FoxyProxy (getfoxyproxy.org) alternatives: proxy switchers compared (2026)

FoxyProxy (getfoxyproxy.org) is a free, open-source browser extension that moves Firefox, Chrome or Edge between proxies with a click, by web address or by tab. On 12 October 2026 the Chrome Web Store counted 600,000 users, Firefox 218,944 a day and Edge 65,167, which makes it the most used proxy switcher on Firefox but not on Chrome, where ZeroOmega leads. The comparison sets it against four other switchers, the browsers' own settings and Burp's browser.

What FoxyProxy is today

FoxyProxy comes in two editions built from one code base. Standard, "the original", switches "based on URLs and other rules and patterns"; Basic switches "with a single-click". Both carried version 9.8 on Firefox from 14 September 2026 and 9.7 on Chrome. The code sits on GitHub under the GPL-2.0 licence, and current builds need Firefox 128, Chrome 126 or Firefox for Android 128.

On Chrome its listing promises a proxy per tab for up to four tabs. On Firefox it adds proxies for containers and private windows, which its own interface marks as Firefox only.

The Chrome Web Store names the publisher: Beholder Corporation, a trader with an address in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. OpenCorporates shows an active Wyoming corporation of that name (2016-000719521) with a Colorado branch in good standing. FoxyProxy's site calls it only "a legitimate American corporation", and the terms, last updated in June 2018, choose the laws and courts of Delaware. The listing adds that FoxyProxy "has never been sold and never will"; its Firefox page dates from 26 April 2006.

The extension costs nothing. The company earns from a VPN and proxy subscription sold apart from it: $9.99 a month, $49.99 for six months or $89.88 for a year, one IP address per purchase, with a refund within 7 days for one account. GeoShift, its extension for those paying accounts, had 4,000 Chrome users, 2.0 stars and no update since 11 May 2023.

How version 8 went down on Firefox

Version 8.0, published on 25 September 2023, rebuilt FoxyProxy: one code base for Firefox and Chrome, groundwork for Manifest V3 and a new interface. The 8.1 notes record that the Standard edition went to both stores on 3 December 2023 and was pulled two days later over sync bugs, fixed in 8.2. On Firefox the first rating on a version 8 build is dated 8 December 2023, on 8.2.

The anger passed. Ratings on version 9 average 4.51 stars, with 4% at one star, against 3.47 and 32% for version 8. Setup guides written for version 7, FoxyProxy's own help article for Chrome among them, still send readers to buttons such as "Add New Proxy" and "Proxy Details", which no longer appear in the extension's interface text. The current options page lists Proxies, Import, Tester and Log, with an Add button, and the toolbar offers Proxy by Patterns, Tab Proxy and Disable.

Why people look for an alternative

On 12 October 2026 Keyword Planner put "foxyproxy" at 60,500 searches a month worldwide and "foxyproxy alternative" at only 50. The neighbours are far larger: "proxy switchyomega" 27,100, "switchyomega" 18,100, "proxy switcher" 8,100 and "zeroomega" 3,600. Google's suggestions set FoxyProxy against SwitchyOmega, ask about Safari, Opera, Edge and Brave, pair it with Burp Suite, and list complaints about SOCKS5, localhost and patterns that do not work.

One of those complaints has nothing to do with FoxyProxy. Chrome's own documentation states that "No authentication methods are supported for SOCKSv5 in Chrome", so every switcher fails the same way with a SOCKS5 proxy that needs a password.

The alternatives side by side

Edge Add-ons counted 240,737 active installs for ZeroOmega and 65,167 for FoxyProxy, whose downloads page offers only the Standard edition for Edge.

ZeroOmega (Proxy SwitchyOmega 3)

ZeroOmega is the fork that carried SwitchyOmega onto Manifest V3. It leads on Chrome and Edge, holds 4.7 stars from 472 Chrome ratings, and has published 32 releases since March 2024, the latest, 3.5.2, on 9 September 2026. It is GPL-3.0 code with 7,978 GitHub stars, runs in Firefox 112 and Firefox for Android 120, and switches by rules much as FoxyProxy's patterns do. Its developer has not identified itself as a trader on the Chrome Web Store, where Beholder Corporation has. Our SwitchyOmega setup guide shows which listings are the real ones.

