Pricecomparison.cloud · ipv4

IPv4 addresses: price of a public cloud IP

There is a global shortage of IPv4 addresses, and clouds started charging for them. AWS began on 1 Feb 2024 billing all public IPv4 addresses — including those in use. This is a classic hidden cost: small per address, but it multiplies on every server, and many providers also bill unused reserved addresses. The gap is large: Hetzner ~$0.54/mo, hyperscalers ~$3.65/mo, and Oracle and DigitalOcean charge nothing. IPv6 is free everywhere — move when you can.

Prices verified providers
Adjust address count with the slider — total $/mo column sums total cost · click headers to sort · bar = $/mo (lower is better)
4 addresses

Provider Total $/mo · 4 addresses IPv4 $/mo 1st IP included Billing Trustpilot Notes
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Why did IPv4 suddenly start costing money?

IPv4 address space (~4.3 billion addresses) is exhausted, and addresses trade for tens of dollars each. Clouds passed the cost to customers: AWS, Azure and Scaleway now charge for every public IPv4, while Google and many others charge especially for unused reserved addresses. With dozens of servers, this is hundreds of euros per year that appeared from nowhere in 2024.

How to save: release unused reserved addresses, put servers behind a load balancer or CDN (one public IP for many backends), and enable IPv6 — it is free everywhere. Cheapest public IPv4 comes from Hetzner (~$0.54/mo) or free from Oracle and DigitalOcean. Also compare VPS and dedicated servers.

How to choose?

If you need many public IPs, avoid hyperscalers: AWS/Azure at $3.65 and Scaleway at $3.94/mo per address add up fast. Cheapest: Oracle Cloud and DigitalOcean ($0 when attached), Hetzner (~$0.54). Vultr, Linode and OVH include the first IP with the server and charge ~$2/mo for extras only.

Look at billing model, not just price: Google and DigitalOcean charge more for unused reserved addresses — remember to release them. AWS, Azure and Scaleway also bill in-use addresses. Finnish UpCloud includes 1 IP and charges ~$3.40 for extras. Long term, IPv6 is free everywhere — many services already run on IPv6 alone + NAT/proxy for IPv4 compatibility.