IPv4 and IPv6 proxy costs vary by provider, location, and rental period. If your target services support IPv6, compare both options before choosing a configuration for data collection or testing.

1. The cost of IPv4 address exhaustion

There are only about 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses worldwide. RIPE NCC announced the exhaustion of its available pool in 2019. Cloud providers have begun passing these costs on to developers: in early 2024, AWS introduced an additional charge of $0.005 per IPv4 address per hour.

For web scraping, compare IPv4 and IPv6 quotes for the same location, quantity, and rental period. Switching to IPv6 may reduce costs when the target supports it.

2. Technical advantages of IPv6 proxies

Nearly unlimited address space (/64 subnet)

A standard IPv6 /64 subnet contains 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 individual IP addresses. Each task can use its own fixed address throughout the rental period, with requests in the same session using that address.

Check the reputation of each IP and subnet

An IPv6 address is not automatically free of reputation issues. Check the address and prefix you receive, and test access to your target service before scaling your workload.

3. IPv6 support across major platforms

IPv6 support must be checked for the exact domain and API endpoint you plan to use:

  • Major social platforms: Check the web domain and API separately; IPv6 support may differ between them.
  • Leading search engines: Test your exact search endpoint rather than assuming every search service supports IPv6.
  • Knowledge and content platforms: Check current AAAA records and actual connectivity for each content domain.
  • E-commerce platforms: CDN support alone does not establish that every store page or payment endpoint supports IPv6.

4. Testing an IPv6 proxy with Python

Use the connection details issued in the dashboard. The client connects to the provided endpoint; test that the target request exits through the assigned IPv6 address.

import aiohttp
import asyncio

# IP123 IPv6 代理 IP 入站为标准 IPv4/域名，出口为纯净独立 IPv6
PROXY = "http://username:password@ipv6-node.ip123.net:9000"

async def check_ipv6():
    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
        # 请求权威 IPv6 测试终端
        async with session.get("https://api64.ipify.org?format=json", proxy=PROXY) as resp:
            data = await resp.json()
            print(f"[+] Current Outbound IPv6: {data['ip']}")

asyncio.run(check_ipv6())

5. IPv6 deployment pitfalls

When deploying an IPv6 scraping solution, pay particular attention to subnet-level risk controls. If a platform detects sustained, high-frequency anomalous traffic within one /64 subnet, it may block the entire /64 range. Plan static IP allocation across multiple prefixes and subnets, keep each task on its assigned IP, and respect the target site’s request limits.

IP123 sells individual static IPv6 addresses. Check available locations, IP quantities, and prices on the purchase page; a whole subnet is not implied by an individual IP order.