Types of IP Leasing Models: A Complete Guide for Enterprises

What is IP leasing, and which model fits your network?

IP leasing gives your business the use of address space for an agreed period, usually for a recurring fee. In the public-address market, it commonly means leasing IPv4 capacity for hosting, cloud platforms, ISPs and enterprise networks. You put addresses to work while keeping the capital needed to acquire a block available for your business.

Shared, dedicated, brokered and first-party leasing describe different parts of an offer. Make two decisions: who uses the addresses, and who supplies and supports them. A dedicated block can come through a broker or directly from a provider. The labels alone do not tell you what keeps your services running.

First, choose shared or dedicated address use

Shared IP leasing: shared public addressing

Several customers or services use the same public-address environment, for example through shared hosting or address translation. This can suit applications that do not need exclusive public addresses. You have less control over the shared address's reputation and how it is used. For an independently routed network, look for a dedicated block.

Dedicated IPv4 leasing: addresses for your services

Your organisation has exclusive use of a specified address or block during the lease. This fits hosting pools, ISP services, cloud workloads and customer integrations that need a stable network identity. Dedicated use gives you clearer control over your own deployment; the provider relationship determines the routing, support and continuity behind it.

Then, choose the provider relationship

Brokered IPv4 leasing: access through an intermediary

A broker or marketplace connects customers with address suppliers and can make it easier to find inventory. The resource holder, commercial contact and operating team may be different organisations. Establish who can authorise your ASN, update the ROA and keep the block available when your network depends on it.

First-party IPv4 leasing: a direct operating relationship

You work directly with the provider responsible for the supplied resources. That gives your team a clear contact for deployment and ongoing operations. The important distinction is the provider's actual resource authority and the service it delivers, beyond how many intermediaries are involved.

For a customer-facing network, start with dedicated capacity and a provider whose authority, operations and continuity arrangements you can inspect. That is where LARUS's model earns its place in your decision.

Your business needs more than an address listing

Once customers allowlist your IPs, partners connect to them and your applications rely on them, changing addresses becomes a business project. Choose the foundation behind that network identity before you deploy it.

LARUS connects a documented rights foundation with the people and service responsible for your IPv4. Cloud Innovation's shareholder-rights court materials document the foundation behind the relevant resources. Its mandate to LARUS appoints LARUS as the exclusive customer-facing commercial, operational and technical platform for the address estate it covers.

For your team, that relationship becomes a practical choice: the capacity you need, the operating support that fits your services and a Continuity plan for the years ahead. Choose from Capacity, Production, Enterprise and Critical. Critical includes Guaranteed Renewal. Match the plan to what those addresses mean to your business.

Suppose you are adding a hosting location today. At launch, your priority is usable capacity and routing. As customers build allowlists and applications around those IPs, support and renewal become part of the service you sell. LARUS lets you choose the capacity and Continuity level around that operating reality.

Leasing versus buying IPv4 addresses

Buying an IPv4 block can suit a business that wants to fund an acquisition and manage the resource relationship itself. The transaction, registry process and ongoing network operations are separate pieces of that decision. Paying for the block does not by itself provide an operating partner or a plan for continued use.

LARUS leasing brings capacity, the documented resource relationship and your Continuity choice together. Keep acquisition capital available for servers, connectivity and customer growth, and choose the service behind the addresses your business relies on.

If you are weighing both routes, our IPv4 buying and leasing comparison and public IP purchase guide explain the acquisition, transfer and deployment steps.

How much does IP leasing cost?

Compare the total price for the same capacity and service. Block size, region, lease duration, billing period, address history and operating support all influence an offer. An address-only quote and a production Continuity plan cover different needs.

• Capacity: price the address count your services need, with room for expected customer growth.
• Deployment: account for the connectivity, routing and setup needed to put the block into service.
• Continuity: choose the support, operational handling and renewal arrangement around the importance of the workload.

The LARUS plan selector combines the base IPv4 lease with your chosen Continuity add-on. Use the current plan and quantity options for a relevant price, and IPv4 pricing and market statistics for broader market context. An old per-address figure cannot price today's specific deployment.

Choose the IPv4 block size

A /24 contains 256 addresses; a /22 contains 1,024. For example, a service needing 800 additional addresses can start its capacity plan with a /22. Include network design and growth headroom when estimating how many addresses your applications can use.

IPv4 addresses in each CIDR block

CIDR block	Addresses
/24	256
/23	512
/22	1,024
/21	2,048
/20	4,096
/19	8,192
/18	16,384
/17	32,768
/16	65,536

Smaller blocks can serve an individual location or a growing hosting pool. Larger pools suit networks expanding across customers, services or sites. Agree how the prefix will be routed with your network or transit provider; the address count alone does not establish route acceptance.

How to lease IPv4 addresses and put them to work

1. Describe the deployment

   Bring the address count, locations, intended start date and services you will run. Decide whether your network will announce the block or a provider will route it for you. A clear deployment brief helps your team compare offers and get useful answers quickly.

