What Is the Best API for Geolocating an IP Address? [2020]

I would use a web service that can return JSON data. Below are all the free
active IP lookup services I could find and the information they return. If you know of any more, then do add a comment below. If you own one, reach out to me through the contact form, I’d love to talk.

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• ✅ Standard/Bulk/Requester lookups
• 💵 Currency-related data (name, symbol)
• 🌐 Connection-related data (Internet service provider)
• 🕖 Timezone-related data (daylight saving, GMT Offset)
• 📍 Comprehensive location-related data (languages, calling code)
• ⚙ Specify fields to only get the data you want and save bandwidth
• 💂‍♂️ Security-related data (Info on proxy, crawler, tor, threat level/type)

Just use this link https://api.ipstack.com/check?access_key=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with the language of your choice to get all the details for more details, read the documentation →

Returns:#

{
	"ip": "8.8.4.4",
	"type": "ipv4",
	"continent_code": "NA",
	"continent_name": "North America",
	"country_code": "US",
	"country_name": "United States",
	"region_code": "CA",
	"region_name": "California",
	"city": "Mountain View",
	"zip": "94043",
	"latitude": 37.419158935546875,
	"longitude": -122.07540893554688,
	"location": {
		"geoname_id": 5375480,
		"capital": "Washington D.C.",
		"languages": [
			{
				"code": "en",
				"name": "English",
				"native": "English"
			}
		],
		"country_flag": "https://assets.ipstack.com/flags/us.svg",
		"country_flag_emoji": "🇺🇸",
		"country_flag_emoji_unicode": "U+1F1FA U+1F1F8",
		"calling_code": "1",
		"is_eu": false
	},
	"time_zone": {
		"id": "America/Los_Angeles",
		"current_time": "2020-12-10T03:32:54-08:00",
		"gmt_offset": -28800,
		"code": "PST",
		"is_daylight_saving": false
	},
	"currency": {
		"code": "USD",
		"name": "US Dollar",
		"plural": "US dollars",
		"symbol": "$",
		"symbol_native": "$"
	},
	"connection": {
		"asn": 15169,
		"isp": "Google LLC"
	}
}

Pros:#

• 10,000 API requests per month for free.
• 100% uptime as reported by UpTimeRobot which is another signal
  of a good IP to GEO API service. API speed is pretty much unmatchable.
• Extra data points: Location (languages, country flag SVG/emoji, calling code, also helps with GDPR by reporting is_eu as true/false), timezone (daylight saving, GMT Offset), currency (name, symbol), connection (ISP), and much more.
• Security Module: Which can be used to assess risks and threats originating from certain IP addresses before any harm can be done to a website or web application. Info about proxy, crawler, tor, threat level/type — makes this service great at many levels.
• SMB + Enterprise: IPStack is backed by a company named apilayer I
  already use their invoicing SaaS and a couple of other API services. It’s also trusted by enterprise companies like Microsoft, Airbnb, Samsung, and more. They can support millions of requests per day.

Limitations:#

• Requires an email address to get your API key

ipapi.com offers a vast range of features which puts it alongside the top recommendations I have for GEO IP API
Location finding services. Let’s take a look:

• 🗃️ Bulk IP Requests
• 👀 Advanced IP Data
• ✅ ASN & ISP Lookup
• 💲 Currency Detection
• 🗣️ Language Detection
• ⏰ Timezone Detection
• 🏇 Faster Response Times
• 😎 Security & Fraud Prevention

Just use this link https://api.ipapi.com/api/check?access_key=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with the language of your choice to get all the details for more details, read the documentation →

Returns:#

{
	"ip": "8.8.4.4",
	"type": "ipv4",
	"continent_code": "NA",
	"continent_name": "North America",
	"country_code": "US",
	"country_name": "United States",
	"region_code": "CA",
	"region_name": "California",
	"city": "Mountain View",
	"zip": "94043",
	"latitude": 37.419158935546875,
	"longitude": -122.07540893554688,
	"location": {
		"geoname_id": 5375480,
		"capital": "Washington D.C.",
		"languages": [
			{
				"code": "en",
				"name": "English",
				"native": "English"
			}
		],
		"country_flag": "https://assets.ipstack.com/flags/us.svg",
		"country_flag_emoji": "🇺🇸",
		"country_flag_emoji_unicode": "U+1F1FA U+1F1F8",
		"calling_code": "1",
		"is_eu": false
	},
	"time_zone": {
		"id": "America/Los_Angeles",
		"current_time": "2020-12-10T03:34:09-08:00",
		"gmt_offset": -28800,
		"code": "PST",
		"is_daylight_saving": false
	},
	"currency": {
		"code": "USD",
		"name": "US Dollar",
		"plural": "US dollars",
		"symbol": "$",
		"symbol_native": "$"
	},
	"connection": {
		"asn": 15169,
		"isp": "Google LLC"
	}
}

