Rayobyte vs Geonode vs Webshare for Selenium

The shared problem

Chrome can't take proxy credentials on the command line. On all three providers the fixes are IP-based access, Selenium Wire or an auth extension. See Selenium proxies and Rayobyte with Selenium.

Differences

At the time of writing.

Picking

• Simple QA fleets from fixed IPs: Webshare lists with IP authorization.
• Testing from many locations: Rayobyte or Webshare residential.
• Modest residential volume, irregular: Geonode.

If Selenium's proxy handling gets in the way, Playwright takes credentials natively. See Playwright compared.

A provider-neutral Selenium setup

With IP-based access configured on each provider, the Chrome setup is the same everywhere:

import os
from selenium import webdriver

def driver_for(host, port):
    opts = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
    opts.add_argument(f"--proxy-server=http://{host}:{port}")
    opts.add_argument("--headless=new")
    return webdriver.Chrome(options=opts)

drv = driver_for(os.environ["PROXY_HOST"], os.environ["PROXY_PORT"])

Allowlist your server IP in each dashboard (Webshare calls it IP authorization). For rotating products that normally take options in the username, check each provider's docs for how to set targeting with IP-based access. See Rayobyte with Selenium and Webshare with Selenium.

When to move off Selenium

If you spend more time fighting proxy authentication than writing tests, consider Playwright, which accepts credentials directly and supports a different proxy per context. For QA from fixed locations, a cheap Webshare list with IP authorization keeps Selenium simple.

Strengths and watch-outs

Bottom line

Allowlist your servers and Selenium works the same on all three; pick by price and locations.

Rayobyte, Geonode and Webshare are three options among many. Our best proxies in 2026 guide explains how to match a proxy type to each task, and cheap proxies that work shows where budget providers fit. For browser automation in depth, see our Puppeteer proxies guide.

For head-to-head versions of this comparison, see Rayobyte vs Geonode for Selenium, Rayobyte vs Webshare for Selenium, Webshare vs Geonode for Selenium.

Key takeaways

• IP-based access is the cleanest Selenium setup on all three.
• Webshare is cheapest for fixed-IP fleets.
• Rayobyte and Webshare offer ZIP targeting for location tests.
• Treat each driver as one session.

FAQ

Do all three support IP-based access?

Yes.

Does Selenium Wire work with all three?

Yes.

Which is cheapest for Selenium?

Webshare for fixed IPs.

Can Selenium use a different IP per test?

Yes: start a new driver per test with a different proxy or session.

Does Firefox handle proxy credentials better?

Firefox lets you set proxies in preferences, but credentials still need IP-based access or an extension.

Does Selenium 4 change proxy setup?

The --proxy-server approach is unchanged; credentials still need IP-based access or a helper.

Sources and further reading

Independent references that back up the points above, from standards bodies, governments, universities and non-profits. They open in a new tab.

• Puppeteer documentation (Puppeteer project): The official Puppeteer documentation.
• WebDriver (W3C): The W3C standard behind Selenium and other browser automation.
• Selenium documentation (Selenium project): Official Selenium documentation, including proxy configuration.
• Headless browser (Wikipedia): What a headless browser is and how it is used.
• RFC 6265: HTTP State Management Mechanism (Cookies) (IETF / RFC Editor): The cookie standard, which ties a session together regardless of IP.