Free IP geolocation and risk API: limits, fields and how to call it

IP99's lookup is a free JSON API with no key and no signup: GET https://ip99.com/v1/ip/{ip}, 1000 lookups per day per client IP and 60 per minute. One call returns geolocation to city level, the ASN and usage type of the network, and a risk verdict — proxy, VPN, dial-up pool, cloud phone, datacenter — with the age of the evidence behind it. IPv4 and IPv6.

Call it

curl https://ip99.com/v1/ip/8.8.8.8

Response (captured 2026-09-13, trimmed to the fields that matter):

{
  "ip": "8.8.8.8",
  "geo": { "continent": "NA", "country": "US", "region": "California", "city": "Mountain View",
           "lat": 37.386, "lon": -122.084, "tz": "America/Los_Angeles" },
  "network": { "asn": 15169, "usage_type": "IDC" },
  "risk": { "score": 0, "level": "none", "tags": [], "tag_details": [] },
  "signals": { "proxy": false, "vpn": false, "dialup_pool": false, "hijacked_proxy": false, "osint": false,
               "crawler": false, "cloud_service": false, "cloud_phone": false, "hosting": true, "mobile": false },
  "evidence_state": "none",
  "score_semantics": "capture_evidence_freshness",
  "computed_at": "2026-09-13T15:40:41Z",
  "source_url": "https://ip99.com/?ip=8.8.8.8",
  "meta": { "data_version": "risk:20260913234026 geo:20260913" }
}

Fields

geo — country (ISO code), region, city, lat, lon, tz, continent. City-level; district-level detail is on the paid tiers.
network.asn, network.usage_type — the autonomous system and the usage type of the segment: IDC datacenter, DYN residential broadband, MOB mobile, GTW gateway / NAT egress, and others. Operator names are not published; see what is an ASN.
risk.score (0–100), risk.level (none / low / medium / high), risk.tags, and risk.tag_details[].last_seen — when the behaviour behind each tag was last observed.
signals — ten booleans: proxy, vpn, dialup_pool, hijacked_proxy, osint, crawler, cloud_service, cloud_phone, hosting, mobile. The first eight are risk evidence; hosting and mobile describe the network.
evidence_state — active / stale / none; computed_at; score_semantics, always capture_evidence_freshness: the number measures the freshness and strength of evidence, not a probability. See what an IP risk score means.
source_url — a page a human can read to see what was observed and when; meta.data_version — the data build.

Limits and errors

Without a key: 1000 lookups per day per client IP and 60 per minute. Everyone behind the same NAT shares the allowance.
With a free account: 5000 lookups per day, keys, and usage you can see. Higher volumes and the professional evidence tier are on the pricing page.
Errors are JSON with a stable code: invalid_ip (400), rate_limited (429, per-minute), quota_exceeded_anon (429, the daily allowance, with retry_after and where to sign up). Keys go in the Authorization header; a key in the URL is rejected with key_in_query so it never lands in a log.

For AI agents

The same lookup is a Model Context Protocol tool, ip_risk_lookup, at https://ip99.com/mcp: read-only, no key needed for the free allowance, every result carrying a source_url the agent can cite. Machine-readable guidance is in llms.txt.

What the free tier does not include

Per-source evidence detail, historical verdicts (?at=) and phone-number risk profiles belong to the professional and enterprise tiers; the free lookup is the same verdict at the same freshness, without the volume. Details: API documentation · pricing.

FAQ

Is there a free IP geolocation API without a key?

Yes. GET https://ip99.com/v1/ip/{ip} needs no key and no signup: 1000 lookups per day per client IP and 60 per minute, returning city-level geolocation, ASN, usage type and a risk verdict in one JSON response.

What is the rate limit?

60 requests per minute and 1000 per day per client IP without a key; a free account raises the daily allowance to 5000. Over the limit the API answers 429 with a stable error code and a retry_after.

Does it support IPv6?

Yes. Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are accepted on the same endpoint and return the same fields.

Is the free data the same as the paid data?

The verdict and its freshness are the same. Paid plans add volume, keys and usage reporting, and the professional tier adds per-source evidence detail and historical lookups. Geolocation on the free tier is city-level.

Can I use the free API in production?

For low volumes, yes, keeping in mind that the allowance is per client IP and shared by everything behind the same NAT. For anything you depend on, a key gives you your own allowance and visibility of your usage.