shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Ipengine (IPWho)?

Free IP lookup API — alternative to ipinfo, ipapi, ipstack, whoapi - ipengine.dev

Depends. Evidence is thin and dated — mostly 2020 self-promotional Reddit posts plus the vendor's own pages — so confidence is low. Fine for hobbyists and homelab scripts; risky for production teams needing SLAs, support, or proven customers.

Confidence

Low. Based on ~8 usable public sources; most search hits were unrelated (patent litigation, hardware appliances, IPython tooling). Confidence low.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of useNo user evidence on setup experience
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in sources
  • Security postureSecurity page exists; contents unverified

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Homelab and self-hosted setups
  • Hobby scripts needing IP geo
  • Free-tier prototyping before paying ipinfo
  • Linux admins doing ASN checks

Not for

  • Guess: Production apps needing SLAs or uptime guarantees
  • Guess: Enterprises needing vendor contracts and compliance
  • Guess: Teams wanting independently verified accuracy data
  • Anyone unwilling to accept donation-funded longevity risk

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

No SLA, support terms, or enterprise contracts found in sources

medium

'Completely free' claims date to 2020; confirm current rate limits before building

medium

Runs on Ko-fi donations; avoid hard dependency in production

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Completely free per the maker's Reddit posts
  • Pitched as alternative to ipinfo, ipapi, ipstack, whoapi
  • Supports ASN lookups for network intelligence
  • Free API key signup, public status and network pages
  • Open-source sibling project lives on GitHub

Cons

  • No independent reviews found; Reddit posts appear self-promotional
  • Donation-funded via Ko-fi; long-term sustainability unclear
  • All public buzz dates to 2020
  • No named customers or case studies anywhere
  • Paid tiers not detailed in reviewed sources

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/26/2026 - 8 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x3review x3security x1news x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 8

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free API per site and Reddit posts
  • Ease of use. No user evidence on setup experience
  • Feature depth: 3/5. IP geo plus ASN; lighter than ipinfo
  • Support quality. No support evidence in sources
  • Security posture. Security page exists; contents unverified
  • $0 Price Free API key per site
  • Yes Free tier 'Get Free API Key' CTA on site
  • 5 Reddit threads r/linuxadmin, r/homelab, r/ipv6, r/github, r/HomeNetworking
  • 2020 First public posts Reddit launch threads

Pricing

Free

$0

  • IP lookup API
  • Free API key signup
  • Rate limits not published in sources

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Only self-published 2020 Reddit posts describe it as a completely free ipinfo/ipapi alternative; no independent user reviews were found.

“Its completely FREE”
Reddit, r/linuxadmin
“ipengine.dev (Free alternative to ip-info; ipinfo; ipapi; whoapi; ipstack)”
Reddit, r/HomeNetworking
Full analysis

Based on ~8 usable public sources; most search hits were unrelated (patent litigation, hardware appliances, IPython tooling). Confidence low.

Free IP-lookup API popular with homelabbers; fine for hobby use, unproven for production — no SLAs or named customers.

Methodology

Based on ~8 usable public sources; most search hits were unrelated (patent litigation, hardware appliances, IPython tooling). Confidence low.

Sources

  1. official
  2. review
  3. review
  4. review
  5. official
  6. official
  7. security
  8. news

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