Pros:#

• 10,000 API requests per month for free.
• 99.996% uptime as reported by UpTimeRobot which is impressive.
• Extra data points: Location (languages, country flag SVG/emoji, calling code, timezone (daylight saving, GMT Offset), currency (name, symbol), connection (ISP), and much more.
• Security Module: Which can be used to assess risks and threats originating from certain IP addresses before any harm can be done to a website or web application. Info about proxy, crawler, tor, threat level/type — makes this service great at many levels.
• SMB + Enterprise: ipapi is trusted by some impressive enterprise companies like Wix, Gengo, userflip, Obey, and more.

Limitations:#

• The free tier has no HTTPS support.

• Standard/Bulk/Requester lookups
• Connection and carrier-related data
• 🏛️ ASN IP Operator related proprietary data
• Comprehensive GeoIP data form an IPInfo self-built solution
• Specify fields to only get the data you want and save bandwidth
• 🤯 Global ASN, Hosted Domains, and IP range data — one of it’s kind

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("https://ipinfo.io/8.8.8.8/json?token=TOKEN_HERE", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
    "ip": "8.8.8.8",
    "hostname": "dns.google",
    "city": "Mountain View",
    "region": "California",
    "country": "US",
    "loc": "37.4056,-122.0775",
    "postal": "94043",
    "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
    "asn": {
        "asn": "AS15169",
        "name": "Google LLC",
        "domain": "google.com",
        "route": "8.8.8.0/24",
        "type": "business"
    },
    "company": {
        "name": "Google LLC",
        "domain": "google.com",
        "type": "business"
    }
}

Pros:#

• 30,000 API requests per month for free.
• 100% uptime since it’s based on top of Amazon Web Services. The deployments are on a daily basis with Elastic Beanstalk. The API speed is pretty much unmatchable.
• Data: Huge data sets for ASN, Carrier, etc. can be beneficial in building content customization. Imagine targeting AT&T and T-Mobile users differently for your next ad campaign.
• Enterprise Tested: IPInfo’s data has been sought by several enterprise companies, e.g. Tesla, Dell, TripAdvisor, and Xerox — which is a testament to how far they have come. Many SMB to Large-scale enterprise companies listed on the about page.

Limitations:#

• 1,000 requests per day on the free plan.

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("ipwhois.app/json/8.8.4.4", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
	"ip": "8.8.4.4",
	"success": true,
	"type": "IPv4",
	"continent": "North America",
	"continent_code": "NA",
	"country": "United States",
	"country_code": "US",
	"country_flag": "https://cdn.ipwhois.io/flags/us.svg",
	"country_capital": "Washington",
	"country_phone": "+1",
	"country_neighbours": "CA,MX,CU",
	"region": "New Jersey",
	"city": "Newark",
	"latitude": "40.735657",
	"longitude": "-74.1723667",
	"asn": "AS15169",
	"org": "Google LLC",
	"isp": "Google LLC",
	"timezone": "America/New_York",
	"timezone_name": "Eastern Standard Time",
	"timezone_dstOffset": "0",
	"timezone_gmtOffset": "-18000",
	"timezone_gmt": "GMT -5:00",
	"currency": "US Dollar",
	"currency_code": "USD",
	"currency_symbol": "$",
	"currency_rates": "1",
	"currency_plural": "US dollars",
	"completed_requests": 0
}

Limitations:#

• 10,000 requests per month for free

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("gd.geobytes.com/GetCityDetails", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
    "geobytesforwarderfor": "",
    "geobytesremoteip": "39.37.167.56",
    "geobytesipaddress": "39.37.167.56",
    "geobytescertainty": "100",
    "geobytesinternet": "PK",
    "geobytescountry": "Pakistan",
    "geobytesregionlocationcode": "PKNW",
    "geobytesregion": "North-West Frontier",
    "geobytescode": "NW",
    "geobyteslocationcode": "PKNWPESH",
    "geobytesdma": "0",
    "geobytescity": "Peshawar",
    "geobytescityid": "4655",
    "geobytesfqcn": "Peshawar, NW, Pakistan",
    "geobyteslatitude": "34.016998",
    "geobyteslongitude": "71.550003",
    "geobytescapital": "Islamabad",
    "geobytestimezone": "+05:00",
    "geobytesnationalitysingular": "Pakistani",
    "geobytespopulation": "144616639",
    "geobytesnationalityplural": "Pakistanis",
    "geobytesmapreference": "Asia ",
    "geobytescurrency": "Pakistan Rupee",
    "geobytescurrencycode": "PKR",
    "geobytestitle": "Pakistan"
}

