Can you buy a single IPv4 address?

Yes, a person can obtain one public IPv4 address for a server, a home lab, a game server, or a VPN. The important distinction is how it arrives. A provider can assign and route one address to a customer. Buying address space into the buyer's own registry account is a different transaction, with a far larger minimum and network work that one website rarely needs.

Someone searching for a single IPv4 usually needs one reachable endpoint. They need a stable address for DNS, ports that accept TCP or UDP traffic, and a setup that continues working when the hardware moves. Those requirements point to an assigned or routed address. A transfer-market purchase belongs to operators who can use an entire block.

A single IPv4 is a /32. Market ownership starts with a block.

An IPv4 address is a 32-bit number. In CIDR notation, one address is written as a /32. A /24 contains 256 adjacent addresses. A provider can route a /32 inside its network with no issue. That is how a customer can receive a single public address.

Registry transfers and global BGP announcements work with prefixes. A /24 is the smallest IPv4 prefix commonly carried across the public Internet. Smaller prefixes are often filtered by networks protecting their routing tables. This makes a /24 the practical starting point for portable address space, even though the buyer may only need one address.

The difference explains a frequent dead end. A marketplace can advertise an appealing price per IPv4, then the order page starts at a /24. The quoted unit price is multiplied by 256, followed by transfer, registry, legal, and routing costs. That model is legitimate for an operator planning a network. It is wasteful for one public service.

Four ways to obtain a public IPv4

Typical ISP, hosting, and routed-service arrangements do not make the customer the registry holder. That point deserves plain language. A provider-assigned IPv4 can be stable and fully usable for a public service. The provider retains the registered block and supplies the route. An address-transfer purchase places the block into the buyer's registry account, subject to the rules of the applicable regional registry. The RIPE NCC transfer guide and ARIN transfer policy describe those processes for their respective service regions.

Buying a /24 requires more than the purchase price

A /24 has 256 addresses. It is the smallest purchase many network operators consider because it has broad routing utility. The price per address tells only part of the story. The buyer also needs a registry account or a transfer arrangement, a documented transfer, and a route from an upstream network.

An ASN is separate from the address block. The ASN identifies the network that originates a BGP announcement. Some holders arrange for an upstream to announce the transferred prefix, which can avoid operating BGP directly. Independent announcement requires an ASN, suitable upstream connectivity, route-origin authorization, and the ability to keep the routing policy correct.

The earlier guide on what an IPv4 address costs compares the purchase, registry, lease, cloud, and routed-tunnel markets. Read it before treating a low per-address quote as the final cost. A single active service rarely uses enough of a /24 to make ownership economical.

Get one routed address when one is the requirement

A routed IPv4 service assigns one address from the provider's block and carries traffic to the chosen endpoint. The address can sit in front of a VPS, a dedicated server, or a Linux machine at home. The provider announces the address and operates the public edge. The customer configures the tunnel, the return path, and the service firewall.

Taipan Transit routes ordered IPv4 addresses through GRE, IPsec, or WireGuard tunnels. WireGuard is a useful starting point for a home connection because the home server initiates UDP traffic to the provider. A carrier-grade NAT connection can carry that outbound tunnel even when the ISP cannot give the home router an inbound public address. The WireGuard project documents the keepalive behavior used for peers behind NAT, and RFC 6598 defines the shared address range commonly used for CGNAT.

The address is still public. Visitors connect to it over the Internet. The tunnel carries the resulting packets to the host, and source-based routing sends replies back through the tunnel. The practical setup is covered step by step in How to get a public IP for a home server.

What one public IPv4 costs at Taipan Transit

The current published campaign price is simple enough to check before ordering. A WireGuard tunnel costs €2 per month and a routed IPv4 costs €0.70 per month. One public IPv4 routed through one WireGuard tunnel starts at €2.70 per month. The plan includes 1 TB of transit; the published campaign rate after that is €0.35 per TB for GRE and WireGuard.

The published offer has no minimum address commitment, so a project can start with one address and add more only when another public endpoint is needed. The live pricing page remains the reference for campaign terms and traffic pricing.

Check these details before paying anyone

"Dedicated IP" is not a complete technical description. Ask what will be delivered and who controls the route. A legitimate provider can answer these questions before an order is placed.

1. Is the address public and reachable? Confirm that inbound TCP and UDP traffic can reach the endpoint.
2. Is the offer an assignment, a lease, or a registry transfer? The contract should name the model clearly.
3. Who announces the address? A routed service should identify the network responsible for the public route.
4. How does the address reach the server? Check whether it is attached to one server, forwarded by ports, or routed through a tunnel.
5. What happens when the server changes? Verify the process for moving the address or repointing the tunnel.
6. Are reverse DNS and abuse handling documented? Mail, APIs, and some application platforms care about both.

A seller that offers a "permanent" single IPv4 without describing the registry record, route origin, or service agreement creates uncertainty. A stable technical arrangement has a named operator, a usable route, and clear terms for the assignment.

Use the right route for the project

Choose an ISP static address when the connection already provides one and the service belongs on that connection. Keep a hosting-provider address for a workload that will stay inside that account. Use a routed IPv4 when the public address needs to reach a different server, survive a change of host, or bypass a home connection behind CGNAT.

Buy a registered block when the organization needs a block-sized address pool and has a real routing plan. That purchase has a place in a growing network. One web application, game server, VPN endpoint, or home lab normally needs a single reachable address and a reliable way to route it.