Opening a RIPE LIR in 2026: Costs, Timeline, When Not To

Opening a RIPE LIR in 2026: Costs, Timeline, When Not To

Short answer (checked 2026-11-08): an LIR (Local Internet Registry) is a RIPE NCC membership account. It costs EUR 1,000 to open and EUR 1,894 a year from 2027 (EUR 1,800 in 2026), whether it holds one address or a million. It gets you an IPv6 block of up to /29 without justification, one AS number in the fee, a place in the IPv4 waiting list and the right to receive IPv4 by transfer. It does not get you IPv4 quickly: the oldest request in the queue was 500 days old today. If you run one company network rather than serve customers, a sponsoring LIR is usually far cheaper. Address prices are on /ipv4/pricing.

Checked on 2026-11-08. RIPE NCC: Become a member, RIPE-867, Charging Scheme 2027 (published 2026-09-11), payment page, the restriction on additional LIR accounts (2026-09-30), IPv4 waiting list, IPv6 PI via a sponsoring LIR, RIPE-738 section 5.1.2. Data: the RIPE NCC alloclist (modified 2026-11-07) and the waiting-list stats.json.

Who already runs an LIR: a census

The RIPE NCC publishes every LIR account with its allocations in one text file, alloclist.txt: the registry ID, the organisation name, then one line per IPv4 or IPv6 allocation with its date. The script below counts the accounts, how many hold no IPv4 or only one /24, the IPv6 allocation sizes, the /24s handed out since IPv4 ran out on 2019-11-25, the names that hold several accounts, and reads the waiting list. Bun or Node 18+, no dependencies. Save it as lir_census.js:

// lir_census.js - RIPE NCC LIR accounts from the public alloclist + IPv4 waiting list.
// Usage: bun lir_census.js   (Bun or Node 18+, no dependencies)
const ALLOC = "https://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/stats/membership/alloclist.txt";
const WL = "https://www-static.ripe.net/dynamic/ipv4-waiting-list/stats.json";

const res = await fetch(ALLOC);
console.log(`alloclist Last-Modified: ${res.headers.get("last-modified")}`);
const lirs = [];
let cur = null;
for (const line of (await res.text()).split("\n")) {
  if (/^\S/.test(line)) { cur = { regid: line.trim(), name: null, v4: [], v6: [] }; lirs.push(cur); continue; }
  if (!cur || !line.trim()) continue;
  const f = line.trim().split("\t");
  if (f.length === 1) { cur.name ??= f[0]; continue; }
  const [date, prefix] = f;
  (prefix.includes(":") ? cur.v6 : cur.v4).push({ date, len: +prefix.split("/")[1] });
}

const pct = (n) => `${((100 * n) / lirs.length).toFixed(1)}%`;
const addrs = (l) => l.v4.reduce((s, a) => s + 2 ** (32 - a.len), 0);
const noV4 = lirs.filter((l) => !l.v4.length).length;
const one24 = lirs.filter((l) => addrs(l) === 256).length;
const v6 = lirs.filter((l) => l.v6.length).length;
console.log(`LIR accounts: ${lirs.length}`);
console.log(`  no IPv4 allocation:      ${noV4} (${pct(noV4)})`);
console.log(`  exactly one /24 of IPv4: ${one24} (${pct(one24)})`);
console.log(`  with an IPv6 allocation: ${v6} (${pct(v6)})`);

const sizes = {};
for (const l of lirs) for (const a of l.v6) sizes[`/${a.len}`] = (sizes[`/${a.len}`] || 0) + 1;
const top = Object.entries(sizes).sort((a, b) => b[1] - a[1]).slice(0, 4);
console.log(`IPv6 allocations by size: ${top.map(([k, v]) => `${k} ${v}`).join(", ")}`);

// After run-out (2019-11-25) the RIPE NCC allocates single /24s from the waiting list.
const perYear = {};
for (const l of lirs) for (const a of l.v4)
  if (a.date >= "20191125" && a.len === 24) perYear[a.date.slice(0, 4)] = (perYear[a.date.slice(0, 4)] || 0) + 1;
console.log(`/24 allocations dated from 2019-11-25, per year: ${Object.entries(perYear).map(([y, n]) => `${y} ${n}`).join(", ")}`);

// One organisation name holding several LIR accounts (new ones restricted since 2026-09-29).
const byName = {};
for (const l of lirs) byName[l.name] = (byName[l.name] || 0) + 1;
const multi = Object.values(byName).filter((n) => n > 1);
console.log(`Names with 2+ LIR accounts: ${multi.length}, holding ${multi.reduce((s, n) => s + n, 0)} accounts; max ${Math.max(...multi)}`);

const wl = await (await fetch(WL)).json();
const last = Object.keys(wl).sort().at(-1);
console.log(`Waiting list ${last}: ${wl[last].length} LIRs, front waited ${wl[last].first_position_days} days`);

bun lir_census.js

Output, run on a DCXV Cloud server with Bun 1.4.4 on 2026-11-08:

alloclist Last-Modified: Sat, 07 Nov 2026 20:44:11 GMT
LIR accounts: 19852
  no IPv4 allocation:      831 (4.2%)
  exactly one /24 of IPv4: 2909 (14.7%)
  with an IPv6 allocation: 15744 (79.3%)
IPv6 allocations by size: /29 16451, /32 5892, /30 151, /31 90
/24 allocations dated from 2019-11-25, per year: 2019 236, 2020 1108, 2021 2859, 2022 814, 2023 720, 2024 710, 2025 696, 2026 577
Names with 2+ LIR accounts: 379, holding 1000 accounts; max 41
Waiting list 2026-11-08: 831 LIRs, front waited 500 days

