Why Does "What Is My IP" Show a Different Answer on Different Sites?
You check your IP address on one site, then check it again somewhere else a minute later, and the numbers don't match. Nothing is broken. This happens for a handful of ordinary reasons, and once you know what to look for, it's easy to tell which result you should actually trust.
You might be comparing your public and private IP
The most common cause is that you're not actually comparing the same thing twice. Your router settings, phone Wi-Fi settings, or a network app on your computer will usually show your local (private) IP address, something like 192.168.1.24. A browser-based tool like what is my IP address here shows your public IP address, the one assigned by your internet provider and visible to the rest of the internet. These are two different addresses answering two different questions, so they'll never match, and that's expected.
Your connection is using a VPN or proxy
If you have a VPN turned on, any IP checker will show the VPN server's address instead of your actual one. Turn the VPN off, refresh the page, and check again. If the number changes back to something tied to your own internet provider, the VPN was the reason for the mismatch. The same applies to browser proxy extensions, some of which redirect your traffic without an obvious on/off toggle.
Your network uses both IPv4 and IPv6
Because most connections today are dual-stack, a checker might return your IPv6 address one time and your IPv4 address the next, depending on which protocol the specific site or tool prioritizes. Both numbers are correct, they're just different formats for the same connection. If you want to see both listed together instead of guessing which one a tool is showing you, check your IP address here rather than piecing it together from separate tools.
Your IP address changed between checks
Most home internet connections use dynamic IP addresses, meaning your provider can reassign a new one periodically, sometimes every time your router restarts. If you checked your IP an hour ago and it's different now, that's often just a normal reassignment rather than an error in either tool.
The tool itself is outdated or cached
Some IP lookup tools cache results or pull from a slower backend, so what they show can lag behind your actual current address by a few minutes. If a result looks obviously wrong, like showing a location or ISP you don't recognize at all, run a quick IP lookup again on a tool that updates in real time rather than trusting a stale cached result.
So which result is the accurate one?
For your public IP address specifically, the most reliable check is a tool that queries your connection directly at the moment you load the page, rather than one relying on a cached database. Verify your public IP here and it reflects your connection as it is right now.
If the IP address itself looks correct but the location attached to it seems wrong, that's a separate and very common issue tied to how ISPs register their address blocks, not to the IP address being inaccurate. That's covered in detail in why your IP address might show the wrong location.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my ipv4 from official network and online check different? This almost always means one source is showing your private local address (assigned by your own router) and the other is showing your public address (assigned by your internet provider). Both are correct, they're just measuring different things.
Is there a most accurate way to check my IP address? A tool that reads your connection live, without relying on a cached result, will be the most accurate for your current public IP. Check what is my IP address here for a live result.
Can two devices on the same Wi-Fi show different public IP addresses? No. Every device on the same home network shares the same public IP address. If two devices show different results, one of them likely has a VPN active.
Does restarting my router change my IP address? Often, yes. Many providers assign a new dynamic public IP address when your router reconnects, which is a normal part of how most home internet plans work.