ipstack review
IP dataIP geolocation and security detection (VPN, proxy, threats) via API only, an APILayer product with over 100 data fields.
- Claimed accuracyipstack does not publish a geographic accuracy percentage or its scope (country/region/city); it only claims to offer "highly accurate and real-time geolocation data" thanks to "trusted relationships with leading ISPs." The "99.9% uptime" it does publish is service availability, not data accuracy.
Refers to the cheapest paid plan, Basic, for 50,000 requests/month billed monthly. The free plan (100 requests/month) is excluded here as it is free; annual billing saves up to 15%.
ipstack sells IP geolocation and security detection (VPN, proxy and threats) exclusively via a REST API, with no database download or local lookup, aimed at applications that resolve the IP at request time: geo-targeted marketing, fraud detection, personalisation and compliance. The service traces its origin to 2009 as the open-source project freegeoip.net, rebuilt years later as ipstack.com, and sits within the APILayer catalogue, which groups over twenty APIs under Idera. It claims over 100,000 customers and coverage of more than two million locations and 200,000 cities, across IPv4 and IPv6.
Before signing up it's worth checking exactly what each tier includes: the free plan gives only 100 requests a month, SSL encryption and the location module, with no timezone, currency, connection type or the security module that detects VPNs and proxies; that security module is unlocked only on the priciest plan, Professional+ ($99.99/mo). On accuracy, ipstack publishes no percentage or geographic scope at all: it only cites '99.9% uptime' (service availability, not data accuracy) and 'highly accurate, real-time geolocation data' thanks to 'trusted relationships with leading ISPs', with no figure to back it up. Pricing scales with volume, from 50,000 requests on the Basic plan to 2 million on Professional+, with an overage rate that drops as the plan gets bigger. Its legal terms route through the general APILayer/Idera framework, with entities registered in both Austin (US) and Vienna (Austria), so the site does not make a single headquarters for the product clear.
Features
- Data included
- Delivery
- Claimed accuracy
- ipstack does not publish a geographic accuracy percentage or its scope (country/region/city); it only claims to offer "highly accurate and real-time geolocation data" thanks to "trusted relationships with leading ISPs." The "99.9% uptime" it does publish is service availability, not data accuracy.
- Free tier
- 100 requests/month free, with SSL encryption and the location module only; no standard support, no time zone, connection, or currency modules, no bulk endpoint, and no security module (VPN/proxy detection).
- IPv6 coverage
- Licence
- Subject to APILayer/Idera’s general terms framework; monthly subscription model with up to 15% savings when paying annually. No specific, accessible clause on content redistribution was found, nor an explicit attribution requirement on the free plan.
ipstack
From $12.99
On our blog
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Of six IP geolocation providers, only one publishes a measured accuracy figure by country. The rest use adjectives. Here is what the data actually says, and what to ask before choosing one.
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