Proxy Helper

Proxy Helper is the plain choice for one proxy in Chrome: 100,000 users, 3.8 stars from 231 ratings, version 2.1.3 from 14 May 2026, GPL-2.0 on GitHub. It has no Firefox edition. Our Proxy Helper guide covers its login and bypass list.

The original SwitchyOmega

The 2018 original is finished. Its Chrome Web Store page now comes back empty, its Firefox copy was last updated on 28 January 2018, and its GitHub page reads "No longer maintained". Its 10,569 remaining Firefox users get no fixes.

No extension at all

Chrome's settings hold no proxy fields of their own, only a link to the computer's:

Chrome also accepts a proxy when it is started with --proxy-server, the method its documentation uses in its examples. Firefox has full proxy settings of its own, walked through in our Firefox guide. On a Mac, the system settings take HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS proxies, each with an optional password, and Safari's Advanced settings carry a Proxies entry. Short of writing a PAC script, none of these switch proxies site by site.

Burp Suite users

For the 320 monthly searches pairing FoxyProxy with Burp Suite there is a simpler answer: Burp's own browser. PortSwigger says it "is preconfigured to work with the full functionality of Burp Suite right out of the box", so testing can start "without performing any additional configuration".

Beyond the browser

A switcher only moves the browser. Proxifier sends other programs on a computer through a proxy, and an antidetect browser such as Multilogin keeps one proxy per profile.

Where FoxyProxy still leads

• Firefox: about twelve times ZeroOmega's daily users there, and Mozilla's Recommended label on desktop and Android.
• Tabs and containers: one proxy for a single tab, a container or a private window on Firefox.
• A company behind it: a named publisher with a trader declaration on the Chrome Web Store, and the same product since 2006.
• Active again: six releases between 27 July and 14 September 2026.

Where HProxy fits

Every switcher above needs a proxy to switch to. HProxy's lines work in all of them as HTTP with a login. SOCKS5 with a login works only in Firefox, so in Chrome either use HTTP or let Residential Premium recognise your address: it whitelists up to 150 IP addresses per plan, and a whitelisted address connects without a password.

Residential Premium keeps one home IP for up to 24 hours, chosen by state, city or ISP, at $1.49 per gigabyte, and Residential Lite with country targeting starts at $0.50/GB. Our FoxyProxy setup guide covers the patterns that decide which sites use the proxy.

Which one to pick

• Stay with FoxyProxy on Firefox, or wherever you need a proxy per tab or container.
• ZeroOmega on Chrome and Edge, for rules with the larger user base and frequent releases.
• Proxy Helper for one proxy in Chrome and nothing more.
• No extension when one proxy for the whole browser is enough.
• Burp's browser for web testing with Burp Suite.
• The poorest choice: the original SwitchyOmega, unmaintained since 2018.

What we could not find out

We installed none of these extensions, so this page compares listings, code and records. AlternativeTo refused our reader. The register hides Beholder Corporation's founding date and officers, and the Colorado agent is a private person we leave unnamed. Store counts are rounded or averaged differently, and ratings record how users felt without saying why. We expect to recheck these numbers by 12 January 2027.

Sources

• FoxyProxy: home, downloads, order, team, terms of service and privacy pages at getfoxyproxy.org, and its help articles for the extension, read 12 October 2026.
• Chrome Web Store listings of FoxyProxy, FoxyProxy Basic, GeoShift, ZeroOmega, Proxy Helper and the original SwitchyOmega; Edge Add-ons records; the Firefox Add-ons API, including every rating of FoxyProxy Standard, all read 12 October 2026.
• GitHub: repositories and release notes of foxyproxy/browser-extension, zero-peak/ZeroOmega, FelisCatus/SwitchyOmega and henices/Chrome-proxy-helper, and FoxyProxy's interface text in its source, read 12 October 2026.
• OpenCorporates: Beholder Corporation in Wyoming and its Colorado branch, read 12 October 2026.
• Chromium's proxy documentation, Apple's Mac and Safari proxy pages, and PortSwigger's page on Burp's browser, read 12 October 2026.
• Eight proxy sellers' FoxyProxy setup guides, read 12 October 2026.
• Search volumes for the FoxyProxy, SwitchyOmega and switcher terms from Keyword Planner, worldwide, and the questions Google suggests for them, 12 October 2026.
• Our Residential Lite and Premium prices, taken from HProxy's own price data rather than typed into this page.