This is a review and comparison of the best IP Geolocation APIs with features to help you get geological information about an IP address:
Geolocation has to be one of the most underrated yet rewarding innovations for the modern generation. Words cannot describe the impact it has had on our day-to-day personal and professional lives. From tracking lost devices to finding restaurants nearby to dine at, Geolocation has become an integral part of our daily lives.
Geolocation can be simply defined as the process by which the geographic location of a radar source, mobile network, or internet-connected devices can be identified. An IP Geolocation API is a technology that can identify the real-world location of a device connected to the internet.
They’ve become increasingly more popular these days, especially in business circles, as it is now being used by organizations to identify or target potential customers based on their location.
Some of the best IP Geolocation API can not only identify the location but also unearth details like the country, state, city, zip code, and even the street address where the device is located.
Table of Contents:
IP Geolocation API Review
In this article, we will look at such tools that are being used worldwide for a variety of purposes. So, without much further ado, let’s get started.
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Pro-Tips:
- First and foremost, determine how many IP addresses and locations you want the API to monitor. Go for a tool that can cover maximum ground and flexibly cross-check information from multiple locations.
- Go for tools that provide detailed output pertaining to the country, longitude, latitude, postal code, and other details of the device.
- Choose an API that integrates seamlessly with your company’s existing systems
- Make sure the API you choose is easy to use and operate, even by those who aren’t technically proficient.
- Speed and consistency are fundamental to any IP location API. So look for tools that are reliable, quick, and responsive. We suggest referring to customer reviews to find out this fact about the API.
- Organizations should go for tools that allow them to block IP addresses of website visitors they deem suspicious to prevent cyber security and phishing attacks.
List of the Top IP Address Geolocation API
Enlisted below are some popular IP address geolocation APIs:
- WhoisXMLAPI (Recommended)
- ipstack
- Abstract API
- Maxmind
- ipdata
- ipgeolocation.io
- IP-API
- DB-IP
- IP2Location
- IPinfo
- Positionstack
Comparing Some of the Best IP Address to Location API
| Name | Best For | Price | Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| WhoisXMLAPI | Precise, comprehensive, and up-to-date IP geolocation data for multiple marketing, cybersecurity, and other business applications. | Free for 1000 queries Flexible plans for multiple uses One-time, Monthly, and Yearly subscriptions available |  |
| ipstack | Real-time IP to Geolocation API for SMBs and Large Corporations | Free for 100 requests Basic Plan: $9.99/month for 50,000 requests per month Professional: $49.99/month for 500,000 requests per month Professional Plus Plan: $99.99 for 2000,000 requests per month. | |
| Abstract API | Great Uptime and Technical Support | Free: 20,000 requests Starter Plan: $9/month for 200,000 requests Pro Plan: $49/month for 1,500,000 requests Pro Plus: $499/month for 20,000,000 requests | |
| Maxmind | Fraud Detection | Contact sales for pricing | |
| ipdata | Proxy and VPN Detection | Free: 1500 requests per day, $10/month: 2500 requests per day $30/month: 10000 requests per day $50/month: 50000 requests per day $120/month: 100000 requests per day Custom Enterprise Plan Available |  |
| ipgeolocation.io | Astronomy API | Free: 30000 requests per month Bronze: $15 per month for 150,000 requests per month. Silver: $65 per month for 1M requests per month Silver+: $130 per month for 3M requests per month Gold: $200 per month for 6 M requests per month Platinum: $500 per month for 20M requests per month | |
Let us review the IP address geolocation API.
#1) WhoisXMLAPI (Recommended)
Best for precise, comprehensive, and up-to-date IP geolocation data for multiple marketing, cybersecurity, and other business applications.
IP Geolocation API by WhoisXML API helps users accurately determine a user’s location based on the IP address of his/her device. The API provides detailed information about the user’s IP location, including country, city, region, postal code, and time zone. It also returns latitude and longitude coordinates, Internet service provider (ISP), Autonomous System (AS) details and ASN type, Geonames ID, connection type, and connected domain names.
The API covers 291,000+ locations and 235,000+ ISPs, across both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. The IP geolocation database powering the API gets a new stream of hundreds of thousands of records every day, assuring users of the most up-to-date information. Thanks to existing partnerships with the world’s largest ISP, the data provided by the API is also accurate and reliable.
