--- title: "IPGeolocation.io Database Licensing: License Types Explained" slug: "/help/how-ipgeolocation-io-database-licensing-works" description: "IPGeolocation.io database licenses cover internal use by default. See when you need a Site, Commercial, OEM, or Reseller license and how servers are counted." --- # How Does IPGeolocation.io Database Licensing Work? By [Abdullah Afzal](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdullah-a-08ba162b7?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app) Database Engineer @IPGeolocation.io Posted on October 25, 2026 | 8 min read ![How Does IPGeolocation.io Database Licensing Work?](https://blogs.ipgeolocation.io/blogs-site/content/images/2026/10/visual-0-feature-option-d-where-data-goes-1.webp) IPGeolocation.io database licensing lets you use our database files under one of six license types, and each license is valid for at least one year. The default End-User License is only for internal use on one production server. A Commercial License covers products your customers use, a Site License covers unlimited servers, and OEM, Reseller, and Redistribution & White-Label licenses cover embedding, reselling, and rebranding. Three questions decide which license you need: * Will the database files stay on your company's own servers? * Is the data for internal use only, or will your customers see it? * Will the database run on more than one production server? If you're still choosing between our API and a database, read [choosing between the API and a database](https://ipgeolocation.io/guides/ip-geolocation-api-vs-database-guide) first. * * * ## Which license fits your use Match your deployment to one of these six licenses. Direct licenses, for database files that stay on your company's own servers: * **End-User License (default):** your own team uses the data on one production server, for fraud and security checks, network administration, log enrichment, or analytics. * **Commercial License:** your customers see lookup results inside your app, SaaS platform, or software, on one production server. * **Site License:** you want unlimited production servers, including autoscaling or serverless infrastructure, for internal or customer-facing use. Partner licenses, for selling our data or our licenses to your own customers: * **OEM Partnership License:** you embed the database in hardware or software that your customers run. It needs a separate OEM agreement. * **Reseller License:** you resell our End-User, Commercial, or Site licenses under the IPGeolocation.io brand, as an authorized reseller. * **Redistribution & White-Label License:** you rebrand, resell, or redistribute the data as your own service, on a contract we negotiate with you. ![Which license fits your use: IPGeolocation.io decision flow with partner licenses on top and direct licenses below](https://blogs.ipgeolocation.io/blogs-site/content/images/2026/10/visual-2-option-m-two-starts-key-facts.webp) * * * ## The six IPGeolocation.io license types Our six licenses fall into two groups. You get the direct licenses (End-User, Commercial, and Site) through a regular quote. The partner licenses (OEM, Reseller, and Redistribution & White-Label) each need a separate agreement. The official wording of every license is in our [Terms of Service](https://ipgeolocation.io/tos.html). * * * ### 1. Direct licenses: End-User, Commercial, and Site Direct licenses cover database files that stay on your company's own servers. They differ in who sees the results and how many servers run the database. #### I. End-User License The End-User License comes with a database subscription by default. Use it when only people inside your company see the results. For example, it fits a login check that looks up each sign-in, a nightly job that adds location data to your logs, or a firewall rule your network team manages. You can run it on your own servers or in your company's cloud account. Each End-User License covers one production server, and you can buy as many as you need, one for each server. Using the results inside your own systems is fine, for example to block a suspicious login. But you can't show or send the results to anyone outside your company, such as your customers or the public. You also can't build a public lookup tool on the data or sell it under your own brand. #### II. Commercial License You need a Commercial License as soon as your customers see anything from the database, even a country name or a risk flag on a dashboard. It covers SaaS platforms, web apps, and software that you sell. Your customers see the data only inside your product. They can't call our API directly or download the database files, and you can't sell the raw data by itself. Each Commercial License covers one production server, and you can buy one for each server you run. #### III. Site License Each End-User or Commercial License covers one production server, so you can buy one license per server for as many servers as you