The short answer
A datacenter IP is an address owned by a hosting provider, cloud platform or server farm (think AWS, OVH or Hetzner) rather than by a consumer internet provider. Datacenter proxies use these addresses.
Why it matters
Anyone can look up which network owns an IP. When the owner is a hosting company, the site knows the visitor is a server, not a person at home. Some sites do not care. Others, such as big retailers, sneaker sites and social networks, block or challenge datacenter ranges on sight.
The upside: datacenter IPs are the fastest and cheapest proxies you can buy, often sold per IP with unlimited bandwidth, which makes them ideal for sites that do not block them.
Also known as
Server IP, hosting IP, cloud IP, DC IP.
Learn more
- Datacenter proxies explained
- What is an ASN?
- Residential vs datacenter proxies
- Cheap datacenter proxies
- What an autonomous system is
- How IANA allocates address blocks
- RFC 791, the IPv4 specification
- IPv4 depletion, and why addresses cost money
Affiliate disclosure: Team of Monkeys is an affiliate of Geonode, Webshare and Rayobyte. Links and banners marked as sponsored, and links to Geonode, Webshare and Rayobyte in the text, use our referral links, and we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Our explanations and comparisons are written to be useful whichever provider you choose.
Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.
Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.