IP Geolocation API is user-friendly and easy to set up. For improved usability, seamless integration with Postman, Splunk, Sumologic, and Query platforms is provided. Additionally, users can access developer libraries in PHP, Python, Node.js, and other languages to facilitate integration and development.
IP geolocation data provided by the API plays a critical role in business and marketing, allowing companies to understand their customers, personalize content, and target campaigns geographically. Additionally, it aids in tracking cybercriminals, investigating cyberattacks, and assisting law enforcement in locating suspects and witnesses.
Pros:
- Thorough, dependable, and up-to-date data
- Consistently formatted for immediate use and easy integration
- Comprehensive API documentation
- Bulk processing options available
- Search by IPv4 or IPv6 address, domain name or email
- Results in XML and JSON format.
Cons:
- Nothing significant
Verdict: The IP Geolocation API is trusted by established enterprises and industry leaders for its comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date data. With flexible pricing plans to suit various applications and use cases, it’s supported by a company with over 14 years of experience in gathering IP, DNS, and WHOIS data, ensuring high reliability.
Price:
- Free for 1000 queries
- Flexible plans for multiple uses
- One-time, Monthly, and Yearly subscriptions available
#2) ipstack
ipstack is best for Real-time IP to Geolocation API for SMBs and large corporations.
Kicking off our list is an IP Geolocation API service that is known for its ease of use and scalability. ipstack features a powerful and highly scalable infrastructure that can handle millions of requests in a single day. The API covers over 2 million unique locations in over 200,000 cities from around the globe.
Ipststack’s data is divided into five key modules that help it earn the top place on this list. ipstack’s location module helps you set geographical restrictions, optimize ads and deliver a user experience that is tailored based on your website visitor’s location.
You can also offer a customized shopping experience to your customers as ipstack’s currency module gets you accurate information about the currency used at the location from where the IP address was processed.
Furthermore, with the help of time-related metadata received from the API, you can easily find out what time zones your visitors are from without making them fill out tedious forms. Finally, with the help of ipstack’s superior security module, you can identify crawlers, proxies, and other threats before they have a chance of doing any serious damage to your site or applications.
Pros:
- Extensive API documentation.
- Bank-Grade security.
- Delivers results in XML and JSON format.
- Handles over a billion API requests per day.
- Average response time of over 25ms.
- Consistently accurate data accumulation.
Cons:
- Nothing significant
Verdict: Starting out as an open-source API project in 2009, ipstack is considered to be a leading IP Geolocation API in the industry today.
Trusted by many big brands, it boasts of a powerful and scalable infrastructure that can handle billions of API requests in a day. They have also partnered up with several large ISPs around the world, thus making them a pretty valuable IP to Geolocation API for your money.
Price:
- Free for 100 requests
- Basic Plan – $9.99/month for 50,000 requests per month
- Professional – $49.99/month for 500,000 requests per month
- Professional Plus Plan – $99.99 for 2000,000 requests per month.
#3) Abstract API
Best for great uptime and technical support.
Powered by excellent documentation, several comprehensive libraries, and tutorials, Abstract API is simple to use and set up. Their partnership with multiple ISPs around the world helps them offer you data that is consistently accurate. Their Geolocation datasets cover both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
Aside from the information of location, you can expect Abstract API to also provide you with details about the user’s time-zone, current time, and much more. Abstract API also comes in handy, as it supports CSV uploads to handle queries in bulk.
Pros:
- Comprehensive documentation and tutorial support.
- Regularly updated data.
- Worldwide coverage.
- Timezone, Country Flag, and Other Details included alongside location.
- Bank-level security.
- Supports CSV upload.
Cons:
- There have been complaints about long response times for queries raised.
Verdict: It is incredibly easy to Geolocate IPs with Abstract API, thanks to excellent documentation and technical support. With reliable worldwide coverage, you can trust Abstract API to provide you with accurate data pertaining to a user’s location, time zone, and currency, among other important details.
Price:
- Free – 20,000 requests
- Starter Plan – $9/month for 200,000 requests
- Pro Plan – $49/month for 1,500,000 requests
- Pro Plus – $499/month for 20,000,000 requests
#4) Maxmind
Best for faud detection.
Maxmind is known for its IP Geolocation and proxy detection services. As such, it has been leveraged for a wide range of applications, which range from content customization to digital rights management and advertising to fraud detection. Their GeoIP database is updated weekly so you can rest assured that the data provided by Maxmind is always accurate.