How to read it. 19,852 LIR accounts exist, and 2,909 of them (14.7%) hold exactly 256 IPv4 addresses: the size the waiting list hands out. The queue gave out 2,859 /24s in 2021, when it still had stock, and around 700 a year since 2022 (577 so far in 2026). 831 accounts hold no IPv4 at all, and the queue also counts 831 LIRs today; the file does not say whether they are the same accounts, so we treat the match as a likely overlap, not a fact. /29 is by far the most common IPv6 allocation, the largest an LIR gets without paperwork. And 379 organisation names hold 1,000 accounts between them, one of them 41: that pattern is what the RIPE NCC Executive Board froze on 2026-09-29. The file shows the date of each allocation, not of a later transfer, so treat bought space as approximate.

From application to a working LIR

1. Apply online at my.ripe.net. Any legal entity or natural person can join, except anyone subject to EU sanctions or whose earlier membership was ended for false information. The RIPE NCC checks the application under its due diligence procedure (RIPE-791) and processes one application at a time.
2. Sign the SSA. The Standard Service Agreement (RIPE-812) and the invoice arrive by email. The SSA must be signed by hand: electronic signatures are not accepted.
3. Pay. The account is activated once the RIPE NCC has both the payment and the signed SSA. The RIPE NCC publishes no processing time.
4. Request IPv6 and an ASN. RIPE-738 gives an LIR /32 up to /29 without further documentation; the first ASN is included in the annual fee.
5. File the waiting-list request on day one if you have never had a RIPE NCC IPv4 allocation. The request itself is processed in about one working day; the /24 comes when your turn does. Our estimate of 15 to 19 months for a new request is in RIPE waiting list vs buying a /24.
6. Or receive IPv4 by transfer. Inside the region the RIPE NCC charges no transfer fee; the steps are in the RIPE NCC transfer guide. Received space cannot be transferred on for 24 months.

Since 2026-09-29 an existing member cannot open a second LIR account, including requests already in progress. The restriction is temporary, "until the outcome of related policy discussions is clear"; accounts already held stay open. A new member can still join.

Own LIR vs a sponsoring LIR: three years of fees

	Own LIR	PI via a sponsoring LIR	Addresses from an LIR
RIPE NCC charge, first year (2027)	EUR 2,894 (EUR 1,000 + EUR 1,894)	EUR 75 per assignment, billed to the sponsor	None
RIPE NCC charge over 2027 to 2029	EUR 6,682 if the fee stays at EUR 1,894	EUR 225 per assignment, plus the sponsor's margin	None
IPv6	/32 up to /29, no justification	PI /48 and up, own infrastructure only	From the LIR
IPv4	Waiting-list /24, or bought PA	An existing PI block, bought	Leased with the service
Can serve customers	Yes, sub-assign to them	No: no sub-assignment, no colocation	Not from these addresses

Fees for 2028 and 2029 are not set yet; the table assumes the 2027 level. New IPv4 PI has not been assigned since run-out, so the PI column means buying an existing PI block. For scale: three years of own-LIR fees, EUR 6,682, are more than a whole /24 cost at the ip4.market 90-day median of $25.25 per IP in sales to 2026-11-02 ($6,464). Why the 2027 fee looks like this is in RIPE charging scheme 2027; buying against leasing is in IPv4 lease vs buy.

When you should not open an LIR

• You need IPs only for your own servers. Take them with the servers or lease them: lease IPv4. No RIPE NCC contract, no annual fee.
• One company network with its own AS and IPv6. A sponsoring LIR gives you PI IPv6 and an ASN for a fraction of the fee. The limit is real: PI space is for your own legal entity's infrastructure, never for customers.
• You want a quick /24. The oldest request in the queue had waited 500 days today, and nobody guarantees the wait. Buy, or lease while you wait.
• You want a second account for another /24. Closed to existing members since 2026-09-29.
• You plan to collect a waiting-list /24 and resell it. Four years of fees before the 24-month hold ends outweigh what a /24 sold for in 2026, as worked out in the waiting-list post.

Open your own LIR when you assign addresses to customers (an ISP, a hosting company, a cloud), when you want to hold IPv4 as allocated PA and route it from several providers, or when you need IPv6 at /29 scale. Ukrainian companies follow the same rules with extra paperwork: IPv4 for Ukrainian companies.

DCXV is a RIPE NCC member (AS204057) and helps with LIR applications and the documents behind them; our /ipv4 page offers LIR status within 7 days. Registry notes are on /ipv4/ripe. Deciding between your own LIR, PI and leased space? Talk to the IPv4 desk or email ipv4@dcxv.com.