Product newsIPNoble Q1 2026 Update: New Products, Enterprise-Grade Features, Broader Coverage
IPNoble logoIPNoble
Proxy fundamentals

Reverse Proxy vs Load Balancer: What's the Difference?

May 11, 20268 min read

Reverse proxies sit in front of servers and handle client requests, often providing caching, SSL termination, and security. Load balancers distribute traffic across multiple backend servers.

Forward proxies like IPNoble route your outbound requests through intermediary IPs — a different use case entirely.