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IPWhois vs What3Words

Same instrument, two spec sheets — measured, not claimed.

APIIPWhoisHEALTHY100What3WordsHEALTHY96
Uptime · 30d
Uptime · 90d100%100%
Uptime · 30d100%100%
P50 · ms23391
P95 · ms5981181
AuthapiKeyapiKey
CORSyesno
HTTPSnoyes
Card requirednono
Commercial useunclearunclear
Data licenseUnverifiedUnverified
Free tierFree tier — API key may be required for productionFree tier — key may be required
Rate limitUnpublishedUnpublished
In directory since2026-07-052026-07-05
operationalpartialdownno data

IPWhois vs What3Words: common questions

Which is more reliable, IPWhois or What3Words?

Both are neck-and-neck — IPWhois and What3Words each measure 100% uptime over 90 days on our probe schedule. Reliability here is verified from our own scheduled checks; use the 30-day bars above to see which has been steadier lately.

Which is faster, IPWhois or What3Words?

IPWhois has the lower median latency in our checks — IPWhois responds in 23 ms versus What3Words at 391 ms (P50). Tail latency (P95) is in the table above; for most workloads the median is the number that shapes how the API feels.

Do IPWhois and What3Words need an API key?

Both ask you to authenticate — IPWhois uses an API key and What3Words uses an API key. Each key is free to obtain; the Auth and Card-required rows above spell out the signup terms.

Can I call IPWhois and What3Words from the browser?

Neither sends browser-friendly CORS headers reliably, so call IPWhois and What3Words from a server or proxy rather than client-side. The CORS and HTTPS rows above show exactly what we detected for each.

Are IPWhois and What3Words free for commercial use?

IPWhois has unclear commercial terms, and What3Words has unclear commercial terms. We track service terms and the data license as separate fields — see the Commercial use and Data license rows above, and confirm both before shipping either in a paid product.