2. Select the block and service

   Choose dedicated or shared addressing for the application, then compare the supplier's authority and operating support. Review the exact prefix's WHOIS/RDAP record, routing history and reputation against your workload. Agree the capacity, term and Continuity level that fit your plans.

3. Align routing and address records

   For a block announced from your own Autonomous System Number (ASN), coordinate BGP connectivity and the routing authorisation. An LOA records authorisation for the agreed use; a Route Origin Authorization identifies the ASN authorised to originate a prefix. Align the ROA's prefix and maximum length, any required IRR route object, and your router configuration.

4. Test the service, then move traffic

   Check external reachability, RPKI state, reverse DNS and the applications your customers will use. Confirm geolocation where it affects the service. Bring your support and renewal contacts into the handover, then monitor the addresses as part of normal network operations.

For the detailed workflow, read how to lease IPv4 addresses. Teams arranging the commercial paperwork can use the separate IP leasing contract guide.

The operating support that matters after launch

Routing and RPKI: keep authorisation aligned

Know who updates the ROA when your origin ASN or routing plan changes. RPKI validates origin authorisation; it does not replace connectivity or guarantee delivery. Our guides explain RPKI and ROAs in more detail.

Reverse DNS, reputation and geolocation: make the addresses useful

Arrange PTR records or reverse-DNS delegation for the services that need them. Review address reputation and establish a route for corrections. Where location data matters, plan for updates to geolocation providers as part of deployment.

Support and renewal: keep customer services moving

A clear contact for routing changes, reputation issues and abuse reports helps your team resolve incidents. Choose support and renewal arrangements before customer integrations depend on the block. With LARUS, these decisions belong in your Continuity plan.

The common risks of IP leasing are practical: dependence on the provider, a block that does not route as intended, address-history issues, and disruption when renewal is uncertain. Compare who can act at each point and what service you receive. A list of available prefixes cannot answer those questions.

Why businesses lease IPv4

IPv4 capacity supports the services customers still reach over IPv4, while IPv6 deployment continues. The IANA IPv4 registry records the allocation of the 32-bit address space. RIPE NCC exhausted its remaining pool in November 2019, and ARIN's free pool was depleted in September 2015. Leasing puts existing resources into service without funding an acquisition first.

ISPs use leased capacity for growing subscriber demand. Hosting providers and data centres expand customer address pools. Cloud and GPU platforms connect workloads and public services. Enterprises and SaaS teams use stable addresses for APIs, partner integrations and allowlists. VPN and other network platforms also need addressing suited to their routing and service model.

The business benefit is capacity that can grow with demand, capital available for other infrastructure, and an operating arrangement matched to the workload. Explore why businesses lease IPv4 and how data centres use leased address space.

The 2024 APNIC Survey, page 80, shows why continuity belongs in the choice. Among responding Members leasing IPv4, 68% were moderately or extremely concerned about ongoing cost, 67% about needing addresses beyond the lease term, and 63% about reputation-related routing issues. Those are reasons to compare the complete service behind the price.

Questions about IP leasing

Are IP leasing and IP rental the same?

Providers often use the terms interchangeably. Some use rental for shorter arrangements, but the label is less useful than the actual term, exclusive-use arrangement, routing options and renewal service. Compare the offer you will use.

Can I lease a /24 IPv4 block?

Yes. A /24 contains 256 IPv4 addresses and is a common starting point for routed capacity. Match the available block to your location, provider and deployment needs. LARUS's plan selector lets you begin with your quantity and term.

Is dedicated IPv4 better than shared addressing?

Choose dedicated use when your service needs exclusive addresses, its own reputation or a stable customer-facing identity. Shared addressing can serve applications that do not need those controls. A brokered or direct provider relationship can supply dedicated capacity, so compare both dimensions.

Can I announce leased IPv4 from my own ASN?

Yes, with a suitable provider and routing arrangement. Coordinate the origin ASN, LOA, ROA, IRR records and upstream connectivity before launch. If a hosting or network provider routes the service for you, you may not need to originate the block yourself.

Do leased IPv4 addresses support reverse DNS?

They can. Arrange PTR management or delegation with the supplier, especially for email, hosting and services whose identification depends on reverse DNS. Include it in the deployment handover.

How long can I lease IPv4 addresses?

Offers range from shorter terms to multi-year arrangements. Choose around your expected growth and the value of retaining the same addresses. For LARUS customers, Critical includes Guaranteed Renewal; compare the Continuity plans for the level your business needs.

What gives a lease its authority?

The supplier's authority to provide the particular resources matters more than an inventory listing. LARUS makes the relevant Cloud Innovation rights materials and its resource-scoped mandate available to inspect, then connects that foundation to the customer's chosen service.

What should I have ready to choose a plan?

Your address count, locations, target date and intended routing arrangement. Then consider what an interruption or renumbering project would mean to your customers. Use those answers to choose the capacity and Continuity level that support your business.