Comparison
Proxy or VPN: which is better for getting an Asian IP?
Short answerFor an Asian IP in scraping, SEO, ad checks or app testing, a proxy is better than a VPN: Jade Proxies routes one application through residential or 4G/5G IPs in 13 countries, switchable per request, from $1.50 for 1 GB. A VPN is better when every app on a device must be encrypted through one server.
What is the difference between a proxy and a VPN?
A VPN encrypts all the traffic of a device and sends it through one server; a proxy forwards only the traffic of the applications you configure, and its exit IP can change with each connection. For getting an Asian IP, the second point decides most cases: a proxy lets each connection pick its country, city and IP type, while a VPN gives one exit per tunnel.
| Point | VPN | Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Whole device or operating system | One app, script or browser profile |
| Encryption | Tunnel encrypted from device to VPN server | No added tunnel; HTTPS stays encrypted end to end |
| Exit IP type | Usually a datacenter server | Residential home IP or 4G/5G carrier IP |
| Changing country | Reconnect to another server | Change the username, e.g. country-jp to country-kr |
| Rotation | One IP for the session | New IP per connection, or sticky up to 30 minutes |
| Parallel IPs | One tunnel, one exit | Many connections, each with its own exit |
| Price model | Usually a flat subscription | Per GB, or per day for a dedicated mobile port |
| Protocols | WireGuard, OpenVPN, IPsec | HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5 |
Which one gives a more convincing Asian IP?
A residential or mobile proxy does, because its exit address belongs to a local ISP or carrier. VPN servers usually sit in datacenters, and hosting companies publish their IP ranges, so a site that checks the network type sees a server, not a visitor.
Through a Jade Proxies residential proxy, a site that looks up a Japanese visitor's network sees a home ISP such as NTT FLET'S Hikari or SoftBank Hikari; through a mobile port, a carrier such as NTT Docomo or au. The residential proxy definition explains where those IPs come from.
When is a VPN the right choice?
A VPN is the right choice when the goal is to protect a whole device, not to appear from a specific Asian address:
- Untrusted Wi-Fi. A VPN encrypts the traffic of every app, including DNS lookups and apps that ignore proxy settings.
- Company network access. Remote staff reach internal tools through the employer's VPN.
- One stable location for personal browsing, where a datacenter IP is acceptable.
- Apps with no proxy setting. Apps that ignore proxy settings still follow a device-wide VPN.
Jade Proxies does not sell VPN access; it sells proxies for application-level work.
When is a proxy the right choice?
A proxy is the right choice when the work needs several Asian locations, a local IP type or many IPs in parallel:
- SERP tracking on Google Japan, Naver or Google India from a chosen city; see SERP tracking in Asia.
- Price and ad checks across Shopee or Lazada markets, one country per request.
- App and site geo-testing from a carrier network, on a dedicated 4G/5G port.
- Separate browser profiles, each with its own country and session.
How often the IP changes is set in the username; the rotating vs sticky guide lists the parameters.
Is a proxy as private as a VPN?
For the traffic you send through it, a proxy hides your IP from the website as a VPN does, but it adds no encryption layer of its own. When the target uses HTTPS, the TLS session runs end to end between your client and the website: the proxy relays encrypted data and sees the hostname, not the page. Plain HTTP pages are readable at every hop, VPN exits included.
Log policy at Jade Proxies: no logs of request content, full URLs or page data; connection metadata (time, account, exit IP, target hostname, bytes) kept up to 30 days for abuse and billing, then deleted.
How much does each option cost?
A VPN is usually a flat subscription, while a proxy costs per GB or per port-day, so light and targeted use stays cheap. Our price grid shows that one 1 GB residential plan ($1.50) covers a check from all 13 countries at $0.12 per country ($1.50 ÷ 13), or about 77 MB each, because Japan costs the same per GB as Pakistan.
| Need | Jade Proxies plan | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Check one site from all 13 countries | Residential 1 GB | $1.50 |
| Up to 10 GB of city-level SERP checks | Residential 10 GB | $6.60 |
| A Japanese carrier IP for a week of app tests | Port, 7 days, East Asia | $29 |
| An Indian carrier IP for a month | Port, 30 days, South/SE Asia | $59.25 |
Residential traffic never expires, so the part of a plan you do not use stays available. Every plan is on the pricing page.
Can you use a proxy and a VPN at the same time?
Yes. Keep the VPN on for the device and point the scraper or browser profile at the proxy: the proxy connection travels inside the VPN tunnel, and the website sees the proxy's exit IP, because a site always sees the last hop.
Frequently asked questions
Does a proxy hide my IP address like a VPN?
Yes, for the traffic you send through it: the website sees the proxy's exit IP. Apps you do not configure keep using your own connection, which a device-wide VPN would also cover.
Is a proxy faster than a VPN?
Not usually. A residential or mobile exit adds a consumer connection as the last hop, so latency is higher than through a datacenter VPN server; running requests in parallel makes up for it in scraping work.
Can I get a Japanese IP with a VPN?
Yes, from a VPN with servers in Japan, but the address usually belongs to a datacenter. For a Japanese home or carrier IP, use a proxy with country-jp; the Japanese IP guide covers both routes.
Which protocols does Jade Proxies support?
Jade Proxies supports HTTP, HTTPS and SOCKS5. Authentication options: username and password, or an IP allowlist (up to 10 IPs); sub-users with their own credentials and traffic cap; API keys you can revoke at any time.
Can one account use IPs from several Asian countries at once?
Yes. Each connection carries its own country in the username, so one script can query Japan, India and Vietnam in parallel from the same balance.
Test 1 GB of Asian residential IPs for $1.50
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