Webshare (opens in new tab) is a proxy service (opens in new tab) provider, based in Covina, California, which is in the San Fran Bay area. Rather than having a reliance on partners, all of its technology is fully developed in house by its team. Here, the emphasis is on cyber security, along with speed. In fact, these folks make the bold claim that it has the ‘Fastest proxies’- which we can’t quite verify nor refute. Webshare has a global proxy network that gets fully ‘Encrypted and protected,’ continuously. They are certainly a high volume provider that processes in excess of 250 billion data points each month (yes, that is billion with a ‘B’), and used by over 12,000 businesses.
Webshare: Features
Webshare offers plenty of features to attract and satisfy its user base. This starts with support for both HTTP and SOCKS5 proxy, with availability for authentication or password authentication.
There is also an emphasis on anonymity here. Webshare works to have real time protection, as websites try to detect visitors, but this proxy attempts to stay ahead of this issue with up to date software. This includes protection against complex detection techniques, such as HTTP header inspection, TCP fingerprint proxy, port scan prevention, and DNS leak detection. Finally, they state that the data is entirely safe with them as private information does not get sold to a third party.
While some proxy providers have locations in just about every country, and also every city worldwide, Webshare falls short in simple numbers. It only covers over 40 countries, so some of the smaller countries do not have a proxy, such as Lichtenstein, and even some other major countries, such as Indonesia, have relatively few proxies, 19 at the time of this writing. Therefore, keep this in mind and Webshare may not be ideal for those that need truly a worldwide proxy presence.
An additional focus is on speed, and while most proxies state that they are the fastest, Webshare actually puts in some effort to validate that claim. This starts with a 99.97% uptime, an aggregate network of 100+ Gbps, and monitoring that goes on 24/7. Each proxy gets benchmarked every 5 minutes by an external service. The target is to keep it above 500 Mbps, and if below then there is a dispatch sent to a network team. Webshare also states that it uses both Speedtest.net and Fast.com, the latter owned by Netflix, to monitor its proxy speeds. On Fast.com, Webshare’s proxies run speeds at an impressive 800 Mbps to 950 Mbps.
Webshare: Pricing
Webshare offers a number of different proxy products, depending on the type of proxy.
Residential proxy plans all have access to over 10 million IP’s, with a 99.7% uptime, and HTTP/
SOCKS5 endpoints start at $18.75/month for 1 GB on the low end. It has plenty of options to scale, such as 10 GB for $120/month, or 25 Gb for $270/month, topping out at 1 TB for $4800/month. We appreciate the multiple available plans, so that users can choose a plan that truly fits their needs from the eight available choices.
Not sure if this fits your needs? A standout of Webshare is the available free proxy plan. Sure, as would be expected, it is limited to just 10 free IPs, so it is hardly useful for a larger project. Still, it does not require a credit card, and it is a permanent plan, so not a time limited trial. We also like that it has a 99.97% uptime, along with all the features of a paid plan, making it useful for a full test drive, and as needs grow, an upgrade to a higher tier of plan. Just realize the limitation that there is not a free trial available of a higher tier plan, as some competitors offer.
Webshare: Support
Users of any of these proxy services, will sooner or later need some help, whether with a novice user to get up and going, or with a more complex need that is vexing even a veteran. Webshare has some options, both for self help, and direct contact, but we wish there were some more options. We also did not find a dedicated support page.
On the self help side, there is a Help Center. It is a series of articles, and it includes a search box. We like that it lists articles in a popular section, such as “Can I customize a plan?” or “How to upgrade to more proxies?” Overall, we would have liked to see more articles than the less than 50 that are there in total. We also did not find other content such as video content, webinars, a user forum, ebooks, whitepapers or a blog.
There is also a pathway for direct contact, but again, the options are thin. There is an email, and it does say to “Contact us anytime,” but there is no indication as to how fast an answer is expected, or if there are days or hours of operation. The other concern is that this email is the lone option, and there is no support portal, no chat, no fax, although technically there is a mailing address although we doubt most users will want to go that route.
Webshare: Final verdict
Webshare is an attractive proxy with clear benefits. It is easy to see the free tier, the high level of security, the emphasis on anonymity, the speeds of the proxies, and the choice of several plans. However, we are put off by the lack of support options, the prices on the plans, and also that competitors offer proxies in many more locations. Overall, the free proxy is worth trying, with all of the features, to see if this proxy meets your needs.
