How to get free IP geolocation without an API key

Updated 2026-09-25 · FreeTools

In short: send a GET request to /v1/geolocation/json?q=8.8.8.8 and you get country, region, city, timezone and coordinates back as JSON. There is no signup step, no API key, and the limit is a generous 30 requests per minute per IP address.

Almost every "free tier" geolocation service has the same catch: you create an account, copy a key out of a dashboard, paste it into a query string, and then watch the quota burn down. For a weekend project or a small script, that friction is not worth it. There is a simpler way — an endpoint that returns the data from the URL alone.

What you get back

The response is deliberately flat and predictable, which makes it easy to consume from any language. Every field is always present, so you never have to guard against missing keys.

Making the request

cURL

curl 'https://freetools.one/v1/geolocation/json?q=8.8.8.8'

JavaScript

const g = await (await fetch('https://freetools.one/v1/geolocation/json?q=8.8.8.8')).json();
console.log(g.city, g.country_name);

Python

import requests

g = requests.get('https://freetools.one/v1/geolocation/json',
                 params={'q': '8.8.8.8'}).json()
print(g['city'], g['country_name'])

Finding your own IP address

Leave the q parameter out entirely and the service locates the caller's public IP instead. This is the quickest way to build a "where am I" banner:

curl 'https://freetools.one/v1/geolocation/json'

Because the lookup happens server-side, this works from a browser as well as from a terminal — there is no CORS problem, unlike calling the upstream provider directly.

Looking up a hostname

You do not have to resolve the name yourself. Passing a hostname works:

curl 'https://freetools.one/v1/geolocation/json?q=example.com'

IPv6 works the same way as IPv4, with no separate endpoint.

XML when you need it

An XML variant is available for older stacks and CMS integrations:

curl 'https://freetools.one/v1/geolocation/xml?q=8.8.8.8'

Limits and caching

The limit is 30 requests per minute per IP address, which is far more than a typical page load needs. This endpoint performs a live upstream lookup, so if your application repeats the same address, cache the JSON response locally for a few hours.

Where to go next

If you are building a page that shows weather, the free weather API guide picks up from the same geocoding step and is the natural next piece.

Common use cases

Default currency and language

Pairing a geolocation lookup with a currency or language default is one of the most common uses. Because the response includes country_code, you can pick a sensible default and let the visitor override it:

const DEFAULTS = { US: 'USD', GB: 'GBP', DE: 'EUR', JP: 'JPY' };
const g = await (await fetch('https://freetools.one/v1/geolocation/json')).json();
const currency = DEFAULTS[g.country_code] || 'USD';

Analytics without a third-party script

Server-side logging of a country code per request gives you geographic distribution without embedding a tracking pixel. Because the lookup happens over plain HTTPS, it works from a worker, a function or a CLI.

Regional content routing

You can branch on country_code to pick a default currency, a legal notice or a store. Keep the override in the URL so the choice is shareable and testable.

Edge cases worth knowing

The last three are worth internalising: IP geolocation is approximate by nature, and infrastructure-level addresses (CDN, VPN, carrier NAT) deliberately obscure the end user. Use it for regional defaults, not for identity or access control.

Performance and caching

IP geolocation is a live lookup, so FreeTools does not promise a shared six-hour cache for this endpoint. The response does include X-Elapsed-Ms for timing. If your app performs repeated lookups, cache the result by IP and choose a TTL appropriate for your use case; CDN and VPN addresses can change location over time.

Frequently asked questions