What the free plan includes
Webshare has one of the few free proxy plans from a commercial provider that's worth using. At the time of writing it includes:
- 10 shared datacenter proxies from Webshare's Proxy Server network.
- 1 GB of bandwidth per month.
- HTTP and SOCKS5 support.
- No credit card and no time limit. The plan doesn't expire after a trial period.
That's a small allowance, but it's a real, managed proxy list with authentication, a dashboard and documentation. It's a different thing from the "free proxy lists" scraped from the internet, which we warn against in free proxies: the risks.
Free plan vs free proxy lists
| Webshare free plan | Public free proxy lists | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the proxies | Webshare | Unknown, often compromised or misconfigured machines |
| Authentication | Username and password or authorized IP | Usually none |
| Logging and privacy | Covered by Webshare's terms | Unknown, often hostile |
| Uptime | Managed | Most die within hours |
| Speed | Datacenter speed | Very slow and erratic |
| Safe for logins | Reasonable for testing, not for important accounts | No |
The point of the free plan is to let you try a provider properly before you pay. Public lists can't do that, and they can actively harm you by reading or modifying your traffic.
What 1 GB a month gets you
Bandwidth is the real limit. Rough guide, assuming typical modern pages:
| Activity | Approximate data per unit | Units per 1 GB |
|---|---|---|
| Fetching HTML only with requests or cURL | 50 to 300 KB per page | 3,000 to 20,000 pages |
| JSON API calls | 2 to 50 KB per call | 20,000 or more calls |
| Full page loads in a headless browser | 1 to 5 MB per page | 200 to 1,000 pages |
| General browsing with images and video | Highly variable | A few hours at most |
So the free plan is enough to build and test a scraper, check that a proxy works with your tool, or browse from another country occasionally. It's not enough to run a production job. For bandwidth math in more detail, see proxy bandwidth pricing explained.
How to set it up
- Create an account on Webshare. The free plan is applied automatically.
- Open the proxy list in the dashboard. Each proxy shows an address, a port, a username and a password.
- Pick a connection mode. Direct connections use each IP:port pair; the backbone gateway lets Webshare choose the IP. See backbone vs direct connection.
- Test one proxy with cURL before you wire it into anything bigger:
curl -x http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@PROXY_IP:PORT https://httpbin.org/ipIf the response shows the proxy's IP instead of yours, it works. Our cURL guide has more test commands, and how to check if a proxy works covers common checks.
Good uses for the free plan
- Learning. See how rotation, authentication and geo-location actually behave.
- Developing a scraper. Build and debug your code with a real proxy in the loop, then switch to a paid plan without changing it.
- Testing integrations. Confirm that your browser, antidetect tool, bot or automation platform accepts the proxy format.
- Light personal use. Check how a site looks from another country.
Budget tip: Before scaling, run a short pilot with Webshare on your real targets and record success rate, latency and bandwidth per result. Our our complete Webshare guide explains which Webshare product fits which job.
What it isn't good for
- Protected websites. These are shared datacenter IPs. Sites with strong bot protection often block them. That's normal for the proxy type.
- Important accounts. Shared IPs have shared reputations. Use dedicated or static residential IPs for accounts you care about.
- Volume. 1 GB goes fast once you run a browser.
- Residential testing. The free plan doesn't include residential traffic. To test residential IPs, buy the smallest rotating residential plan, or compare with a provider that offers a residential trial, as we do in Webshare vs Geonode free trials.
When to upgrade
Upgrade when you see one of these:
- You run out of bandwidth before the month ends.
- You need more than 10 IPs to spread requests across.
- Your targets block shared datacenter IPs.
- You need specific countries.
The cheapest step up is a paid shared datacenter list, which starts at 100 proxies. If blocks are the problem, more datacenter IPs won't fix it; move to rotating residential for those targets. Our pricing guide shows what each step costs.
Making the most of 1 GB
A few habits stretch the free allowance a long way:
- Fetch HTML, not full pages. A plain HTTP request uses a fraction of the data a browser does.
- Block images and media if you must use a headless browser.
- Cache responses while you develop, so you don't refetch the same page every time you change your parser.
- Test against light endpoints such as httpbin.org/ip when you're only checking connectivity.
- Watch the usage counter in the dashboard, especially when a loop could run away.
With these, the free plan comfortably covers development of most scrapers and integrations.
Free plan setup checklist
- Create the account and confirm your email.
- Copy one proxy and test it with cURL.
- Note where your 10 proxies are located; check they suit your targets.
- Decide on username and password or IP authorization.
- Store credentials in environment variables, not code.
- Run your real code against one target at a slow rate.
- Record success rate and data used per page, so you can size a paid plan later.
What the free plan tells you about paid plans
The free plan uses the same infrastructure and dashboard as paid shared datacenter plans, so it's a fair preview of that product: connection format, speed and how your targets treat Webshare's datacenter ranges. It doesn't preview private or dedicated IPs (which have cleaner reputations), static residential or rotating residential. Treat a good free-plan result as a green light for datacenter plans, and a poor one as a signal to test residential, not as a verdict on Webshare as a whole.
Proxy tip: For a second opinion on hard targets, run the same test through Geonode residential proxies, which support sticky sessions up to 24 hours and ASN targeting. We compare the two in Webshare vs Geonode.
Free plan vs other providers' free offers
Few commercial providers give away permanent proxies. Others offer time-limited trials, small paid trials or free API credits. For example, Geonode offers free Scraper API requests each month and a low-cost residential trial rather than free proxies. If you want to test residential IPs as well as datacenter, combine Webshare's free plan with one of those trials; see Webshare vs Geonode free plans.
A real-world example
A student building a price tracker for a class project signs up for the free plan, tests a proxy with cURL, and writes a Python script that checks 50 product pages a day across three small online shops. HTML-only requests average about 150 KB, so the project uses well under 300 MB a month, comfortably inside the 1 GB allowance. When one shop starts returning CAPTCHAs, the student slows the request rate and rotates across all ten proxies, which fixes it. The whole project costs nothing.
Before you commit to any provider, it helps to see the wider market: our guide to the best proxies in 2026 compares proxy types by job, and cheap proxies explains how to keep costs down without buying IPs that get blocked.
Key takeaways
- The free plan gives 10 shared datacenter proxies and 1 GB of bandwidth a month, with no card and no time limit.
- It's a managed, authenticated service, far safer than public free proxy lists.
- 1 GB covers thousands of HTML pages but only hundreds of full browser page loads.
- It's ideal for learning, building scrapers and testing integrations, not for accounts or protected sites.
- Upgrade to a paid list for volume, or to residential when targets block datacenter IPs.
FAQ
Is the Webshare free plan really free?
Yes. At the time of writing it requires no payment details and doesn't expire, but it is limited to 10 shared datacenter proxies and 1 GB a month.
Can I choose the country of my free proxies?
Country choice is a paid plan feature. Free proxies come from Webshare's default locations, so check the dashboard to see where yours are.
Is it safe to use free Webshare proxies?
It's far safer than public free proxy lists because Webshare runs the infrastructure and authenticates access. Still, use HTTPS sites and avoid logging into important accounts on shared IPs.
How many free proxies does Webshare give you?
Ten shared datacenter proxies, with 1 GB of bandwidth a month at the time of writing.
Does the Webshare free plan expire?
No. It's a permanent free tier rather than a time-limited trial, as long as Webshare continues to offer it.
Can I upgrade from the free plan without changing my code?
Yes. Paid plans use the same connection formats, so you only swap in the new proxy details.
Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.