IPv4 Lease vs Buy: The Break-Even Math for a /24

Every network engineer who needs 256 addresses hits the same fork in the road: commit capital to a /24 purchase, or sign a monthly lease and keep the cash. Both routes get you routable space. Both show up on the invoice in very different ways. This article works through the numbers with 2026 market data, not theory.

What does a /24 actually cost to buy right now?

Secondary market sales recorded by IPv4.Global give a realistic picture of per-IP pricing across the four registries. The spread is wide because ARIN space trades at a discount to RIPE, and larger blocks (a /22 or /21) price lower per address than a single /24.

Those totals are before broker fees, escrow, or the RIR transfer charge. Budget another few hundred dollars in transaction overhead on a typical deal.

What does a /24 cost to lease per month?

ip4.market publishes a flat rate with no tiers: EUR 0.50 per address per month, with no setup fees and no minimum commitment. On a /24 (256 addresses), that works out to EUR 128 per month. A /23 runs EUR 256. A /22 runs EUR 512.

Where is the break-even between lease and buy?

The two price lists above are in different currencies, so the crossover is best understood as a ratio rather than a fixed month count. Taking the RIPE /24 purchase price of roughly USD 6,450 to USD 8,190 for 256 addresses, and the ip4.market /24 lease of EUR 128 per month, the purchase price in dollars divided by the monthly lease rate in euros gives a numerical crossover around 50 to 64 month-equivalents. Your actual break-even in real currency depends on the EUR/USD rate your treasury applies, but the magnitude is clear: for any deployment shorter than about four to five years, leasing preserves capital. For space you expect to hold permanently, buying usually wins.

There is a second axis: flexibility. A lease can be cancelled when a project ends. A purchased /24 either has to be resold (tying you to the market and to broker timelines) or sits unused on your books. If there is any chance you will need fewer addresses in two years, that alone tips the math back toward leasing.

What about the hidden costs on each side?

Buying is not a one-line transaction. In addition to the per-IP price, you pay escrow (a small percentage of the sale price), a broker commission if you use one, and the RIR transfer fee. On the lease side, look at what the contract says about cancellation notice, SLA, and what happens if the block gets delisted from a reputation service mid-lease. At ip4.market the published terms include continuous reputation monitoring and a stated 100/100 reputation score on listed blocks.

How do you calculate your own break-even month?

Run the comparison with your own numbers before signing anything. Take the quoted purchase price per IP for the block size and region you actually need, multiply by the address count, and add the transaction overhead: escrow, broker commission, and the RIR transfer fee. Then take the quoted monthly lease rate, multiply by twelve, and divide the first figure by the second. The result is the number of years after which owning would have been cheaper. If your project plan ends before that number, leasing preserves capital; if the space is permanent, the purchase usually wins. Run the same calculation at two different per-IP prices, because the market moves and your negotiating position will too.

When does buying a /24 make more sense than leasing?

Buying wins in three situations. First, permanent space: a core allocation you expect to hold for the life of the company will almost always be cheaper owned than rented forever. Second, collateral value: a purchased block is a balance-sheet asset that can be financed against or resold, which matters to organizations that think in terms of assets rather than expenses. Third, control: an owner sets its own ROAs, WHOIS contacts, and routing policy without needing a lessor’s signature on anything. If any of those three describes your situation, the premium of buying over leasing is the price of that control.

When does leasing a /24 make more sense?

Leasing wins when capacity is uncertain. A new regional deployment, a VPN exit-node pool, a mail relay cluster, or a customer commitment that might double or vanish next quarter are all classic lease cases. The monthly rate is a rounding error next to a five-figure purchase, there is nothing to resell when the project ends, and cancellation terms at flat-rate lessors are simple. For project work under a couple of years, the lease route keeps the engineering decision decoupled from the finance decision, which is usually what a small ISP or hosting operator actually wants.

FAQ

How much does a /24 cost to buy in 2026?

Recent sales recorded by IPv4.Global show /24 blocks changing hands between roughly $13.50 and $32 per IP, depending on the RIR. That puts a full /24 in the range of $3,500 to $8,200 before fees, with ARIN space at the low end and RIPE at the high end.

How much does it cost to lease a /24 per month?

At ip4.market, a /24 leases for EUR 128 per month (EUR 0.50 per address), with no setup fee and no minimum commitment. Annual cost is EUR 1,536. Larger blocks scale linearly.

Is leasing IPv4 space cheaper than buying?

For deployments under roughly four years, leasing is almost always cheaper in cash terms. Beyond that, ownership usually wins for space you will never return. The exact crossover depends on FX rates at the time of purchase and on transaction fees.

What hidden costs come with buying IPv4 addresses?

Expect broker commissions, escrow fees, and an RIR transfer charge on top of the per-IP price. Budget a few hundred dollars in overhead on a typical /24 transfer. Also factor in staff time for due diligence and paperwork.

What hidden costs come with leasing IPv4 space?

Read the contract for cancellation notice period, minimum term, and SLA guarantees. Ask what happens if the block lands on a blocklist mid-lease. A reputable lessor will replace the block or handle delisting at no charge.

Can I switch from leasing to owning later?

Yes, in the sense that a lease can run alongside a purchase search. Nothing prevents you from leasing today and buying a block next quarter. The lease just covers the gap; it does not lock you out of future ownership.