Does the API have any limit of calls?

We rate-limit queries from the same IP to 10 per second; you should use MaxMind's data directly if you run a high volume of queries server-side. The API has no limits in other use cases: web, mobile apps, etc.

Will the API work in the future?

We've been running for a decade and have no plans to shut down. For critical applications, we still recommend self-hosting for control.

Country Geolocation API

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Country is a free IP-to-country geolocation API that returns a user’s country based on their IP address.

Country runs an open instance—no API key needed. You can also self-host with Docker.

Usage

The API has a minimal interface.

GET /

Returns the country of the IP making the request, typically the user’s browser or app.

/* curl -s https://api.country.is/ */

GET /{ip}

Returns the country of any given IP. The API supports both with IPv4 and IPv6.

Here, we query .

/* curl -s https://api.country.is/77.1.2.3 */

GET /info

Provides metadata about the API, including when the data sources were last updated.

/* curl -s https://api.country.is/info */

The API automatically updates MaxMind data every 24 hours in the background.

Our hosted service is ideal for client-side apps. If you require to run high-volume queries server-side, consider self-hosting or querying the MaxMind GeoIP data directly.

Deployment

If you prefer not to use our server, you can self-host with Docker.

# Runs country on port 3000
docker run -d \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e ACCOUNT_ID=$MAXMIND_ACCOUNT_ID \
  -e LICENSE_KEY=$MAXMIND_LICENSE_KEY \
  -- pull always \
  lineofflight/country

Set the two environment variables to your MaxMind account ID and the license key associated with it.

Quick answers

Is the API free for commercial use?: Yes, absolutely.
Does the API have any limit of calls?: We rate-limit queries from the same IP to 10 per second; you should use Maxmind's data directly if you run a high volume of queries server-side. The API has no limits in other use cases: web, mobile apps, etc.
Will the API work in the future?: We've been running for a decade and have no plans to shut down. For critical applications, we still recommend self-hosting for control.

Notes

The API uses geolocation data provided by MaxMind and optionally Cloudflare.
Since 30 December 2019, you need to register for a license key to download the MaxMind data if you're self-hosting.
We don't log requests on our server. However, Cloudflare, which we use for caching, aggregates metadata for analytics and performance monitoring.