Two people can search for "free proxy for Janitor AI" and mean different things. One wants another language model behind their characters, at no cost, besides Janitor's own free model, JLLM. The other means a network proxy, the kind that changes the address their traffic leaves from. Both are right to call it a proxy, and every guide that ignores the other meaning strands half its readers. We run a proxy network of the second kind, and this page is the map we wish existed.
The word carries three meanings in AI roleplay, and they do not overlap at all.
The three proxies
| What people mean | Where it lives | What it changes | Who runs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| A model endpoint (a "reverse proxy" in roleplay slang) | Janitor AI's Proxy URL; the reverse proxy option in Chub; SillyTavern's Reverse Proxy block and Custom Endpoint | Which model writes the replies | A provider (OpenRouter, Google, DeepSeek) or, in the risky version, a stranger |
| An HTTP reverse proxy in the server sense | nginx or Caddy in front of your own SillyTavern server | How other devices reach your SillyTavern | You |
| A network proxy (a forward proxy) | Browser or system settings; SillyTavern's requestProxy in config.yaml; a phone's Wi-Fi settings | Where you appear to connect from | A proxy provider, or, in the risky version, a stranger |
Only the third is what "proxy" means everywhere else on the internet, and only the third is what we sell. The general difference between the two directions is in our explainer on forward versus reverse proxies; this page is about how the words got tangled in one community, and how to untangle them by symptom.
Meaning one: the model endpoint
Janitor AI's beginner guide defined the term the way the whole community uses it: a proxy is simply a bridge, the service that connects Janitor to other models. Janitor removed the guide by 28 September 2026, and the Web Archive keeps it. The settings that follow are a Proxy URL, an API key and a model name, and the URL is an OpenAI-format endpoint, https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions for OpenRouter or https://api.deepseek.com/v1/chat/completions for DeepSeek. Janitor's live quickstart asks for the same fields. Chub's documentation describes the same thing for its own settings, where the OpenAI and Anthropic connections can be reached with either an API key or the use of a reverse proxy. SillyTavern's interface has a Reverse Proxy block, with a Proxy Server URL and a Proxy Password, next to a Custom (OpenAI-compatible) source with a Custom Endpoint.
Why "reverse"? Because, technically, the community's shared "proxies" are reverse proxies: a server that stands in front of a model API and answers as if it were the API, forwarding requests on somebody's key. That server can be legitimate, OpenRouter is exactly such a gateway, or it can be a stranger's box in a Discord post, and the platforms are unusually blunt about the second kind. SillyTavern's interface warns that using a proxy you are not running yourself is a risk to your data privacy and that any support requests will be refused if you are using one. Chub's documentation says reverse proxies are created by unauthorized third parties who gain access to your data and IP address, that they may enable logging, leak your information and use stolen API keys, and that although advertised as free, the operators could shut down access at any time.
The free versions that hold up are the ones you sign up for yourself: OpenRouter's :free models, Google AI Studio's free tier, a local model. The setup for each is in best free Janitor AI proxy and best free SillyTavern proxy, with the per-backend detail in the OpenRouter, Gemini and DeepSeek guides.
Nothing in this meaning involves your IP address. A network proxy will not make Janitor talk to DeepSeek, and swapping your address will not fix a quota.
Meaning two: the HTTP reverse proxy in front of your own server
SillyTavern is a locally installed web server, and people who want to reach it from a phone or a second machine put nginx or Caddy in front of it with a domain and a certificate. That is a reverse proxy in the plain server-administration sense, and SillyTavern's own reverse-proxying guide opens by saying that it does not refer to OpenAI or Claude reverse proxies and refers exclusively to HTTP and HTTPS reverse proxies. It changes how other devices reach your SillyTavern. It changes nothing about the model or your outbound address, and it is not something we sell.
Meaning three: the network proxy
This is the ordinary meaning: a server your traffic passes through on its way out, so the site or API you reach sees the proxy's address rather than yours. In a browser it lives in the connection settings; on a phone, in the Wi-Fi network's settings; in SillyTavern, in the requestProxy block of config.yaml, whose documentation lists enabled, url (in the form socks5://username:password@host:port) and bypass. When it is on, the server's requests to model providers leave through that address. Our SillyTavern page checks that against the source of release 1.19.0. That is the whole product we sell, and its job in roleplay is narrow.
