# Zyte API sessions vs FourA: how long one IP address holds

> Source: <https://foura.ai/blog/zyte-vs-foura-sticky-sessions>
> Published: 2026-11-12 09:43:16+00:00

## How long can a sticky session keep one IP on Zyte API and FourA?

A Zyte API session can expire 15 minutes after it starts, or 2 minutes after its last request. On FourA, a premium exit keeps one address for the minutes you set, anywhere from 3 to 1,440, which is 96 times as long. We read [Zyte's API reference](https://docs.zyte.com/zyte-api/usage/reference.html) and our own docs on 12 November 2026.

## What FourA does when a job needs one address

You send one Proxy Finder request with `exitClass: premium` and `exitLifetimeMin`, a whole number of minutes from 3 to 1,440 ([exit location docs](https://foura.ai/docs/api/endpoints#exit-location)). The answer carries a proxy ID. Pass that ID to Single or Browser on every call that follows, and each one leaves from the same address ([how pinning works](https://foura.ai/docs/how-to/reuse-a-proxy)).

Premium exits come with [every plan](https://foura.ai/prices), Free included, and holding one doesn't need geo targeting. Naming a country, city or network for it does. We shipped `exitLifetimeMin` on 5 November 2026 ([changelog](https://updates.foura.ai)).

## What Zyte API does for the same thing

A [client-managed session](https://docs.zyte.com/zyte-api/usage/features.html) starts when you send a `session.id`, a UUID you make up. Requests that reuse it share one IP address, network stack and cookie jar. Zyte's reference says the session may expire once any of these happens:

- 15 minutes have passed since it was created
- 2 minutes have passed since it was last used
- 3 requests in a row on it got banned

And an expired ID can't be reused for the next 5 to 10 minutes; after that it opens a new session. A session on a device residential IP can also change address mid-way when that IP expires, though it stays in the same country.

| Rule | Zyte API | FourA | 
|---|---|---|
| Session length | Up to 15 minutes | 3 to 1,440 minutes | 
| Set by | Zyte | You, per request | 
| Holds | IP, cookie jar | The address | 

## Why FourA comes out ahead here

Take a job that has to look like one visitor for an hour: a signed-in export, a cart holding a delivery address, or a listing behind a check whose clearance is bound to the address that passed it. On Zyte API that's at least four sessions, and the address can change with each one, more often if the job ever waits longer than 2 minutes. On FourA it's one Proxy Finder request with `exitLifetimeMin: 60` and one proxy ID for the hour.

Polite crawls meet the 2-minute rule first. Wait three minutes between pages to go easy on a small site, and a Zyte session can expire at every step.

Zyte deserves credit for what a session carries. It keeps the cookie jar and network stack along with the IP, so you don't track cookies yourself. Its server-managed sessions go further: Zyte creates, reuses and retires them for you, and can run a setup action such as setting a location before the first request. (We compared its request prices tier by tier [in September](https://foura.ai/blog/zyte-vs-foura-cost-per-request).)

## Run the same request on FourA

Time the longest stretch of your job that breaks when the address changes, and round it up: that's your `exitLifetimeMin`. Over 15, or with any pause past 2 minutes, it's a stretch one Zyte session can't hold.

## Frequently asked

**What happens when a Zyte session's 15 minutes run out?** It expires, and Zyte won't let you reuse the ID for 5 to 10 minutes. After that, the same ID opens a new session on a new address.

**What does holding an address cost on FourA?** Requests and traffic, not minutes. Each call costs its usual credits, and every byte the premium exit carries, both ways, counts toward your plan's premium traffic, including an attempt that didn't return your page ([how premium traffic is metered](https://foura.ai/docs/guides/plans-and-metering)).

**Can I hold an address through the proxy port?** Yes. On the premium network, a named session keeps its address for `lifetime` minutes, 3 to 1,440, in any client that takes a proxy URL ([proxy port docs](https://foura.ai/docs/api/proxy-port)).

So try the hour-long job on FourA: create a free account at [auth.foura.ai/signup](https://auth.foura.ai/signup), send one Proxy Finder request with `exitClass: premium` and `exitLifetimeMin: 60`, and pin the proxy ID it returns on every call after it. Free needs no card and includes premium traffic for the test.