A Step-By-Step Guide for IPinfo Users

Ever since 2013, IPinfo has been empowering industry-leading companies with accurate IP address data. Our goal is to give you all the IP information you need without any of the headaches.

So if you're new to IPinfo or simply curious about what the user experience looks like, then you've come to the right place. This simple, step-by-step guide introduces you to IPinfo Lite – our free, unlimited country-level and ASN data solution – and shows how to access our more comprehensive data options when you're ready to explore further.

1. Visit the Dashboard

For first-time users, the dashboard is a must-visit page, and here’s why:

You can access IPinfo Lite, our free and unlimited country-level and ASN data solution (more on this later).
You can find your token number.
You can keep track of your API requests.
You can download the IPinfo Lite database from the dashboard.
You can contact the support team.
You can explore our subscription options when you're ready.

In other words, if you want to get an idea of how IPinfo works for users, then the dashboard is the place to go.

All the perks of being a new user, such as the free trial and connecting to our data experts, are available there. So head on over to the dashboard to check it out!

Visit Dashboard

2. Check Out the Data and Try Our Search Feature

We like our data to speak for itself. That’s why one of the first stops for many users is our free IP Lookup feature. This interface is also a convenient way to review our data before spending significant time on integration.

In other words, without writing a single line of code, new users can get all the IP address information they need.

Everything from geolocation, ASN, carrier, hosting, company, to privacy data, is accessible via our simple IP Lookup tool. But once you subscribe to a plan – IPinfo Core, IPinfo Standard, or IPinfo Business – you’ll also receive additional responses per day in the search interface.

All this to say, if you haven’t tried out our IP Lookup feature, what are you waiting for?

Go ahead! Test our data. It really is that good.

3. Test Your Token Number

For new users, the next place to go is your token number. What’s a token? Think of it as an access key or personal ID for all your IP address requests.

Left sitting on your dashboard it doesn’t do anything. But put into use, it connects you with geolocation information from your website.

How to Test Your Token Number

The first step is to test your token number in your browser. Simply plug it into a URL (e.g. https://api.ipinfo.io/lite/1.1.1.1?token=<Your Token>) in your browser, and it should return valid geolocation details. This same token works for both IPinfo Lite (our free, unlimited country-level and ASN data) and our paid data offerings.

Side note: It’s also important to mention that you may need to add more security details for token protection. More on this later, but for now, just know that an exposed token can eat up your monthly requests.

At this point, you’re ready to use the token URL for frontend or backend integrations.

For Developers: Using Your Token for Integrations

Frontend integrations simply require running https://api.ipinfo.io/lite/me?token=<Your Token> through your browser. This will show you the IP address data for your website visitors.

At this point, this information can be used to customize experiences on your site. For instance, an ecommerce business could use this data to show localized currency or location-based offers. More on use cases later.

When it comes to backend integrations, it’s best to start using the IP address available in your user’s request, such as request[‘ip’] or request in[‘x-forwarded-for’]. IPs from this log can then be queried for by script.

But we also offer free Software Development Kits (SDKs) for developers. Our libraries, for example, are available in languages from PHP to RUST. And our guides give developers a quick start on everything from bulk lookups to filtering bot traffic.

Please note that our newest free API IPinfo Lite doesn’t yet have official SDKs. Developers can still get started by calling the API directly – and if you’d like to see IPinfo Lite supported in a specific SDK, we welcome community contributions to our open source libraries on GitHub.

Beyond frontend and backend integrations, though, you can also use your token number for 3rd party integrations or one of our many official integrations.

And while integrations often take more work, testing them can be as simple as inserting the token number into, say, the WordPress integration — or instantly exploring data via IPinfo Lite on Snowflake, which includes a 30-day free trial and $400 in usage credit.

4. Activate the Free Trial

Here at IPinfo, we’re all about making sure customers get the most accurate data possible... all while being supported by a team of data experts. But before customers invest in an API like ours, we want to give them an inside look. That’s why we offer an all-in-one free trial of our API.

You can activate this plan on the main page of your dashboard with the click of a button. Once it’s active, responses to your requests will be available through the API endpoint.

Lasting for 14 days, this trial allows new users to get a 360-degree view of our data and support before paying a cent.

5. Check Out Our Supported Integrations

We also offer a variety of supported integrations to support cybersecurity teams, advertisers, financial technology, healthcare, and many other use cases. Here are some of the official ones we offer:

Additionally, with the free two-weeklong trial, API users can try IPinfo's datasets within integrations, allowing them to identify the best integrations, libraries, or use cases for their project.

