Using Rayobyte Proxies With Selenium

The credential problem

Selenium drives real browsers, and Chrome's --proxy-server flag doesn't accept a username and password. There are three ways around it with Rayobyte:

1. IP whitelisting: register your server's IP in the dashboard and use the proxy with no credentials. Simplest and most reliable.
2. Selenium Wire: a library that runs a local proxy which adds credentials for you.
3. A small browser extension that answers the proxy auth prompt.

Our Selenium proxies guide covers the general options.

Option 1: whitelisting

import os
from selenium import webdriver

opts = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
opts.add_argument(f"--proxy-server=http://{os.environ['RAYOBYTE_HOST']}:{os.environ['RAYOBYTE_PORT']}")
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=opts)
driver.get("https://httpbin.org/ip")
print(driver.find_element("tag name", "body").text)
driver.quit()

Add your public IP to the whitelist first. See Rayobyte authentication options. With whitelisting, targeting and session options that normally live in the username may need to be set differently; check Rayobyte's connection docs for whitelisted access to rotating products.

Option 2: Selenium Wire

import os
from seleniumwire import webdriver

proxy = os.environ["RAYOBYTE_PROXY"]  # http://user:pass@host:port
driver = webdriver.Chrome(seleniumwire_options={
    "proxy": {"http": proxy, "https": proxy, "no_proxy": "localhost,127.0.0.1"}
})
driver.get("https://httpbin.org/ip")

Selenium Wire is convenient but adds a local hop and is less actively maintained than it once was. Test it with your Selenium version.

Option 3: Firefox

Firefox lets you set the proxy in preferences, and credentials can be handled with an extension or whitelisting:

opts = webdriver.FirefoxOptions()
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.type", 1)
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.http", os.environ["RAYOBYTE_HOST"])
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.http_port", int(os.environ["RAYOBYTE_PORT"]))
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.ssl", os.environ["RAYOBYTE_HOST"])
opts.set_preference("network.proxy.ssl_port", int(os.environ["RAYOBYTE_PORT"]))
driver = webdriver.Firefox(options=opts)

Sessions

One driver keeps one exit IP while connections stay open, so treat each driver as a session. To change IP, quit the driver and start a new one with a new session ID (with credentials) or let the rotating gateway assign a new IP. Premium Residential sessions last up to 120 minutes. See Rayobyte sticky sessions.

Product choice

Use Premium Residential for protected sites, rotating ISP for speed, and static ISP for logged-in profiles. Static ISP and datacenter IPs work cleanly with whitelisting.

Performance tips

• Run headless (--headless=new) on servers.
• Disable images with Chrome preferences to save bandwidth.
• Use explicit waits instead of sleeps.
• Quit drivers reliably in a finally block so sessions and memory are released.

Common errors

• Auth popup appears: Chrome can't take credentials; use whitelisting, Selenium Wire or an extension.
• ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED: wrong host or port, or your IP isn't whitelisted.
• Wrong location: check targeting and match the browser's locale and time zone.

More in Rayobyte troubleshooting. If Selenium's proxy handling gets in your way, Playwright accepts credentials natively.

How it compares

See Rayobyte vs Geonode for Selenium, Rayobyte vs Webshare for Selenium and all three for Selenium.

Rayobyte, Geonode and Webshare are three options among many. Our best proxies in 2026 guide explains how to match a proxy type to each task, and cheap proxies that work shows where budget providers fit. For browser automation in depth, see our Puppeteer proxies guide.

Key takeaways

• Chrome can't take proxy credentials on the command line; whitelist your IP for the simplest Rayobyte setup.
• Selenium Wire or an extension can add credentials when whitelisting isn't possible.
• Treat each driver as a session and quit it to change IP.
• Playwright is easier if you need per-session credentials.

FAQ

How do I use a Rayobyte proxy with authentication in Selenium?

Whitelist your IP, or use Selenium Wire or an auth extension.

Can I use SOCKS5 with Selenium?

Yes, without credentials. Whitelist your IP and use a socks5:// proxy server argument.

Why does Selenium ignore my proxy?

Check the argument format, make sure you're not also setting a conflicting system proxy, and confirm the driver started with your options.