1Lookupvs

ipapi

The 5 best ipapi alternatives in 2026 start with 1Lookup, which scores every IP for fraud and checks phones and emails on the same key.

1Lookup is the best ipapi alternative when IP checks should share credits with phone and email validation: every lookup returns geolocation, proxy and Tor detection, and a fraud score. ipstack is ipapi's sibling with a near-identical shape, IPinfo adds a free unlimited country tier, and MaxMind and IP2Location cover database licensing.

A fraud score, risk level, proxy and Tor detection on every IP lookup, for 1 credit
Phone and email validation on the same credits, so one key covers a signup end to end
76 data products on one API key, with an MCP server and Zapier, Make and n8n apps

Prices verified October 2026 on each vendor’s own pricing page.

These are the reasons teams look beyond ipapi.

IP geolocation only; no email or phone validation products
Security module (proxy/Tor/crawler/threat data) is excluded from Standard and Business paid plans; among paid tiers only Business Pro ($99.99/mo) includes it
Bulk lookups are not available on the entry Standard plan
Overage fees apply automatically past 100% of quota at exactly 4x the plan's base per-lookup rate (Standard: $0.0010392 per extra lookup, about $1.04 per 1,000, vs $0.26 per 1,000 in-plan); usage alerts at 75%, 90%, and 100%
Priority (Platinum) support is a paid add-on billed annually at $479.88 to $719.88 per year depending on plan, and the FAQ states its checkbox is pre-checked by default at plan signup; the free plan includes no support, and cancellations/downgrades take effect only at the end of the billing period
The free plan is 100 lookups a month and non-commercial only

1Lookup leads the shortlist, followed by the closest swaps.

1. 1LookupTop pick, our product

Best when IP checks sit next to phone and email validation

Pick 1Lookup when you look up IPs alongside phone and email checks and want geolocation, proxy and Tor detection, and a fraud score billed from the same credit balance as the rest of your validation stack.

Starting price: $99/mo for 20,000 credits ($4.95 per 1,000, down to $2.00 on Enterprise)
Free option: Free single lookups via the online tools at 1lookup.io/tools, no account required
Where it wins: 76 data products on one API key and one credit balance: phone, email and IP checks, people and company data, social data and more

See 1Lookup pricing 7-day free trial

2. IPinfo

Best developer experience with an unlimited free country-level tier

Pick IPinfo when you want a polished IP data API you can start on free without request caps, with clean paid tiers for city-level accuracy and VPN and proxy detection.

Starting price: $31/mo for the Core plan with 150,000 requests/mo, billed monthly ($0.21 per 1k lookups); $26/mo billed annually ($310/yr)
Free option: Lite plan, free forever: unlimited API requests, country-level geolocation and ASN name and domain only, 50 web lookups, no credit card required
The catch: IP intelligence only: no email or phone validation products

1Lookup vs IPinfo: full comparison

3. ipstack

Best established low-cost geolocation with time zone and currency data

Pick ipstack when you want a long-running, widely integrated geolocation API with location, time zone, currency, and connection fields at low fixed monthly prices.

Starting price: $12.99/mo for 50,000 lookups on Basic ($0.26 per 1,000, about $0.00026/lookup); $140.99/yr on yearly billing
Free option: Free plan: 100 requests a month, no credit card; SSL and location module only, no commercial use, no standard support
The catch: IP geolocation only; no email or phone validation products, so multi-channel verification requires other vendors

1Lookup vs ipstack: full comparison

4. MaxMind

Best for low-cost IP geolocation at scale, by query or by database

Pick MaxMind when you want reference-grade geolocation data at very low per-query rates, or a downloadable database for unlimited local lookups, and IP is the only channel you need.

Starting price: $20 minimum service credit purchase; at $0.0001/query that buys 200,000 GeoIP Country lookups ($0.10 per 1,000)
Free option: GeoLite2 Country, City, and ASN databases free with account signup (capped at 30 downloads/day), plus free GeoLite Country and City web services capped at 1,000 lookups/day per service
The catch: IP-only vendor: no email or phone validation products (minFraud scores fraud risk on transactions, it is not identifier verification)

1Lookup vs MaxMind: full comparison

5. IP2Location

Best for flat-rate database licenses alongside a large free API tier

Pick IP2Location when you prefer querying a locally hosted database under a flat annual license, or you want one of the biggest free API allowances in IP geolocation to start from.

