A rotating proxy automatically cycles through a pool of IP addresses, assigning a fresh IP to each outbound request or after a configurable interval. This prevents any single IP from accumulating enough requests to trigger rate limits, IP bans, or reputation-based blocks.
The rotation strategy matters as much as the pool size. Naive round-robin rotation across a small pool is easily detected — if requests arrive from the same 20 IPs in a predictable sequence, that pattern is as identifiable as a single IP. Effective rotation uses large pools, random selection weighted by IP health, geographic diversity, and session stickiness (keeping the same IP for a multi-step workflow that must appear to come from one user).
AlterLab rotates IPs automatically on every request with no configuration required. For workflows that need session continuity — logging in, navigating multiple pages, completing a checkout flow — AlterLab supports sticky sessions that maintain the same IP throughout the session lifetime.