How to evaluate and choose an IP with IPQualityScore

Start with a decision order, not one number

An IPQS report is a set of signals. The most useful reading order is:

1. Confirm that the lookup succeeded and that unavailable premium fields are not being treated as clean results.
2. Check hard risk signals such as proxy, recent_abuse, tor, and active anonymization indicators.
3. Use fraud_score to compare risk only after those signals are understood.
4. Check network ownership and geography against the location and operating context you actually need.
5. Test the IP against the destination service and monitor it over time.

This order matters because a moderate score does not cancel a positive proxy or abuse signal. In the same way, a low score cannot guarantee account approval, platform trust, or a business result.

Which IPQS fields matter

High-priority risk and history signals

Field	What it helps you judge	How to use it
fraud_score	IPQS’s combined estimate of suspicious or abusive risk	IPQS publishes these ranges: 0–39 Low risk, 40–75 Suspicious, 76–84 Risky, 85–89 High risk, and 90–100 Fraudulent. Use them as comparative guidance, not a universal pass/fail rule.
proxy	Whether IPQS identifies the address as a proxy	Give this more weight than the score when your policy requires proxy=false.
vpn / tor	Whether the address is associated with VPN or Tor infrastructure	Review together with active_vpn and active_tor; a historical or network-level classification can remain true when an active flag is false.
recent_abuse	Whether recent abusive activity has been observed	A positive value is a strong rejection signal for account-bound or payment-sensitive workflows.
active_vpn / active_tor	Whether an active VPN or Tor exit is currently observed	Useful for current-state confirmation, but a false value does not erase vpn=true, tor=true, or other history.
bot_status / is_crawler	Whether the lookup carries bot or known crawler signals	Usually secondary for proxy purchasing; it becomes more relevant when diagnosing automated traffic.
abuse_velocity / abuse_events	Frequency and type of observed abuse	Valuable when included in your IPQS plan. A premium-required message means unknown, not zero.

Network ownership and location

Field	What it tells you	Important limit
ISP	The network provider associated with the IP	Provider naming can differ from the organization or routing owner.
ASN	The autonomous system announcing the route	ASN is ownership and routing context, not a cleanliness or connection-quality grade.
organization	The organization IPQS associates with the network	Compare it with ISP, ASN, and reverse host rather than judging it alone.
host	Reverse DNS or host naming information	A hosting-like or unusual domain can justify more investigation, but missing or generic reverse DNS is common.
country_code, region, city	Approximate geolocation	Confirm it matches your target location, while allowing for database differences and city-level error.
timezone, zip_code, latitude/longitude	Supporting location context	Use for consistency checks, not precise physical-location claims.
mobile	Whether the network is classified as mobile	Useful only when mobile network type matters to the task.
connection_type	Additional network classification	If the response says Premium required, no classification was supplied.

Operational fields

success, message, request_id, and api_version mainly help with debugging, audit trails, and support. They do not describe IP quality. Save the request ID when a result needs to be investigated with IPQS.

GetIPProxy purchasing tiers use a separate rule

For current IPQualityScore-rated GetIPProxy inventory, the service applies this eligibility rule:

GetIPProxy tier	Required IPQS result
Ultra-clean IP	fraud_score from 0 through 20, proxy=false, and recent_abuse=false
Clean IP	fraud_score from 21 through 39, proxy=false, and recent_abuse=false
Not eligible for these tiers	Score of 40 or higher, proxy=true, or recent_abuse=true

These are GetIPProxy purchasing classifications, not official IPQS cleanliness grades. Every eligible score falls within IPQS’s 0–39 Low risk range, and the proxy and recent-abuse checks must also pass. The tier is a purchasing reference and does not guarantee safety, platform trust, connection quality, or account outcomes.

Read the sample report as a whole

The sample response contains these decisive values:

{
  "fraud_score": 75,
  "country_code": "US",
  "region": "California",
  "city": "Los Angeles",
  "ISP": "Eonix Corporation",
  "ASN": 174,
  "organization": "Cogent Communications",
  "host": "sustaiprec.net",
  "proxy": true,
  "vpn": true,
  "active_vpn": false,
  "tor": false,
  "recent_abuse": false,
  "bot_status": false
}

The useful conclusion is not simply “the score is 75.” This IP:

• sits in IPQS’s Suspicious score range;
• is identified as both a proxy and a VPN-associated address;
• has no recent-abuse, Tor, crawler, or bot signal in this lookup;
• routes through ASN 174, while ISP and organization names reflect different network attribution layers;
• geolocates to Los Angeles, but the location remains database-derived rather than a physical guarantee.

Under the GetIPProxy rule above, this report is not eligible for either cleanliness tier because its score is above 39 and proxy=true. active_vpn=false does not cancel vpn=true, and recent_abuse=false does not cancel the proxy signal.

Apply the report by scenario

Scenario	Give the most weight to	Practical interpretation
New store or account setup	Hard risk signals, lower score, correct country/region, and consistent network ownership	Prefer eligible inventory with fewer unknowns; Ultra-clean IP can add a stricter starting point, but it cannot guarantee registration or review outcomes.
Ongoing store, advertising, or AI operations	Dedicated fixed use, location continuity, renewability, and absence of hard abuse signals	A Clean IP tier may be reasonable when it meets the task’s location and ownership requirements. Do not overvalue a lower score at the expense of continuity.
Ad verification and localized QA	Country/region match, ASN, ISP/organization, and repeatable exit identity	Location and ownership context can matter more than small score differences. Validate the actual page, ad, or service result from the exit.
Anti-detect browser profiles	IP location and ownership plus separation of each profile’s network exit	The IP controls only the network layer. Cookies, device fingerprints, identity, payment details, permissions, and behavior must still be managed separately.
Automated research or data collection	Target permission, rate limits, proxy detection, abuse history, and rotation needs	IPQS cannot establish authorization or compliance. Static residential IPs are not intended for high-volume rotation or large-scale collection workloads.

A repeatable evaluation workflow

1. Validate the response

Require success=true. Treat Premium required and N/A as unavailable data. Keep request_id for audits and disputes.

2. Apply non-negotiable rejection rules

Define them before looking at the score. For GetIPProxy’s current IPQS-rated tiers, proxy=true or recent_abuse=true makes the resource ineligible.

3. Apply the score tier

Use the GetIPProxy thresholds only after the boolean requirements pass: 20 is the upper edge of Ultra-clean IP, 21 starts Clean IP, 39 is the highest eligible score, and 40 is not eligible. Do not round or reinterpret a boundary value.

4. Check fit, not just cleanliness

Confirm country, region, ASN, ISP/organization, network type, purchase term, and renewal conditions. A cleaner-looking IP that does not fit the required location or continuity is the wrong resource.

5. Verify and monitor after assignment

Check the actual exit IP, location, and ASN before binding it to an important environment. Recheck when routing changes, the destination behaves differently, or the third-party report is materially old.

Limits and ongoing checks

IP intelligence changes over time and providers can disagree because they observe different traffic and update on different schedules. Use the report as dated evidence, not a permanent certificate.

For account-bound work, combine the IP review with device, browser, identity, payment, permission, and behavioral controls. For compliance-sensitive work, confirm applicable law and the destination platform’s rules independently. No IPQS field or GetIPProxy tier can replace those checks.