IPv4 Address Shortage and Price Surges: What You Need to Know Now

IPv4 addresses have quietly turned into one of the most valuable resources in hosting and networking. If you manage websites, servers or an online product, you have probably seen line items like “IPv4 surcharge” or “additional IPv4 address” creeping into quotes and invoices. That is not a marketing trick – it is the direct result of a global IPv4 address shortage and a rapidly maturing secondary market where IPs are bought, sold and leased like digital real estate. In this article, we will walk through why IPv4 ran out, how that scarcity translates into real price surges, and what it means for your hosting decisions over the next few years. As the dchost.com team, we will also share how we plan our own IPv4 capacity and what you can realistically do – from smarter IP usage to IPv6 adoption – to protect both your infrastructure and your budget.

Why IPv4 Addresses Are Running Out

IPv4 was designed in a very different internet era. With 32 bits, the protocol allows for about 4.3 billion unique addresses. In theory that sounds like a lot; in practice, it has proved far from enough once every device, application and service started needing an IP.

A quick recap of IPv4 address space

An IPv4 address looks like 203.0.113.42: four numbers between 0 and 255. Under the hood, it is a 32-bit number. That gives 2³² possible addresses (4,294,967,296). But:

• Large chunks are reserved for private networks (like 10.0.0.0/8, 192.168.0.0/16).
• Other ranges are reserved for special purposes (multicast, loopback, documentation, etc.).
• Big blocks were allocated to governments, universities and corporations decades ago, long before anyone anticipated today’s demand.

The result: the amount of publicly routable IPv4 that can actually be used on the global internet is significantly lower than the raw 4.3 billion figure.

How we burned through IPv4 so quickly

From a network planning perspective, three waves accelerated IPv4 exhaustion:

• Broadband and mobile internet: Every home router, smartphone and tablet needed connectivity, multiplying demand well beyond early academic and corporate use.
• Hosting, SaaS and content platforms: Every VPS, dedicated server, load balancer and mail cluster wanted at least one public IP; high-availability architectures often wanted several.
• IoT and always-on services: Sensors, smart devices and APIs made “always connected” the default, not the exception.

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) such as RIPE NCC (Europe, Middle East), ARIN (North America), APNIC (Asia-Pacific) and others distributed IPv4 blocks to ISPs, hosting providers and enterprises. Around the mid‑2010s, each RIR started declaring “IPv4 exhaustion” – meaning their free pools were effectively gone.

Life after exhaustion: no more easy allocations

Once exhaustion hit, RIRs introduced strict policies for “final /22” style allocations or waiting lists. For a hosting provider like us, it no longer means filling out a form and getting a new /19 or /20 block. Instead, growth now depends on:

• Reclaiming and renumbering existing IPv4 space.
• Buying or leasing IPv4 blocks on the transfer market.
• Deploying more aggressive IP sharing and NAT techniques.
• Rolling out IPv6 and moving as much traffic as possible off IPv4.

This is exactly where price dynamics come in: when a resource is finite, highly demanded and tradable, it starts to behave like a commodity.

How IPv4 Address Shortage Turns into Price Surges

From our side of the table, the cost of an IPv4 address is no longer “zero” or “included”. It is a real, significant input cost driven by market forces. Understanding that helps make sense of why your hosting quotes are changing.

The two-layer IPv4 market: RIRs and transfers

Today there are essentially two layers:

1. Legacy and existing allocations: Organizations that received IPv4 decades ago still hold large blocks (sometimes far more than they use). These blocks often sit underutilized.
2. Secondary transfer market: Brokers and organizations arrange sales and leases of IPv4 space between holders and buyers. Prices are usually quoted per IP, per year (for leases) or as one-time purchase amounts.

When we talk about IPv4 prices “going up”, we are really talking about what happens on this transfer market. RIR policies, scarcity and demand from cloud, hosting and telecom operators all feed into those numbers. If you want a deeper dive into specific price curves and examples, we have a dedicated article on why IPv4 address prices are hitting record highs and what you can do about it.