Snowflake users can also use IPinfo's free IP Geolocation sample database within the integration to test the data in their use case before choosing a paid plan.

Explore Integrations

6. Try Our Official Command Line Interface

We also have our own Command Line Interface (CLI) that supports nearly every feature and API we offer. Here are a few things to try when it comes to our CLI:

Lookup IP details in bulk or one-by-one
Lookup ASN details
Summarize the details of up to 1000 IPs at a time
Open a map of IP locations for any set of IPs

Additionally, you can check out our CLI guide series to discover more ways to use our commands and use your data to its full capacity.

7. Check Out Our Use Cases

Because IPinfo works with thousands of bleeding-edge companies around the world, our use cases are constantly developing: Fintech , cybersecurity, ABM, ecommerce, and many more to come. These industry-leading innovators have at times created new uses that were sometimes quite surprising… even for the IPinfo team.

Due to the fact that many of our customers have unique requirements, their implementation of our data has helped many other IPinfo users accelerate their own growth.

All this to say, if you haven’t looked at IPinfo’s use cases, it might get those creative juices flowing. Who knows? You might come up with the next innovative use case!

But regardless, our existing ones are designed to give you a roadmap. That way you can get up and running immediately with our API. To help make this process even faster, some of our developer guides also include technical walkthroughs for quicker integration processes.

8. Reach Out to Our Data Experts

Data accuracy is a top priority for our team. But beyond that, we have our own in-house data experts who support customers every day.

Not only do they maintain and develop our ever-growing IP address database, but they also help IPinfo’s customers troubleshoot problems along the way. In addition, they develop innovative solutions for many customers with unique requirements.

In short, our worldwide team of experts wants to hear from you and answer questions that come up as you explore our API.

9. Choose the Right Subscription Plan

Especially if you’re a business, you always want to make sure your integrations are working. That’s why if you need more data types, you might want to upgrade from IPinfo Lite to one of our paid plans.

If you ever exceed your paid plan monthly limit, our API won’t stop working thanks to our metered billing feature. In other words, there’s no pressure to move to the next plan before you’re ready. Our API is designed to grow with you!

That being said, there are a few considerations for upgrading your account as you get comfortable with our API and integrations.

Limitations of IPinfo Lite

Because our free plan is limited to geolocation data and basic ASN details, some users may benefit from more information. Meaning that if you need richer proprietary data, such as privacy detection, IP ranges, or mobile carrier data, an upgrade is worth considering.

Every subscription plan has a different amount of requests and data types. For instance, IPinfo Core gives users city-level geolocation details, more ASN details, and privacy and network boolean flags.

In other words, depending on your specific site needs, IPinfo Lite may or may not gather enough data to help you reach your goals. If this is the case, then it’s probably time to look at one of our subscriptions.

Check Token Security Before Upgrading

But before you upgrade, it’s important to also check your token security. For new users and old users alike, we encourage restricting your token to your IP address or website.

To protect your IPinfo token from unauthorized use, we offer robust security features that you can configure on your dashboard:

Limit Referring Domains: This feature restricts your token to only work when requests come from specific websites or domains that you trust. Any requests from other domains will be automatically blocked. This is particularly useful when using IPinfo in client-side applications where your token might be visible in the source code.
Limit Origin IPs: You can whitelist specific IP addresses or IP ranges (using CIDR notation) that are allowed to use your token. Any requests from IP addresses not on this list will be rejected, providing an additional layer of protection.

Added token security details can prevent token exposure, especially with frontend integrations. And while not necessary on the server side, an extra layer of protection won’t do any damage.

Concerned that your token has been exposed? If your requests are abnormally higher than normal, you may be right. To protect your monthly quota of lookups, it may be time to lock your token.

Simply go to the “API Token” tab on your dashboard to set the right parameters.

Metered Billing

In addition, we offer metered billing. This means that if you consume your monthly quota before the end of the month, we automatically add a block of additional requests as needed. As a result, your service will never break.

Our team will notify you via email when you’re getting close to your quota. While this feature is turned off by default, you can opt-in or opt-out at any time on the dashboard.

Enterprise Solutions

We also offer solutions for businesses who regularly exceed 1 million lookups per month, who have custom data needs, or who have other special requirements.

Simply reach out to our team of experts who love helping create custom solutions for enterprise-sized ventures.

To sum it all up, users can get started with IP address data right away. These simple steps should help you navigate through our most-used features.

Need More Data or Requests? Choose a Paid Plan Instead.

Explore Paid Plans

Getting Started: A Step-by-Step Guide for IPinfo Users