Managing email at scale in 2025 means you need more than just a good email client; you need a proxy that’s secure, reliable, and flexible. Whether you’re sending marketing campaigns, automating transactional emails, or just want to keep your inbox safe, the right proxy can make all the difference. In this guide, you’ll find the 10 best SMTP, POP3, and IMAP proxies for this year, along with the latest trends, stats, and expert tips.
Discover Also Our Best Gmail Proxies
Why Use Proxies for Email Protocols?
Let’s keep it simple: proxies act as a shield between your device and the internet. For email, this means:
- Better privacy: Your real IP stays hidden, which helps avoid bans or blocks.
- Improved deliverability: Rotating IPs reduce the risk of your emails landing in spam.
- Security: Proxies can add an extra layer of protection against phishing, malware, and brute-force attacks.
- Geo-targeting: Send emails as if you’re in another country, handy for global businesses.
SMTP, POP3, and IMAP: What’s the Difference?
- SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): Used to send emails from your client to the server or between servers.
- POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3): Downloads emails to your device and deletes them from the server.
- IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): Keeps emails on the server, letting you access them from multiple devices.
Best 10 SMTP/POP3/IMAP Proxies in 2025
1. 🏆 ProxyEmpire 🏆 – Best SMTP/POP3/IMAP Proxies in 2025
ProxyEmpire is a premium proxy service provider designed to empower web scraping, data collection, and unrestricted internet access through a vast network of ethically sourced residential, mobile, and datacenter proxies. Below is a detailed description based on the provided information:
Overview of ProxyEmpire
ProxyEmpire offers a comprehensive suite of proxy solutions tailored for individuals, businesses, and developers seeking reliable, high-performance tools for data gathering, privacy protection, and bypassing geo-restrictions. With over 9.5 million clean IP addresses spanning 170+ countries, ProxyEmpire provides unparalleled global coverage, ensuring users can access content at scale with a 99.9% uptime and lightning-fast response times (as low as 0.6 seconds).
Proxy Types and Features:
🏘️ Rotating Residential Proxies
Key Benefits
- Global Reach: Access to over 9.5 million IPs worldwide, covering every major region, with precise targeting options (country, city, state, ASN/ISP).
- High Reliability: A 99.86% uptime ensures uninterrupted service, supported by patented technology for enhanced speed and security.
- Ethical Sourcing: Proxies are responsibly harvested, ensuring quality and compliance.
- Versatile Use Cases: Supports web scraping, price monitoring, sneaker copping, SEO tracking, ad verification, and more.
- Integration-Friendly: Compatible with standard proxy protocols (HTTP, SOCKS5) and third-party tools like Multilogin, Dolphin Anty, Kameleo, Octobrowser, and Gologin.
- No Hidden Fees: Transparent pricing with all features included, starting at a $1.97 trial.
Use case:
| Rank | Proxy Service | Protocols Supported | Description |
| 2 | Courier IMAP/POP3 Proxy | POP3, IMAP | Courier’s proxy aggregator splits mail accounts across multiple servers, with a front-end proxy handling IMAP and POP3 connections. It supports userdb, LDAP, MySQL, or PostgreSQL authentication and is highly scalable for large deployments. Best for organizations needing seamless multi-server email access, but setup can be complex. |
| 3 | Mail.dll (Limilabs) | SMTP, POP3, IMAP | A .NET component supporting HTTP, SOCKS5, SOCKS4a, and SOCKS4 proxies for SMTP, POP3, and IMAP. It’s developer-friendly, with robust documentation, and ideal for applications requiring proxy-based email communication. Limited to .NET environments, and proxy performance depends on the chosen proxy server. |
| 4 | HAProxy | SMTP, POP3, IMAP | HAProxy is a high-performance TCP and HTTP load balancer that can proxy SMTP, POP3, and IMAP traffic. It offers SSL/TLS termination and health checks for backend servers. Widely used in enterprise settings, it’s lightweight and customizable but requires manual configuration for mail protocols. |
| 5 | Squid Proxy | SMTP, POP3, IMAP | Squid is a caching proxy that can handle SMTP, POP3, and IMAP traffic via HTTP or SOCKS protocols. It’s open-source, supports access control, and is suitable for organizations needing bandwidth optimization. Configuration for mail protocols is less straightforward than dedicated mail proxies. |
| 6 | Zimbra Proxy | SMTP, POP3, IMAP | Zimbra’s built-in proxy, based on NGINX, provides robust SMTP, POP3, and IMAP proxying for its collaboration suite. It supports SSL/TLS and load balancing, making it ideal for businesses using Zimbra’s email platform. Limited to Zimbra ecosystems, with less flexibility for standalone use. |
| 7 | Postfix (with Proxy Setup) | SMTP | Postfix, a popular mail transfer agent, can be configured as an SMTP proxy with relay capabilities. It’s highly secure, supports TLS, and integrates with authentication systems. Best for SMTP-focused proxying, but POP3/IMAP proxying requires additional tools like Dovecot. |
| 8 | Dovecot Proxy | POP3, IMAP | Dovecot’s proxy mode is designed for POP3 and IMAP, offering secure, scalable email access across multiple servers. It supports SSL/TLS and authentication passthrough. Ideal for IMAP/POP3-heavy environments but requires integration with an SMTP solution like Postfix for full functionality. |
| 9 | Apache James | SMTP, POP3, IMAP | Apache James is an open-source mail server with proxy capabilities for SMTP, POP3, and IMAP. It’s modular, supports secure connections, and is suitable for custom email solutions. Less user-friendly than NGINX or Courier, with a steeper learning curve for proxy setup. |
| 10 | Mailtrap (Testing Proxy) | SMTP, POP3, IMAP | Mailtrap provides a fake SMTP server for testing, with POP3/IMAP support for retrieving test emails. It’s developer-focused, offering high deliverability and analytics. Ideal for pre-production environments, but not suitable for production proxying due to its testing-oriented design. |
Key Trends in Email Proxy Usage for 2025
- Security is top priority: Over 3 million email hosts still run POP3/IMAP without TLS, making them vulnerable to attacks. Always choose proxies and email servers that support encryption.
- AI and machine learning: Proxies now use AI to detect threats, optimize routing, and prevent spam or phishing attacks.
- IPv6 adoption: The demand for proxies that support both IPv4 and IPv6 is rising, ensuring future-proof connectivity.
- Mobile and 5G proxies: As more users access email on mobile, demand for 5G-capable proxies is growing fast.
What to Look for in an Email Proxy
- Large, diverse IP pool (for better deliverability and less risk of blacklisting)
- Support for all protocols (SMTP, POP3, IMAP)
- Strong security (TLS/SSL, SOCKS5 support)
- High uptime and fast speeds
- Advanced targeting (geo, ASN, ISP)
- Easy integration and API access
- Responsive support
Email Proxy Stats for 2025
| Stat | Value |
| % of email hosts without TLS | 3M+ (POP3/IMAP) |
| Avg. uptime for top proxies | 99.9%+ |
| Largest proxy IP pool | 72M+ (Bright Data) |
| Countries covered by top providers | 170+ (ProxyEmpire) |
| Fastest average response time | 0.6 seconds (ProxyEmpire) |
| IPv6 support trend | Rapidly increasing |
