RIPE IPv4 Waiting List vs Buying a /24: 2026 Cost Math

RIPE IPv4 Waiting List vs Buying a /24: 2026 Cost Math

Short answer (checked 2026-10-28): the RIPE NCC IPv4 waiting list held 811 LIRs, and the LIR at the front had waited 492 days. At last year's pace a request filed now takes about 15 months; at the pace of the year before, about 19. Both routes to a RIPE /24 allocation need an LIR, so the membership fees are the same either way: the real choice is paying for addresses now or waiting for free ones. Market context lives on /ipv4/pricing.

Checked on 2026-10-28. Queue: the RIPE NCC IPv4 Waiting List page and the stats.json file behind its chart. Policy: RIPE-826, section 5.1. Fees: RIPE-867, Charging Scheme 2027. Holding period and free transfers: the RIPE NCC transfer page. Prices: the ip4.market price index (updated 2026-10-26) and the IPv4Center tracker (updated 2026-10-28).

How the waiting list works

• Only an LIR that has never received an IPv4 allocation from the RIPE NCC can file a request, in the LIR Portal.
• Each request gets exactly one /24 (256 addresses), first come, first served. RIPE-826 says: "No guarantees are given about the waiting time."
• Clause 3 counts only allocations made by the RIPE NCC toward the one-/24 limit. Space bought on the market is not mentioned, so by the wording a purchase does not cost you your place. Confirm it with the RIPE NCC for your account before you rely on it.
• The addresses come from space the RIPE NCC recovers (closed LIRs, returned blocks). Nobody knows the volume in advance.
• IPv4 cannot be transferred for 24 months after you receive it. The same rule applies to bought space, counted from the transfer.

The registry steps of a purchase are in the RIPE NCC transfer guide; registry-specific notes are on /ipv4/ripe.

Measure the queue yourself

The RIPE NCC publishes the daily series behind its chart as JSON, back to November 2019. The script below reads it, prints the queue, finds the allocation rounds and estimates the wait for a request filed today. Python 3, standard library only. Save it as ripe_wl.py:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""RIPE NCC IPv4 waiting list: queue size, front-of-queue wait, rounds, wait estimate."""
import json
import urllib.request
from datetime import date, timedelta

URL = "https://www-static.ripe.net/dynamic/ipv4-waiting-list/stats.json"
with urllib.request.urlopen(URL, timeout=30) as r:
    data = json.load(r)

days = sorted(data)
d = lambda s: date.fromisoformat(s)
last = days[-1]
now = data[last]
print(f"{last}: {now['length']} LIRs in queue, front waited {now['first_position_days']} days")

# Filing date of the LIR at the front = that day minus its days waited.
front = lambda s: d(s) - timedelta(days=data[s]["first_position_days"])

# Rounds: the queue shrinks by 100+ within 14 days (one report per round).
rounds, i = [], 14
while i < len(days):
    a, b = data[days[i - 14]], data[days[i]]
    if a["length"] - b["length"] >= 100:
        rounds.append((days[i], a["length"], b["length"]))
        i += 30
    else:
        i += 1
print("Rounds (queue -100 or more within 14 days):")
for day, a, b in rounds[-5:]:
    print(f"  {day}: {a} -> {b}")

# How far the front's filing date moved in the last 365 days.
year_ago = (d(last) - timedelta(days=365)).isoformat()
moved = (front(last) - front(year_ago)).days
backlog = now["first_position_days"]
print(f"Front filing date: {front(year_ago)} -> {front(last)} ({moved} days in 365)")
if moved > 0:
    est = round(backlog * 365 / moved)
    print(f"A request filed {last} at last year's pace: ~{est} days (~{est / 30.4:.0f} months)")

python3 ripe_wl.py

Output, run on the author's Linux workstation with Python 3.14.4 on 2026-10-28 (not DCXV Cloud):