Key drivers behind IPv4 price surges

From the perspective of a hosting provider buying or leasing IPv4 space, a few factors matter the most:

• Absolute scarcity: There is no “new” IPv4. Every /24, /22 or /20 we acquire must come from someone else’s allocation.
• Competition from large buyers: ISPs, large platforms and carriers compete for the same address space. When those players enter a region’s market, prices jump.
• Address quality and reputation: IP ranges with clean abuse history and good email reputation cost more than blocks with a history of spam or attacks.
• Regional policy changes: Updates in RIR transfer rules (such as ARIN and RIPE NCC policy changes) can temporarily restrict supply or create new demand waves, influencing prices.

We explored some of these mechanics in more detail in our piece on the technical background of IPv4 exhaustion and price increases, plus practical exit paths. But from a customer’s point of view, what matters is simple: every dedicated IPv4 that a provider assigns to a VPS, dedicated server or service now has a direct, measurable cost behind it.

Why IPv4 rarely becomes cheaper again

Could IPv4 prices ever come down? Theoretically yes, if:

• IPv6 adoption accelerates so much that demand for IPv4 falls sharply, and
• Large legacy holders decide to sell off big chunks of address space.

In practice, we see the opposite: IPv6 is growing, but most operators still need IPv4 for compatibility. At the same time, many legacy holders treat IPv4 as a long-term asset, not something to liquidate quickly. That is why, as a planning assumption, we treat IPv4 as a scarce, steadily appreciating resource, not a short-term spike.

What IPv4 Shortage Means for Your Hosting Stack

So how does all this translate into real decisions about your websites, applications and servers? Let’s look at the main areas we discuss with customers when designing infrastructure at dchost.com.

Dedicated IPs for HTTPS and websites

Years ago, you needed a dedicated IPv4 address per HTTPS site to run SSL/TLS. That changed with SNI (Server Name Indication), which allows many HTTPS virtual hosts on a single IP. Today we can safely host multiple secure sites on one shared IPv4 without sacrificing security, and we often do so by default.

If you are curious about the details, our guide on hosting multiple HTTPS websites on one IP with SNI explains how this works technically and when a dedicated IP might still be justified (for example, for certain legacy clients or advanced TLS setups).

Outbound email and IP reputation

Email is one of the most sensitive areas when it comes to IPv4 scarcity. A single “bad” customer can put an outbound IP on blocklists and damage reputation. At the same time, dedicating an IP to every small account is too expensive in today’s market.

Our approach is to:

• Segment outbound email pools by risk level and use case (transactional vs bulk).
• Assign dedicated IPs where business-critical deliverability justifies it.
• Monitor blocklists and abuse complaints closely to protect clean ranges.

This balance allows us to conserve IPv4 addresses while still offering robust deliverability for customers that genuinely need dedicated resources.

VPS and dedicated server architectures

Ten years ago, “one server, one IP” was a common informal rule. Today, density matters. With modern virtualisation and reverse proxying, we can:

• Run many services behind a single IPv4, using different ports and hostnames.
• Expose only the necessary endpoints publicly, keeping internal services on private networks.
• Design load-balancer tiers that concentrate public IP usage while backends live on RFC1918 private space.

When we size a VPS or dedicated server at dchost.com, we think of IPs as part of the architecture, not just as an accessory. The goal is to give you the public IPs you actually need, backed by a bigger private network that can grow without consuming more IPv4.

Compliance and logging considerations

NAT and IP sharing increase the importance of accurate logging. If many customers or services share a public IP, you must be able to map which internal address and port was responsible for which connection at a given time. For organizations under regulations like GDPR/KVKK or financial-sector rules, this matters not just operationally but legally.

When we design NAT and IP-sharing policies, we ensure logs are:

• Time-synchronised (NTP) across systems.
• Retained for an appropriate period, consistent with privacy laws.
• Searchable enough to answer “who used this IP at this time?” in a reasonable manner.