Limitations:#

• 16,384 requests per hour
• Can return the wrong location (I am not in that location)

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("//www.geoplugin.net/json.gp", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
	"geoplugin_request": "39.37.167.56",
	"geoplugin_status": 200,
	"geoplugin_delay": "2ms",
	"geoplugin_city": "Lahore",
	"geoplugin_region": "Punjab",
	"geoplugin_regionCode": "PB",
	"geoplugin_regionName": "Punjab",
	"geoplugin_areaCode": "",
	"geoplugin_dmaCode": "",
	"geoplugin_countryCode": "PK",
	"geoplugin_countryName": "Pakistan",
	"geoplugin_inEU": 0,
	"geoplugin_euVATrate": false,
	"geoplugin_continentCode": "AS",
	"geoplugin_continentName": "Asia",
	"geoplugin_latitude": "31.4909",
	"geoplugin_longitude": "74.3681",
	"geoplugin_locationAccuracyRadius": "1",
	"geoplugin_timezone": "Asia/Karachi",
	"geoplugin_currencyCode": "PKR",
	"geoplugin_currencySymbol": "₨",
	"geoplugin_currencySymbol_UTF8": "₨",
	"geoplugin_currencyConverter": 160.8406
}

Limitations:#

• 120 requests per minute

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("ip-api.com/json", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
    "status": "success",
    "country": "Pakistan",
    "countryCode": "PK",
    "region": "PB",
    "regionName": "Punjab",
    "city": "Lahore",
    "zip": "54000",
    "lat": 31.4888,
    "lon": 74.3686,
    "timezone": "Asia/Karachi",
    "isp": "Pakistan Telecommuication company limited",
    "org": "Pakistan Telecommuication company limited",
    "as": "AS17557 Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited",
    "query": "39.37.167.56"
}

Limitations:#

• 150 requests per minute

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("api.ipify.org?format=json", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
"ip": "8.8.8.8"
}

Limitations:#

• Unlimited bandwidth
• Controlled and bit slow

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("api.ipinfodb.com/v3/ip-city/?key=KEY_HERE&format=json", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
	"statusCode": "OK",
	"statusMessage": "",
	"ipAddress": "119.152.180.314",
	"countryCode": "PK",
	"countryName": "Pakistan",
	"regionName": "Pakistan",
	"cityName": "Pakistan",
	"zipCode": "54000",
	"latitude": "1.28967",
	"longitude": "103.85",
	"timeZone": "+08:00"
}

Limitations:#

• Two requests per second – Requires registration to get your API key

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: myHeaders,
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("api.db-ip.com/addrinfo?api_key=KEY_HERE", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
	"address": "119.152.180.314",
	"country": "PK",
	"stateprov": "Central Pakistan",
	"city": "Pakistan"
}

Limitations:#

• 2,500 requests per hour – Doesn’t support JSONP callbacks – Requires IP address parameter – Requires an email address to get
  your API key

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("jsonip.com/", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
    "ip": "8.8.8.8",
}

Limitations:#

• None (unlimited bandwidth) but a bit slow

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("ip.jsontest.com", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
    "ip": "8.8.8.8"
}

Limitations:#

• Goes down a lot ( over quota ), so I wouldn’t use it for production

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("https://api.ipdata.co/8.8.8.8?api-key=test", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
    "ip": "8.8.8.8",
    "is_eu": false,
    "city": null,
    "region": null,
    "region_code": null,
    "country_name": "United States",
    "country_code": "US",
    "continent_name": "North America",
    "continent_code": "NA",
    "latitude": 37.751,
    "longitude": -97.822,
    "postal": null,
    "calling_code": "1",
    "flag": "https://ipdata.co/flags/us.png",
    "emoji_flag": "🇺🇸",
    "emoji_unicode": "U+1F1FA U+1F1F8",
    "asn": {
        "asn": "AS15169",
        "name": "Google LLC",
        "domain": "google.com",
        "route": "8.8.8.0/24",
        "type": "hosting"
    },
    "languages": [
        {
            "name": "English",
            "native": "English"
        }
    ],
    "currency": {
        "name": "US Dollar",
        "code": "USD",
        "symbol": "$",
        "native": "$",
        "plural": "US dollars"
    },
    "time_zone": {
        "name": "America/Chicago",
        "abbr": "CST",
        "offset": "-0600",
        "is_dst": false,
        "current_time": "2020-12-10T06:03:33.149166-06:00"
    },
    "threat": {
        "is_tor": false,
        "is_proxy": false,
        "is_anonymous": false,
        "is_known_attacker": false,
        "is_known_abuser": false,
        "is_threat": false,
        "is_bogon": false
    },
    "count": "1596"
}

