5 Proxy SwitchyOmega alternatives for Chrome, with ProxyControl as our first pick

Proxy SwitchyOmega no longer runs in Chrome and won't return: Chrome 138 blocked Manifest V2 extensions on July 24, 2025, and Google removed the last of them from the Chrome Web Store on August 31, 2026, according to the Chrome for Developers timeline. Among the best Proxy SwitchyOmega alternatives, ProxyControl is the best choice overall. It's the only one of the five whose listing describes a proxy check on connect, automatic failover to a working proxy and rental expiry tracking, and its October 2, 2026 update is the most recent. We compared five free Manifest V3 extensions by their store listings and documentation.

The facts that decide the switch:

• ProxyControl is the best choice overall. It logs in without pop-ups, checks every proxy, loads IPs with expiry dates from a proxys.io API key and costs nothing.
• ZeroOmega is for restoring an old setup unchanged. It's a fork of SwitchyOmega's own code, and it restores an OmegaOptions.bak file with profiles and Auto Switch rules intact.
• No Chrome extension can log in to a SOCKS5 proxy. Chromium's proxy documentation says Chrome supports no authentication methods for SOCKSv5, so a SOCKS5 proxy with a password needs HTTP(S) access, IP whitelisting or a system-level client. For proxies with a login, every Chrome extension works over HTTP(S), the protocol ProxyControl is built for.
• Chrome has no per-tab proxies. Extension proxy settings apply per profile, and when several extensions set them, the most recently installed one wins; separate proxies need separate Chrome profiles.
• A proxy extension changes the route, not how a site scores you. IP reputation, the network's ASN, DNS and WebRTC behavior and the browser fingerprint still count, so a clean IP matters as much as the extension.
• Keep the .bak file before you remove anything. Chrome clears an extension's local storage when it's removed, and a disabled Manifest V2 extension can't be turned back on to export settings.

The five alternatives in short:

1. ProxyControl, the best choice overall: HTTP(S) proxies with logins, automatic sign-in, proxy checks, failover and rental expiry dates.
2. ZeroOmega: your old SwitchyOmega profiles, Auto Switch rules and .bak backup, restored as they were.
3. FoxyProxy: URL patterns with wildcards or regex, a pattern tester and a separate Incognito proxy.
4. Proxyverse: a small open-source switcher with profiles, auto switch rules and proxy login.
5. OasisProxy: AutoProxy-format rule lists and a request monitor; last updated in February 2025.

Why Proxy SwitchyOmega stopped working in Chrome, and why proxy switchers didn't

SwitchyOmega stopped working because it was a Manifest V2 extension that its author never moved to Manifest V3. Chrome began disabling MV2 extensions on October 9, 2024, stopped letting users turn them back on in Chrome 138 on July 24, 2025, and removed the remaining ones from the Chrome Web Store on August 31, 2026, according to the official timeline on Chrome for Developers. The author, FelisCatus, announced on January 12, 2025, that the project is no longer maintained. Proxy switching itself survived the change: Manifest V3 keeps the chrome.proxy API with the same five modes SwitchyOmega used, so ProxyControl and the other extensions below run on current Chrome without workarounds.

Which SwitchyOmega features each alternative keeps

Sources: Chrome Web Store listings, developer READMEs and help pages, and the SwitchyOmega FAQ for the baseline.

5 Proxy SwitchyOmega alternatives that run on current Chrome

All five extensions are still in the Chrome Web Store after the August 31, 2026 cleanup, which means they are Manifest V3 builds. ProxyControl comes first because only its listing covers proxy checks, failover and expiry tracking; the other four differ in rules and update frequency.

We checked store status and last update, proxy schemes, login handling, the Auto Switch replacement, the import path, Chrome versus Firefox limits and the publisher.

Proxys.io publishes this comparison and is included in it. No shared benchmark was run, so the order is not a performance ranking. ProxyControl is developed by proxys.io.

ProxyControl

ProxyControl is the best choice overall. Of the five, only its listing describes a proxy check on connect, failover to a working proxy and warnings before a rental expires, so a dead or expired IP shows up in the extension instead of as a broken page.

