RIR Membership Fees: Models and Transfer Charges
RIR membership fees are charges for registry services, not the price of IPv4 addresses. Compare account setup, annual obligations and transfer processing separately. The relevant total depends on the legal holder, resource type, aggregate holdings and whether the account is direct or administered through another registry or sponsor.
Compare the fee models
| Registry | Annual charges | Account setup | Transfer charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| RIPE NCC | EUR 1,800 per LIR account, plus EUR 75 per independent resource assignment and EUR 50 per ASN assignment where applicable. | EUR 1,000 sign-up fee for a new membership or additional LIR account; specific legacy-holder exceptions apply. | No separate ordinary resource-transfer processing charge in the 2026 charging scheme; membership and resource charges still apply. |
| ARIN | USD 275 annually for the 3X-Small category (/24 or smaller IPv4, subject to IPv6 and ASN holdings); larger aggregate holdings can raise the category. | USD 50 to create an organization record. Initial annual RSP fees are separate. | USD 500 source request fee for an ordinary transfer within the region or between registries; the ARIN recipient also pays a size-based processing fee (USD 187.50 for a /24) and applicable RSP fees. A merger or acquisition transfer request has a USD 500 fee. |
| APNIC | Resource-based formula; the 2026 IPv4 base is AUD 1,295 with bit factor 1.320. IPv4 and IPv6 are assessed separately and the larger result applies. | AUD 500 sign-up fee, subject to the schedule's exemptions. | Normally 20% of the annual fee calculated for the transferred resources, paid by the recipient or by the APNIC source for outbound inter-RIR transfers. An initial IPv4 transfer to an account holding no IP addresses is charged the annual fee instead; other exemptions apply. |
| LACNIC | In 2026, direct LACNIC ISP Nano accounts pay USD 633 annually; end-user IPv4 renewal is also USD 633. The initial charge, category and NIR relationship differ. | An initial direct LACNIC end-user /24–/19 assignment costs USD 2,637 under the 2026 schedule; NIR billing and ordinary-transfer opening charges differ. | The published ordinary intra/inter-RIR administrative fee is USD 1,037 for /24 to below /19, or USD 1,555 for /19 and larger. The USD 200 down payment is included; account-category charges are separate. |
| AFRINIC | Separate LIR and end-site categories based on aggregate holdings; the recipient's category can change at renewal. | Allocation or assignment fees can apply for new members and additional resource requests, depending on the approved resources. | The published fee page states no transfer fee between existing resource members in its M&A guidance. New recipients can owe allocation/assignment and membership fees; confirm the applicable route before budgeting. |
Amounts describe the effective 2026 schedules checked on 8 November 2026. They are in each registry’s billing currency, without foreign-exchange conversion. Account-specific taxes, discounts, exemptions and invoices can change the amount payable. A future schedule already published on a registry website does not apply to an earlier billing period.
Get the applicable schedule
Only the registry can issue its invoice. These primary sources are the places to verify effective dates, category boundaries and exceptions:
- RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2026.
- ARIN fee schedule — select the effective year.
- APNIC Member Fee Schedule.
- LACNIC membership categories and fees.
- AFRINIC fees and payment.
LACNIC amounts are not reduced to a single universal transfer fee here: the transfer route, account category and NIR relationship must match the invoice. AFRINIC’s published no-transfer-fee wording is in its M&A guidance; it should not be generalized to every new-member or resource request.
Calculate the cost of the actual account
| Line | Input to collect |
|---|---|
| Setup | New legal entity or existing account; required agreement; initial fee |
| Annual service | Holdings before and after receipt, IPv4 and IPv6 totals, ASN count and account category |
| Transaction | Ordinary, inter-RIR or M&A route; source and recipient charges |
| Third-party administration | Sponsoring LIR or NIR charges and what they include |
| Billing adjustments | Effective year, renewal date, prorating where allowed, taxes and applicable discounts |
A /24 added to an existing account does not necessarily have the same annual effect as a /24 in an otherwise empty account. For ARIN, another resource type can determine the service category. For APNIC, the larger of the IPv4 and IPv6 fee calculations governs the ordinary annual address-based charge.
For RIPE sponsorship, the registry charge invoiced to a member and the sponsor’s commercial service fee are different amounts. Use RIR versus LIR responsibilities to identify whose invoice you are comparing.
Worked check: a first ARIN /24
For a qualifying new organization with only an IPv4 /24, these are the recipient’s 2026 registry line items. The annual account charge is called the Registration Services Plan (RSP):
New recipient, first /24 — 2026 rates, USD
- Create a new Org ID One-off
- 50
- Recipient processing: /24 transfer One-off
- 187.50
- RSP: /24 or smaller (3X-Small) Annual
- 275
- First full year
- 512.50
The source’s USD 500 request fee is separate. The example excludes tax, address purchase, brokerage and escrow; existing accounts or additional resources can change the invoice.
Keep registry fees separate from acquisition costs
Registry invoice
Registry services
Account setup, annual service and transfer processing. Identify the source or recipient responsible for each charge.
Transaction budget
Commercial costs
Address payment, brokerage and escrow. Itemize these separately from the registry charges.
Use transfer requirements to establish the route first. For a purchase quotation, ask for every charge’s payer and due milestone, then check the registry invoice.