | You, through a proxy | A proxy user | An ordinary visitor |
| Typical use | Company filters and caches | Basic privacy | Data collection, testing, account work |
RFC 9110 actually tells a proxy to add a Via header to each message it forwards, so an elite proxy deliberately leaves out what the standard expects. Some lists add a fourth, “distorting” level: a proxy that sends a false IP in X-Forwarded-For. These headers only apply to plain HTTP. For HTTPS sites, which is most of the web, your client opens an encrypted tunnel through the proxy, and the proxy cannot add anything to your requests unless it decrypts them, as some company filters do. SOCKS5 works below HTTP and adds no headers either. For the full picture, read our guides to proxy anonymity levels and anonymous proxies.
What a high anonymity proxy does not hide
Headers are only the first checkClean headers stop a website reading your IP from the request. They don’t make you invisible, and no proxy is truly “hidden” or “undetectable”. The anonymity level is separate from the IP type and from everything else a site can check:
- IP type and reputation. Websites look up who owns an IP. Datacenter ranges are easy to spot, while residential and mobile IPs belong to consumer ISPs and carriers. That is why the IP type matters more than the anonymity label.
- Browser leaks. WebRTC and DNS requests can reveal your real IP even behind a proxy. ProxyEmpire’s Proxy Manager Chrome extension includes WebRTC leak protection and a kill switch that blocks traffic if the proxy drops.
- Mismatches. An IP in one country with a browser time zone and language from another stands out. The same extension matches time zone, language and geolocation to the proxy’s location.
- Cookies, logins and fingerprints. A proxy changes your network address, not your browser. Logged-in accounts and browser fingerprints link sessions whatever the IP.
| Proxy type | How it looks to a website | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Rotating residential | A home broadband user in the city you pick | Scraping, price and ad checks, SEO |
| Rotating mobile | A phone on a 4G or 5G carrier, whose IPs many users share | Mobile results and strict targets |
| Static residential (ISP) | The same home-ISP IP every day | Long-lived accounts and allow-lists |
| Datacenter | A server in a hosting network | Speed and cheap volume on easy targets |
ProxyEmpire’s rotating residential, rotating mobile and static residential proxies run on one account, so you can pick the type per job. For mobile providers in depth, see our guide to the best mobile proxies.
How to test a proxy’s anonymity level
Four checks, two minutes- Check the IP. Open our free proxy checker or any “what is my IP” page through the proxy. It should show the proxy’s IP and location, not yours.
- Read the headers. Load a plain-HTTP header-echo page through the proxy and look for X-Forwarded-For, Forwarded and Via. Your IP in any of them means a transparent proxy; a Via or Forwarded line without your IP means anonymous; none of them means elite.
- Run a leak test. Test WebRTC and DNS in the browser you use with the proxy. If your real IP appears, fix the browser, not the proxy.
- Compare the details. Make sure your browser’s time zone and language fit the proxy’s country.
On a phone, ProxyEmpire’s free Proxy Manager app routes Android traffic through the proxy; see the Android proxy setup guide.
Free elite proxy lists: why we don’t publish one
What a free high anonymity proxy really gets youFree elite proxy lists are mostly open servers found by scanners: misconfigured machines, hijacked devices and, sometimes, traps set up to collect traffic. Their “elite” label comes from an automated header check at one moment, they stop working within hours, and whoever runs them can log or alter everything you send, which defeats the reason you wanted anonymity. That is why we don’t publish or link a list. To test safely, use a low-cost trial: ProxyEmpire’s costs $1.97, Decodo and Rayobyte offer free residential trials, and Webshare has a free plan with 10 datacenter proxies. The site’s terms and your local laws apply whichever proxy you use.
High anonymity proxy FAQ
Short answersWhat is a high anonymity proxy?
A proxy that hides your real IP and adds no headers, such as X-Forwarded-For, Forwarded or Via, that reveal a proxy. The website sees an ordinary visitor at the proxy’s IP.
What is the best high anonymity proxy?
ProxyEmpire, in our 2026 comparison: 30M+ residential and 4M+ mobile IPs, city, ZIP, ISP and ASN targeting included, HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5, and a $1.97 trial.
Is an elite proxy the same as a high anonymity proxy?
Yes. Elite, high anonymity and level 1 are three names for the same level: no real IP and no proxy headers.
What is the difference between an anonymous and an elite proxy?
Both hide your IP. An anonymous proxy still says it is a proxy, usually with a Via or Forwarded header; an elite proxy says nothing.
What is a hidden proxy?
Usually another name for a high anonymity proxy. No proxy is fully hidden, though: sites can still check the IP type, its reputation, browser leaks and cookies.
Are residential proxies more anonymous than datacenter proxies?
Their headers can be identical, but a residential IP belongs to a home ISP and looks like an ordinary user, while datacenter ranges are easy to identify.
Are mobile proxies anonymous?
Yes, and carrier IPs are shared by many real phone users, so one address rarely points to one person. ProxyEmpire’s rotating mobile proxies currently cost $4.50 → $2.00/GB.
Is a proxy or a VPN better for anonymity?
A VPN encrypts all of a device’s traffic to one server, which suits personal privacy. A proxy works per app and lets you choose the IP type, location and rotation; see residential proxies vs VPNs.
Does SOCKS5 or HTTPS make a proxy more anonymous?
Neither protocol adds identifying headers to your requests. HTTPS through a proxy is an encrypted tunnel, while SOCKS5 on its own does not encrypt anything.
Are high anonymity proxies legal?
Yes, using proxies is legal in most countries. What matters is what you do with them, so follow the laws and site terms that apply to your use.
Private residential and mobile IPs, ready in minutes
30M+ residential IPs from $1.50/GB, 4M+ mobile IPs, city, ZIP, ISP and ASN targeting included, rotating or sticky sessions, and 24/7 support from real people. Try ProxyEmpire for $1.97.
