Is detecting a VPN legal?

Yes. Checking the characteristics of an IP address you receive traffic from is standard practice for fraud prevention and licensing.

How do I detect VPNs automatically?

Use the VPN detection API: send GET /v1/vpn/{ip} from your backend and act on the verdict and score.

Does the free checker need an account?

No — the checker above is free to use. An account and API key are only needed to automate detection.

IPScanner

VPN Checker

How to Detect a VPN

Paste any IP address to check whether it is using a VPN, then learn the signals behind the verdict and how to automate detection at scale.

Overview

How can you tell if an IP is a VPN?

You can tell an IP is a VPN by checking it against known VPN provider ranges, looking at whether it lives in a datacenter or hosting ASN instead of a residential ISP, and weighing its reputation history. No single signal is conclusive on its own, which is why a good VPN check combines several. The checker above does this for you instantly; the sections below explain what it looks at.

Signals

The signals that reveal a VPN

Each one shifts the verdict — together they give a reliable answer.

Known provider ranges

The IP appears in published or harvested VPN server ranges.

Datacenter hosting

Consumer traffic from a hosting ASN is a classic VPN tell.

Geolocation mismatch

Stated location conflicts with other location signals.

Protocol fingerprints

Signatures linked to common VPN protocols.

Reputation history

Prior anonymising behaviour from the address.

Confidence scoring

A combined score expresses how certain the verdict is.

Next steps

From manual check to automation

One-off checks

Use the checker above for ad-hoc investigation of a single IP.

In your signup flow

Call the API to flag VPN signups before they become a problem.

In fraud rules

Feed the VPN score into your existing risk engine.

At login

Trigger step-up authentication on VPN logins.

More tools

Explore related detection tools

VPN Detection APIReal-time VPN detection API. Send any IP and get back whether it belongs to a commercial VPN, with a confidence score. Free tier, simple REST, fast global lookups.Proxy Detection APIDetect HTTP, SOCKS, residential and datacenter proxies plus Tor exit nodes from any IP with one REST call. Real-time proxy detection API with a free tier.Residential Proxy DetectionDetect residential proxies that disguise traffic as ordinary home connections. Real-time residential proxy detection by IP with confidence scoring and a free tier.Datacenter Proxy DetectionDetect datacenter and cloud-hosted proxies by IP in real time. Identify hosting ASNs used for proxying and scraping with confidence scoring and a free API tier.

Explora la suite

Prueba nuestras otras herramientas

Detección de VPNIdentifica las IP que se enrutan a través de túneles VPN cifrados para ocultar su ubicación real.Detección de proxyMarca proxies HTTP, SOCKS, residenciales y de centros de datos, además de los nodos de salida de Tor.Geolocalización de IPAsigna cualquier IP a un país, región y ciudad, con datos de ISP y zona horaria.Datos de ASNConsulta el número de sistema autónomo (ASN) y la organización propietaria de un rango de IP.Información WHOISObtén los registros de inscripción y titularidad de dominios y rangos de IP.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

No detection is perfect, but combining provider ranges, hosting analysis and reputation catches the large majority of commercial VPNs and returns a confidence score for the rest.

Por qué elegir IPScanner

La confianza de miles de empresas en todo el mundo para ofrecer inteligencia de IP fiable

Precisión líder en el sector

Nuestra detección impulsada por IA alcanza una precisión del 99,8 %, superando con creces a los métodos tradicionales.

Rendimiento de nivel empresarial

Diseñado para escalar con gran fiabilidad y un SLA de disponibilidad del 99,99 % para aplicaciones críticas del negocio.

Cobertura integral

Mantenemos la mayor base de datos de servicios VPN, proxies y anonimizadores con actualizaciones diarias.

Integración sencilla

Una API REST fácil de usar para todos los principales lenguajes de programación y frameworks.

Comunicación transparente

Documentación clara y actualizaciones periódicas sobre nuestras capacidades de detección y mejoras.

Soporte experto

Un equipo de soporte técnico dedicado con amplia experiencia en inteligencia de IP y ciberseguridad.

Confían en nosotros