Free tools to check your IP and your proxy
New to proxies? These tools show you what websites can see about your connection, and whether your proxy is really doing its job. You don't need an account, and every tool comes with a short explanation in everyday words.
Connection & identity
My IP
The address websites see for you right now, with its reverse DNS name and your browser's User-Agent.
IP location lookup
Type in any IP to see roughly where it is and which company runs it.
User-Agent checker
Paste the line your browser uses to name itself and see which browser, system and device it describes.
HTTP headers checker
Read the small notes (headers) your browser attaches to every request, exactly as they reach us.
Anonymity & leaks
Anonymity checker
Scores the request your browser sends and explains, in plain words, anything that stands out.
WebRTC leak test
Find out whether your browser's video-call feature reveals your real IP while a proxy or VPN is on.
DNS leak test
Check whether the lookups that turn site names into addresses go around your proxy.
Browser fingerprint
See the screen, font and graphics details that let sites recognise your browser without cookies.
Proxy & network
Proxy checker
Send one test request through a proxy to see if it answers, how fast, and with which IP.
Blacklist checker
See whether an IPv4 address appears on Spamhaus, Barracuda or other public spam lists.
Port scanner
Check which common ports answer on a public server you own or may test.
Ping
Time how long a server takes to accept a connection, measured four times.
In plain English: what these tools are for
A proxy is a go-between. Your device sends its request to the proxy, the proxy passes it on to the website, and the website sees the proxy's IP address instead of yours. When you're starting out, it's hard to know whether that is really happening. So we made these free checks. There are no adverts, and most take less than a minute.
You can use every tool without logging in, and we don't keep a record of what you check. If the tools help and you later want a proxy of your own, our plans start at $2.49 per GB. They run on a network with 99.9% uptime and work over HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5, the three common ways apps connect to a proxy.
Quick start: check a new proxy in five steps
Just set up your first proxy? Do these checks before you use it for anything that matters. Together they take a couple of minutes, and if something is wrong you'll find out now rather than halfway through a task.
-
1
Write down your normal IP
Switch the proxy off and open My IP. Make a note of the address it shows. That is your home connection, the one you don't want websites to see once the proxy is on.
-
2
Make sure the proxy answers
Type the details your provider gave you (address, port, and a username and password if there is one) into the proxy checker. It sends one test request through the proxy and tells you whether it answered, how long that took and which IP came out the other end.
-
3
Turn the proxy on and look again
Switch the proxy on in your browser or app, then reload My IP. You should now see a different address, the proxy's, and not the one you wrote down in step 1.
-
4
Look for anything that gives you away
Open the anonymity checker. It reads the request your browser sends and flags anything that stands out, such as a header added by the proxy. It can't spot DNS or WebRTC leaks, so it links you to those two tests as well.
-
5
Check how quickly it answers
Use Ping to time how long a server takes to respond. If you run your own server, the port scanner shows which common ports on it can be reached from outside.
What a website can learn about you
Your IP address works a bit like the return address on a parcel. Every site you visit can read it, and from it a site can guess roughly where you are and which company provides your internet. The network that address belongs to also has an ID number of its own, called an ASN (autonomous system number). Once your proxy is on, websites read the proxy's return address instead of yours.
Your IP isn't the only clue. With every request, your browser also sends a few short notes called headers. They say which browser you use, which languages you read and so on. The anonymity checker looks at those notes, and at the kind of network your IP comes from, then turns what it finds into one simple score. If something stands out, like a header announcing that a proxy is in use, it tells you what it found and why it matters.
Curious about the details? The HTTP headers checker shows every one of those notes exactly as we received it. The User-Agent checker explains the line in which your browser names itself and your operating system. And the browser fingerprint tool shows the screen, font and graphics details that can make your browser recognisable even when cookies are switched off.
Two leaks that beginners often miss
A leak is when part of your traffic takes a side road instead of going through the proxy, and that side road shows your real connection. Two features cause most of them: DNS and WebRTC.
DNS: the internet's address book
Before a page can open, your device looks up the site's name (example.com, say) to find the number it should connect to. That lookup is called DNS. If it goes out over your home connection instead of through the proxy, your internet provider can still see the name of every site you look up, even though the pages themselves load through the proxy.
Our DNS leak test sets off a batch of fresh lookups from your browser, then shows you how to see which servers answered them and whether those servers belong to your home provider.
WebRTC: the video-call feature
WebRTC is the part of your browser that makes video and voice calls work. To connect two people directly, it can ask your device for its real IP addresses, both the one on your home network and the public one. Any web page can read that answer with a little JavaScript, and the proxy never gets a say.
The WebRTC leak test lists the addresses your browser gives away like this, so you know whether a browser setting needs changing.
Neither test changes anything on your computer. They only look and report back, so you can run them as often as you like.
Why some IP addresses have a bad name
Some addresses end up on public blocklists: lists of IPs that have been linked to spam or abuse. Spamhaus and Barracuda run two of the well-known ones. Email servers, and some websites, check these lists before they accept traffic. So if your emails bounce, or a sign-up keeps failing for no clear reason, the IP you're using may have a poor reputation, often thanks to whoever used it before you.
The blacklist checker looks an IPv4 address up on several of these lists at once and shows any that have it. Try it on your proxy's IP to see what you're working with. Addresses from free proxy lists are the likeliest to carry a history like this, and keeping addresses in good standing is part of what you pay a provider for.
