- Public IPv4 now carries a clear operating cost in the cloud. AWS began charging $0.005 per public IPv4 address per hour on February 1, 2024, and Google Cloud matched it. For 256 addresses, that is about $922 a month.
At the same time, the secondary market has cooled. IPv4.Global’s April 2026 update puts average /16 pricing below $20 per address for the first time since 2019, and APNIC cites large-block deals as low as $9 per IP.
Scarcity still matters, but panic pricing does not. Clean blocks are available, and disciplined buyers can compare purchase cost, transfer policy, and routing risk before they commit.
Key Takeaways
The economics are easier to model now, but the operational checks still decide whether a deal is safe.
- Scarcity eased, but clean supply still carries a premium. By April 2026, /16 averages fell below $20 per IP, while clean /24s still sold around $18 to $28.
- Cloud fees changed the math. At $0.005 per hour, 256 cloud IPs cost about $922 a month.
- Policy differs by registry. ARIN requires justified need, RIPE NCC applies a 24-month hold, and AFRINIC now supports transfers.
- A clean block needs registry, routing, and reputation checks. Review RDAP, ROAs, IRR objects, blocklists, and special-purpose status.
- Day-zero work protects the asset. Publish new ROAs, update route objects and contacts, file SWIP if required, and publish a geofeed.
How the IPv4 Transfer Market Works
The transfer market exists because no central pool of new IPv4 space is left.
IANA allocated the final free IPv4 blocks to the five Regional Internet Registries, or RIRs, on February 3, 2011. Since then, new public space has come from transfers, mergers, or reclaimed holdings.
A registered holder transfers rights through an RIR-governed process. The buyer proves need when policy requires it, escrow holds the funds, and the RIR updates the registration record after approval.
Pricing is usually per IP. A /24, the smallest prefix commonly accepted on the public internet, can cost more per address than a /16 because small, clean blocks are harder to find.
Terminology: ROA means route origin authorization. IRR means internet routing registry. RDAP is the newer replacement for WHOIS.
Why Owning IPv4 Still Matters in 2026
Ownership makes the most sense when you need stable public space for years, not weeks.
Cost Control Versus Cloud Charges
At $0.005 per hour, one public IPv4 costs about $3.60 a month. A full /24 in the cloud reaches about $922 a month, while buying 256 addresses at $22 each costs about $5,632 before broker and transfer fees.
That gap is why long-lived deployments may choose to acquire their own public space instead of renting it forever.
Portability and Reputation Continuity
Bring your own IP, or BYOIP, lets you move the same addresses between AWS, Google Cloud, and colo providers. That keeps allowlists, customer firewall rules, and sender reputation intact during migrations.
Teams planning larger multi-cloud moves often pair BYOIP with broader cloud migration services so address portability stays aligned with workload migration timing.
Routing Security and Compliance
Owned space also gives your team direct control over ROAs and IRR route objects. That matters for finance, government, and hosting providers that need stable registration records and clearer audit trails.
What to Check Before You Buy
Due diligence decides whether a low purchase price stays low after the transfer.
Block Provenance and Registry Hygiene
Start with RDAP. The seller’s legal entity, contacts, and supporting documents should match the RIR record and the transfer paperwork.
Routing Hygiene
Check for active ROAs and IRR route objects before closing. Ask the seller to remove or transfer them in a timed cutover, so your team can publish new records on day zero without conflicting route data.
Reputation and Abuse History
Screen the range against Spamhaus SBL and XBL, plus other blocklists that matter to your traffic. Repeated listings across a block suggest long-term abuse or poor stewardship.
Reserved and Special-Purpose Range Checks
Verify the range against IANA’s IPv4 Special-Purpose Address Registry. Addresses such as 100.64.0.0/10 are not for public internet routing.
Geolocation Alignment
After closing, publish an RFC 8805 geofeed file, a text file that maps IP ranges to locations, and submit corrections to major databases such as MaxMind. Expect location data to settle over several weeks.
Broker and Escrow Selection
Use a broker that works with neutral escrow and clear title warranties. You also want a written cutover plan, explicit responsibility for ROA and IRR cleanup, confirmation of seller identity, registry readiness, expected approval timing, and a clear list of documents before money moves. If time to transfer matters, many teams compare vetted marketplaces with escrow-backed deals and blocks prepared for ARIN or RIPE workflows when they need to buy IP addresses.
How RIR Transfer Rules Differ
The right deal can still fail if the registry path does not match your use case.
ARIN
ARIN’s Number Resource Policy Manual sets a /24 as the minimum transfer size and requires recipients to justify need under section 8.x. Pre-approval saves time, and SWIP, the Shared WHOIS Project, applies to downstream reassignments of /29 or larger within seven days.
RIPE NCC
RIPE NCC does not use ARIN’s needs model, but it does apply a 24-month holding period after receipt. That lock-up matters if you expect to resize or resell space soon.
AFRINIC
AFRINIC ratified a transfer policy in February 2026, which opened a path for controlled redistribution and specific inter-RIR transfers.
A Step-By-Step Buying Checklist
A simple checklist keeps the legal, routing, and cloud work in the right order.
- Forecast public IPv4 demand for the next 24 months.
- Pick the registry path and confirm BYOIP support with your target cloud or colo providers.
- If ARIN applies, seek pre-approval before you negotiate price.
- Request RDAP, reputation, and routing reports for each candidate block.
- Run checks for ROAs, IRR objects, blocklists, special-purpose status, and geolocation.
- Set terms for price, escrow, seller cleanup, and the day-zero cutover.
Day-zero runbook: publish ROAs, create IRR route objects, update RDAP contacts, file SWIP where required, publish a geofeed, and submit location corrections.
[Unsplash image prompt: Calculator and spreadsheet comparing IP opex and capex.]
How to Use IPv4 While You Roll Out IPv6
IPv4 ownership works best as a bridge while IPv6 deployment keeps moving.
Use owned space where stability, portability, and recurring cloud charges justify it. Keep IPv6 rollout on the roadmap, because it is still the only durable answer to address scarcity.
Track the return on that purchase every quarter. Compare avoided cloud fees with amortized capital cost, and watch operational metrics such as ROA validity, blocklist activity, and BGP stability.
Teams expanding into East Africa should watch local data center, connectivity, and hosting moves closely, because peering options and address plans can change quickly.