Starting price: API: $49/mo Starter for 150,000 IP lookups/mo (~$0.33 per 1,000); databases: from $980/yr Site License for DB1 country-level (new customers; the $99/yr per-server Standard License is limited to existing customers adding servers)
Free option: API Free plan: 50,000 IP geolocation queries/mo plus 500 WHOIS and 50 hosted-domain queries, 11 data fields, attribution required, resets monthly, service stops at quota; separately, free LITE databases (country to city level with lat/long, ZIP, timezone, plus proxy and ASN) downloadable for personal or commercial use with attribution, account signup but no credit card
The catch: IP-only vendor: no email or phone validation products

1Lookup vs IP2Location: full comparison

This table compares all 5 on the same criteria.

Product	Starting price	Free option
1Lookup	$99/mo for 20,000 credits ($4.95 per 1,000, down to $2.00 on Enterprise)	Free single lookups via the online tools at 1lookup.io/tools, no account required
IPinfo	$31/mo for the Core plan with 150,000 requests/mo, billed monthly ($0.21 per 1k lookups); $26/mo billed annually ($310/yr)	Lite plan, free forever: unlimited API requests, country-level geolocation and ASN name and domain only, 50 web lookups, no credit card required
ipstack	$12.99/mo for 50,000 lookups on Basic ($0.26 per 1,000, about $0.00026/lookup); $140.99/yr on yearly billing	Free plan: 100 requests a month, no credit card; SSL and location module only, no commercial use, no standard support
MaxMind	$20 minimum service credit purchase; at $0.0001/query that buys 200,000 GeoIP Country lookups ($0.10 per 1,000)	GeoLite2 Country, City, and ASN databases free with account signup (capped at 30 downloads/day), plus free GeoLite Country and City web services capped at 1,000 lookups/day per service
IP2Location	API: $49/mo Starter for 150,000 IP lookups/mo (~$0.33 per 1,000); databases: from $980/yr Site License for DB1 country-level (new customers; the $99/yr per-server Standard License is limited to existing customers adding servers)	API Free plan: 50,000 IP geolocation queries/mo plus 500 WHOIS and 50 hosted-domain queries, 11 data fields, attribution required, resets monthly, service stops at quota; separately, free LITE databases (country to city level with lat/long, ZIP, timezone, plus proxy and ASN) downloadable for personal or commercial use with attribution, account signup but no credit card

Prices verified from each vendor’s public pricing page as of October 2026. Pricing models differ (subscriptions, pay-as-you-go credits, per-lookup metering), so compare at your real monthly volume; the full per-vendor volume tables are on each linked comparison page.

This is who should choose each one.

1Lookup: Best when IP checks sit next to phone and email validation.
IPinfo: Best developer experience with an unlimited free country-level tier.
ipstack: Best established low-cost geolocation with time zone and currency data.
MaxMind: Best for low-cost IP geolocation at scale, by query or by database.
IP2Location: Best for flat-rate database licenses alongside a large free API tier.

This is how much work a switch takes.

An endpoint swap plus field remapping, with no stored data to move. Before cutting over, replay a day of real traffic against both APIs and diff the fields your code reads. If overage charges drove the move, set up usage alerts on the new provider too; metered APIs differ mainly in how they fail when you exceed plan volume.

These are the questions people ask about ipapi alternatives.

What is the best ipapi alternative?

1Lookup, for teams that want IP intelligence beside phone and email validation on shared credits, with a fraud score on every IP. IPinfo is the strongest like-for-like upgrade, starting free at country level. ipstack is a sibling product from the same company, so switching between the two changes little, and MaxMind and IP2Location suit database buyers.

How is ipapi priced?

Monthly subscriptions with fixed lookup quotas and automatic per-lookup overage fees once you pass the quota, plus a free plan with a modest monthly allowance that includes the security fields. Annual billing is slightly cheaper. Verified plan prices and quotas are in the comparison table above.

Why do teams switch away from ipapi?

Overage billing is the common trigger: passing the monthly quota bills automatically per extra lookup rather than hard-stopping, which surprises teams with variable traffic. Others outgrow plain geolocation and want VPN and proxy detection with risk scoring, or consolidate IP checks into a broader validation stack.

How hard is it to migrate off ipapi?

Minimal: IP geolocation APIs are stateless, so the move is an endpoint swap and field remapping. Check the fields you actually consume (time zone, currency, ASN, security flags) for parity on the new provider, and add caching if the replacement meters requests differently than your current quota.

Try 1Lookup free for 7 days before you decide.

The 7-day free trial includes credits for all 76 data products: $5 on Starter, $20 on Growth and above. No payment today.

Start your free trial 1Lookup vs ipapi in depth