2026-10-28: 811 LIRs in queue, front waited 492 days
Rounds (queue -100 or more within 14 days):
  2023-03-08: 1228 -> 1081
  2024-01-10: 1163 -> 1050
  2025-01-15: 1098 -> 981
  2026-01-22: 946 -> 840
  2026-06-26: 852 -> 721
Front filing date: 2024-05-15 -> 2025-06-23 (404 days in 365)
A request filed 2026-10-28 at last year's pace: ~445 days (~15 months)

How to read it. "Front waited" is the age of the oldest request. The front's filing date moved 404 days in the last 365, so the queue advanced slightly faster than the calendar. A request filed now sits behind 492 days of filings: 492 x 365 / 404 = about 445 days. In the year before, the front moved only 318 days (2023-07-02 to 2024-05-15), which gives about 565 days. Treat 15 to 19 months as an estimate from the RIPE NCC's own series, not a forecast: one large round, or a missing one, moves it by months.

The rounds are lumpy. Three of the last five large rounds came in January, one in March 2023 and one in late June 2026. Between rounds the queue grows by about 22 requests a month (721 on 2026-06-26, 811 on 2026-10-28).

What each route costs

Route	Addresses usable	Registry cost (RIPE-867)	Address cost, October 2026	Can transfer out
Waiting list	Est. 15 to 19 months, no guarantee	EUR 1,000 sign-up + EUR 1,894 a year from 2027	None	24 months after receipt
Buy a /24	Once the transfer is approved	The same LIR fees	About $6,500 (median $25.40/IP)	24 months after the transfer
Lease a /24	Once the lessor assigns it	No LIR needed	About $125 a month ($0.49/IP)	No, the block is not yours

Sources for the address column: the ip4.market 90-day median of $25.40 per IP over 80 /24 sales to 2026-10-26, and the IPv4Center all-region /24 lease average of $0.49 per IP per month, page updated 2026-10-28. A broker fee comes on top of a purchase: DCXV's published fee for a /24 deal is EUR 2.00 per IP.

Waiting does not save LIR fees: an allocated /24 goes only to a RIPE NCC member, from the queue or from a seller. Take a company that opens an LIR for January 2027 and files on day one. With a 15-month wait the /24 arrives around April 2028, after two annual invoices: EUR 1,000 + EUR 1,894 + EUR 1,894 = EUR 4,788 before a single address works. The 2028 fee is not set yet; we assume it stays at EUR 1,894. Buying in January 2027 costs the same EUR 2,894 in year one plus about $6,500 for the block, and the addresses work in the first quarter instead of the second year. Fee details: RIPE charging scheme 2027.

The bridge: lease while you wait

If you need an LIR anyway, a waiting-list request costs nothing extra, so file it on day one. The open question is what you run on until the /24 arrives. A leased /24 at the October 2026 average of $0.49 per IP costs about $125 a month: about $1,880 for 15 months, about $2,380 for 19. That is the real price of waiting; compare it with about $6,500 to buy. Buying wins on timing and certainty, not on asset value: a waiting-list /24 is worth as much as a bought one once its 24 months are over. The full trade-off is in IPv4 lease vs buy, and lease terms are on /ipv4/lease.

When an LIR only for the queue does not pay

Some companies open an LIR just to collect a waiting-list /24 and sell it. With fees held at EUR 1,894: sign-up in January 2027, the /24 around April 2028, the 24-month hold over around April 2030. By then the LIR has paid EUR 1,000 plus four annual fees (2027 to 2030), EUR 8,576. That is more than the October 2026 median of about $6,500 for a /24 at any EUR/USD rate above 0.76. The plan works only if prices rise well above the October 2026 level.

Decision guide

• Addresses needed within a quarter: buy or lease. The queue cannot help.
• You run or will open an LIR, IPv4 needed later: file the request on day one; it costs nothing beyond membership.
• Addresses needed now, own LIR wanted: buy or lease what you need now and keep the queue request.
• IPs only for your servers: lease, with no LIR at all.
• A /24 to resell: by these numbers the queue route costs more in fees than a /24 sold for in October 2026.

For a quote on a /24 for your timeline, see the IPv4 desk or email ipv4@dcxv.com.