# IPinfo Lite: The ultimate IP to country API service **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [June 27, 2025, 8:56am UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878 "2025-06-27T08:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Abdullah](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.ipinfo.io/abdullah/32/4973_2.png) [@Abdullah](https://community.ipinfo.io/u/Abdullah)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 8:56am UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878/1 "2025-06-27T08:56:22Z")
## Why are you paying for the IP to Country and ASN service? ![Country API](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/a/a669de7bf8f5e1d3273ecfdb6333716a6b26b04f.png) ## MaxMind’s GeoIP Country API service ### Pricing ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/3/32250f7dfed447975428a8a92341403c378343d9.png) MaxMind charges $0.0001 per API request, with a minimum spend of $20. You can buy $25k worth of API request queries and get a quarter of a billion requests if you want. ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/3/38b5067d04c1945457f7c39943a9af49bd6311e3.png) ### API response ```json { "continent": { "code": "NA", "geoname_id": 123456, "names": { "de": "Nordamerika", "en": "North America", "es": "América del Norte", "fr": "Amérique du Nord", "ja": "北アメリカ", "pt-BR": "América do Norte", "ru": "Северная Америка", "zh-CN": "北美洲" } }, "country": { "geoname_id": 6252001, "is_in_european_union": false, "iso_code": "US", "names": { "de": "USA", "en": "United States", "es": "Estados Unidos", "fr": "États-Unis", "ja": "アメリカ合衆国", "pt-BR": "Estados Unidos", "ru": "США", "zh-CN": "美国" } }, "maxmind": { "queries_remaining": 54321 }, "registered_country": { "geoname_id": 6252001, "is_in_european_union": true, "iso_code": "US", "names": { "de": "USA", "en": "United States", "es": "Estados Unidos", "fr": "États-Unis", "ja": "アメリカ合衆国", "pt-BR": "Estados Unidos", "ru": "США", "zh-CN": "美国" } }, "represented_country": { "geoname_id": 6252001, "is_in_european_union": true, "iso_code": "US", "names": { "de": "USA", "en": "United States", "es": "Estados Unidos", "fr": "États-Unis", "ja": "アメリカ合衆国", "pt-BR": "Estados Unidos", "ru": "США", "zh-CN": "美国" }, "type": "military" }, "traits": { "ip_address": "1.2.3.4", "is_anycast": true, "network": "1.2.3.0/24" } } ``` Let’s summarize the response fields: - Country - Continent - Registered Country - European Union check - Geoname - IP Type - Traits - Translation in 7 languages - Queries remaining - Anycast ### License ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/7/7240a7c75b95daec62605f52cfac2b1e5838108e.png) I am not going to read through this document. So, do your own research. They have a tendency to enforce licensing agreements and have EULA and redistribution clauses, so if you are open source project, I would highly reccommend investing the time to understand their license and usage policy. ## IPinfo Lite API service 🔗 [IPinfo Lite: The Most Accurate Free IP Geolocation API & Database | IPinfo.io](https://ipinfo.io/lite) > **[IPinfo Lite: The Most Accurate Free IP Geolocation API & Database](https://ipinfo.io/lite)** > > Access the most accurate free IP geolocation and ASN data with IPinfo Lite. Use our API or download the full database in a variety of formats. ### Pricing It is free. That is it. Free and unlimited. Do whatever you want with it. But here is a fair comparison: | Queries | MaxMind | [IPinfo](https://ipinfo.io/lite) | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | $20 | **Free** | | 200,000 | $20 | **Free** | | 250,000 | $25 | **Free** | | 2,500,000 | $250 | **Free** | | 250,000,000 | $25,000 | **Free** | There are no minimum or maximum usage limits. We have established a dedicated infrastructure to support mission-critical operations on enterprise-grade systems that can support governments, multinational companies, critical software services such as operating systems, foundational open source projects, and more. The API is designed to support nationwide cybersecurity efforts, but it will still be offered as a free service. ### Response 🔗 [IPinfo Lite API | IPinfo.io](https://ipinfo.io/developers/lite-api) > **[IPinfo Lite API](https://ipinfo.io/developers/lite-api)** > > Free API tier with unlimited country-level geolocation and basic ASN information. ```json { "ip": "1.2.3.4", "country_code": "AU", "country": "Australia", "continent_code": "OC", "continent": "Oceania" } ``` - Country - Continent - ASN Information Our API response is not as extensive as theirs, but we should take a closer look. ![MaxMind vs IPinfo Country (1)](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/1/110e1e12f9125d8c21916aada8548b71e123c8df.jpeg) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/7/703370354ed8b496d24f8c779c8fe69404d5064f.png) #### Geoname ID: The foundation behind MaxMind’s location data [Geonames.org](https://www.geonames.org/) is a crowdsourced location service that is considered a cornerstone for location data. A bulk of MaxMind location information such as geoname\_id, name, code, and even the translation could reasonably be assumed to be sourced directly from Geonames. ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/6/617c8f0790b9f9999e242aec74dcccb540472f64.png) However, [Geonames.org](http://Geonames.org) makes this data available for every user themselves. We use this data ourselves too. Instead of repackaging the data from Geonames and pushing it to an API, we want users to directly source the additional information from Geonames and support the non-profit program. We are also a [proud sponsor](https://www.geonames.org/donations.html) of [geonames.org](http://geonames.org) to show gratitude for the good they bring to the internet and the data community at large. Removing [geonames.org](http://geonames.org) data, we have the following API data: ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/5/58d09c67f726041e4c779ef5741039b8eda0a043.png) #### Low-impact or unnecessary fields - EU Check: There are only 27 countries in the EU. Users can easily build a static reference object to check whether a country is an EU member. For us, aiming to support billions of concurrent requests at scale, even this small amount of request size adds up, and we do not think it adds significant value to the users. We believe in delivering what is necessary, similar to the situation with Geonames data above. - Queries Remaining: We are providing unlimited queries; this information is unnecessary for us to provide because the number of queries will always remain infinite. Removing low-impact or unnecessary fields, we have the following API data: ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/b/b1111e359438acb0a8a024e9697d4e90e2a36498.png) #### Registered Country Registered country as MaxMind puts it: > In some cases, an IP address may be located in one country, but the network it is associated with may be registered to a different country. This may be the case for mobile carrier companies who provide service in several countries, or other institutions that register and manage networks that may cross national borders. We do provide [ASN country data](https://ipinfo.io/products/asn-api) , but it is available on our [IPinfo Core API service](https://ipinfo.io/products/core) . However, we do not think that for normal day-to-day use cases, using ASN-registered country information is a necessary field. If you need, you can sign up for our [IPinfo Core API service](https://ipinfo.io/pricing) . #### Represented Country > there are some networks that represent a different country from the one in which they’re located. For example, a network used by an overseas military base or embassy will be located in a different country than the one that the network represents. For represented countries, our data includes the “type” of representation. Currently, the only type in our data is “military.” I have no idea what that means. 😕 The type being only “military” is confusing to me. If you are using any ISP or hosting IP addresses and you have a type called “military,” this is confusing. Moreover, with the rapid adoption of conversation, these `type` field confusions LLM AI and mark all IP addresses as military type as they do not have the context that is found deep down MaxMind’s documentation. This seems like a very niche case or borderline unnecessary field for geolocation data. We do not like to add unnecessary or low-impact data to our API response to make it generally useful. #### Anycast Anycast data is available to our users through the [IPinfo Core API](https://ipinfo.io/products/core). Please understand that our anycast data is superior to any comparable data point out there, as we actually run network measurements through the ProbeNet Platform, which consists of more than a thousand servers around the world. > **[Anycast IP addresses and ASNs](https://ipinfo.io/tags/anycast)** > > Shared by multiple devices in multiple locations Most other IP geolocation services, presumably like MaxMind, rely heavily on the information available to them in public internet records like WHOIS to identify Anycast network IP addresses. However, our data is backed by active measurements, and through network behavior, we can reliably provide this information to users. > [@Expanding IP Range Data: Beyond BGP Announcements](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/expanding-ip-range-data-beyond-bgp-announcements/6844): > > Our ASN dataset consists only of prefixes that are actively announced in BGP, ensuring accurate representation of routable IP space. However, research purposes sometimes require visibility into prefixes that exist but are not propagated in the BGP table. Now, our IP range pages will systematically include all prefixes in a hierarchical structure (IP address → /24 → /16 → /8 → All), regardless of BGP announcement status. #### Network Network field is available in the [IPinfo Core database](https://ipinfo.io/products/core) , which provides detailed ASN data. We rely on BGP data for accurate representation of IP range ownership and activity status of IP ranges. > **[IP Ranges](https://ipinfo.io/ips)** > > Explore IP Ranges #### ASN MaxMind does not provide ASN information; however, we provide three ASN information: - AS Organization name - ASN - ASN organization domain The ASN organization domain is particularly interesting as a lot of effort is invested to make it super accurate. We try to match the actual organization domain name with the available data we have. This helps to identify organizations that operate with a different ASN name in different countries or different ASN. Moreover, you can use the ASN domain information as a UID (Unique Identifier) to identify individual ASNs and tag them as hosting, cISP, and other types yourself. You can also use the ASN domain to identify organization types based on TLD such as: - `.edu` → Education - `.mil` → Military - `.gov` → Government #### Overall conclusion ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/8/82088b7dee193ee064a67343ef948147baf02126.png) The data that we do not have on our Lite data service are available in our IPinfo Core data service. The lack of this data does not mean that we are withholding access, but rather that the amount of engineering and research that went into producing it exceeds the investment made by the rest of the industry. We have invested in [engineering](https://ipinfo.io/accuracy/na), [network