Technical Strategies to Use Less IPv4 Without Losing Flexibility

The good news is: you can significantly reduce your IPv4 footprint without breaking your applications or user experience. In many projects we manage, most of the “IPv4 stress” disappears after a round of sensible architecture clean‑up.

1. Consolidate HTTPS sites with SNI

If you still have a mental model of “one SSL certificate per server IP”, it is time to update it. Modern browsers and operating systems fully support SNI. That means:

• Dozens (or hundreds) of HTTPS sites can share a single IPv4 address.
• Each site can have its own certificate (including wildcard or EV, if needed).
• There is no SEO penalty for sharing an IP; search engines care about content, speed and security, not IP uniqueness.

We routinely help customers migrate old “one IP per site” setups into consolidated SNI-based architectures, freeing up valuable IPv4 addresses for other uses.

2. Move internal services off public IPv4

Many environments we audit have public IPs assigned to services that never needed them: internal admin panels, staging environments, database servers, cache nodes, etc. Best practice today is:

• Place everything that does not need to be publicly reachable onto private RFC1918 space.
• Use VPNs, bastion hosts or zero‑trust tunnels for administrative access.
• Expose only load balancers, API gateways and public frontends via IPv4.

This not only saves IPv4 but also improves security by shrinking your public attack surface.

3. Make smart use of reverse proxies and NAT

Reverse proxies (Nginx, HAProxy, etc.) and NAT gateways can multiplex many services through a small number of public IPv4 addresses. Some practical patterns we use:

• Layer 7 reverse proxy per IPv4: Route by hostname or URL path to multiple backend services.
• Dedicated IPv4 only where protocol demands it: For some legacy VPN or VoIP setups, separate IPs are still needed, but that is the exception, not the rule.
• SNAT for outbound traffic: Multiple backend servers can share one outbound IPv4, as long as logging and connection tracking are properly configured.

Done carefully, this reduces IP count without impacting application behaviour.

4. Clean up unused allocations and legacy assumptions

In many organizations, the quickest IPv4 savings come from simple housekeeping:

• Retiring unused test servers that still hold dedicated IPs.
• Removing DNS records that point to no‑longer‑existing IPs.
• Consolidating small projects onto shared IP infrastructure.

When we onboard a new customer to dchost.com and review their previous provider’s setup, we often find 10–30% of their IPv4 usage is basically dead weight. Reclaiming those addresses means we can pass on more realistic IP pricing instead of constantly hunting for new blocks on the transfer market.

5. Start offloading traffic to IPv6 where possible

Even if you cannot go IPv6‑only yet, you can already start shifting part of your traffic away from IPv4. With dual‑stack configurations, the same domain offers both A (IPv4) and AAAA (IPv6) records. Clients that support IPv6 (and there are many more every year) will connect over IPv6, leaving IPv4 capacity free for legacy users.

We have written extensively about the trend in why IPv6 adoption is suddenly everywhere and what it means for your site. The short version: if you are planning infrastructure with a 3–5 year horizon, building dual‑stack now is significantly cheaper than trying to “bolt on” IPv6 when IPv4 prices are even higher.

IPv6: The Only Real Long-Term Answer

IPv4 optimisation can delay pain, but it cannot remove the underlying structural problem: finite address space. Ultimately, the only protocol that scales with the future of the internet is IPv6.

What IPv6 changes

IPv6 uses 128‑bit addresses, providing an unimaginably large pool of unique IPs. In practical terms, that means:

• You can give every server, VM, container and user device its own globally routable address.
• You eliminate the need for large‑scale NAT for public services.
• You can design cleaner, more transparent network topologies.

From a cost perspective, IPv6 does not have the same scarcity premium. RIRs can still allocate IPv6 generously to providers, which is why we treat IPv6 as the foundation for new growth at dchost.com.