need. A Site License removes the count instead. It covers unlimited servers, instances, data centers, and autoscaling setups that you manage, for internal use, customer-facing use, or both. One Site License can also cover your subsidiaries and affiliates. Our advice: if your service scales up and down automatically, choose the Site License from the start. Otherwise, every new instance needs its own license. * * * ### 2. Partner licenses: OEM, Reseller, and Redistribution & White-Label Partner licenses are for companies that sell our data or our licenses to their own customers. #### I. OEM Partnership License The OEM (original equipment manufacturer) Partnership License is for companies that build our database into a product they sell. That includes hardware makers, firewall and SIEM (security monitoring) developers, network appliance makers, and software platforms. It works on an 85/15 revenue split. You keep 85% of the revenue from licensing our data to your customers, and IPGeolocation.io receives 15%. Your agreement sets whether we take that 15% per active installation or as a commission. Your product ships under your own brand, with our database running inside it. You can't sell the data on its own, as a file, feed, or API, under your brand. That needs the Redistribution & White-Label License below. Your OEM agreement sets any attribution rules and lets us confirm where the database is installed. #### II. Reseller License Do you want to sell our licenses to your own customers? A Reseller License lets system integrators and distributors do that. Resellers can sell End-User, Commercial, and Site licenses. Every sale uses the IPGeolocation.io brand, and white-labeling isn't allowed. You earn a 15% commission on each completed sale, and your customer signs the agreement directly with us. #### III. Redistribution & White-Label License Choose this license if you want to sell our APIs and databases as your own service. It is the only license that lets you rebrand the data, resell it directly, serve it from your own API endpoints, or share the raw dataset. We negotiate each contract separately. The price depends on your expected query volume, the markets you sell into, and how the data is delivered. To start any partner license, [talk to our sales team](https://ipgeolocation.io/contact.html). * * * ## How servers are counted An End-User or Commercial License covers one production server. It can be a physical or a virtual server, with any number of cores. In container and cloud setups, each Kubernetes pod, autoscaling instance, or serverless function that runs the database counts as one server. So the count goes up every time your service adds instances. These copies don't need their own license: * staging and QA copies * backup and disaster-recovery copies * one development server * any number of developer workstations To run the database on more production servers, buy one End-User or Commercial License for each server, as many as you need, or move to a Site License for unlimited servers. Every per-server license must be on a server your company owns or rents, including its cloud servers. It can't cover another company's server. ![IPGeolocation.io server counting checklist: what counts as a production server and what needs no license of its own](https://blogs.ipgeolocation.io/blogs-site/content/images/2026/10/visual-1-option-c-checklist.webp) * * * ## What End-User, Commercial, and Site licenses don't allow Under these three direct licenses, you can't: * Offer a free or paid IP geolocation API, or any other IP lookup service, built on our data. * Share, resell, or license the database files, or extracts copied from them, to anyone else, or make them public. * Bundle the database with software that your customers install on their own servers, such as an on-premises application. * Use the data for gambling, adult content, dating, the alcohol industry, or anything illegal. A partner license can allow an IP lookup service, redistribution, or bundling, but only where its agreement says so. The rule on gambling, adult content, dating, alcohol, and illegal use applies to every customer, and we don't work with defense or military organizations. We may check how many servers run the database, and your API usage, to confirm you stay within your license. The full rules are in the [License Types section of our Terms of Service](https://ipgeolocation.io/tos.html). * * * ## License term, renewal, and changes A database license lasts at least one year. During that time, you get every new release we publish, daily or weekly, whichever your plan includes. You can sign a contract for up to three years, and longer contracts cost less. You can switch license type before your term ends, for example from End-User to Site or Commercial. Your billing period stays the same: we prorate the new license’s price for the time left in it. When that period ends, the new license starts its own term, and your billing follows the new license from then on. If you don't renew, you can keep the files you've already downloaded, but you stop getting updates. We don't recommend using an old copy for long. IP addresses keep moving to new networks, owners, and locations, so an old copy gets less accurate over time. For example, a fraud rule built on old data could block a real customer whose IP address has changed hands. It could also let in traffic from an address that now belongs to a VPN. * * * ## How to get a license 1. **Test your integration with a sample database.