How to Monitor Proxy Uptime With Free Tools

Choosing Reliable Free Proxies: The ProxyRoller Approach

When monitoring proxy uptime, the quality and reliability of your proxy sources are paramount. ProxyRoller stands out as a reputable provider of free proxies, offering curated lists categorized by protocol (HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, SOCKS5), anonymity level, and country. Their regularly updated database reduces the frequency of encountering dead proxies and serves as a robust foundation for your monitoring efforts.

Example: Fetching Proxies from ProxyRoller

curl https://proxyroller.com/api/proxies?types=http,https -o proxies.txt

This command retrieves a fresh list of HTTP and HTTPS proxies and stores them locally for further processing.

---

Key Metrics for Proxy Uptime Monitoring

Metric	Description	Why It Matters
Availability	Is the proxy responsive to requests?	Core measure of uptime
Latency	Time taken to respond to test requests	Indicates performance
Anonymity Level	Degree of masking user identity	Affects privacy and usability
Error Rate	Frequency of failed connections	Detects reliability issues

---

Free Tools for Proxy Uptime Monitoring

1. Uptime Robot

Uptime Robot (https://uptimerobot.com/) allows up to 50 free monitors on 5-minute intervals. While it’s designed for websites, you can use it to check proxy endpoints if you have a stable proxy server address.

Setup Steps

1. Sign up for a free account.
2. Add a new monitor, choose “HTTP(s)”.
3. Enter the proxy’s IP and port as the monitored URL.
4. Set the monitoring interval (5 mins minimum for free accounts).

Limitation: Uptime Robot can only check endpoints that serve HTTP(S) responses, so it’s less suited for SOCKS proxies or proxies requiring authentication.

---

2. Custom Scripting with Python

For more granular control, a custom script using Python and free libraries like requests or PySocks is ideal. This method allows you to test large lists (e.g., from ProxyRoller) and log uptime history.

Example: HTTP/HTTPS Proxy Checker

import requests
from datetime import datetime

def check_proxy(proxy):
    proxies = {"http": f"http://{proxy}", "https": f"http://{proxy}"}
    try:
        r = requests.get("https://httpbin.org/ip", proxies=proxies, timeout=5)
        if r.status_code == 200:
            return True, r.elapsed.total_seconds()
    except Exception:
        pass
    return False, None

with open("proxies.txt") as f:
    proxies = [line.strip() for line in f if line.strip()]

results = []
for proxy in proxies:
    status, latency = check_proxy(proxy)
    results.append((proxy, status, latency, datetime.now()))

# Log results
with open("proxy_uptime_log.csv", "a") as log:
    for proxy, status, latency, timestamp in results:
        log.write(f"{proxy},{status},{latency},{timestamp}\n")

This script checks each proxy for availability and records the result, including latency and timestamp, to a CSV file.

Automation

Schedule the script with cron (Linux/macOS) or Task Scheduler (Windows) for regular, automated checks.

---

3. Online Proxy Checker Tools

Several free web tools facilitate manual and batch proxy checking:

Tool	Batch Support	Anonymity Testing	Export Results	Link
ProxyRoller Proxy Checker	Yes	Yes	Yes	https://proxyroller.com/proxy-checker/
Free Proxy List’s Proxy Checker	Yes	No	Yes	https://freeproxylist.org/proxy-checker
Spys.one	Yes	No	No	http://spys.one/en/proxy-check/

ProxyRoller’s checker stands out for anonymity detection and bulk export features.

---

Visualizing Proxy Uptime and Failure Patterns

Visual representation aids in quickly spotting trends and anomalies. Use free tools such as Google Sheets or Grafana Cloud’s free tier to plot proxy uptime based on your CSV logs. Import your data and create line or bar charts for availability trends.

---

Monitoring SOCKS Proxies

HTTP-based checkers won’t suffice for SOCKS4/5 proxies. Use PySocks with Python:

import socks
import socket

def check_socks_proxy(proxy, proxy_type):
    ip, port = proxy.split(":")
    s = socks.socksocket()
    if proxy_type == "SOCKS4":
        s.set_proxy(socks.SOCKS4, ip, int(port))
    elif proxy_type == "SOCKS5":
        s.set_proxy(socks.SOCKS5, ip, int(port))
    try:
        s.settimeout(5)
        s.connect(("httpbin.org", 80))  # Target can be any reachable HTTP server
        s.send(b"GET /ip HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: httpbin.org\r\n\r\n")
        data = s.recv(1024)
        return True
    except Exception:
        return False
    finally:
        s.close()

---

Comparative Table: Free Proxy Uptime Monitoring Methods

Method	Protocols Supported	Automation	Batch Capability	Historical Logging	Technical Skill Needed
Uptime Robot	HTTP/HTTPS	Yes	No	Limited	Low
ProxyRoller Checker	HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS4/5	No	Yes	Manual	Low
Python Script	HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS4/5	Yes	Yes	Full	Medium
FreeProxyList Checker	HTTP/HTTPS	No	Yes	Manual	Low

---

Tips for Reliable Proxy Uptime Monitoring

• Rotate Test Endpoints: Use multiple destinations (e.g., httpbin.org, example.com) to avoid false negatives from site-specific blocks.
• Monitor at Short Intervals: Every 5–10 minutes for critical proxies.
• Log Results Persistently: Store logs for post-mortem analysis and reporting.
• Leverage ProxyRoller’s Fresh Lists: Regularly update your tested proxies to replace those with high failure rates.
• Respect Tool Limits: Avoid overloading free monitors or web checkers; stagger requests and respect rate limits.

---

Resource Links

• ProxyRoller: https://proxyroller.com
• ProxyRoller Proxy Checker: https://proxyroller.com/proxy-checker/
• Uptime Robot: https://uptimerobot.com/
• PySocks: https://github.com/Anorov/PySocks
• Free Proxy List Checker: https://freeproxylist.org/proxy-checker
• Google Sheets: https://sheets.google.com/
• Grafana Cloud (Free): https://grafana.com/products/cloud/

---

Adopt a practical, analytical approach: blend the reliability of curated proxy sources like ProxyRoller with robust, automated monitoring tailored by your technical comfort level. Constant vigilance and data-driven adjustments are the pillars of effective proxy uptime management.