Setup your own proxy server instantly and for free

Want to quickly setup a free proxy server? This article and walkthrough video brought to us by Labnol shows how to do so, and it’s about as easy as it gets, and it doesn’t involve using an SSH proxy or tunnel which makes it more user friendly for many.

The walkthrough is demonstrated in and geared towards Windows users but the technology, software, and setup is practically identical on a Mac. You’d just need to download the Mac versions of python and Google App Engine SDK rather than Windows versions. Everything else is basically the same, so check out the video above or head over to Labnol if you’re interested.

• Labnol: Setup a Proxy Server in 5 minutes

Of course there are other ways to setup proxy servers, and there are many free web proxy services available, but they often have their own downside and are not necessarily reputable.

Proxy servers are often used to access content and web pages that are not available in a specific geographic region. For example, you can access a proxy server based in the UK to access a UK only website, or a US proxy to access USA-only content on services like YouTube.

If you’re using a proxy to gain some anonymity, a better solution is often to setup a VPN instead. That’s not particularly complex either, but it’s a topic for another article.