If you’ve ever thought about Instagram automation or scraping the platform,
you’ve definitely encountered Instagram proxies. If you want to know why you need them,
how they work, and which ones to choose, this is the right video to watch. At the end of
the video we’ll also give some important tips for how to automate your Instagram correctly,
so stay tuned till the end. This video is jam-packed with valuable info!
If you want to grow on Instagram, it’s usually a lot of work even with one account - all the
liking, commenting, and posting takes a lot of time. But Instagram bots (such as Jarvee,
Viral Ignitor, and others) let you quickly grow multiple Instagram accounts,
follow/unfollow and automatically engage with your followers. Similarly,
by using scrapers, you can scrape valuable data from Instagram, such as hashtags or user profiles.
Unfortunately, Instagram is very strict about bots and scrapers. If it notices that you've made too
many actions at once, or that suspiciously many accounts are working from the same IP address
(let’s say… your phone), then it simply blocks your account
or temporarily forbids you from liking and commenting. This way Instagram fights spam.
But automation is still possible if you get a good Instagram proxy server & select subtle
automation settings which would let you grow without making Instagram suspicious.
But wait a minute… what is an Instagram proxy? It’s an intermediary between you
and Instagram or any website on the Internet. This intermediary is usually some other device
connected to the web somewhere in the world. For example: a phone, a computer,
or even a smart fridge. The only thing that matters is that this device has a
different IP address than your own. If you want to understand better how a proxy works,
watch this video. Link is in the card and in the description below.
Ok, if we need proxies for Instagram automation and scraping, then which proxies should we
choose? Afterall, there are so many types of proxies and so many different providers out there.
Instagram automation experts agree that the best type would be mobile proxies (also called
4G proxies). However, it’s the most expensive option. For comparison,
the same provider can sell residential proxies for 3$/GB and mobile proxies
for 15$/GB. It means mobile proxies can be 5 times more expensive. So, we would recommend
searching for 4G proxies when you have a lot of experience with Instagram automation
and a good strategy in place to grant you the biggest return on your investment.
The best budget option for Instagram automation and scraping is residential proxies. They are a
more common type of proxies: many providers offer them and therefore the price is much
more competitive. If your provider sells peer-to-peer residential proxies, where
all users share the same pool, it's much harder to ensure that the IPs won’t get banned. Still,
with networks spanning millions of residential IP addresses, the odds are pretty good for you.
Time-out! Before we go deep into the rest of proxy options & tips for using them,
let us know in the comments below: have you tried scraping
or automating your Instagram already? Commented? Ok, back to the smart-talk!
An honourable mention would be IPv6 proxies as some automation experts
mention them among their top 3 options. Surely, IPv6 proxies have some advantages.
For example, it’s easier to find virgin IPs – those with no prior usage history.
That’s because in general there are many more IPv6 IPs than IPv4. For the same reason they are
cheaper. However, only a few proxy providers sell IPv6 proxies, and it’s hard to use them
if you have no experience with proxies. And, most of such proxies in the market are datacenter IPs,
which means that you could get banned just because another IP from the same subnet got blocked.
In general, datacenter Instagram proxies are long past their glory days,
and you won’t accomplish much with them. But some private datacenter proxies are dedicated
specifically for social media. They’re cheaper than both mobile or residential proxies. They’re not
the best choice for Instagram bots, but still useful for running scraper Instagram accounts.
If all these types of proxies seem too complicated, you can read our blog post
linked in the description. It explains each type of proxy one by one. If you’re just searching
for an easy solution that would require the least effort, just choose mobile proxies if
money is not a problem and residential proxies if you’re searching for a more affordable solution.
Speaking of affordable proxies, let’s choose the best proxy provider that would suit your
Instagram needs and see if we can make it even cheaper to you. After watching this video,
visit the Proxyway website using the link in the description below. It will lead you to the blog
post where you can find some discount coupons or free trials to try out the providers we mention.
One provider we like a lot is Smartproxy, and for good reasons. It has a large rotating residential
proxy network that allows targeting nearly 200 locations and doesn’t share subnets. The IPs
come from both desktop and mobile devices. Smartproxy offers great customer support and
plenty of content on Instagram automation - just read their blog. This proxy provider is simple to
use, and it doesn’t cost much for what you get. Prices start from $75/5 GB ($15/GB). All in all,
it’s no wonder why Smartproxy is such a popular choice for social media automation.
But Smartproxy isn’t perfect for everything. These are still peer-to-peer residential IPs:
you can create sticky sessions up to 30 mins,
but they will rotate. You also can’t target the IPs by carrier or ASN, though that’s not a must.
Here’s a list of the most important Smartproxy features.
… aaaaand if you don’t like reading, just watch this Smartproxy review instead.
If you’re willing to invest more, there’s Luminati, the largest proxy provider today.
It offers every kind of proxy there is – in our case, we’re interested in Luminati’s static
residential and mobile IPs. Both come with country and city targeting, and the mobile
proxies even let you choose the carrier. Overall, you can use Luminati both for account creation
and management – and if you get P2P residential IPs, scraping as well. A good thing is that you
can pay as you go; it’s more expensive per GB but doesn’t tie you up in monthly plans.
The drawbacks? Well, Luminati costs a lot,
and choosing useful features like ASN targeting adds to the price. For example,
the static residential proxies cost from $20/GB + $0.5/IP. The monthly plans charge cheaper per GB,
but that means you have to commit to paying at least $500 per month! The whole user
experience can be confusing at times. And Luminati is very strict about compliance,
so one day it can simply refuse serving you for the things you do on Instagram. It used to have
a landing page on their website specifically for Instagram proxies and now it’s long gone.
