What is my IP address?
Your IP address, as our server sees it
Reading…This test simply shows you what any website sees about you. Nothing is stored, nothing is sent to a third-party service, and the result is never cached.
What you have just read is exactly what every website you visit sees, before it renders a single line. An IP address is not a secret: it is the mechanism by which the answer finds its way back to you. It is revealing all the same, since it names your operator, often your region, and lets separate visits be tied together.
What exactly does a website see?
Four pieces of information reach it before you click on anything at all.
| What it receives | Where it comes from | What it reveals |
|---|---|---|
| Your IP address | The connection itself | Your operator, often your region |
| The reverse hostname | Your operator’s DNS | ISP, hosting provider or VPN provider |
| Your browser headers | Your machine | Language, system, browser |
| The exact time of the visit | The server | Enough to tie two visits together |
The tool above deliberately puts two different sources side by side: what your address says, measured server-side, and what your browser says, read on your machine. A Paris time zone next to an address coming out of the Netherlands is precisely the mismatch a website looks for, and it is also what breaks access to a foreign streaming catalogue. Our page on how a VPN works covers the full path your data takes.
Why the hostname matters more than the address
A string of digits tells nobody anything. Its reverse resolution, the name the operator attached to that address, often tells you everything.
| Type of connection | What the hostname looks like | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | c-73-15-22-8.hsd1.ca.comcast.net | You are going out through your ISP, no tunnel |
| Mobile | Often empty | Inconclusive, this test cannot settle it |
| Consumer VPN | fra-01.node.nordvpn.com | Tunnel active, the name carries the brand |
| Hosting or corporate | vps-3f2a.ovh.net | Exit through a server, corporate VPN or proxy |
It is the fastest way to know whether your tunnel is genuinely up, and more reliable than an icon in a menu bar, which sometimes still reads “connected” while traffic has already gone direct after waking from sleep. That is exactly the scenario a kill switch is meant to prevent.
Two blind spots this test does not cover, each deserving its own check:
- A DNS leak sends your domain name lookups to your ISP’s resolver even while the address shown above is the VPN’s.
- Split tunnelling, if enabled, sends some applications out directly while the browser goes through the VPN.
What a VPN changes, and what it does not
| Without a VPN | With a VPN |
|---|---|
| Websites see your real address | They see the server’s |
| Your ISP sees the sites you visit | It only sees an encrypted stream |
| The catalogue depends on your country | It depends on the server’s country |
| Public wifi sees your traffic | It sees nothing usable |
| Nobody else sees the traffic | The VPN provider does |
Three things no VPN will ever fix:
- The accounts you sign into. An open session identifies you far better than any address ever will.
- Trackers and browser fingerprinting. Fonts, resolution, extensions: none of it travels through your IP address.
- The trust you place in the provider. It sees what your operator no longer sees, which is why its no-log policy matters.
If the test showed you going out directly when you believed otherwise, our guide on how to choose a VPN walks through the criteria in order, and our best VPNs of 2026 gives the ranking from our own testing.
Frequently asked questions
Does my IP address reveal my home address?
No. At best it places you in a city or a region, and it is often wrong by tens of kilometres. Only your operator can tie an address to a subscriber, and only under a court order.
Does this test store anything?
No. The answer is computed on request, returned as is, and neither stored nor cached. No third-party service is called, which would contradict the very point of the page.
Why does my address change on its own?
Most residential subscriptions get a dynamic address, renewed when the router restarts or after a delay set by the operator. On mobile it changes far more often.
My address looks right, am I protected?
Not necessarily. The address shown can be the VPN’s while a DNS leak exposes your lookups, or split tunnelling lets some applications out directly. Check that the kill switch is on as well.