• Chrome Web Store listing: publisher PROXYS.IO; version 2.0.0, updated October 2, 2026; interface in English, Russian and Ukrainian.
• Works with HTTP and HTTPS proxies; for SOCKS5 traffic, the proxys.io setup guide pairs it with a system-level tool such as Proxifier.
• Automatic proxy authentication with no browser pop-up.
• One-click switching, black and white site lists, a single switch to proxy only the current site, and separate rules for subdomains and third-party addresses.
• A proxy check on connect, automatic failover to a working proxy, a page request viewer with loading errors, and WebRTC IP leak protection.
• Proxies load from a proxys.io account by API key with country and rental expiry; logins, passwords and expiry dates update automatically, with notifications before a rental ends. Bulk add detects the format.
• Free, with no ads and no paid plans; the listing says passwords and keys stay in your browser.
• Runs in Chrome, and in Opera and Yandex Browser through the Chrome Web Store; a separate Firefox version is available too.

What to know before switching:

•           Routing is set with site lists, a per-site switch and subdomain rules instead of Auto Switch profiles.

Our verdict: ProxyControl is the best Proxy SwitchyOmega alternative overall. It signs in to proxies on its own, checks each one on connect, moves you to a working proxy when one fails, keeps logins and rental dates current, blocks WebRTC IP leaks and costs nothing, with no ads.

Already buying proxies from proxys.io? Paste the key from the API keys tab of your account into ProxyControl, and your datacenter, residential or mobile proxies load with countries and expiry dates in one step.

ZeroOmega

Choose ZeroOmega when you want SwitchyOmega back exactly as it was: the same profiles, the same Auto Switch rules and a restore button for your old .bak file.

• Chrome Web Store listing: name "Proxy SwitchyOmega 3 (ZeroOmega)", ID pfnededegaaopdmhkdmcofjmoldfiped, offered by suziwen1; version 3.5.2, updated September 10, 2026.
• GitHub repository: a fork of FelisCatus/SwitchyOmega under GPLv3, about 7,800 stars, with builds for Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
• Restores SwitchyOmega .bak files through Import/Export, from a local file or a backup URL.
• Adds Gist sync and light, dark or automatic themes.

Limitations:

• SOCKS5 login is still impossible in Chrome, as it was in SwitchyOmega.
• The GitHub repository has 236 open issues, and the README says the project gives no support on network connections.
• Its store name contains "SwitchyOmega", so compare the ID to avoid look-alikes.

Choose another extension if: you don't depend on Auto Switch; ProxyControl also stops login prompts and adds proxy checks, failover and expiry tracking.

FoxyProxy

Choose FoxyProxy when your routing depends on URL patterns you want to test before saving, or when Incognito windows should use a different proxy than regular ones. Version 8 started the current codebase, updated for Manifest V3; the current Chrome build is 9.7.

• Chrome Web Store listing: "FoxyProxy", ID gcknhkkoolaabfmlnjonogaaifnjlfnp, published by Beholder Corporation; updated September 8, 2026.
• GitHub README: open source (GPL-2.0), developed by the same team since 2006; versions 9.3 and later need Chrome 126 or newer.
• From the FoxyProxy help page: HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, SOCKS5 and PAC, plus a QUIC (HTTP/3) type that works in Chrome only.
• Wildcard, match-pattern and regex rules with a pattern tester, a Global Exclude list, an Incognito-only proxy, Limit WebRTC and settings sync.

Limitations:

• Tab Proxy and Container Proxy are Firefox-only according to the help page, although the Chrome listing text describes per-tab proxies.
• SOCKS5 usernames and passwords work only in Firefox, and in Chrome, Global Exclude doesn't apply to PAC URLs.
• No importer for SwitchyOmega backups.

Choose another extension if: you work with paid proxies and want checks and expiry dates (ProxyControl) or need your .bak restored (ZeroOmega).

Proxyverse

Choose Proxyverse when you want a small open-source switcher and accept a project its own README calls early-stage.

