head to head · open source
CloakBrowser vs proxy_pool
CloakBrowser has 31,528 GitHub stars, 2,612 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. proxy_pool has 23,707 stars, 5,418 forks, 298 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. CloakBrowser leads on adoption by 33% (31,528 vs 23,707 stars). CloakBrowser is written in Python under MIT; proxy_pool is written in Python under MIT. CloakBrowser has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, proxy_pool 23%. CloakBrowser was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| CloakBrowser | proxy_pool | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 24K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-06-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 5.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CloakBrowser if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick proxy_pool if
- You want the proxy_pool feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and proxy_pool fits your workflow better
About CloakBrowser
CloakBrowser is a stealth Chromium build for Python and JavaScript teams that need browser automation to survive bot detection systems, aimed at scraping and AI agent engineers who want to replace Playwright or Puppeteer without rewriting their code.
read the full CloakBrowser overview →
About proxy_pool
proxy pool is a self hosted Python proxy IP pool for web spiders that continuously collects, checks, and serves rotating HTTP proxies from public free proxy sources through a Redis backed pool.
read the full proxy_pool overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CloakBrowser or proxy_pool more popular?
CloakBrowser has 31,528 GitHub stars and proxy_pool has 23,707. CloakBrowser has the larger community by that measure.
Are CloakBrowser and proxy_pool free?
Both are open source. CloakBrowser is licensed under MIT and proxy_pool under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CloakBrowser and proxy_pool?
CloakBrowser is written in Python and proxy_pool in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, CloakBrowser or proxy_pool?
Choose CloakBrowser if you want the larger community (31,528 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose proxy_pool if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.