SOCKS5 Proxy Software and Proxy Client Apps

Check the program first: most of them take a proxy directly, and then no extra software is needed.

1. The program has a proxy setting (browsers, scrapers, cURL, FTP clients, antidetect browsers, SEO tools): enter the proxy there. Nothing to install.
2. The device has a proxy setting that the program follows (Windows, macOS, Android and iPhone Wi-Fi settings): set it once in the system. Many apps follow it, but not all.
3. Neither works, or you need SOCKS5 where the system offers only HTTP: use a proxy client app. It captures the program's connections and sends them through the proxy.

A proxy client does not come with proxies: you bring the proxy server (host, port, username and password) from a provider. Proxifier's own FAQ says so: "we only provide and support the software."

To route Windows apps that have no proxy setting through a SOCKS5 proxy, use Proxifier: $39.95 for a perpetual license, a 31-day trial with no limitations, SOCKS5 and HTTPS with a login, and rules by app, hostname, IP and port. Four tools, compared from their own sites:

Avoid SocksCap64 for a new setup: its own site says development, maintenance and downloads stopped on November 19, 2017. ProxyCap's site now sends visitors to NetDetour.

Which one fits:

• Proxifier for the mature, documented choice: per-app rules, DNS through the proxy, proxy chains, and the same tool on macOS 10.4 to 15 and Android 8+.
• Win2Socks or ProxyBridge when the app sends UDP (games, voice calls) and your proxy relays UDP. ProxyField residential SOCKS5 relays UDP on gate.proxyfield.io:7000.
• ProxyBridge when you want free, open-source software and can run a newer tool with administrator rights; test it with your app first.
• NetDetour when you also need SSH tunnels.

Set up Proxifier with ProxyField in 3 steps:

1. Open Profile → Proxy Servers → Add. Enter gate.proxyfield.io, port 7000, protocol HTTPS, tick Enable under authentication and enter your username (for New York, <login>-country-us-city-new_york) and password. Select Check, then OK.
2. Open Profile → Proxification Rules → Add, list the app (for example app.exe), and set the action to the proxy you added.
3. Under Profile → Name Resolution, let the proxy resolve hostnames, then start the app and confirm the exit IP (see the test below).

In Proxifier, HTTPS is the HTTP proxy's tunnel mode: it carries any TCP app, not only web traffic. SOCKS Version 5 works too, with the same username and password as HTTP. Every setting, with screenshots, is in Proxifier setup; the system proxy is on Windows proxy setup.

Check 6 things before you buy or install a client:

1. UDP or only TCP. Games, voice calls and QUIC use UDP. Proxifier handles TCP; Win2Socks and ProxyBridge also redirect UDP, and the proxy must relay it too.
2. DNS through the proxy. With remote DNS, lookups happen at the proxy's location, not on your own network.
3. Per-app rules, so only the programs you choose go through the proxy.
4. The proxy login you need: a SOCKS5 username and password, or HTTPS (CONNECT) with Basic authentication.
5. License and upkeep: one-time, subscription or free, and a release in the last year or two.
6. Your Windows version and architecture: some tools are 64-bit only, and some need administrator rights.

Start with one app. Confirm that it shows the proxy's IP, then run a DNS leak test, before you route everything through the proxy.

Each device has a built-in setting for the common case and an app for the rest.

Desktop proxy clients sit between your programs and the network and redirect their connections through the proxy you set, by rules.

Proxifier (Windows, macOS and Android) "allows network applications that do not support working through proxy servers to operate through a SOCKS or HTTPS proxy and chains," in its developer's words. You add the proxy server once, then write rules: which apps, or which destinations, go through which proxy. It can also chain several proxies and resolve DNS through the proxy. Proxifier costs $39.95 for a perpetual license (Windows Standard or Portable, or Mac), with a 31-day trial with no limitations; it runs on Windows XP to 11, macOS 10.4 to 15 and Android 8+. Step-by-step settings for ProxyField are in Proxifier setup.

proxychains-ng is an open-source tool for Linux, BSD and macOS that "redirects the connections through SOCKS4a/5 or HTTP proxies." You list the proxy in proxychains.conf and start any program behind it:

proxychains4 curl https://api.ipify.org

It hooks dynamically linked programs, which covers most command-line tools; statically linked programs are not affected. The Linux settings, including a ProxyField config block, are in Linux proxy setup.

For scripts and services, you rarely need a client: set the proxy in the code or in environment variables. See set a proxy from the command line.