Why you still cannot ignore IPv4 (yet)

Despite its advantages, IPv6 adoption is uneven. Many corporate networks, older devices, some residential ISPs and parts of the hosting ecosystem still depend heavily on IPv4. For at least the next several years, most real-world deployments will be dual‑stack: both IPv4 and IPv6 live side by side.

That is why the realistic strategy is not “jump straight to IPv6‑only” but rather:

• Enable IPv6 everywhere you can (websites, APIs, mail, monitoring).
• Keep enough IPv4 to maintain compatibility and provide bridges.
• Continuously move internal and friendly traffic to IPv6, reserving IPv4 for edge cases.

Practical IPv6 steps on VPS and dedicated servers

On the server side, enabling IPv6 is usually simpler than people expect. Typical steps include:

• Requesting IPv6 ranges (often /64 or larger) on your VPS or dedicated server.
• Configuring static IPv6 addresses on interfaces.
• Adding AAAA records for your domains in DNS.
• Ensuring firewalls and application configs (Nginx, Apache, mail servers) listen on IPv6.

If you would like a concrete walkthrough, our article on IPv6 setup and configuration for your VPS server covers exactly how we do this in real hosting environments.

How We at dchost.com Manage IPv4 Scarcity Fairly

As a hosting provider, we sit in a sensitive position: we feel IPv4 price pressure directly from the market, but we also do not want our customers to be surprised by hidden IP costs or arbitrary limitations. Our strategy is built on three principles.

1. Treat IPv4 as a transparent, shared resource

We do not pretend IPv4 is free. Where dedicated IPs are required – for example, for SSL offload appliances, special mail setups or isolated services – we price them transparently and explain why. Where services can safely share IPv4 via SNI, reverse proxies or NAT, we configure them that way by default so you do not pay for unnecessary addresses.

2. Invest in IPv6 and dual‑stack by default

New infrastructure at dchost.com is planned with IPv6 in mind from day one. This means:

• Ensuring our networks and data centers are IPv6‑ready.
• Making dual‑stack the norm for modern hosting stacks.
• Helping customers gradually enable IPv6 on their own projects.

This long‑term bet is one reason we are comfortable writing extensively about topics like IPv4 address prices hitting record highs while still offering sustainable hosting plans: we are actively reducing our own dependence on scarce IPv4 with every iteration of our platform.

3. Design architectures that minimise IP waste

When you talk to our team about a new VPS, dedicated server or colocation project, we do not just ask “how many IPs do you want?”. Instead, we go into:

• How many public‑facing endpoints you truly need.
• Which services can sit behind reverse proxies.
• What email volume and risk profile you have.
• Which environments (staging, admin, backup) can live on private space.

That design work often means you get a leaner, more secure and more future‑ready network, and we avoid over‑allocating IPv4. It is a win on both sides.

Planning Your Next 3–5 Years Around IPv4 Reality

The IPv4 address shortage and resulting price surges are not a temporary glitch; they are a structural reality of how the internet evolved. For hosting customers, the most expensive option is to ignore this and keep assuming “IP is cheap” until renewal time tells a different story.

A better approach is to take a small amount of time now to:

• Audit where and why you use dedicated IPv4 addresses.
• Consolidate HTTPS sites with SNI and reverse proxies wherever possible.
• Move internal services to private addressing and secure access methods.
• Enable IPv6 on your core sites, APIs and mail where your stack allows it.
• Align your 3–5-year infrastructure roadmap with the expectation that IPv4 will stay scarce and costly.

As the dchost.com team, we work through these steps with customers every day, from simple shared hosting setups to complex multi‑VPS and colocation architectures. If you are unsure where to start, reach out to us with a short description of your current environment and plans. We can help you map out a hosting and IP strategy that keeps you compatible with today’s IPv4‑heavy world while steadily moving toward an IPv6‑first, future‑proof network. The earlier this planning happens, the more flexibility you keep – both technically and financially.