Is there a free tier?

Yes. The Free plan includes 100 lookups per month so you can test integration before upgrading. Paid plans scale to millions of requests.

How fast is a lookup?

Lookups are served from a global edge and typically return in well under a second.

Can it tell VPNs apart from proxies?

Yes, VPN, proxy, Tor and hosting signals are reported separately so you can act on each independently.

How do I call the API?

Send an authenticated GET request to the /v1/vpn/{ip} endpoint with your API key. See the API documentation for examples in curl, JavaScript and Python.

IPScanner

VPN Detection API

Check any IP address for VPN usage with a single REST call. Our VPN database is refreshed continuously, so new servers show up fast.

Overview

What is a VPN detection API?

A VPN detection API takes an IP address and tells you whether traffic from it is routed through a commercial VPN. Instead of maintaining your own list of VPN server ranges, you make one HTTPS request and get back a clear verdict and confidence score. IPScanner combines known provider ranges, hosting-network analysis and behavioural signals so you can block, challenge or simply log VPN traffic in real time.

Signals

How VPN detection works

We weigh multiple independent signals rather than relying on a single blocklist.

Provider IP ranges

Continuously harvested ranges from hundreds of consumer and enterprise VPN providers.

Hosting & ASN analysis

VPN exit nodes usually live in datacenter ASNs, not residential ISPs, a strong tell.

Port & protocol hints

Signatures associated with OpenVPN, WireGuard and IKEv2 endpoints.

Reputation history

How the IP has behaved across our network of lookups over time.

Confidence score

Every verdict ships with a 0–100 score so you can tune how aggressive blocking is.

Continuous updates

New servers are added within hours, not on a monthly refresh.

Use cases

Where teams use it

Fraud & payments

Add friction when a checkout or signup hides behind a VPN.

Content licensing

Enforce geo-restrictions that VPNs are used to bypass.

Account security

Flag logins from anonymising infrastructure for step-up auth.

Abuse prevention

Stop multi-accounting and trial abuse routed through VPNs.

More tools

Explore related detection tools

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.How to Detect a VPNLearn how to detect whether an IP address is using a VPN. Try the free VPN checker below, understand the signals, and automate it with the VPN detection API.

Explore the Suite

Try Our Other Tools

VPN DetectionIdentify IPs that route through encrypted VPN tunnels to mask their real location.Proxy DetectionFlag HTTP, SOCKS, residential and data-center proxies plus Tor exit nodes.IP GeolocationMap any IP to country, region and city with ISP and timezone data.ASN DataLook up the Autonomous System Number and organization that owns an IP range.WHOIS InfoRetrieve registration and ownership records for domains and IP ranges.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

We combine provider ranges, ASN/hosting analysis and behavioural reputation, and return a confidence score with every lookup so you can set a threshold that matches your risk tolerance.

Why Choose IPScanner

Teams use IPScanner to tell real users apart from masked and automated traffic.

Accuracy you can measure

Verdicts come with a 0 to 100 confidence score, so you tune the threshold to your own risk instead of trusting one number.

Built to scale

The API runs on infrastructure sized for production traffic, with a 99.99% uptime target for business-critical use.

Data that stays fresh

We refresh VPN, proxy, and Tor lists continuously, so newly spun-up servers get caught quickly.

Easy to wire in

A plain REST API works with any language or framework. Most teams are live the same afternoon.

Documentation that's honest

Worked examples in curl, JavaScript, and Python, plus straight notes on what each signal does and doesn't mean.

People who know the domain

Support comes from engineers who work on IP detection every day, not a generic help desk.

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