If you’re interested in Luminati, here’s a list of the most relevant
Luminati features. Or you can find a full review using the link in the description.
For quality seekers interested in precise geo-targeting, there’s GeoSurf. It is a VPN
and proxy provider that sells both rotating and static residential proxies for Instagram.
Its pool is small but carefully picked and maintained. We confirmed that by running
extensive performance tests on the rotating IPs – the results were good, and the proxy
servers stable. Sticky sessions up to 30 mins make even the peer-to-peer option
suitable for account management, though you should probably pick the static proxies for
that. GeoSurf allows choosing from over 1,000 of cities for precise location targeting.
But quality proxies come at a price, and GeoSurf is one of the most expensive providers in the
market. Its residential IP plans start from $450 – even higher than NetNut which we'll discuss in
a minute. Once again, it boils down to how serious you are about Instagram marketing.
If you want to know more about Geosurf, you get the gist - here’s a list of Geosurf’s
features or you can find a full Geosurf review using the link in the description.
The next proxy provider, NetNut, sells static residential IPs – basically datacenter proxies
registered with an internet service provider. They’re hard to detect
and don’t need to rotate, which makes NetNut a good choice for account management.
The provider has a dedicated pool of proxies for Instagram, so they should work well.
Starting at $300, choosing this provider is quite an investment
and NetNut doesn’t hide that it targets companies with large needs.
It’s also not very beginner friendly. But if you’re serious about Instagram
marketing – or consider reselling – NetNut is one of the stronger candidates for the task.
Here is a list of the most important NetNut features. For more information,
you can find a link in the description below.
For Instagram scrapers, there’s a proxy provider dedicated to that - Zyte. It offers a rotating
proxy API called Smart Proxy Manager for scraping all kinds of websites, including Instagram.
These are only datacenter IPs, but don’t let that fool you – Smart Proxy Manager includes all kinds
of intelligent proxy management features to make them excel. It automatically throttles and retries
requests, assigns browser headers, and more. This greatly simplifies work with proxies, and
you only have to pay for successful requests. The prices start from $29 for 50k successful requests.
Of course, Smart Proxy Manager is only good for scraping Instagram – you won’t be able to
use it for running Instagram bots. To save the proxies from bans, it can sometimes be
slow. And cheaper plans limit features, like the number of requests you can make. Otherwise, it’s
a great option for anyone that wants data from Instagram without worrying about proxy management.
Here’s more features and if you’re eager to learn more,
the link to the full review is in the description below.
Let’s not forget an honourable mention among Instagram proxy providers - High
Proxies. Back in the day, High Proxies used to be a major provider of Instagram IPs.
Jarvee (one of the most popular Instagram bots) even recommended it as the best choice
for Instagram automation. But time passed, Instagram got increasingly protective,
and today the provider’s datacenter IPs have fallen out of favor. So now, if you watch an
old video on Youtube about Instagram and you hear about High Proxies, you’ll know the whys and the
hows. It can still be used for scraper accounts, and the price starts from $3.20 for 1 IP address.
Here’s some more features, if you’re interested.
Ok, you know what a proxy is, you know what type you need,
and you’ve selected your provider. What’s next? Well, of course - you need to know
how to properly use the proxies. We don’t want to get you action limited or your IPs blocked.
First order of business - how many accounts should you connect to one proxy? The answer’s easy:
one proxy - one account for residential IPs, and up to 10 for mobile proxies. Technically
you could use a proxy for more than one account, but it’s risky. Several of your accounts can get
shadow-banned at once if they are connected to the same proxy and make suspiciously similar actions.
Second of all, Consider your needs. If you only want to run two or three Instagram accounts with
your Instagram bot, then maybe you don’t need proxies at all. There are some Instagram bots
which are called manual bots because they don’t require proxies. The same goes for Virtual Private
Servers – they can help you run hundreds of accounts, but you don’t always need one.
Choose your automation tool. There are many different Instagram bots out there.
Jarvee is always a popular pick, but you can also get Followliker, Storyvoter,
Ninjagram, or Instagram Story Viewer, to name a few. Instagram
automation software is as important, or even more important, than proxies.
Also, some Instagram automation experts advise to get a proxy IP near where you live.
Start slow. If you’re growing Instagram accounts, let them “warm up” for a while
before you do anything with them. Then, gradually start increasing the number of follows; you won’t
be able to get 400-1000 follows/day anymore, but one to two hundreds is perfectly possible.
Mind your actions. Don’t run your Instagram bot round the clock. Instead,
use it within a certain timeframe, like 12 hours,
because that’s what humans do. Run your accounts in shifts. In the same way,
don’t follow, unfollow, or comment at the same time every day – it’s a sure way to get shut down.
Try things out. Check if your Instagram proxies work with trial Instagram accounts,
play around with the settings of your Instagram bot. Get used to the process.
Test, test, test and don’t stop learning. If you’ve been running multiple Instagram
accounts with no issues until now, it doesn’t mean things won’t change. The platform constantly
updates its algorithms, and the game starts all over again. So if someone made a video about what
Instagram settings he or she used 3 years ago, it doesn’t mean it will work for you today or at all.
Always test and adapt. Stay up to date by reading newest blogs, forums & watching videos.
One of your learning sources might as well be this Youtube channel, so subscribe,
because in the next video we’ll review Jarvee - the famous
and at the same time infamous Instagram bot. See you in the next video!