Why You Need Proxies for Browserless

Browserless offers headless Chrome instances through a WebSocket API, making it easy to integrate browser automation into any application. However, Browserless instances run on cloud infrastructure with IP addresses that are easily identified by anti-bot systems.

When your Browserless sessions connect to protected websites, the cloud IP triggers immediate scrutiny. Cloudflare, Akamai, and DataDome all maintain databases of cloud hosting IP ranges. Connections from these ranges face additional JavaScript challenges, CAPTCHA requirements, or outright blocks that defeat the purpose of browser automation.

Routing Browserless sessions through Hex Proxies transforms the connection identity. The target website sees a residential IP from a real ISP subscriber, not a cloud server IP. This allows Browserless to render pages, execute JavaScript, capture screenshots, and generate PDFs from any website without anti-bot interference.

The integration works at the WebSocket connection level. When creating a Browserless session via the Puppeteer or Playwright library, configure the proxy settings to use Hex Proxies' gateway. All subsequent page loads and requests within that session route through the residential proxy.

Best Proxy Type for Browserless

Browserless use cases determine the optimal proxy type:

**Web scraping and data extraction**: Residential proxies with per-request rotation provide maximum IP diversity. Each page load uses a different residential IP, preventing IP accumulation on target sites.

**PDF generation and screenshots**: ISP proxies with dedicated IPs provide consistent, fast connections for rendering-intensive operations. Sub-50ms latency from Hex Proxies data centers minimizes render time.

**Multi-page workflow automation**: Residential proxies with sticky sessions maintain IP consistency across page navigations within a single Browserless session.

**Testing and monitoring**: Residential proxies with geo-targeting let you render pages from specific locations, verifying how content appears to users worldwide.

All proxy types support the WebSocket protocol that Browserless uses for browser control, ensuring seamless integration with both Puppeteer and Playwright clients.

How to Use Hex Proxies with Browserless

Configure Hex Proxies when connecting to Browserless through Puppeteer:

```javascript const puppeteer = require('puppeteer-core');

const browser = await puppeteer.connect({ browserWSEndpoint: 'wss://chrome.browserless.io?token=YOUR_TOKEN', });

const page = await browser.newPage();

// Configure proxy for the page await page.authenticate({ username: 'your-hex-username', password: 'your-hex-password' });

// Navigate through proxy await page.goto('https://example.com'); ```

Alternatively, configure proxy at the Browserless launch level for session-wide proxy routing. Consult Browserless documentation for their proxy integration endpoint, which supports HTTP and SOCKS5 proxy injection at the browser level.

For self-hosted Browserless, configure the proxy at the Docker container level to route all browser traffic through Hex Proxies automatically.

Setup Guide

1. Create a Hex Proxies account and purchase residential or ISP proxy bandwidth.

1. Note your proxy credentials from the Hex Proxies dashboard.

1. Configure Browserless sessions with proxy settings pointing to gate.hexproxies.com:8080.

1. For self-hosted Browserless, add proxy environment variables to your Docker configuration.

1. Test by navigating to httpbin.org/ip within a Browserless session to verify the proxied IP.

1. Deploy to production and monitor proxy performance alongside Browserless session metrics.

1. Adjust proxy type and rotation settings based on success rates for your specific target sites.

Pricing for Browserless Proxies

Residential proxies at $4.25/GB integrate cost-effectively with Browserless usage. Browser sessions typically consume 1-5 MB per page including assets. A Browserless operation rendering 5,000 pages per day uses approximately 5-25 GB monthly.

ISP proxies at $2.50/proxy/month with unlimited bandwidth suit Browserless operations that reuse the same IPs across many sessions, such as scheduled monitoring or report generation tasks.

Both plans complement Browserless per-unit pricing without adding per-request proxy charges.