• Chrome Web Store listing: version 1.4.0, updated April 16, 2026; publisher byte.vet, with the badge for a publisher that owns its listed website and has no history of violations.
• GitHub repository: MIT license, 123 stars; builds for Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
• One-click profile switching, rule-based traffic splitting, profile import and export, dark mode and proxy authentication.

Limitations:

• Neither the store text nor the README lists supported proxy schemes, so confirm SOCKS profiles in the editor before migrating.
• SwitchyOmega .bak import isn't documented; plan to recreate profiles.
• Safari support and customized preferences are still open roadmap items in the README.

Choose another extension if: you want more than basic switching; ProxyControl adds proxy checks, failover and expiry tracking.

OasisProxy

Choose OasisProxy when you maintain rule lists in AutoProxy format, need a reject policy or want to see which proxy each request used, and Chrome or Edge is your only browser.

• Chrome Web Store listing: "Oasis Proxy", ID canfhmdhlkplkkpglgleikdjipcokjof; version 1.0.15, updated February 26, 2025.
• GitHub README: GPL-3.0, repository now named oasis-proxy-archive; HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4 and SOCKS5, PAC scripts, and policies in AutoProxy or internal rule format, including reject rules.
• A Requests Debugger Monitor that shows request IPs, incognito support and automatic configuration sync.
• Proxy login for HTTP and HTTPS only, per the project wiki.

Limitations:

• No Chrome update since February 26, 2025, and the repository name now ends in "archive".
• No Firefox build, and the README says one isn't being considered.
• SwitchyOmega .bak import isn't documented.

Choose another extension if: you need an actively updated tool; ProxyControl was updated on October 2, 2026, ZeroOmega and FoxyProxy in September 2026.

How sites assess proxy traffic, and why regular users get flagged

A proxy extension changes only where Chrome sends requests. Sites still score the IP's reputation, the network it belongs to, DNS and WebRTC behavior and the browser fingerprint, so even a correctly configured extension doesn't guarantee a page without a CAPTCHA.

Changing IPs alone is ordinary. In Facebook's own 2020 measurement (Li and Freeman, ACM IMC 2020), the median user appeared from 6 IPv4 addresses a week. Risk systems weigh many signals together: the abuse classifier Facebook described at USENIX Security 2021 extracts more than 20,000 features per account, with country and reputation among the IP features. Shared addresses add collateral damage, which RFC 6269 describes directly: when a service penalizes an IP, every user behind it inherits the CAPTCHA or the block.

What to do, within the rules:

1. Check an IP before using it and replace one with a bad history; our guide on how to improve IP reputation lists the checks.
2. Keep one IP per account and per session. Switch proxies between sessions, not inside a logged-in one.
3. Close WebRTC exposure, as described in what WebRTC is and how to disable it (in English).
4. Know what your browser reveals: what browser fingerprinting is and why it matters (in English).
5. Pass a CAPTCHA or two-factor check instead of changing the IP; for regular business access, ask the site for IP allowlisting or an official API.

Moving from SwitchyOmega without losing your proxies

Everything SwitchyOmega stored fits in one OmegaOptions.bak file, if you exported it. Without that file, current Chrome won't let you re-enable the disabled extension to export, so you'll rebuild profiles from your provider's dashboard.

Before you start:

1. Search your Downloads folder for files named OmegaOptions*.bak, the name SwitchyOmega backups carry in public examples.
2. If the file is missing and you still have SwitchyOmega in Firefox, export a new one there.
3. Leave the disabled extension installed until the move is done.

The file is plain JSON: each profile is a key starting with a plus sign, such as "+Work", servers sit under fallbackProxy with scheme, host and port, and profiles can carry an auth field with proxy credentials. Store the file like a password.

Adding your SwitchyOmega proxies to ProxyControl

ProxyControl takes proxies as a list: from your proxys.io account by API key, or pasted in bulk with format detection.