Pros:
- Reliable city and country databases.
- ASN database.
- Manage digital rights based on geolocation.
- Provides the most up-to-date data possible.
- Provide IP Intelligence data for high-volume environments.
- Accurate blacklists and blocking lists.
Cons:
- Some users have reported frequent downtimes.
Verdict: If you seek a more personalized IP Geolocation service, then Maxmind is the API for you. It is a great choice for optimizing targeted ads with intelligent fraud detection. Over the years, Maxmind has helped over 5000 companies locate their website visitors so they can greet them with relevant ads and content. The API can help you accomplish the same.
Price: Contact sales for pricing.
#5) ipdata
Best for proxy and VPN detection.
ipdata helps you localize your website content, target ads, analyze logs, and much more by helping identify the location of any IP address. It can locate any IP address with accurate details about the city and postal code. The API can detect anonymous users to ensure your business is protected from potential fraud.
ipdata particularly shines because of its superior threat intelligence. It will instantly check whether an IP address is listed under any of the over 200 OISNT threat feeds and revert back immediately if that is the case. You can also apply geographical restrictions to prevent access to users from certain regions in the world.
Pros:
- Fast Geolocating ability with great uptime.
- Excellent proxy and VPN detection.
- Updates data every 15 minutes.
- Localize website and ads content.
- Apply geographic restrictions to block certain states and counties from accessing your website.
- Higher daily requests on paid plans.
Cons:
- The free plan is only available for non-commercial use.
Verdict: ipdata delivers results with exceptional speed and consistent uptime, thanks to its use of AWS infrastructure. The API is fantastic if you want to analyze traffic, enforce GDPR compliance, block states or countries, or protect your business from fraud or abuse.
Price:
- Free – 1500 requests per day,
- $10/month – 2500 requests per day
- $30/month – 10,000 requests per day
- $50/month – 50,000 requests per day
- $120/month – 100,000 requests per day
- Custom Enterprise Plan Available
#6) ipgeolocation.io
Best for Astronomy API.
ipgeolocation.io covers both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. As such, this API provides you with details that let you learn your target user’s real-time location. The API is also intuitive enough to detect VPN, threats, TOR, and more.
What really makes this tool excel is its Astronomy API feature, which allows you to learn the exact sunset, sunrise, or moonset, and moonrise from the targeted IP address.
Pros:
- Detect VPN and threats.
- Accurately identify time zone.
- Get information on sunrise or moonrise and vice versa from IP address.
- Download database in CSV format.
- Multilingual customer support.
Cons:
- New IP Addresses take time to process.
Verdict: ipgeolocation.io is another great geolocation API that helps you identify way more than the accurate location from the IP addresses it processes. It is fast in the results it delivers and particularly helpful because of its ability to provide you with information about sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset from the processed IP address.
Price:
- Free – 30000 requests per month
- Bronze – $15 per month for 150,000 requests per month.
- Silver – $65 per month for 1M requests per month
- Silver+ – $130 per month for 3M requests per month
- Gold – $200 per month for 6 M requests per month
- Platinum – $500 per month for 20M requests per month
#7) IP-API
Best for free IP Geolocation API.
IP-API has been around since 2012, being the go-to geolocation API of many for non-commerce use. It can serve more than a billion requests per day and is available in JSON, PHP, CSV, and XML formats. With a network based on Anycast technology and servers in places like the EU, US, and APAC, IP-API can achieve real-response times of under 50 milliseconds in several parts of the world.
Pro:
- Highly optimized software.
- Fast response times of under 50 MS.
- No API key or registration is required for the free endpoint.
- Easy to integrate.
- Helps you get accurate location data.
Cons:
- Its endpoints are limited to 45 HTTP requests per minute. You will be throttled if requests exceed this limit.
Verdict: IP-API is one of the best free IP Geolocation API for non-commercial use. It is fast, reliable, and accurate in the location data it offers. The limitation regarding only 45 HTTP requests per minute can frustrate some, however, it still gets the job done.
Price: Free
#8) DB-API
Best for excellent risk analysis.
DB-API features a geolocation dataset that covers over 2 million unique locations in more than 215000 cities around the world. The API helps you get details about your users regarding their city, state, district, etc. It can get you this information in over 50 languages. DB-API also facilitates live amount conversions for more than 50 different currencies.
