# Squid proxy

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/squid/

12 people recommended Squid proxy in Hacker News comments, 5 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 13 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, long-established proxy that people use to allow only certain domains, cache downloads and inspect HTTPS traffic. Critics say its documentation is hard to learn.

Summary written by Claude from 23 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Domain allowlists and access control lists (4 comments in the sample): "set up a transparent proxy with squid + SquidGuard for content filtering and time restrictions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46245692)) "Configure Squid Access Control Lists to only permit specific domains." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48892997)) "a squid proxy to allow limited trusted domains through" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47586362))
- Caching speeds up repeated downloads (3 comments in the sample): "A basic Squid caching proxy should be enough at least for a pure pull-through like Maven Central." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50133653)) "I like to use a Squid SSL Bump MitM proxy so I can create ACL's and cache content in RAM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48711111)) "configuring a squid proxy for my PS4 vastly sped up my downloads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49485439))
- SSL bump inspection and filtering (2 comments in the sample): "The easiest route here in my opinion aside from DNS services that claim to block adult content would be to use a Squid SSL Bump…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46167810)) "The open source solution is to configure the latest Squid proxy as a Squid SSL Bump proxy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911481))

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Squid proxy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/squid/ (12 recommend, 5 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.