measurements](https://ipinfo.io/probe-network), and [research programs](https://ipinfo.io/data-research) to develop this data, which is why we have chosen to share access through our IPinfo Core service. ## License The data is shared under CC-BY-SA 4.0 - Permits commercial usage - Permits sharing access token - Requires an attribution statement Pretty simple and straightforward. * * * ## Moving towards what makes our ultimately better: The Data The data you have access to, whether it be by country or ASN, is simply superior - there is no other way to put it. Our data comes from our ProbeNet platform, which is a distributed platform with over a thousand ProbeNet PoPs all over the world. You are tapping into that data. This is one of the most sophisticated, challenging, and significant ways to generate highly reliable and accurate data, and we are delivering that to you. > **[Probe Network](https://ipinfo.io/probe-network)** > > We're the trusted source for IP address information, handling 50 billion IP geolocation API requests per month for over 1,000 businesses and 100,000+ developers There are no inherent compromises or gotchas; you get the best. The country or ASN data you have is the same data available to all government agencies, network infrastructure companies, cybersecurity efforts, analytics programs across all major software, analytics, cybersecurity, and tech companies all over the world. > **[IPinfo's Geolocation Data Accuracy](https://ipinfo.io/accuracy/eu)** > > We're the trusted source for IP address information, handling 50 billion IP geolocation API requests per month for over 1,000 businesses and 100,000+ developers ---
**Author:** ![competitions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@competitions](https://community.ipinfo.io/u/competitions)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 8:15am UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878/2 "2025-07-02T08:15:32Z")
Fabulous! Would be ideal to replace in \*\* ConfigServer Security and Firewall\*\* (A Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall, Login/Intrusion Detection and Security application for Linux servers). Wish CSF would implement ASN blocking. ---
**Author:** ![Abdullah](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.ipinfo.io/abdullah/32/4973_2.png) [@Abdullah](https://community.ipinfo.io/u/Abdullah)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 9:25am UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878/3 "2025-07-04T09:25:37Z")
Thank you! That would be incredibly helpful. If you are using the service, I believe you can request the broader community to bring our data there. I am not very familiar with the tool, but I can surely answer any questions about our data. ---
**Author:** ![competitions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@competitions](https://community.ipinfo.io/u/competitions)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 1:10pm UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878/4 "2025-07-25T13:10:59Z")
Thanks. Their community forum isn’t well supported by their team unfortunately. Given that cPanel utilizes CSF in their WHM product and uses the MaxMind data set (which requires an API), I don’t see any impetus for them to collaborate with one end user, even though IPinfo data looks more solid. Plus adding ASN would be a great feature along with CC. ![WHM-CSF](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/ipinfo/original/2X/7/708d41dc577c29b8d058f8a7d948c83094965786.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Abdullah](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.ipinfo.io/abdullah/32/4973_2.png) [@Abdullah](https://community.ipinfo.io/u/Abdullah)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878/5 "2025-07-25T21:03:20Z")
The hightlighted section is about MaxMind’s EULA clause. That means end users need to sign up for MaxMind’s own account to use their data. Even their free data. We do not have an EULA for IPinfo Lite, meaning that you can freely distribute the data and even your IPinfo access token! ---
**Author:** ![competitions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@competitions](https://community.ipinfo.io/u/competitions)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 12:44am UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878/6 "2025-09-05T00:44:54Z")
Posted this as a suggested project in the hackathon 2025 topic. Way to the Web Ltd announced most if not all their products, including Config Server and Firewall, is now open source. Source: [https://configserver.com/configserver-security-and-firewall/](https://configserver.com/configserver-security-and-firewall/) Arguably the most used 3rd party app in cPanel, this opens the opportunity to: - utilize ipinfo data instead of maxmind - use ASN as a new feature rather than just ip and or CC. Source code: [scripts/csf at main · waytotheweb/scripts · GitHub](https://github.com/waytotheweb/scripts/tree/main/csf) ---
**Author:** ![Abdullah](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/community.ipinfo.io/abdullah/32/4973_2.png) [@Abdullah](https://community.ipinfo.io/u/Abdullah)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://community.ipinfo.io/t/ipinfo-lite-the-ultimate-ip-to-country-api-service/6878/7 "2025-09-06T12:09:45Z")
Hi, Thank you for sharing. But it looks like the company shut down and they just open sourced all their code. Also, they are not accepting feature request issues. Unless someone makes a fork of the project and starts investing in developing the project again, it would be difficult to bring our data there. We would absolutely like to see our data in the project. Please, let me know what you think. — Abdullah | DevRel, IPinfo