** Samples are free to download from each [database product page](https://ipgeolocation.io/ip-geolocation-database.html), and you don't need a license for them. Use them only to build and test your integration. 2. **Check the data quality.** Send us a list of sample IPs, and we'll send them back with our data added. You can also ask for a premium API plan to evaluate the data. 3. **Ask for a quote.** Tell us three things: which databases you need, whether the data is for internal use or for your customers, and how many servers or instances will run it. With these details, we can send an accurate quote in our first reply. Use our [database quote form](https://ipgeolocation.io/ip-geolocation-database.html#contact-us-for-quote). Non-profit and educational organizations get a discount, so mention it in your request. If you buy our data through [our Snowflake Marketplace listings](https://ipgeolocation.io/integrations/snowflake), it is licensed for internal use only. For embedding or redistribution, ask our sales team for custom terms. ## FAQ ### Can I use an IPGeolocation.io database in a commercial product? **Answer:** Yes. You need an IPGeolocation.io Commercial License for each server your product runs on, or a Site License for unlimited servers. The Commercial License covers SaaS platforms, web apps, and software whose customers see the results inside your product. If customers install your software on their own servers, you need an OEM or Redistribution & White-Label agreement instead. ### Is an IPGeolocation.io database license per server? **Answer:** Yes, unless you have a Site License. An IPGeolocation.io End-User or Commercial License covers one production server, and you can buy as many as you need. Each Kubernetes pod, autoscaling instance, or serverless function counts as one server, while staging, QA, backup, and disaster-recovery copies don't count. A Site License covers unlimited servers for internal or customer-facing use. ### Does IPGeolocation.io offer OEM or white-label licensing? **Answer:** Yes, through separate agreements. Hardware and software vendors can build IPGeolocation.io databases into products they sell under an OEM Partnership License, with an 85/15 revenue split. To sell the data itself under your own brand, or redistribute it, you need the Redistribution & White-Label License, which we negotiate per contract. ### Can I resell IPGeolocation.io data? **Answer:** Only with a reseller agreement. Authorized resellers sell IPGeolocation.io End-User, Commercial, and Site licenses under our brand and earn a 15% commission on each sale. Each customer signs directly with us. To resell the data under your own brand, you need the Redistribution & White-Label License. ### Is there a free IPGeolocation.io database? **Answer:** Only samples, for testing your integration. They're free to download and need no license, but you can't use them in production. To check the data quality, IPGeolocation.io can add our data to a list of your sample IPs, or give you a premium API plan for evaluation. * * * ## IPGeolocation.io databases you can license Whatever license you choose, you only buy the IPGeolocation.io databases you need, one at a time or in bundles from our three database tiers: Geo Standard, Geo Advance, and Security Pro. They include location data with time zones, and security data that flags VPNs, proxies, Tor, and bots with a threat score. ASN, company, abuse contact, IP WHOIS, ASN WHOIS, hosting, and residential proxy databases are also available. Compare the tiers on our [database plans and pricing](https://ipgeolocation.io/db-pricing.html) page, or send us your databases, use case, and server count through the [quote form](https://ipgeolocation.io/ip-geolocation-database.html#contact-us-for-quote). ### Related Help Articles [![Can IPGeolocation.io Return Place Names in Other Languages?](https://blogs.ipgeolocation.io/blogs-site/content/images/2026/10/visual-0-feature-globe-horizon.webp)](https://ipgeolocation.io/help/ip-geolocation-response-languages) [Can IPGeolocation.io Return Place Names in Other Languages?](https://ipgeolocation.io/help/ip-geolocation-response-languages) IPGeolocation.io returns continent, country, state, and city names in 13 languages on paid API plans, and its location databases carry 12. Here are the codes, the fields that change, and the errors to expect. 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