Pros:#

• 1,500 requests daily for free.
• 11 endpoints around the world, 4 in the US, 1 in Canada, 2 in Europe (London and Frankfurt), Mumbai,
  Seoul, Sydney and Sao Paulo. Being this global is a big plus.
• 2x Speed as compared to others. If you take a look at this data you
  can see that IPData.co is quite fast as compared to other IP API Services — this matters a lot if you’re building a
  commercial site.
• Extra data points i.e. calling code, currency code, name, symbol, time_zone data, current time, UTC
  offset and the flag file & emoji flag.
• Enterprise level threat data – Only for paid users but have pretty great threat intelligence data to
  check if an IP is a proxy, a known attacker, abuser, tor user or a bogon.

Limitations:#

• Lesser free requests per day (but it’s a paid service which is far better than free services available, and is here to
  stay).
• Wrong city analysis for me, which’s quite common. Not sure if it’s related to my ISP or what.

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: myHeaders,
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("https://ip-geolocation.whoisxmlapi.com/api/v1?apiKey=YOUR_API_KEY", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

Returns:#

{
	"ip": "110.170.64.0",
	"location": {
		"country": "TH",
		"region": "Bangkok",
		"city": "Bangkok",
		"lat": 13.7086,
		"lng": 100.4553,
		"postalCode": "10110",
		"timezone": "+07:00",
		"geonameId": 1609350
	},
	"isp": "True Internet",
	"connectionType": "broadband",
	"domains": ["110-170-64-0.static.asianet.co.th"],
	"as": {
		"asn": 7470,
		"name": "TRUE INTERNET Co.,Ltd.",
		"route": "110.170.64.0/18",
		"domain": "trueinternet.co.th",
		"type": "Cable/DSL/ISP"
	}
}

Pros:#

• 1,000 requests per month for free.
• Three payment tiers you can use it for free, pay one time, or go ahead and subscribe on a monthly
  to yearly basis.</span ></span ></span ></span >
• Awesome clientele with lots of related solutions like WHOIS/DNS lookup service, email verification, reverse IP lookup, to
  go along with GEO IP API.

Limitations:#

• 1,000 requests per month
• Requires IP address parameter
• Requires an email address to get your API key
• Lesser free requests per day (but it’s a paid service which is far better than free services available, and is here to
  stay).

//api.ipgeolocation.io/ipgeo?apiKey=API_KEY

Returns:#

{
	"ip": "39.45.201.56",
	"continent_code": "AS",
	"continent_name": "Asia",
	"country_code2": "PK",
	"country_code3": "PAK",
	"country_name": "Pakistan",
	"country_capital": "Islamabad",
	"state_prov": "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa",
	"district": "Peshawar",
	"city": "Peshawar",
	"zipcode": "25120",
	"latitude": "34.015",
	"longitude": "71.5805",
	"is_eu": false,
	"calling_code": "+92",
	"country_tld": ".pk",
	"languages": "ur-PK,en-PK,pa,sd,ps,brh",
	"country_flag": "https://ipgeolocation.io/static/flags/pk_64.png",
	"isp": "PTCL Triple Play Project Sialkot",
	"connection_type": "",
	"organization": "Pakistan Telecommuication company limited",
	"geoname_id": "1168197",
	"currency": {
		"name": "Rupee",
		"code": "PKR"
	},
	"time_zone": {
		"name": "Asia/Karachi",
		"offset": 5,
		"is_dst": false,
		"current_time": "2018-06-16 16:07:07.708+0500"
	}
}

Pros:#

• 50,000 requests per month for free without any daily limit.
• Extra data points such as currency, the local language, time zone, flags, ISO2 and ISO3 country codes, and company
  information.
• Economical paid plans — this service is here to stay.

Limitations:#

• Requires an email address to get your API key.

Before You Begin!#

Keep in mind that since these are all free services, your mileage may vary in terms of exceeding quota and uptime, and who knows
when/if they will be taken offline down the road. Most of these services also offer a paid tier in case you want something more
robust.

JUST A NOTE!

👨‍💻 I’m teaching thousands of devs how to become

• Node.js CLI Automation →
• VSCode Power Users →

📮 This site is super fast, isn’t it?!

It’s hosted with Kinsta on Google servers →