3proxy vs Privoxy
3proxy
3proxy.orgPrivoxy
privoxy.orgSide by side
| Figure | 3proxy | Privoxy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Proxy Software | 9.0 (#1) | 8.5 (#9) |
| Spec score · Forward Proxy Software | 9.0 (#2) | 8.3 (#7) |
| Documentation depth | The documentation index lists security guidance, high-load optimization, a developer reference and man pages for the major services. | The project publishes user, FAQ, developer, installation, configuration, and man-page documentation. |
| License | 3proxy is free and open source; the project says versions from 0.6 use a BSD-style license and allow compatible Apache, GPL or LGPL licensing. | Privoxy source code is released under the GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version. |
| Proxy chaining | Parent proxies, multihop chains, random parent selection and load balancing across interfaces are supported. | Privoxy can be chained with other proxy servers. |
| Rating on SourceForge | No rating out of any scale is displayed; the page contains no user reviews or submitted rating. | 4.8 out of 5 from 56 reviews. |
| What it does | 3proxy is a universal application-level proxy server for controlling access between internal users and external resources or vice versa. | Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy that filters traffic to improve privacy, modify web pages and HTTP headers, control access, and remove advertisements. |
Plans
In their own words
3proxy
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.
Privoxy
Privoxy is free, non-caching web proxy software for privacy controls, access rules, and changes to HTTP headers and web pages. It can modify page text, remove banners and web bugs, filter HTML annoyances, and inspect HTTPS requests and responses. A browser-based configuration and control utility includes rule tracing and remote toggling, and Privoxy can be chained with other proxies. It can serve multiple clients across a network or as a LAN gateway. The software runs on Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, Haiku, BSD variants, Solaris, and other Unix systems. It is licensed under the GNU GPL version 2 or later, with a free plan listed at free. A basic configuration is included with a new installation, but many advanced features need to be enabled. Privoxy handles HTTP and HTTPS proxying; it does not handle FTP, SMTP, instant messaging, IRC, or ICQ. It is not designed as a malware-removal tool, and the default setup does not filter malware. The project says it lacks trusted build infrastructure; individual project members or external contributors build and upload binary packages.