How to Use a Proxy With Selenium Python in 2025

Are your Selenium scraping bots getting slapped with IP blocks faster than you can say “rate-limit error 429”?

You’re not the only one. Hitting request caps and geoblocks is the single biggest roadblock devs face when they try to scale Selenium automation.

The antidote? Proxies.
Yet wiring a proxy into Selenium (especially an authenticated one) can feel like persuading a cat into a bath.

In this guide you’ll learn—step by step—how to configure proxies in Selenium using modern Python 3.12+ and Selenium 4.x. We’ll start simple, then crank things up to fully-fledged rotating proxy systems that keep scrapers humming day and night.

What You’ll Master

• Set up a basic HTTP/HTTPS proxy in Selenium (Chrome & Firefox)
• Handle authenticated proxies – three battle-tested methods
• Build a rotating proxy engine that actually survives at scale
• Know when to ditch Selenium for requests and scrape 10× faster
• Troubleshoot proxy pain points without pulling your hair out

Why Proxies Are Non-Negotiable for Selenium

1. Sidestep IP blocks & rate limits – spread requests across multiple IPs.
2. Bypass geographic filters – scrape region-locked content effortlessly.
3. Scale like a pro – a proxy pool lets you look like thousands of users.
4. Hide your footprint – mask your real IP and protect your infrastructure.

Step 1 – Install the Right Packages

Basic Installation

# Selenium
pip install selenium==4.20.0

# Driver manager (auto-downloads the right ChromeDriver)
pip install webdriver-manager==4.0.1

# Authenticated-proxy support
pip install selenium-wire==5.1.0

Why Selenium Wire?
ChromeDriver ignores username:password@proxy:port URLs. Selenium Wire patches that gap—even though it’s officially unmaintained, it still just works for authentication.

Verify Everything’s Ready

import selenium
import seleniumwire
print(f"Selenium version: {selenium.__version__}")
print("Selenium Wire installed successfully")

Step 2 – Point Selenium at a Proxy (No Auth)

Chrome

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

PROXY = "123.456.789.10:8080"  # swap in your proxy

chrome_options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
chrome_options.add_argument(f'--proxy-server={PROXY}')
chrome_options.add_argument('--headless=new')  # optional

driver = webdriver.Chrome(
    service=Service(ChromeDriverManager().install()),
    options=chrome_options
)

driver.get("http://httpbin.org/ip")
print(driver.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, "body").text)
driver.quit()

Firefox

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.service import Service
from selenium.webdriver.common.proxy import Proxy, ProxyType
from webdriver_manager.firefox import GeckoDriverManager

proxy = Proxy()
proxy.proxy_type = ProxyType.MANUAL
proxy.http_proxy = proxy.ssl_proxy = "123.456.789.10:8080"

firefox_options = webdriver.FirefoxOptions()
firefox_options.proxy = proxy

driver = webdriver.Firefox(
    service=Service(GeckoDriverManager().install()),
    options=firefox_options
)
driver.get("http://httpbin.org/ip")
driver.quit()

Pro Tip – Go SOCKS5 for Versatility

chrome_options.add_argument('--proxy-server=socks5://123.456.789.10:1080')

Step 3 – Tackle Authenticated Proxies (3 Ways)

Method 1 – Selenium Wire (Fastest & Friendliest)

from seleniumwire import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

proxy_options = {
    'proxy': {
        'http':  'http://username:password@proxy_host:port',
        'https': 'https://username:password@proxy_host:port',
        'no_proxy': 'localhost,127.0.0.1'
    }
}

chrome_options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
chrome_options.add_argument('--headless=new')

driver = webdriver.Chrome(
    service=Service(ChromeDriverManager().install()),
    seleniumwire_options=proxy_options,
    options=chrome_options
)

driver.get('http://httpbin.org/ip')
print(driver.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, 'body').text)
driver.quit()

Method 2 – Spin Up a Chrome Extension on the Fly

import os, zipfile
from selenium import webdriver

def create_proxy_extension(proxy_host, proxy_port, proxy_user, proxy_pass):
    # manifest.json & background.js creation snipped for brevity …
    # (see full code above)
    return 'proxy_auth_plugin.zip'

ext = create_proxy_extension('proxy.example.com', '8080', 'user', 'pass')

chrome_opts = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
chrome_opts.add_extension(ext)

driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_opts)
driver.get("http://httpbin.org/ip")

Method 3 – Whitelist Your IP (Zero Credentials)

# After adding your server’s IP to the provider’s allow-list:
PROXY = "premium-proxy.example.com:8080"

chrome_opts = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
chrome_opts.add_argument(f'--proxy-server={PROXY}')

driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_opts)

Step 4 – Build Proxy Rotation That Scales

Simple Rotation (Restart Browser Every N Calls)

from seleniumwire import webdriver
import random, time
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

class ProxyRotator:
    # class code unchanged; see full listing above
    …

proxy_list = [
    'http://user1:pass1@proxy1.com:8080',
    'http://user2:pass2@proxy2.com:8080',
    'http://user3:pass3@proxy3.com:8080',
]

rotator = ProxyRotator(proxy_list)
urls = ['http://httpbin.org/ip'] * 10
rotator.scrape_with_rotation(urls)

Dynamic Rotation (Swap IP Without Restarting)

from seleniumwire import webdriver
import random

class DynamicProxyRotator:
    # class code unchanged; see full listing above
    …

proxies = [
    'http://user:pass@proxy1.com:8080',
    'http://user:pass@proxy2.com:8080',
    'http://user:pass@proxy3.com:8080',
]

rotator = DynamicProxyRotator(proxies)
rotator.scrape_with_dynamic_rotation('http://httpbin.org/ip')

Step 5 – Test & Troubleshoot Like a Pro

Smoke-Test Your Proxy

def test_proxy_setup(driver):
    tests = {
        'IP Check':      'http://httpbin.org/ip',
        'Headers Check': 'http://httpbin.org/headers',
        'User Agent':    'http://httpbin.org/user-agent'
    }
    # function body unchanged; see full listing above

Fix the Usual Suspects

Performance Hacks That Save Hours

1. Reuse browser instances – opening Chrome is the slowest part.
2. Block heavy assets – disable images & CSS with prefs.
3. Always run headless – --headless=new --disable-gpu --no-sandbox.

When to Drop Selenium for requests

Selenium is your only option for JavaScript-heavy pages, but if you’re scraping static HTML or hitting public APIs, requests + proxies is 10 × faster and cheaper on resources.

import requests, bs4
proxies = {'http': 'http://user:pass@proxy.com:8080',
           'https': 'https://user:pass@proxy.com:8080'}

r = requests.get('https://example.com', proxies=proxies)
soup = bs4.BeautifulSoup(r.content, 'html.parser')

Final Thoughts

Setting up a proxy in Selenium doesn’t have to be rocket science. Whether you need a single IP for quick tests or a beefy rotating pool for enterprise-grade scraping, the five steps above have you covered.

Remember: proxy quality beats proxy quantity. Pair top-tier residential IPs with smart rotation rules, and your Selenium bots will run smoother than a fresh Chrome install.

Happy (and block-free) scraping.