IP geolocation data sources
Data sources and credits
IPzentra brings together several IP geolocation data sources and checks them against each other before it answers an API request. This page credits every provider, explains what each one contributes and links to its licence.
How we combine IP geolocation data sources
No single database is right about every network, so we never rely on just one. Each lookup starts with the country, which comes from IPLocate.io and is checked against the network that announces the address.
For region and city, we read two independent IP geolocation data sources: DB-IP City Lite and MaxMind GeoLite2 City. When both name the same city, the result is marked high confidence. When they name different cities in the same state, we choose the larger, better-known city and mark it medium. When they disagree about the state, the result is marked low so your application can fall back to the region or country.
Security signals come from separate feeds: Tor exit nodes, known VPN networks, open proxies and hosting providers. These are refreshed between every hour and every day, depending on how quickly each list changes, so new VPN servers and proxies are caught quickly.
Every answer includes a location_confidence field, described in the API documentation, so you always know how much weight to give the city.
Credits and licences for our IP geolocation data sources
We thank these providers and follow the attribution their licences ask for.
IPLocate.io
Country for every IP address, and the open proxy list used for proxy detection.
Credit: IP geolocation data by IPLocate.io, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
DB-IP
City and region (DB-IP City Lite), refreshed every month.
Credit: IP Geolocation by DB-IP.
Licence: CC BY 4.0
MaxMind GeoLite2
City and region (GeoLite2 City), used to cross-check DB-IP and refreshed every week.
Credit: This product includes GeoLite2 data created by MaxMind, available from https://www.maxmind.com.
Licence: GeoLite2 End User License Agreement
IPtoASN
Network owner (ASN) and organisation name for every IP address, refreshed daily.
Credit: IP to ASN data from iptoasn.com.
Licence: Public domain, see iptoasn.com
Cloud provider IP range lists
Published address ranges from Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, DigitalOcean, Linode and Cloudflare, used to detect datacenter traffic. Refreshed daily.
Credit: IP ranges as published by each provider.
Licence: Public data from each provider
The Tor Project
The public list of Tor exit nodes, refreshed every hour.
Credit: Tor exit node data published by The Tor Project.
Licence: Public data
X4BNet lists_vpn
Known VPN provider network ranges, refreshed daily.
Credit: VPN network ranges from the X4BNet lists_vpn project.
Licence: Project licence
How accurate are IP geolocation data sources?
Country data is the most reliable: it is correct for the vast majority of addresses. Region is usually right as well. City is approximate by nature, because internet providers often route many towns through one regional hub.
Mobile networks are the hardest case. A phone in a smaller town is often shown at the operator's nearest major city. Comparing two IP geolocation data sources helps here, but no provider can guarantee an exact city for every address.
If you see a location that looks wrong for your own connection, let us know. Reports like this help us improve the results for everyone.
Using IPzentra results in your product
You can use API results inside your own applications under our terms of service. If you plan to republish or resell large parts of the underlying data, the licences listed above may also apply, so please contact us first.
Ready to try it? Every plan includes country, region, city, network and security signals from these IP geolocation data sources. See pricing, or read the documentation to make your first request.