A model endpoint changes
Which model writes the replies
OpenRouter, Gemini, DeepSeek, Claude, a local model
What it costs and what the cap is
per key or per project on that provider
Who can read your chats
the provider, or a stranger if you borrowed the proxy
A network proxy changes
Where you appear to connect from
the exit address and its country
Which address an allowlist sees
one fixed exit, such as a company network's
Not the model, the cost or the cap
those follow the key
Which symptom points to which proxy
The fastest way through the confusion is the error on the screen.
- 429, too many requests. A rate limit on the account or project behind the endpoint; it follows the API key. Neither kind of proxy lifts it. Wait, switch model, or pay the provider. The per-backend detail is in Janitor AI error 429.
- No endpoints found. An OpenRouter setting or a retired model id, fixed inside your OpenRouter account. Not an address problem. See Janitor AI no endpoints found.
- 401 Unauthorized. The key. Not an address problem.
- Network error, failed to fetch. Usually a wrong URL or an unrefreshed page, per Janitor's own error guide. Occasionally, the request could not leave your network, or the provider refused your country before counting it; we give no steps around either.
- A region or country message. From the site (Janitor AI blocked UK addresses from 24 July 2025 until it switched to age verification on 15 June 2026) or from the provider (Anthropic, OpenAI and Google publish where their APIs are offered). That is the site's or the provider's rule, and we give no steps around it.
- The site does not load at school or work. A filter on the network, set by whoever runs it. Ask them; we give no steps around it.
- Your chats might be read. Not an error, but the reason to stop using a borrowed reverse proxy. Your own key with an official endpoint is the fix, and no network proxy substitutes for it.
Read the error
429, no endpoints, 401, network, region
About the key, the cap or the model id?
429, no endpoints, 401
Fix it at the provider
no proxy of any kind helps
About reaching the site or the provider?
region message, filtered network
The block is their rule
we give no steps around it
Where a network proxy fits
A network proxy changes the address your traffic leaves from, and nothing in a roleplay setup needs one. The model, the cost, the cap and the key all live with the provider. Janitor AI has one rule that follows the address. Users connecting from Australia, Brazil or the UK must pass a one-time age check, and Janitor says "Detection is IP-based only." Before that check, it blocked UK addresses from 24 July 2025 until 15 June 2026. Anthropic, OpenAI and Google publish where their APIs are offered. If a site or an API is blocked on your network or not offered in your country, we give no steps around that.
Where our lines do fit is a network that needs a known exit, such as a company network. For that, one static residential or ISP address in the country where you are costs from $0.44 per GB on a usage meter. Hold it for the session or for good; a rotating pool is the wrong tool. The config.yaml example is in proxies for SillyTavern.
The one sentence to keep
If the problem is which model answers, what it costs, or who can read the chat, you are dealing with the first meaning, and the fix is a key of your own with an official endpoint. A network proxy, the third meaning, changes only the address your traffic leaves from. When a site or an API will not answer from where you are, we give no steps around that. The two never substitute for each other, and the pages that promise otherwise are selling one of them to people who need the other.
Sources
- Janitor AI Help Center, The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Using a Proxy with Janitor, Part One, read in its Web Archive copy of 31 July 2026 (Janitor removed the guide by 28 September 2026): "a proxy is simply a bridge"; TL;DR Quickstart Proxy Instructions: the fields today; What is JLLM: the free default model; OpenRouter Error Guide; Age Verification for Australia, Brazil, and the UK: detection by IP address.
- Chub documentation, API connections: API key or reverse proxy for OpenAI and Anthropic, and the warning about third-party reverse proxies.
- SillyTavern release-branch interface source, public/index.html: the Reverse Proxy block and its warning; SillyTavern documentation, config.yaml (requestProxy) and the reverse-proxying guide.
- Janitor AI, Tough news for our UK users (July 2025) and An update for users in Brazil, Australia, and the UK (15 June 2026).
- Anthropic, supported countries; OpenAI, API supported countries; Google, Gemini API available regions.
