---
title: "Reverse proxy"
url: https://proxy.wiki/glossary/reverse-proxy/
type: Glossary Term
author: "proxy.wiki editorial"
published: 2026-08-19
updated: 2026-08-19
site: proxy.wiki
topics: ["Proxy fundamentals"]
license: CC BY 4.0 — quote freely with attribution to https://proxy.wiki/
---

# Reverse proxy

> A proxy deployed in front of a server. Clients connect to it as if it were the origin, and it forwards to the real backend.

**A reverse proxy sits in front of one or more origin servers and accepts connections on their behalf.** The client believes it is talking to the real service; the reverse proxy decides which backend actually answers.

## What it is used for

- **Load balancing** across several backends.

- **TLS termination**, so certificates are managed in one place.

- **Caching** of static responses.

- **Filtering**, including the [anti-bot systems](/glossary/anti-bot-system/) that scrapers run into.

Nginx, HAProxy, Cloudflare and most CDNs operate as reverse proxies.

## Why it matters when scraping

The thing blocking your request is very often a reverse proxy rather than the application itself. That is why a block can arrive in single-digit milliseconds and why the response frequently looks nothing like the site’s normal error page.

## Commonly confused with

A [forward proxy](/glossary/forward-proxy/) represents the client. A reverse proxy represents the server. The word “proxy” alone almost always means the forward kind.