SOCKS5 proxy for Telegram

SOCKS5 in one paragraph

SOCKS5 is a generic proxy protocol from the 1990s. Telegram supports it, and it works — but it was never designed to hide anything. A SOCKS5 connection looks like a SOCKS5 connection, which is exactly the problem where filtering is active.

Where SOCKS5 still makes sense

• You already pay for a private SOCKS5 endpoint and trust its operator.
• You need one proxy for several different apps, not just Telegram.
• Your network blocks by IP rather than by protocol fingerprint.

Why free SOCKS5 lists are a bad idea

Unlike MTProto, a SOCKS5 proxy carries traffic for any application you point at it — including traffic that is not end-to-end encrypted. A hostile operator can watch, log and, on unencrypted connections, modify it. Public SOCKS5 lists are also short-lived: most entries are dead within hours, and the ones that survive are often overloaded.

For Telegram specifically there is no upside. MTProto is faster, needs no credentials, cannot see your messages and actively disguises itself.

Use MTProto instead

Our list of MTProto proxies is rebuilt every 5 minutes and every server on it has completed a real handshake with a Telegram data centre. Setup takes one tap — see the setup guide.