Rotation and sticky sessions
Choose between a new IP on every request and a sticky session that keeps the same IP for 1 to 120 minutes on residential and mobile plans.
Rotating residential, datacenter and mobile plans support two session modes. On datacenter plans a sticky session lasts at most 30 minutes. ISP proxies are static, so their IP never changes.
Rotating: a new IP on every request
Connect to the rotating port. Each new connection exits from a different IP in the pool. Use this for independent requests such as crawling many product pages.
Sticky: the same IP for a while
Connect to a port in your account's sticky port range. Each port is pinned to one IP for the session length you set in the dashboard (1–120 minutes). Use different ports to hold several sticky IPs at once.
| Mode | Port | IP changes |
|---|---|---|
| Rotating | The rotating port shown in your dashboard | Every request |
| Sticky | Any port in your sticky range | After the session length |
Session parameters
You can also control sessions from the username, on the rotating port, without a sticky port:
| Parameter | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
sessid | Keeps one IP for about 30 minutes for each session name you choose | USERNAME__sessid.job42 |
sessttl | Sets how many minutes a sticky port keeps its IP | USERNAME__sessttl.60 |
# Two different IPs, each kept for about 30 minutes
curl -x "http://USERNAME__sessid.a1:PASSWORD@HOST:823" https://api.ipify.org
curl -x "http://USERNAME__sessid.b2:PASSWORD@HOST:823" https://api.ipify.org
# A sticky port whose IP changes every 60 minutes
curl -x "http://USERNAME__sessttl.60:PASSWORD@HOST:10000" https://api.ipify.orgIf you set no interval, a sticky port keeps its IP for 30 minutes. Session parameters combine with location targeting: USERNAME__cr.de;sessid.job42 keeps one German IP.
When to use sticky sessions
- Logging in, then loading pages that need the same cookies.
- Adding to cart and checking out.
- Paginating through search results that are tied to one visitor.
What happens when a sticky IP goes offline?
Residential and mobile IPs belong to real devices, which can disconnect. If that happens, the next request on that port gets a new IP from the same location. Design multi-step flows to retry from the first step if the IP changes.