Not sure where to start? Pick by question
| Your question | Tool to open |
|---|---|
| What IP address do websites see for me right now? | My IP |
| Where is this IP address, and who runs it? | IP location lookup |
| Is my proxy switched on and answering? | Proxy checker |
| Does my browser's request give anything away? | Anonymity checker |
| Do my website lookups slip around the proxy? | DNS leak test |
| Can a web page find my real IP through WebRTC? | WebRTC leak test |
| What does my browser send along with each request? | HTTP headers checker |
| What does this User-Agent line actually mean? | User-Agent checker |
| How recognisable is my browser without cookies? | Browser fingerprint |
| Is this IP on a spam blocklist? | Blacklist checker |
| Which common ports are open on my server? | Port scanner |
| How quickly does a server answer? | Ping |
Common problems, and what to try first
Something not working? Find the problem that sounds like yours. Each card names the tool to run, so you can see where things go wrong instead of guessing.
It won't connect, or it just hangs
Copy the address and port again: one wrong digit is the most common cause. Then test it with the proxy checker and see whether the server answers at all with ping. On a server of your own, the port scanner shows whether a common port is closed.
My username or password is refused
Type the login details in again rather than pasting them, because stray spaces sneak in. Check whether your proxy expects a username and password or an approved IP address instead (often called IP whitelisting). Then make sure you picked the protocol your provider told you to use: HTTP, HTTPS or SOCKS5.
I can still see my own IP
Most of the time the proxy is set up in a different app or browser from the one you're testing in. Check with My IP in the same browser, then run the anonymity checker to spot a header that passes your address along.
It says I'm in the wrong country
Put the proxy's IP into the IP location lookup. Location databases are sometimes out of date, so a mismatch isn't always a fault. It does show you where websites are likely to think you are, though.
My emails or sign-ups keep failing
Run the same IP through the blacklist checker. If it's on a spam list, that alone can explain refusals that look like something you did wrong.
Pages are slow, or the speed jumps about
Ping shows how long a server takes to answer. Some delay is normal when the proxy is far away, because data has further to travel. Sudden jumps that don't settle down are worth mentioning to your provider.
Jargon buster: the words used on these pages
- IP address
- The number that identifies your connection on the internet. Every website you visit sees it.
- ASN
- Short for autonomous system number. It's the ID of the network an IP belongs to, such as a home internet provider, a mobile operator or a hosting company.
- Proxy
- A go-between server. It passes your requests on, so websites see its IP address rather than yours.
- SOCKS5
- A way of connecting to a proxy that can carry almost any kind of traffic, not only web pages. Our proxies support it, as well as HTTP and HTTPS.
- DNS
- The internet's address book. It turns a name like example.com into the number your device actually connects to.
- WebRTC
- A browser feature for live video and voice. As a side effect, it can tell a web page your real IP addresses.
- Reverse DNS (rDNS)
- The same lookup done backwards, from an IP address to a name. That name often hints at who runs the network.
- User-Agent
- A line of text your browser sends with each request, naming the browser, its version and your operating system.
- Browser fingerprint
- A mix of small details, like your fonts, screen size and the way your browser draws images, that can pick out one browser without using cookies.
- Blacklist / blocklist
- A public list of IP addresses linked to spam or abuse. Email servers check these lists, and so do some websites.
- Latency
- The delay before a server replies, counted in milliseconds (thousandths of a second). Lower means quicker.
- Rotating proxy
- A proxy that swaps its IP for you, either after a set time or with every request. Read how rotating proxies work for more.
What happens to what you type here
We don't keep your tool results. The IPs you look up, the proxies you test and the leak results you get appear on your screen and aren't stored by us. To be open about it, some tools need outside help to work. The IP location lookup asks ip-api.com about the address you enter, the blacklist checker asks each blocklist whether it lists the IP, and the proxy checker asks api.ipify.org (through your proxy) which IP it sees. The DNS and WebRTC tests have your own browser do the asking: a batch of random test lookups for one, and a public STUN server, the kind a video call uses to find your address, for the other.
Our paid proxies follow the same idea: we keep no traffic logs of the sites you visit. And whatever you use a proxy for, stay within each website's terms and the law where you live.
Want to learn a little more?
What are proxies?
Start here if the whole idea is new: what a proxy does, and where it sits between you and a website.
How rotating proxies work
Why some proxies change their IP on their own, and when that's handy rather than a nuisance.
All our guides
Every explainer we've written about proxies and networking, gathered in one place.
Beginner questions about these tools
Do I have to pay for any of these?
No. Every tool here is free, with no sign-up and no adverts. We earn our living by selling proxies, and the tools are here to help you either way, whether or not you ever buy from us.
Do I need to make an account?
Not for the tools. Open one and use it straight away. You'd only create an account if you later decide to buy a proxy.
Will you keep what I check?
No. We don't keep a record of the addresses, proxies or results you check here. The answer shows on your screen and that's the end of it. A few tools ask an outside service for their answer; the privacy note further up says which.
The anonymity checker found a problem. What now?
It means something in the request your browser sent makes your connection stand out: a header added by the proxy, a missing language setting, or an IP that belongs to a hosting company. The checker explains each point it takes off. It can't see DNS or WebRTC leaks, so run the DNS leak test and the WebRTC leak test as well.
Will your proxies work with my browser or app?
Our paid proxies work over HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5. Between them, those cover most browsers, apps and scripts that have a proxy setting.
How much does a proxy cost?
Plans start at $2.49 per GB, on a network with 99.9% uptime. Paying per GB means you pay for the amount of data that goes through the proxy. The pricing page lists every option.
Ready for a proxy of your own?
Our proxies work over HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5, run on a network with 99.9% uptime, come with no traffic logs and start at $2.49 per GB. These tools stay free afterwards too, so you can test your new proxy here as often as you like.
