3proxy vs Bright Data Browser API

3proxy is a free proxy server for controlling access between internal users and external resources, or between external users and internal resources. It supports HTTP and HTTPS proxying, SOCKS v4, v4.5 and v5, and FTP over HTTP. Other services include POP3 proxying, TCP and UDP port mapping, and a caching DNS proxy. Access controls can set bandwidth and traffic limits, chain proxies, and rotate logs. Logging can use files, Unix syslog, or an ODBC database, with configurable formats. When compiled with OpenSSL, 3proxy offers HTTPS proxy connections, upstream TLS with certificate authentication, and mutual TLS. Its security guidance recommends limiting access with ACLs and notes that its documented strong authentication method currently uses cleartext authentication. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted setups; Docker images are available, and Windows system-service installation is described. Release binaries are published with checksums, an OpenPGP signature, and a build provenance attestation; Docker images are signed and attested. The listed plan is free.

Bright Data Browser API runs browser-based data collection workflows in fully managed cloud browsers. It renders complete pages, supports user-like interactions and handles unblocking for JavaScript-heavy sites, dynamic content and multi-step workflows. Puppeteer, Playwright and Selenium can connect through a single endpoint change. Bright Data says the service manages CAPTCHA solving, browser fingerprinting, automatic retries, headers, cookies and JavaScript rendering. Cloud browsers auto-scale and include built-in proxy rotation plus real-time Chrome DevTools monitoring. Worldwide geographic and ASN targeting are listed. The API executes in the cloud and has no self-hosted option. The Free Tier costs nothing and includes 5K credits and 1GB per month with no credit card required. Pay as you go costs $8 a month, billed $8 /GB. Scale costs $499 a month with 71 GB and unlimited concurrent browsers. Enterprise pricing is custom. Expert support covers the first three plans; Enterprise adds priority support and a premium SLA.