1. Install ProxyControl from the Chrome Web Store (ID hjocpjdeacglfchomobaagbmipeggnjg) and pin it to the toolbar.
2. For proxys.io proxies, copy a key from the API keys tab of your account (a general key or one per order, as the ProxyControl setup guide shows) and paste it into ProxyControl. The IPs arrive with countries, logins and expiry dates.
3. For other providers, copy host and port from each profile's fallbackProxy in the .bak, and take current logins from the provider's dashboard.
4. Paste them one proxy per line in a single format, for example 203.0.113.10:8080:login:password. ProxyControl detects the format; check the first two entries after the import.
5. Move SwitchyOmega's bypass list and any "direct" conditions into ProxyControl's site lists.
6. For SOCKS5 profiles, use the HTTP(S) endpoint of the same proxy, or route SOCKS5 traffic through Proxifier.

Moving to new IPs anyway? Proxys.io HTTP proxies load into ProxyControl by API key, so the list, countries and expiry dates arrive in one step instead of fifty pasted lines. Rentals start at one month, and a purchase can be returned within 24 hours.

How to test each proxy after the move

Test each proxy on its own first, then the rules. A pass means the right exit IP, no login dialog after a restart, and direct traffic staying direct.

1. Check the proxy before adding it, for example with the proxys.io Proxy Checker, so a dead IP doesn't look like an extension bug.
2. Turn on one proxy and open an IP-check page; exit IP and country should match what your provider issued.
3. Quit Chrome completely and reopen it. A Chrome sign-in dialog means the extension isn't answering the login challenge.
4. Open a site from your bypass list; it should show your real IP.
5. For rule-based setups, test 5 to 10 real URLs per rule.
6. Run a WebRTC leak test with ProxyControl's WebRTC protection turned on.
7. If pages still fail, record a log at chrome://net-export. Chrome marks a failed proxy as bad for 5 minutes and tries it last; "Clear bad proxies" at chrome://net-internals/#proxy resets that. Error codes such as ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED are explained in how to fix proxy connection errors.

Use proxies only within the target sites' terms of service and the laws that apply to you.

FAQ

Most SwitchyOmega questions come down to two Chrome rules: Manifest V2 is gone for good, and no extension can log in to a SOCKS5 proxy.

Will Chrome ever allow the original SwitchyOmega again?

No. Chrome 138 removed the option to re-enable Manifest V2 extensions, and on August 31, 2026, Google removed the remaining MV2 items from the Chrome Web Store. The author stopped maintaining SwitchyOmega on January 12, 2025, so Manifest V3 Proxy SwitchyOmega alternatives such as ProxyControl are the only path.

Is ProxyControl free?

Yes. Its Chrome Web Store listing says ProxyControl is free, with no ads and no paid plans, and that passwords and API keys stay in your browser. You pay only for the proxies you run through it.

Does ProxyControl work with SOCKS5 proxies?

ProxyControl is built for HTTP and HTTPS proxies, and for SOCKS5 the proxys.io setup guide pairs it with Proxifier at the system level. That split follows Chrome itself: no Chrome extension can send a SOCKS5 username and password, so proxies with a login work in Chrome over HTTP(S). HTTP proxies from proxys.io sign in automatically in ProxyControl, and SOCKS5 proxies work through Proxifier.

Why does Chrome ask for a proxy password after every restart?

Chrome shows its "The proxy ... requires a username and password" dialog when no extension answers the proxy's login challenge through webRequest.onAuthRequired. Chrome ignores credentials written into proxy settings, so the login has to live in the extension. ProxyControl answers automatically, and IP whitelisting at proxys.io removes the prompt entirely. Provider-side causes are covered in our guide to the HTTP 407 error (in English).

Can one extension use different proxies in different tabs?

Not in Chrome. Chrome applies an extension's proxy settings to the whole profile, so one extension can't send different tabs through different proxies. Create a separate Chrome profile for each proxy and install ProxyControl in each one, as our guide to several proxies in one browser shows.

How do I move my SwitchyOmega proxies to ProxyControl?

Load proxys.io proxies with an API key from your account, and paste the rest one per line in a single format, such as host:port:login:password; ProxyControl detects the format. Host and port for each SwitchyOmega profile are in the fallbackProxy fields of your OmegaOptions.bak file.