Pros:
- Harbors an IP Address Database that covers 3 over 32 million IPv4 and IPv6 blocks.
- Multilingual support in over 50 languages.
- Monitor API usage in real-time, manage keys, and analyze historical trends with API dashboards.
- Get crucial insights about your target market demographics.
- Protect customer data and network infrastructure from serious cyber-attacks.
Cons:
- Consistent uptime is not guaranteed with the starter plan.
Verdict: DB-API possesses a highly scalable global network infrastructure that spans multiple continents. It leverages machine learning models that are constantly evolving to provide you with the most accurate IP address geolocation possible. Its multilingual nature also makes it an IP Geolocation API worth checking out.
Price:
- Starting at $10 for a basic plan for 2000 to 50,000 requests per day.
- Premium Plan – $112/month for 200,000 – 1000,000 requests per day
- Enterprise Plan – $ 563/month for unlimited requests per day.
#9) IP2Location
Best for getting Geolocation Information without any permission from users.
IP2Location’s major selling point is its ability to accurately identify geographical location and proxy by IP address. It can retrieve this information without seeking explicit permission from the user as long as you have an IP address. It integrates seamlessly with any software platform to help retrieve geolocation data by leveraging database, SDK, and REST API.
Pros:
- Non-Intrusive, accurate geolocation.
- Easy integration.
- Multiple granularities.
- Simple to use.
- No additional cost is required for an extra IP location lookout.
Cons:
- You’ll have to purchase a separate IP2Proxy plan for VPN detection.
Verdict: We like how non-intrusive IP2Location is when retrieving location data. It utilizes AWS’s reliable infrastructure to exhibit speedy performance and excellent availability. IP2Location supports all IP addresses, including IPv4 and IPv6, and helps accurately retrieve a plethora of information on an IP address aside from location details.
Price: Starting at $49 per year
#10) ipinfo
Best for accurately identifying users’ ISP and ASN.
ipinfo is another great IP geolocation API that can accurately pinpoint your target user’s location, irrespective of where they are in the world. It especially excels because of its ability to retrieve information about the user’s internet service provider. You can even go so far as to identify the domain and the company name of the person using the IP address.
ipinfo is also great when it comes to VPN detection, as the API can perform custom internet-wide scans. As such, it can accurately detect over 10 million different types of VPN in use.
Pros:
- Bank-Grade security.
- Fast IP Address processing.
- Easy to set up and integrate.
- Handle a billion API requests per day.
- Auto-scaling servers.
Cons:
- Can be considerably costly when you compare the tool with its competitors with regards to the features offered.
Verdict: Trusted by over 300,000 brands around the world, ipinfo’s reputation precedes its name. It is fast, reliable, and accurate when identifying the geolocation of an IP address. It can also detect threats and prevent fraud. Businesses can use it to customize their customer’s user experience by personalizing content or sending location-based offers.
Price:
- $49/month for 150,000 requests per month
- Standard – $249/month for 250k requests per month
- Business – $499/month for 500k requests per month
#11) Positionstack
Best for real-time Geocoding for developers and businesses.
Positionstack distinguishes itself from many of its contemporaries by offering a tool that facilitates accurate forward and reverses batch geocoding. The tool allows you to set up coordinates in real-time or geocode any address in the world to retrieve information about the country, time zone, and other major location components of an IP address.
Positionstack can handle billions of API requests with a response time that ranges from 10 to 100ms. You can rest assured that the geocoding data retrieved is reliable, as it is sourced from quality data vendors from around the world and updated regularly.
Pros:
- Forward and Reverse Geocoding.
- JSON, XML, GeoJSON support.
- Multilingual support.
- Embeddable maps.
Cons:
- Bank transfers only for large volume customers.
Verdict: Positionstack is advanced, lightweight, and an easy-to-use geocoding tool. It is also highly scalable and currently covers 2 billion places around the world. With a tempting free plan and excellent up-time, Positionstack is definitely worth checking out.
Price:
- Free plan for 20,000 requests
- Basic Plan – $9.99, handles 100,000 requests
- Premium Plan – $49.99, handles 1000,000 requests
- Business Plan – $99.99, handles 3000,000 requests
Other IP Geolocation APIs
#12) ipapi
Best for exceptional data accuracy and response time.
ipapi is a powerful and scalable IP geolocation API that can accurately locate users by IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. It is trusted by more than 30000 big brands around the world because of how accurate it is in pinpointing customer location by IP address.
