Jumpstart your project with this quick start guide—claim 5 free Datacenter Proxy IPs and start using them immediately for seamless integration. This tutorial will walk you through the setup, finding your proxy list, making static sessions, navigating the dashboard, and how the fair usage policy affects free proxies.
Setting up free Datacenter Proxies
1. Register an account
Visit the Oxylabs dashboard and create an account. Then, select Datacenter Proxies from the Proxies tab where you’ll be able to create a proxy user. If you’re eligible to get free IPs, in the Datacenter Proxies tab you'll see that your current plan is free.
2. Create a proxy user
Click the Create proxy user button and enter your preferred username and password for proxy authentication. Make sure to save your credentials for later use.
3. Run a request
After completion, you can now form and run your first cURL request in a terminal or any other setup to test Datacenter Proxies. All free proxy IPs are located in the United States, so let’s verify the connection by sending a curl request to ip.oxylabs.io/location using port 8000, which randomly picks IPs from your proxy list:
curl -x dc.oxylabs.io:8000 -U "user-USERNAME:PASSWORD" https://ip.oxylabs.io/locationProxy Extension
For a straightforward setup, try the Oxylabs Proxy Extension. After installing, create a proxy profile by entering its name, the proxy IP, and port. This allows you to configure and manage your proxies directly in your browser, making it quick and easy to start testing.
Upgrade from $0.75/IP
Subscribe to a paid plan to unlock as many proxies as you need in the most popular countries worldwide.
Get your proxy list
You can access your proxy list by visiting the dashboard’s Overview page. While you can’t replace free Datacenter IPs with new ones, you can upgrade your Datacenter Proxies plan to acquire fresh proxy IPs and gain the ability to replace them if needed.
Static Sessions
Session control allows you to keep the same proxy IP address for multiple requests.
When connecting through the 8001 port, you’ll always use the same IP address that’s assigned to this port. If you want to use another IP, you must change the port to 8002, 8003, and so on. You can find assigned port numbers in your proxy list.
Use the below code example to keep the same IP address assigned to port 8001 for multiple queries:
curl -x dc.oxylabs.io:8001 -U "user-USERNAME:PASSWORD" https://ip.oxylabs.io/locationVisit our documentation for code examples in different programming languages.
Protocols
Datacenter Proxies support HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS5 protocols. For example, to connect through an HTTPS protocol, you must specify this in your request by adding https:// to your entry point, like so: https://dc.oxylabs.io:8000.
Please ensure that the libraries or third-party tools you want to use support HTTPS and SOCKS5 protocols. Check out this complete code sample that uses SOCKS5:
curl -x socks5h://dc.oxylabs.io:8000 -U "user-USERNAME:PASSWORD" https://ip.oxylabs.io/locationResponse codes
These are the most common response codes you can get while using our Datacenter Proxies. If you received an error while making a request and it's not on the list, contact our 24/7 available support team or your dedicated account manager.
| Response code | Error Message | Description |
|---|---|---|
407 |
Proxy Authentication Required | User credentials are not provided / are incorrect / the user is connecting from an IP that's not whitelisted. |
429 |
Too Many Requests | User has reached the thread/concurrent session limit. |
500 |
Internal Server Error | We had a problem with our server. Try again later. |
503 |
Service Unavailable | Failed to connect to the target server. DNS failure to resolve the target server address. |
504 |
Gateway Timeout | A proxy server timed out, waiting for a response from the target server. It usually takes about 60 seconds. |
Dashboard insights
Usage statistics
You can view your usage statistics by visiting the Oxylabs dashboard. Under Statistics, you can find your traffic usage, the number of requests, and the number of errors received each day. There’s also an option to filter the statistics and view the metrics for a specific time period.
Proxy users and usage limits
You can also create new proxy users, set traffic limitations and edit or delete them. If you wish to add an extra user, click on Users and choose New user.
To add traffic limits, scroll down the Menu on the left and head to Limits and spending → Usage limits. There, after picking the Create rule, you can choose which product and user you’d like to have spending limits for.
Fair usage policy
To ensure high proxy quality and fair use while avoiding abuse and unclear activities, we enforce the following limitations to our free Datacenter Proxies:
Limited to 5 GB of traffic: All 5 IPs share a total of 5 GB of traffic per month, and this traffic limit renews each month.
Limited threads: You can have up to 20 concurrent sessions running simultaneously.
A single geo-location: All 5 IPs are located in the United States of America.
Restricted targets: We restrict access to some websites via our Datacenter Proxies. The list includes but is not limited to entertainment (e.g., Netflix, Playstation), banking and other financial institutions, government websites, streaming, ticketing, Linkedin, and mailing. Don’t hesitate to contact our customer support if you have questions about specific targets.
Additional resources
If there’s anything else you’d like to ask, don’t hesitate to contact our Support Team via live chat or email. Our team will help you ease your worries before you buy a proxy server.
We’ve got plenty of content to answer most questions and teach you something new, so feel free to explore:
People also ask
Do you have specific integration guides?
What are the technical requirements to start using Datacenter Proxies?
The minimum technical requirements are:
Servers to make requests from
A programmer proficient in a supported language
A web scraper and target URLs
A parser to extract the data you need
A database or storage solution
Can I get a free trial for Datacenter Proxies?
Our free proxies plan is designed to help you evaluate whether Oxylabs’ Datacenter Proxies meet your project requirements. The integration and usage of free IPs mirror the process of our paid plans, making it easy to transition if you decide to upgrade and unlock premium features.
If you’re still exploring, we also offer a one-time free trial. You can access it by clicking “Book a demo” on our website and filling out the contact form or by emailing us directly at support@oxylabs.io.
Is the 5 GB traffic limit per IP or shared across all 5 IPs?
Users receive a shared 5 GB traffic limit for all 5 IPs each month. The limit resets at the start of a new billing cycle, so free IPs are available every month.
What happens if I go over the 5 GB traffic limit in a month?
Surpassing the 5 GB limit will disable proxy access until the monthly traffic allowance resets at the beginning of the next billing cycle.
Can I choose the locations for my free IPs, or are they assigned automatically?
Free Datacenter Proxy IPs are automatically assigned with limited geographic selection, making them ideal for quick testing. For more location options and enhanced features, consider upgrading to a paid plan.
About the author
Vytenis Kaubrė
Technical Copywriter
Vytenis Kaubrė is a Technical Copywriter at Oxylabs. His love for creative writing and a growing interest in technology fuels his daily work, where he crafts technical content and web scrapers with Oxylabs’ solutions. Off duty, you might catch him working on personal projects, coding with Python, or jamming on his electric guitar.
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