Yes, IP-API.com has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans. The free plan includes up to 45 requests per minute, IP address may be banned for up to 1 hour after repeated limit violations, and Client network IP address stored in RAM for up to 1 minute for rate limiting.
About
IP-API.com provides an IP geolocation API that returns location and network metadata for an IP address or domain. The service supports JSON, XML, CSV, newline-separated, and PHP response formats, and the demo output includes fields such as country, region, city, timezone, ISP, organization, ASN, mobile, proxy, and hosting.
The free endpoint is limited to non-commercial use, does not require an API key or registration, and is rate-limited to 45 HTTP requests per minute per IP address. The pricing page states that commercial use requires a pro subscription, while the free API stores the client IP in memory for up to 1 minute and does not log requests.
- IP geolocation lookup by IP or domain
- JSON, XML, CSV, newline, and PHP formats
- 45 requests per minute per IP
- No API key or registration required
- Non-commercial use only on free endpoint
- Country, city, ASN, ISP, and proxy fields
Free Tier Value
This free tier has real ongoing value because it allows API access without an API key for non-commercial use, but it is tightly capped at 45 requests per minute and can be temporarily blocked or banned if abused. Since the paid option is an unlimited pro subscription for commercial use, the free offering is worth only a small fraction of that paid capability; a reasonable buyer-facing estimate is about $3/month for the practical utility it provides.
What's included in the free tier
Verified
- Access to the API for non-commercial use only.
- Up to 45 requests per minute.
- Temporary blocking if the rate limit is exceeded.
- IP address may be banned for up to 1 hour after repeated limit violations.
- No cookies or website tracking during use of the website.
- No request logging; request data is discarded after each response.
- Client network IP address stored in RAM for up to 1 minute for rate limiting.
See IP-API.com pricing for current limits.
Paid plans
Pro
- requests
- unlimited
- Unlimited queries
- SSL access
- Commercial use
- Usage statistics
- Commercial support
Pricing extracted from IP-API.com's pricing page. Always verify current pricing before committing.
Common questions
Is IP-API.com free forever?
Yes. IP-API.com has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans, though the allowance typically resets each month.
Does IP-API.com require a credit card?
No. You can start on IP-API.com's free tier without entering card details.
What is IP-API.com's free tier worth?
IP-API.com's free tier is worth about $3.00 per month. That maps to an FTV score of 49/100. The FTV score is explained at freetier.co/ftv.
