Solving the Biggest Weakness of Self-Hosted Browser Automation: Egress IP Rotation

Self-hosted browser automation has always promised freedom: full control, total privacy, and zero per-run fees. You run the code, you own the data, and nothing leaves your machine unless you want it to.

But there’s been a catch.
A big one.

Until now, self-hosted automation has almost always meant a single egress IP — and that limitation quietly breaks a lot of real-world use cases.

The Hidden Cost of a Single Egress IP#

When all automation traffic comes from the same IP, problems show up fast:

• Sites start rate-limiting you
• Logins get flagged
• Sessions expire unexpectedly
• Long-running jobs become unreliable
• Entire workflows fail because one IP is burned

This is why managed scraping and automation platforms emphasize rotating IPs so heavily. They solve this for you — but at a price: per-run costs, usage limits, vendor lock-in, and less control.

Self-hosted tools, on the other hand, usually just tell you: “Bring your own proxy logic.”

Which means:

• Writing custom proxy code
• Managing proxy lists manually
• Editing JSON files
• Restarting services when something breaks
• Debugging issues you didn’t want to think about in the first place

For many teams, this is the only reason they stay on managed platforms.

Why Egress IP Rotation Is Hard to Get Right#

Egress rotation sounds simple, but it’s deceptively complex:

• You need to decide when to rotate
• You need to handle failures gracefully
• You need to support mixed modes (rotated + static)
• You need visibility into what IP was used for what task
• You need a UI that non-experts can safely use
• You need sane defaults so users don’t shoot themselves in the foot

Most self-hosted tools skip this entirely.
Not because it’s unimportant — but because it’s hard to do cleanly.

Introducing Native Egress IP Rotation (Built for Self-Hosting)#

With the latest update, Doppelganger finally closes this gap.

Egress IP rotation is now built directly into the platform, designed from the ground up for self-hosted automation — not retrofitted from scraping tools or hidden behind config flags.

This means you can now rotate outgoing IPs without losing the benefits of self-hosting.

What You Can Do Now#

You can:

• Add multiple proxies and rotate them automatically
• Set a default proxy for all tasks
• Enable or disable rotation per task
• Include or exclude your host IP from the rotation pool
• See exactly which IP was used for every task in logs
• Manage everything from the UI (no config editing required)

And for advanced users:

• proxies.json is fully supported
• Rotation rules are explicit and predictable
• Behavior is deterministic and debuggable

And if you want your default IP excluded from rotation?
It is — unless you explicitly enable it.

No surprises.

More Than Scraping: Why This Matters Everywhere#

This feature isn’t just for scraping.

Egress IP rotation is critical for:

• Monitoring uptime and content changes
• Testing geo-based flows
• Running long-lived workflows
• Simulating real user behavior
• Avoiding cascading failures when an IP is flagged
• Safely automating sites with aggressive protection

In other words: this is infrastructure, not a hack.

Designed to Be Usable (Not Just Powerful)#

Most proxy systems are powerful but painful.

This one is designed so anyone can use it:

• Proxies are managed in Settings → Proxies
• No JSON required
• Safe defaults
• Clear toggles
• Clear logs
• No guessing

You shouldn’t need to be a networking expert to rotate IPs.

IP Rotation Comparison: Doppelganger vs Other Platforms#

Here’s how IP rotation compares across Doppelganger, managed platforms, and standard self-hosted solutions:

Feature / Platform	Doppelganger	Managed Platforms	Standard Self-Hosted
Built-In IP Rotation	Configured in settings	Automatic	None
Control Over Rotation	Full (choose which IPs, include/exclude, per-task toggle)	Limited (provider decides)	Full
Setup Complexity	Medium (add/manage IPs in settings)	Minimal, handled by provider	High, requires custom code
Cost	Free	Paid subscription	Free (but extra effort for proxies)
Reliability	High	High	Limited / error-prone
Maintenance	Low	Low	High

With Doppelganger, self-hosted browser automation now includes reliable IP rotation without paying for managed platforms or writing custom code, while giving you full control over how rotation is applied.#

Self-hosting should feel like a superpower — not a compromise.

Egress IP rotation makes that real.

Note: Egress IP rotation requires Doppelganger v0.4 or higher.
If you’re running an earlier version, upgrade to access proxy rotation and egress IP support.