Tinyproxy vs 3proxy vs Squid: lightweight proxy comparison

If you are self-hosting a proxy on a VPS, the daemon you pick shapes everything else. The three common choices sit at different points on a spectrum from "tiny and single-purpose" to "big and full-featured". Tinyproxy is a minimal HTTP/HTTPS proxy. 3proxy is a small multi-protocol suite. Squid is a heavyweight HTTP caching proxy. None is "best" in the abstract — each wins a different job, and choosing well saves you both resources and headaches. See build your own proxy for the full 3proxy setup and Squid setup for Squid.

The two questions that decide it: do you need SOCKS as well as HTTP, and do you need caching or heavy access control?

Tinyproxy does one thing: a lightweight HTTP/HTTPS forward proxy with a tiny memory footprint and a config file you can read in a minute. It has no SOCKS, no caching to speak of, and only basic access control. Perfect for a small, simple HTTP exit on a constrained box — a Raspberry Pi, a minimal VPS.

3proxy is the Swiss-army option: it speaks both HTTP and SOCKS5 (plus more) from one small binary, with username/password auth and traffic limits. Choose it when you need SOCKS5, or both protocols, without the weight of Squid.

Squid is the powerhouse: HTTP/HTTPS only, but with real caching, a rich ACL engine, detailed logging and TLS interception options. It is the right tool for a corporate gateway or a caching layer, and overkill for a personal single-user exit. Its footprint and config complexity are correspondingly larger.

The decision tree is short. Need SOCKS5 (or SOCKS + HTTP together)? Use 3proxy. Need a tiny HTTP-only exit on a small box with minimal fuss? Use Tinyproxy. Need caching, granular ACLs or corporate-grade logging for HTTP/HTTPS? Use Squid. All three give you a datacenter exit on your VPS provider's ASN, and all three demand the same discipline: authenticate, firewall the ports, patch, and never leave them open.

If the point of running one is simply to have a clean, private exit and you would rather not maintain a server at all, s4m provides the managed equivalent — authenticated datacenter SOCKS5 (1080) and HTTP (3128) proxies and an optional dedicated IP, with an API to automate the rest. Self-host to learn or to control the box; buy managed to skip the ops.