The long-term relationships it has nurtured with ISP providers assure you get only the best high-quality IP data possible in the market. It is also very easy and fast to integrate, thanks to its sleek JSON and XML-supported API design.
Price:
- Free – 1000 requests per month,
- Basic – $10 per month for 50,000 requests
- Business – $50 per month for 500,000 requests
- Business Pro – $100 per month for 2000,000 requests
#13) ipify
Best for no limits on requests per minute.
ipify is an absolutely open-source IP Geolocation API that shines because of its ability to register limitless requests per minute. The tool works seamlessly with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. With an infrastructure that is powered by Heroku, you can expect exceptional speed and consistent uptimes. This public IP address also shines by not logging any visitor information.
Price: Free
#14) ipregistry
Best for pay one on a per request basis.
ipregistry is another powerful and scalable IP Geolocation API that regularly updates its IP address database to present you with accurate results quickly.
The API supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, covering over 3 million unique locations around the world. It also boasts superior threat intelligence data, wherein you can verify IP addresses against over 220 OSINT threat feeds briskly.
The extensive API documentation you get with this tool makes it very easy to set up and run.
Price: Initial 10,000 requests for free, then pay as per request.
#15) IPWHOIS.IO
Best for the multilingual response.
Boasting a user-friendly and functional API interface, IPWHOIS.IO is quick and easy to set up and run. With powerful servers spread worldwide, you can rely on this tool for accurate location data. IPWHOIS.IO leverages GeoDNS to send requests directly to the closest and fastest node, which helps you get a fast response from any part of the world.
You also don’t need to worry about local database update as you can rest easy knowing the geolocation data provided by IPWHOIS.IO is accurate and up-to-date.
Price:
- 10,000 Requests for Free
- $10.99 For 250,000 requests per month,
- $29.99 for 2000,000 requests per month
- $79.99 for 3000,000 requests per month.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is IP Geolocation API?
IP Geolocation API is a RESTful API used to obtain geological information about an IP address. Such APIs use Geolocation IP, which is basically finding out geological coordinates based on the concerned IP address.
These APIs are used today for a variety of reasons. Content publishers use such tools to provide better content to their users based on location. Businesses use them to identify the real-world location of their target prospects.
What is the best IP Geolocation API?
There is no shortage of good IP Geolocation APIs in the industry. After considering several qualifying parameters, which also include their market standing, we believe the following to be some of the best ones:
ipstack
Abstract API
Maxmind
Ipdata
ipgeolocation.io
Is IP Geolocation.io safe?
When it comes to safety, perhaps it doesn’t get any better than IP Geolocation.io. It is considered being one of the best APIs of its kind because of how coherent its structure is. We would recommend IP Geolocation.io to anyone who prefers great stability from IP geo-referencing API.
How accurate is IP Geolocation?
The accuracy of IP Geolocation APIs will vary from provider to provider. Normally, you can expect such tools to exhibit an accuracy of 55% to 80% for a user’s region or state and an accuracy of 50% to 75% for a user’s city. The location of the device is also instrumental in determining the actual accuracy of these APIs.
How does IP Geolocation work?
It is very simple to understand how IP geolocation works. An IP Address to Location API will first check which IP range is being used in which area with the help of an IP-to-location database.
Just by knowing the IP address, you can obtain information about the country and city your users come from. It is important to note, however, that IP-based Geolocation is never 100% accurate as they refer to addresses that constantly shuffle around between a few users residing in a certain area.
Conclusion
Most businesses rely on a website visitor’s location to personalize content and tailor their ads. This is where the Geolocation tools we listed earlier come into play. These tools extract location details from the IPs of your website’s visitors.
Effective use of an IP Geolocation API can help businesses offer services, news, products, and notifications that are relevant to their audience.
This way, you are not wasting your time and money on inefficient marketing campaigns that don’t connect with your prospects. That being said, you can count on the above tools to accurately identify the location of your visitors by IP address along with other important data that can come in handy.
As for our recommendation, we suggest going with ipstack because of its simplicity and scalable nature. Abstract API and Maxmind are other great tools you can try for their excellent uptime and speed.
Research Process:
- We spent 14 hours researching and writing this article so you can have summarized and insightful information on which IP Geolocation API will best suit you.
- Total API researched – 30
- Total API shortlisted – 14