How Many Proxies do I need? The Minimalist’s Cheat Sheet

Proxies are important to your business. They improve security, prevent server crashes, higher speeds..

Yada, yada, yada…the list goes on.

All great features but you’re not here for those, are you?

No. For you, proxies are the difference between:

• Successful eCommerce & Banned seller accounts
• Booming social networks & Silenced ones
• Easy access to global markets & Access denied
• Scraping the web & Scraping the dishes
• The best shows on planet Earth & reruns
• The smell of new Yeezy’s & Pwned at every drop
• Deep satisfaction & Tremendous sadness
• Poetic justice & Painful resignation
• Freedom roaring badassery & Do-as-your-told helplessness

They teleport you from losing to winning, that much is clear. (Maybe too clear)

But how many proxies do you really need? 

If you look around a bit, everyone says different things. The inconsistencies are annoyingly consistent.   

The most honest answer you’ll find is “it depends”.

Other than shrugging, you couldn’t be more passive.

And it doesn’t get you any closer to the answers you seek. (Don’t worry, we’re getting closer to those.)

There’s also a lot of misinformation out there. You could pin it on ignorance. And that’s fair enough – the advice has more good intention than expertise. But dig around and you’ll find BS in guides and tutorials directly on the websites of proxy providers.

I’ve even seen some “authorities” recommend free proxies. If you’ve been enlightened by this recent post, you’ll understand why you may want to ‘give a firm pass’ on any advice they’re handing out.

Do they just pull a fast one on customers and cover their asses with money-back guarantees?

Shrugs 

In response to this, I’ve put together a list with everything that proxies are used for (well, most everything).. and how many you really need for each case on the list.

Worst case scenario, it’ll add to the growing confusion and contradictions about how many proxies are truly necessary. 

At it’s very best, you will leave here with a degree of certainty that surpasses that of Christopher Columbus after believing that he was the first to discover the Americas. However, the source of your confidence is just this list, and not an empire drunk with the desire to colonize the “New World.” 

But you’ll probably end up somewhere in between. And that’s a good start.

How the list works

It’s quite simple. The first column is the mission, which is what your goal is. I tried to be broad here, so if it’s a close match – read carefully and the rest will likely apply just the same. 

The second column is the method, which is how you will go about completing your mission. 

The third column is the number of proxies. To keep it simple, consider a rotating residential proxy as a single tool. Which it is – but through it you will have access to thousands, or even millions of residential proxies. 

Then you’ll see some notes about each case below. They’re rather inescapable rules, so you should read them.

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The List

Instagram proxies

Mission	Method	Proxy
Increase your IG following	Create multiple Instagram accounts	Mobile + Fresh Proxies

NOTE: You’ll want a different mobile IP address to set up each account. You can simply disconnect and reconnect from the internet to fetch a new IP address. Afterwards, use a Fresh Proxy to manage each account. A fresh proxy is incredibly safe, dedicated only to you, and you can pick whatever location you want. Just remember to switch to this proxy whenever you log into the corresponding account.

Mission	Method	Proxy
Increase upvotes on Reddit threads	Create multiple Reddit accounts	Rotating residential proxies with sticky sessions

NOTE: Rotating IPs are not ideal on Reddit. It’s a strict website. If they see your account connected to different IP addresses, you can get banned. That’s why it’s important to buy a dedicated fresh proxy for each account that you create.

Mission	Method	Proxy
Reinstate or avoid suspensions and bans on your sellers account	Create multiple stealth accounts	Rotating residential proxies with sticky sessions

NOTE: Create your account with a rotating residential proxy, and then use a dedicated fresh proxy to manage each account. Always remember to erase your browser, internet history, and empty your cookies.

Mission	Method	Proxy
Same as eBay. In fact, you can use this formula for Shopify too.	Create multiple ghost accounts	Rotating residential proxies with sticky sessions

NOTE: Just like the other examples, you will create your account with a rotating residential proxy, and then use a dedicated fresh proxy to manage each account. Always remember to erase your browser, internet history, and empty your cookies.

Mission	Method	Proxy
Post multiple ads in different cities ban-free	Create multiple accounts in different cities	Rotating residential proxies

NOTE: If you want to follow the posting limits, then just create a different account in each region of interest with rotating residential proxies. If you want to make multiple posts per day, create multiple accounts in the same region and post once from each account. Make sure you change up your ad’s content a little each time. (Throw them off the scent.)

Mission	Method	Proxy
1. Verify that your ads are working in different regions	Change your IP address so that you can view your ads as a local	Rotating residential proxies.
2. Make sure your ad-tracker isn’t blocked by auto-click bots	Disguise your IP address	All day ^^

NOTE 1: Set your desired location and go. You can also check any ads that target only smartphones with a mobile proxy. 
NOTE 2: You’re IP address will constantly change to other residential IP addresses that won’t be blocked by the software that blocks your ad-tracker.

Mission	Method	Proxy
Fill in as many surveys as you want	Register from different locations and IP addresses	Rotating residential proxies

NOTE: Rotating Residential Proxies will allow you to change locations to access different survey companies, and also stay in one location so that it doesn’t look suspicious. 

Mission	Method	Proxy
Data Collection, Price Aggregation, Marketing Intel	Disguise your IP address and blend in with the regular activity around your target	Rotating residential Proxies

NOTE: Understand the normal request rates your target receives per minute/hour/day and stay within those limits.

Mission	Method	Proxy
Cop sneakers without detection	Load sneaker bot with proxies and tasks	Rotating residential proxies with sticky sessions

NOTE: How many proxies per task? The standard task to proxy ratio is 1:1. IPBurger’s service has the added benefit of being able to load a list of residential proxies from their network.

Mission	Method	Proxy
Expand your content streaming horizons	Disguise your location and bypass geo-restrictions	VPN

Surprised? Well, A Vpn Is Really All You Need To Bypass Geo-Blocks On Streaming Sites And Apps Like Netlfix, Youtube, Or Crunchyroll.

So do you need more proxies?

You’re able to satisfy most of these cases with the sole use of rotating residential proxies. If the proxy pool is large enough (by the way, IPBurger’s pool would put oceans to shame)..then you’ll never need again.

Cases that involve managing multiple accounts require one fresh proxy per account – which makes the math pretty easy to workout.

If there’s any other cases you’d like to see on this list, or have a better solution – please let us know!

We’ll shrink the ambiguity and misinformation together.

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