Each term below has its own link, so you can share a definition directly. For a longer introduction, read what an antidetect browser is and how browser fingerprinting works.
Browsers and profiles
Antidetect browser
An antidetect browser runs each account in its own isolated browser profile, with separate cookies, storage, proxy and fingerprint settings. It is also written anti-detect browser and called a multi-account browser, fingerprint browser, stealth browser or browser profile manager. It keeps accounts apart; it doesn't change the rules of the websites you use.
Browser profile
A browser profile is a separate set of browser data: cookies, local storage, history, saved logins, extensions and settings. Profiles on the same computer don't share this data, so websites see them as different browsers.
Browser engine
A browser engine is the software that loads and draws web pages and runs their scripts. Most antidetect browsers are built on Chromium; a few also offer an engine based on Firefox.
Chromium
Chromium is the open-source browser project that Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave and Opera are built on. A Chromium-based profile behaves like Chrome for most websites, so its reported version should match the engine it really runs.
Browser extension
A browser extension is a small add-on that changes how the browser works, such as a password manager or an ad blocker. In an antidetect browser, extensions are installed per profile, so one profile's extensions don't run in another.
Session restore
Session restore reopens the tabs a profile had open when it was last closed, so work continues where it stopped.
Fingerprints
Browser fingerprint
A browser fingerprint is the set of details a browser exposes to websites, such as user agent, screen size, time zone, languages, fonts, graphics and audio behavior. Together they can recognize the same browser across visits, even after its cookies are cleared.
Fingerprint seed
A fingerprint seed is a number a profile uses to derive its masked values. The same seed gives the same canvas, WebGL and audio results every time the profile opens, and different seeds give different results.
Canvas fingerprinting
Canvas fingerprinting draws hidden text and shapes with the HTML canvas element, reads the pixels back and turns them into a hash. Differences in graphics hardware, drivers and fonts make that hash differ between devices.
Canvas noise
Canvas noise is a small change a browser adds to canvas output so the hash differs from the real device's. Stable noise stays the same between reads in one profile; noise that changes on every read is itself something fingerprint testers look for.
WebGL fingerprinting
WebGL fingerprinting reads the graphics card's vendor and renderer names and draws a 3D test scene, then hashes the image. It reveals details about the graphics hardware and its driver.
Audio fingerprinting
Audio fingerprinting runs a short generated sound through the Web Audio API and measures tiny differences in the result, which vary with the device's audio processing.
Font fingerprinting
Font fingerprinting measures text drawn with many font names to learn which fonts are installed. Font lists differ between operating systems and between computers.
User agent
The user agent is a text string a browser sends with every request and shows to scripts. It names the browser, its version and the operating system.
User-Agent Client Hints
User-Agent Client Hints are request headers and a JavaScript interface (navigator.userAgentData) through which Chromium browsers report their brand, platform and version. Detailed values, such as the full version, are sent only when a site asks for them. They should agree with the user agent string.
navigator.webdriver
navigator.webdriver is a browser property that is true when automation software controls the browser. Websites read it as a simple sign of a bot.
Time zone mismatch
A time zone mismatch happens when a browser's clock is in a different time zone from the location of its IP address. It is common when a proxy or VPN moves the connection to another country but the computer's clock stays at home.
Accept-Language
Accept-Language is the request header in which a browser lists its preferred languages, in order. Scripts read the same list from navigator.languages, and the two should agree with each other and with the browser's interface language.
WebRTC leak
A WebRTC leak happens when WebRTC, the browser technology for calls and direct connections, reveals a public IP address other than the proxy's, usually the user's real address.
STUN server
A STUN server tells a browser which public IP address and port it appears to come from, so WebRTC can set up direct connections. Leak tests ask a STUN server to see which address WebRTC would reveal.
mDNS candidate
An mDNS candidate is a random name ending in .local that Chromium-based browsers show in WebRTC instead of the computer's local network address, so websites don't learn that address.
Proxies and networks
Proxy
A proxy is a server that forwards a browser's traffic, so websites see the proxy's IP address instead of the computer's own.
