Frequently Asked Questions

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique number assigned to every device connected to the internet. It serves two purposes: identifying the device on the network and providing a rough indication of its geographic location. There are two versions — IPv4 (e.g., 8.8.8.8) and IPv6 (e.g., 2001:4860:4860::8888).

IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers written as four octets (e.g., 192.168.1.1), providing about 4.3 billion unique addresses. IPv6 addresses are 128-bit numbers written in hexadecimal groups (e.g., 2001:0db8::1), providing a virtually unlimited number of addresses. IPv6 was created because the world ran out of IPv4 addresses. Most devices today support both.

Visit our homepage — your public IP address is displayed instantly. This is the IP address that websites and services see when you connect. Your local/private IP (e.g., 192.168.x.x) is different and is only visible within your local network.

Yes. The homepage IP check, single IP lookup, all free tools, and the blacklist checker are completely free with no account required.

No account is needed for the homepage, single IP lookup, free tools, or blacklist checker. An account is only required for certain premium features.

Country-level accuracy is 99%+. State/region accuracy is around 90% in most countries. City-level accuracy varies by region but is typically within 50 km. VPNs, proxies, mobile networks, and corporate gateways reduce accuracy since the IP may not reflect the user's actual location. See our Data Sources & Accuracy page for full details.

We use a composite approach that queries two independent databases — MaxMind GeoLite2 (primary) and DB-IP Lite (secondary) — and merges the results. This provides better accuracy and coverage than either database alone.

IP geolocation maps network addresses to locations — not devices. Common reasons for inaccuracy:

• You're using a VPN or proxy that routes traffic through a different city
• Your ISP assigns IP addresses from a regional pool, not your exact city
• You're on a mobile/cellular connection with a centralized gateway
• Your company routes all traffic through a headquarters location

If you believe the data is incorrect for a non-VPN IP, let us know.

Each lookup returns 40+ data fields including: country, state, city, postal code, coordinates, timezone, continent, ISP, ASN, ASN name, organization, hostname, IP type (residential/datacenter/VPN/Tor/bogon), cloud provider, threat score, Tor exit status, VPN status, RIR, allocation date, currency, languages, calling code, sanctions status, internet penetration, GDP per capita, corruption index, and more.

An ASN (Autonomous System Number) is a unique identifier assigned to a network or group of IP prefixes under a single routing policy. ISPs, hosting companies, and large organizations each have their own ASN. For example, Cloudflare is AS13335 and Google is AS15169. You can look up any ASN with our ASN Lookup tool.

No. We do not log or store the IP addresses you look up. Lookup results are cached temporarily to improve performance, but the cache contains no personally identifiable information. Read our full Privacy Policy for details.

No. IP geolocation provides an approximate location — typically accurate to the city or regional level, but not a street address or precise GPS coordinate. The coordinates shown represent the general area associated with the IP, not an exact physical location.

The most common way to hide your IP address is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network), which routes your traffic through a server in another location. Other options include the Tor browser, proxy servers, or connecting through a mobile hotspot. Each method has different trade-offs in speed, privacy, and ease of use.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server in a location you choose. Websites see the VPN server's IP address instead of yours. This means IP geolocation will show the VPN server's location, not your actual location. Our lookup tool detects many VPN IP addresses and flags them accordingly.

We offer 24 free networking and security tools including: IP Reputation Check, VPN & Proxy Detector, Security Header Scanner, IP Blacklist Check, IP Abuse Report Checker, DNS Lookup, WHOIS Lookup, Subnet Calculator, SSL Certificate Checker, Visual Traceroute, and more. Browse the full list at Free Tools. All tools are free, require no sign-up, and work directly in your browser.

No. All tools run directly in your browser — no downloads, extensions, or sign-ups required. Just visit the tool page and start using it.

A subnet calculator helps network administrators divide IP networks into smaller subnetworks. Enter an IP address with a CIDR prefix (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24) and it calculates the network address, broadcast address, usable host range, number of hosts, wildcard mask, and more.

The DNS Lookup tool queries DNS servers for records associated with a domain name. You can look up A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME, SOA, and other record types. This is useful for verifying DNS configuration, troubleshooting email delivery, and checking domain setup.

A reverse DNS lookup (rDNS) finds the hostname associated with an IP address by querying the PTR record. For example, looking up 8.8.8.8 returns dns.google. This is commonly used to verify mail server configuration and identify the owner of an IP address.

We check popular email and spam blacklists including Spamhaus (SBL, XBL, PBL), Barracuda (BRBL), SpamCop, SORBS, and others. These are DNS-based blacklists (DNSBLs) commonly used by mail servers to filter spam.

Each blacklist has its own delisting process. Generally, you should identify and fix the cause (compromised server, misconfigured mail server, etc.), then request removal through the blacklist provider's website. Most blacklists automatically delist IPs after the offending behavior stops. Check each listed blacklist's website for their specific delisting procedures.

Currently, the blacklist checker supports IPv4 addresses only. Most DNS-based blacklists are IPv4-only as well. IPv6 support may be added in the future as blacklist providers expand their coverage.