Bright Data

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Bright Data

A curated collection of the 3 best self hosted alternatives to Bright Data.

SaaS platform providing large-scale proxy networks, web scraping and crawling APIs, and ready-to-use data feeds to extract publicly available web data. Includes proxy/IP management, anti-bot and CAPTCHA handling, headless browser rendering, and API/webhook delivery.

Alternatives List

#1
Tinyproxy

Tinyproxy

Tinyproxy is a small, efficient HTTP/HTTPS proxy daemon for POSIX systems, designed for low resource usage with access controls, filtering, and optional reverse/transparent proxying.

Tinyproxy screenshot

Tinyproxy is a lightweight HTTP/HTTPS proxy daemon for POSIX operating systems, designed to be fast and resource-efficient. It is commonly used to provide a simple forward proxy for small networks and embedded or low-spec environments.

Key Features

  • HTTP proxy with HTTPS tunneling via the CONNECT method (does not modify HTTPS traffic)
  • Small footprint and low CPU/memory usage, suitable for embedded deployments
  • Access control lists to allow/deny clients by IP, subnet, interface, or hostname rules
  • Optional URL/domain filtering (build-time option)
  • Upstream proxy support with per-site rules (including the ability to null-route specific targets)
  • Optional transparent proxy mode and reverse proxy mode (build-time options)
  • Header management for HTTP traffic (add/insert headers) and privacy-oriented header filtering
  • Built-in statistics/monitoring endpoint via a configurable “stat host”

Use Cases

  • Sharing a single internet connection in a small office/home network with controlled client access
  • Deploying a minimal forward proxy on routers, appliances, or low-resource servers
  • Enforcing simple outbound web access policies (ACLs, filtering, upstream routing)

Limitations and Considerations

  • HTTPS is only tunneled (CONNECT); it cannot filter or rewrite encrypted content
  • Some capabilities (filtering, upstream, reverse, transparent modes) may require specific build-time options and network/firewall configuration

Tinyproxy is a practical choice when you need a straightforward HTTP/HTTPS proxy with basic policy controls and minimal overhead. Its simple design makes it easy to operate and customize for constrained environments and small-network scenarios.

5.6kstars
742forks
#2
g3proxy

g3proxy

High-performance Rust proxy supporting HTTP/SOCKS5 forwarding, transparent proxying, TLS MITM, ICAP integration, ACLs, auth, and observability features.

g3proxy screenshot

g3proxy is an enterprise-oriented generic proxy built in Rust for forwarding and controlling network traffic. It supports multiple proxy modes and is designed for performance, flexible routing policies, and security-focused traffic processing.

Key Features

  • HTTP/1 and SOCKS5 forward proxy support
  • TCP stream proxying, SNI proxying, and transparent proxying (TPROXY)
  • Basic HTTP reverse proxy capabilities
  • Proxy chaining with dynamic upstream proxy selection
  • Flexible egress routing and customizable selection strategies
  • TLS features including interception (MITM), decrypted traffic dumping, and protocol interception (HTTP, IMAP, SMTP)
  • ICAP adaptation for integrating with third-party security products
  • User authentication, per-user site configuration, and rich ACL/limit rules (ingress/egress/user-level)
  • Metrics and observability integrations with detailed per-dimension monitoring
  • Graceful reload for configuration changes

Use Cases

  • Centralized enterprise forward proxy with policy enforcement and per-user controls
  • Security inspection gateway using TLS interception and ICAP-based malware/DLP tooling
  • Network traffic routing and failover via proxy chaining and egress selection

Limitations and Considerations

  • Reverse proxy and NAT traversal capabilities are described as work-in-progress in the broader G3 project context
  • TLS MITM and protocol interception require careful certificate management and may have compliance implications

g3proxy is well suited for organizations that need a fast, configurable proxy with strong access controls and traffic inspection options. Its Rust-based implementation and rich policy/routing features make it a solid foundation for enterprise proxy and security gateway deployments.

808stars
66forks
#3
socks5-proxy-server

socks5-proxy-server

Node.js SOCKS5 proxy server with optional authentication, per-user statistics, Docker Compose deployment, CLI management scripts, and a Telegram admin bot.

socks5-proxy-server is a minimal Node.js implementation of a SOCKS5 proxy that supports authenticated users, per-user usage statistics, and administration via CLI or a Telegram bot.

Key Features

  • SOCKS5 proxy implementation with configurable listening port and log level
  • Optional authentication support (REQUIRE_AUTH toggle) and per-user credentials
  • Docker Compose first-class deployment with environment-based configuration
  • CLI scripts for creating/deleting users and viewing usage statistics
  • Optional Telegram bot for administration (create/delete users, stats, password generation)
  • Supports webhook or polling modes for Telegram; webhooks require SSL certificates
  • Simple logging and usage accounting per user

Use Cases

  • Provide authenticated outbound SOCKS5 proxy access for teams or services
  • Manage proxy users and track per-user bandwidth or usage via CLI or Telegram bot
  • Rapidly deploy a small-scale proxy in Docker-based environments for development or small production needs

Limitations and Considerations

  • Administration is via CLI scripts or Telegram bot only; there is no web-based admin UI
  • Webhook-based Telegram administration requires valid TLS/SSL certificates
  • Repository targets single-node deployments; clustering, high-availability, or built-in persistent database backends are not provided out of the box

socks5-proxy-server is a practical, lightweight option for teams that need a simple, self-hosted SOCKS5 proxy with basic user management and remote administration via Telegram. It is optimized for quick Docker deployments and straightforward operation rather than enterprise-scale proxy features.

134stars
24forks

Why choose an open source alternative?

  • Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running