SearchCans

Proxy Tiers & Credit Rules

The Reader API supports four proxy tiers. Start with the default (free). Escalate to Shared Pool, Datacenter, or Residential only when needed — each step costs more credits but unlocks harder-to-access content.

Try in Playground →

Proxy Tier Selector

param: proxy

Reader API base cost is 2 credits per request. Each proxy tier adds credits on top.

0 2 cr / req
Standard Mode Default

Direct — no proxy

Standard outbound request with no proxy. Covers the vast majority of public web pages.

2 base + 0 = 2 cr

When: Start here. Works for most news sites, blogs, documentation, and product pages.

1 4 cr / req
Bypass Mode

Shared pool of datacenter IPs

Routes through a shared pool of datacenter IPs. Bypasses basic anti-bot filters.

2 base + 2 = 4 cr

When: Use when Standard Mode returns blocked or empty content on lightly protected sites.

2 7 cr / req
Bypass Mode #Datacenter

Dedicated datacenter IPs

Dedicated datacenter IPs with stronger reputation. Handles moderate anti-bot measures.

2 base + 5 = 7 cr

When: E-commerce sites, job boards, and pages with moderate bot protection.

⚠️ Replaces old proxy:1 "Bypass Mode" (was 5 cr). New proxy:1 is now the lighter shared-pool tier.

3 12 cr / req
Bypass Mode #Residential

Real residential ISP IPs

Real residential ISP IPs. Highest success rate against aggressive bot detection.

2 base + 10 = 12 cr

When: Ticketing platforms, social networks, paywalled content, and heavily rate-limited sites.

Best practice: Always start at proxy: 0. Only step up if the response returns empty markdown or an error. This keeps credit costs minimal.

Proxy Parameter Reference
// POST /api/v1/url
{
  "t": "url",
  "s": "https://target-site.com/page",
  "proxy": 0,   // 0 = direct (free)
                // 1 = shared pool (+2 cr)
                // 2 = datacenter  (+5 cr)
                // 3 = residential (+10 cr)
  "d": 20000
}

Code Examples

# Direct (default) — most sites
curl -X POST "https://www.searchcans.com/api/v1/url" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"t":"url","s":"https://example.com","proxy":0}'

# Shared Pool — lightly protected sites
curl -X POST "https://www.searchcans.com/api/v1/url" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"t":"url","s":"https://example.com","proxy":1}'

# Datacenter — moderate protection
curl -X POST "https://www.searchcans.com/api/v1/url" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"t":"url","s":"https://example.com","proxy":2}'

# Residential — heavy protection
curl -X POST "https://www.searchcans.com/api/v1/url" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"t":"url","s":"https://example.com","proxy":3}'

Credit Cost per Request

Credits are only deducted on successful responses (code: 0). Blocked pages, timeouts, and errors are not charged — even if a higher proxy tier was used.

Reader API base cost is 2 credits. Each Bypass Mode tier adds credits on top. Full breakdown: Pricing page.

proxy Mode (as shown on Pricing page) Base Add-on Total / Request
0 Standard Mode 2 cr 2 cr
1 Bypass Mode (Proxy:1) 2 cr +2 cr 4 cr
2 Bypass Mode (Proxy:2 #Datacenter) 2 cr +5 cr 7 cr
3 Bypass Mode (Proxy:3 #Residential) 2 cr +10 cr 12 cr

What Affects Your Credit Cost?

Deducts Credits

  • Successful response only — credits deducted when code: 0 is returned
  • proxy tier add-on — +2 / +5 / +10 credits on top of the 2 cr base (see table above)
  • Batch pages (SERP only)page parameter: +1 credit per additional page beyond the first

No Extra Credits

  • Failed requests — blocked pages, timeouts, and errors (code ≠ 0) are never charged
  • file: 1 — parse PDF / DOCX / XLSX. Included in the Reader API base cost, no add-on
  • image: 1 / 2 — screenshot first screen or full page. Included in the Reader API base cost, no add-on
  • mode, html, w, d, b — all behavior/render parameters carry no additional credit cost

Escalation Strategy

Start Low

Always start with proxy: 0. Most public pages don't need any proxy. This keeps your credit cost at the baseline 2 credits per request.

Step Up on Failure

If you receive empty markdown, a blocked response, or repeated errors, increment the tier by 1 and retry. Stop as soon as you get a successful result.

Cache the Result

Once you find the minimum working tier for a given domain, store it. On subsequent requests to the same domain, skip directly to the known-good tier to save both time and credits.

Anti-Scraping Limits

Some sites deploy advanced bot detection that no proxy can defeat (e.g. Cloudflare v3 challenges, behavioral fingerprinting). Even proxy: 3 cannot guarantee 100% success on these sites.

⚠️ Migration Note — proxy: 1 Behavior Change

In earlier API versions, proxy: 1 activated "Bypass Mode" at 5 credits/request. That behavior has been remapped to proxy: 2 (Datacenter, +5 credits). If your integration used proxy: 1 for high-success-rate extraction, update it to proxy: 2.

Site Type → Recommended Tier

Site Type Examples Recommended proxy
News / Blogs / Docs Reuters, GitHub, Wikipedia, Medium 0
Marketing / SaaS Sites Stripe, Notion, Product Hunt 0
E-commerce (basic) Shopify stores, small retailers 1
Job Boards Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn jobs 1–2
E-commerce (strict) Amazon, Etsy, eBay product pages 2
Social Platforms Reddit, Twitter/X, Facebook 2–3
Ticketing / Finance Ticketmaster, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha 3
Paywalled Content WSJ, FT, academic journals 3

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