What is IP Whitelisting?
Authorising specific IP addresses to use a proxy without a username and password, as an alternative to credential-based authentication.
With whitelisting you register the public IP of the machine that will use the proxy, and the provider accepts its connections without credentials. It is convenient for fixed servers and for tools that cannot store a username and password.
It only works from a stable address. A home connection on a dynamic IP will lose access whenever the provider reassigns it, so credential authentication is the practical choice for laptops and anything mobile.
The security trade is real in both directions. Nothing sensitive travels in the connection, but anyone who ends up on a whitelisted address — a shared office network, a reassigned cloud IP — inherits your proxy access.
Related terms
Sub-User
A separate proxy account with its own credentials and usage limits, created under a main account — useful for teams and agencies.
HTTP/HTTPS Proxy
A proxy that handles web traffic. HTTPS connections are encrypted end-to-end, while HTTP is unencrypted unless the destination site uses TLS.
SOCKS5
A flexible proxy protocol that supports any traffic type, including UDP, and is often preferred for performance and security over HTTP proxies.
Bandwidth
The volume of data transferred through a proxy, usually measured in gigabytes. Residential proxies are typically billed by bandwidth.