A proxy extension changes the proxy for one browser only and switches between saved profiles in a click, which the system setting cannot do. FoxyProxy and ZeroOmega (today's Chrome version of SwitchyOmega) are common ones; both can send only some websites through the proxy by rules. Chrome itself takes no username and password for a SOCKS5 proxy, so with Chrome use HTTP, an extension, or an allowlisted IP. Guides: FoxyProxy, ZeroOmega and SwitchyOmega, other proxy managers.

Phone apps are needed for SOCKS5 and for apps that ignore the Wi-Fi proxy.

• Android's Wi-Fi proxy is HTTP only and has no username or password field: allowlist your network's IP in your ProxyField account and enter the port you set up in the dashboard, or use an app. SocksDroid and Every Proxy relay traffic through a SOCKS5 proxy; see Android proxy setup.
• iPhone and iPad take an HTTP proxy with a login under Wi-Fi → Configure Proxy. For SOCKS5, rules per website, or traffic on mobile data, use an app such as Shadowrocket or a Clash-based app.
• Mobile data. The Wi-Fi proxy does not apply on cellular. A proxy app works on both; the phone setup guide covers mobile data.

A "mobile proxy app" is different from mobile proxies: the app routes your phone's traffic, while mobile proxies are IP addresses on 5G, 4G and LTE carrier networks that any device can use.

Many programs have a proxy field, and you should use it rather than a system-wide client.

Guides: SSH, antidetect browsers, Postman, SEO software, Scrapy, Playwright, Python.

WinSCP's own manual adds a caution worth knowing: with SOCKS5, the password goes to the proxy "in plain text" unless the proxy supports CHAP. The same is true of most SOCKS5 clients, because the standard login sends the password unencrypted.

For a device with no proxy field, put the proxy one step earlier in the network, on a router or a computer it connects through.

• Routers. Stock home routers rarely have a forward-proxy client. Routers with open firmware such as OpenWrt can run one (OpenClash is a common choice); then every device behind the router uses the proxy. See Clash.
• Smart TVs and streaming boxes. Some have a manual proxy field in their advanced network settings, usually HTTP with no login; then allowlist your home IP and enter gate.proxyfield.io with the port you set up in the dashboard. Others have none, and the router is the place.
• Game consoles. PlayStation takes an HTTP proxy without a login: PlayStation proxy setup.

Use proxies on these devices only for lawful work such as regional content checks and app testing from a selected region; ProxyField's acceptable use policy lists what is not allowed.

Every proxy client asks for the same 5 settings.

Region, session and session time go in the same username: -region-<region>, -session-<id> and -ttl-<seconds> (30 to 129,600 seconds, 20 minutes by default), as in <login>-country-us-region-new_york-city-new_york-session-he9f2qga-ttl-600; every part after the login is optional.

Before you set up an app, test the credentials once in a terminal:

curl -x gate.proxyfield.io:7000 -U "<login>-country-us-city-new_york:<password>" https://api.ipify.org

This test runs over HTTP. A SOCKS5 app uses the same gate.proxyfield.io:7000 with the same username and password as HTTP.

An IP address that is not yours means the proxy works, and any app problem is in the app's settings. The proxy checker does the same in a browser, and the proxy error guide explains failures. Your credentials, the IP allowlist and the configurator, which generates as many proxy lines as you need, are in your account once the payment is confirmed; 24/7 live chat helps with setup.

ProxyField residential proxies cost $2.95/GB for 1 GB down to $1.95/GB from 1,000 GB, with no subscription, and the traffic never expires. What SOCKS5 is and how it differs from HTTP is covered in the post "What is a SOCKS5 proxy?".

The tools' own pages:

• Proxifier: "we only provide and support the software"; features: proxy types, chains, DNS over proxy, rules, platforms, 31-day trial; buy page: $39.95 per edition, perpetual license.
• Win2Socks: proxy types, TCP and UDP, rules, encrypted DNS, Windows 10 and 11 64-bit.
• ProxyCap ("superseded by NetDetour") and NetDetour: proxy types, chains, Windows versions.
• ProxyBridge: MIT license, TCP and UDP, Windows 10+ 64-bit, administrator rights, WinDivert.
• SocksCap64: development and maintenance stopped on November 19, 2017.
• proxychains-ng README: supported proxies and platforms.
• WinSCP: Proxy page (Advanced Site Settings dialog): proxy types and authentication.