AnyProxy

Get Pro
Glossary · Core proxy

HTTPS proxy

Also calledhttps proxy meaningssl proxytls proxy
Definition

An HTTPS proxy is a proxy you connect to over an encrypted (TLS) link, so even the name of the site you ask it for is hidden from your local network.

Explanation

In depth

The term is used two ways. Strictly, an HTTPS proxy is one your browser reaches over TLS: the CONNECT request that names your destination travels inside encryption, so your network sees only that you talked to the proxy. With an ordinary HTTP proxy, that request is readable on your network. Loosely, people say HTTPS proxy for any proxy that can carry https:// sites, which today is nearly all of them. What matters more than the name is what happens to the encryption. A tunnelling proxy passes your browser's own TLS session through untouched, so only you and the site hold the keys. A web proxy works differently: there are two separate encrypted connections, one from your browser to the proxy and a second one the proxy opens to the site. The proxy decrypts in between so it can rewrite the page. AnyProxy works this way, and its privacy policy says so plainly. Your network sees anyproxy.site; the network between the proxy and the site sees the proxy's own handshake.

In practice

HTTPS proxy in the real world

You can watch the second encrypted connection. On 15 October 2026 we opened Cloudflare's trace page through AnyProxy's Virginia server. Cloudflare described the connection it received, which was the proxy's, not the browser's: tls=TLSv1.3, http=http/2, kex=X25519MLKEM768 (a post-quantum hybrid key exchange) and sni=plaintext, meaning the site name was readable in that handshake. loc=US and colo=ATL placed it in the United States. None of this is visible to your own network, which only sees a TLS connection to anyproxy.site.

Sources: Cloudflare trace page used in the test · AnyProxy privacy policy

We checked

The proxy's own TLS connection, as the site saw it

Cloudflare trace page through AnyProxy Virginia showing tls=TLSv1.3, http/2, sni=plaintext, loc=US, IP hidden

Open Cloudflare's trace page (one.one.one.one/cdn-cgi/trace)

Worked · US exit · 2026-10-15

Cloudflare reported tls=TLSv1.3, http=http/2, kex=X25519MLKEM768, sni=plaintext, loc=US, colo=ATL for the connection from the proxy. The ip= line (proxy address) is hidden.

Questions about HTTPS proxy

Is an HTTPS proxy more private than an HTTP proxy?
Between you and the proxy, yes: the request naming your destination is encrypted, so your network sees only the proxy. It changes nothing about what the proxy itself can see.
Is my connection encrypted end to end through AnyProxy?
No. It is two encrypted legs, browser to AnyProxy and AnyProxy to the site, and the proxy handles the content in between. A tunnelling proxy never sees the content; a web proxy has to, to rewrite pages.

Related terms

HTTP proxyAn HTTP proxy is a proxy that speaks the web's own protocol: it reads each request's address and headers and can filter, cache or log them.TLS handshakeThe TLS handshake is the opening exchange of every HTTPS connection, in which browser and server agree on encryption keys and the server proves which site it is.TLS SNISNI (Server Name Indication) is the field at the start of an HTTPS connection where your browser names the site it wants, usually in readable text.ProxyA proxy is a server that makes network requests for you and passes the answers back, so the site you reach deals with the proxy instead of your device.

Put the concept to work

Try AnyProxy free — no install, no signup, six regions.

Open a blocked page