What Is a Sticky IP? Sticky vs Rotating Proxy Sessions

A sticky IP, or sticky session, is a rotating-proxy feature: you ask the gateway to keep you on one IP from the pool for a period of time. Every request you send with the same session details goes out from the same IP until that time runs out; then the session ends and the next request gets a new IP.

"Sticky" means "meant to stay the same", not "guaranteed for the whole time". The IP belongs to a real home or mobile connection, and if that connection goes offline, the session moves to another IP.

"Sticky" is not the same as "static" either. A static proxy is an IP rented to you for days or weeks, such as a dedicated ISP IP. A sticky IP is a pool IP borrowed for minutes or hours. For the longer case, see static vs rotating proxies and ISP vs residential proxies.

Both come from the same rotating pool through the same gateway; the difference is how long the gateway keeps you on one IP.

As long as you set it, within the provider's limit, unless something ends it sooner. Limits differ a lot between services, and so does the unit you set them in. What providers' own help pages said when we checked them in October 2026:

Every one of them says the same about residential IPs: the session is meant to keep the IP, but a real home or phone connection can go offline before the time is up.

What ends a ProxyField sticky session, and what you see:

So to keep one IP for the whole task, set a ttl that covers it, keep requests coming at least every 2 minutes, and let your code reconnect if a connection breaks. For troubleshooting an IP that changed, see slow proxies and changing IPs.

Pick the shortest time that covers the task:

• 1-10 minutes for a paginated search or a product page with its reviews.
• 30 minutes to 1 hour for a checkout flow, a form or a logged-in browsing session.
• 3-6 hours for long account work in a browser profile; up to 36 hours if the work runs that long.
• Days or weeks: not a sticky session. Use a dedicated ISP IP, from $2.29 per IP for 30 days, that is yours for the whole term.

Most providers, ProxyField included, control sessions through the proxy username. You keep the same gateway address, gate.proxyfield.io:7000, and change the username:

The full line is gate.proxyfield.io:7000:<login>-country-<cc>-region-<region>-city-<city>-session-<id>-ttl-<seconds>:<password>; every part after the login is optional, and names are lowercase with underscores (city-new_york). HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5 all use the same host, port and username. More on location keys: targeting.

ProxyField takes the session time in seconds only, so convert before you set it:

Values below 30 or above 129,600 are outside the range; leave ttl out and the session lasts 20 minutes.

In code, a sticky session is one username per task:

import requests

STICKY_USER = "<login>-country-us-session-he9f2qga-ttl-600"  # one IP for 10 minutes
proxy = f"http://{STICKY_USER}:<password>@gate.proxyfield.io:7000"

s = requests.Session()  # keeps cookies, while the proxy keeps the IP
s.proxies = {"http": proxy, "https": proxy}
print(s.get("https://api.ipify.org", timeout=30).text)  # the session's IP
for page in range(1, 6):
    s.get(f"https://example.com/search?q=boots&page={page}", timeout=30)
print(s.get("https://api.ipify.org", timeout=30).text)  # the same IP, if the node stayed up

Run several tasks in parallel with a different session ID each, and each gets its own IP; threads are unlimited.

With per-request rotation, a new IP on every request. Some providers also rotate on a timer, every few minutes, or let you rotate on demand. With ProxyField you choose: a new IP on every request (no session ID), or a sticky session whose ttl sets how long one IP lasts.

Check the exit IP with https://api.ipify.org before a long run: two requests without a session ID should print two IPs, and two with the same session ID the same one.

Use a sticky session when the site should see one person from the first request to the last; rotate when every request stands alone.

Mixing is normal: one job can rotate on listing pages and open a sticky session for each detail flow. For scraping specifics, see rotating proxies and proxies for web scraping.

Both session modes work with country, region and city targeting. Rotation can give you a new German IP on every request (<login>-country-de), and a sticky session stays inside one city when the session keys follow the location, as in <login>-country-us-city-new_york-session-he9f2qga-ttl-600. Targeting costs the same per GB at every level.

Both session modes work the same on residential and mobile proxies. A mobile IP on its own changes when the carrier reassigns it, which often happens when a phone reconnects to the network; through ProxyField's gateway you get the same 30 s to 36 h choice on mobile IPs as on residential ones, at $3.45/GB for 1 GB down to $2.45/GB: mobile proxies.

Need one IP for a whole task? ProxyField residential proxies give you a new IP per request or a sticky session up to 36 h on 412M+ IPs in 195+ countries, from $1.95/GB with no subscription. Start with the Easy Trial: 1 GB for $2.95. Traffic never expires, and all purchases are final.