Choose the right IP to Geo Location API
There are many IP to Geo Location APIs available on the internet but here I want to help you to choose the right one for your services.
What information do you need?
Different IP APIs are providing different information about the IP Addresses.
Some of them are providing a very basic information and some very advanced.
For example the Country and City are considered as the basic information and ISP or Proxy considered.
Of course the more advanced data you need, The more you need to pay!
How do you want to use?
Well, There are 3 types of usages which I want to mention here. And you need to consider them when you’re finding the right IP API service.
Backend Usage
It means that you want to call the service API from your Backend server and query an IP address. The connection is E2E from your server to the IP API service provider’s server.
Almost all of the IP API services are providing this feature and this will make your job easier to choose one of them.
Pros:
- Easy to implement on the backend side
- No need to update databases for accuracy
Cons:
- There might be network lag to connect to the IP API provider
- Relaying on the third-party service
Database Usage
Some services are providing the Database itself. Meaning that you can download the databases and implement on your server and query the IPs from that.
Pros:
- You never hit the rate-limit of the service providers
- You can use it independently
Cons:
- Needs backend implementation
- Needs maintenance and regularly updating the database
- Expensive databases
Frontend usage
Sometimes you don’t even want to involve your backend to show some features in the frontend for some countries or cities. In this case you use a Javascript function to call the third-party IP API to get the IP information of your users.
Pros:
- No pressure on your backend servers
- Easy to implement and use
Cons:
- Third-party API calls
- It might not work in all networks as the browser of the user is making the request.
Note: Not all of the providers letting you to call their API via a Frontend script!
How many requests you’re going to send?
I would say this is the important part as the IP APIs have a rate-limiters and they are preventing you to send many requests to them.
Some providers have a daily limit and some have limits per minute.
You need to find the suitable option for your usage.
What is FreeIPAPI.com?
Here I want to introduce you to freeipapi.com
FreeIPAPI provides you a basic information of the IP addresses with a possibility of using it in the Frontend and Backend
Pros:
- 60 requests per minute (almost the higher in the market)
- No API key required. You can use it right away.
- Free and Fast.
- Unlimited requests in the paid plan.
- Well documented and sample codes for many languages.
Cons:
- Doesn’t provide database
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