HTTP proxy
An HTTP proxy forwards web traffic over the HTTP protocol. For HTTPS sites it opens a tunnel with the CONNECT method, so the proxy passes the encrypted traffic along without reading it.
SOCKS5 proxy
A SOCKS5 proxy forwards network connections at a lower level than HTTP, works with any kind of traffic and supports a username and password.
SSH tunnel
An SSH tunnel sends browser traffic through an encrypted connection to a server you can log in to with SSH, so websites see that server's IP address.
Residential proxy
A residential proxy uses IP addresses that internet providers assign to homes, so traffic looks like it comes from a household connection.
Datacenter proxy
A datacenter proxy uses IP addresses that belong to hosting companies. These are usually fast and cheap, and websites can easily tell that they belong to a data center.
Mobile proxy
A mobile proxy sends traffic through a cellular network, so it uses IP addresses of a mobile carrier. Carriers share these addresses between many users.
Sticky and rotating proxies
A sticky proxy keeps the same exit IP for a set time, while a rotating proxy changes it per request or at intervals. Profiles that stay logged in to accounts usually need a stable IP.
Exit IP
The exit IP is the address websites see when you browse through a proxy: the proxy's outgoing address.
ASN
An autonomous system number (ASN) identifies the network an IP address belongs to, such as an internet provider or a hosting company. Websites use it to tell home and mobile connections from data centers.
DNS leak
A DNS leak happens when a browser looks up website names through the computer's own DNS server instead of through the proxy, which shows which network the computer really uses.
Accounts and sessions
Cookie
A cookie is a small piece of data a website stores in the browser, often to keep you logged in. Each browser profile has its own cookies.
Session
A session is a website's record that you are logged in, usually kept in a cookie. Copying a profile's session cookies to another browser can log that browser in too, which is why cookies need the same care as passwords.
Local storage
Local storage is a place in the browser where websites keep data between visits. Like cookies, it belongs to one profile.
Netscape cookies.txt
Netscape cookies.txt is a plain-text cookie format with one cookie per line and tab-separated fields. Many browser extensions and tools import and export it, alongside JSON.
Two-factor authentication (TOTP)
A time-based one-time password (TOTP) is a 6-digit code that changes every 30 seconds. An app computes it from a secret key shared when you turn on two-factor authentication, so anyone with that key can produce valid codes.
Multi-accounting
Multi-accounting means running more than one account on the same website. Some platforms allow it for agencies or several shops, others limit it, and each platform's terms decide.
Automation
Headless browser
A headless browser runs without a visible window and is controlled by a program. Many websites treat headless browsers as likely bots.
Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP)
The Chrome DevTools Protocol is the interface through which programs control a Chromium-based browser: open pages, click, type and read results. Puppeteer and Playwright use it.
Puppeteer
Puppeteer is a JavaScript library from the Chrome team for controlling Chromium-based browsers through the Chrome DevTools Protocol.
Playwright
Playwright is a browser automation library from Microsoft for JavaScript, Python, Java and .NET. It can connect to a running Chromium-based browser over the Chrome DevTools Protocol.
Selenium
Selenium is a long-standing browser automation framework that controls browsers through the WebDriver standard, with libraries for many programming languages.
Local API
A local API is an interface that an app offers only on your own computer, for example on 127.0.0.1, so your scripts can start, stop and manage profiles. Multime's local API follows AdsPower's main endpoints.
RPA
Robotic process automation (RPA) means building automated tasks from steps such as open page, click, type and wait, usually in a visual editor instead of code.
Window synchronizer
A window synchronizer repeats the clicks, scrolling and typing you do in one main browser window in other windows at the same time.
Teams
VA
A VA, or virtual assistant, is a remote helper who works in some of your accounts. In a team workspace, a VA opens only the profiles the owner allows.
Team workspace
A team workspace is the shared space where an owner gives other people access to browser profiles and sets what each person can do. In Multime it runs on the owner's computer; in many other tools it runs on the vendor's servers.
Profile lock
A profile lock lets only one person open a profile at a time, so two people never use the same session at once.