VPN Detection

VPN detection is a critical feature for PPP discounts. Without it, users from high-income countries could use a VPN to appear as if they’re from a lower-income country and get undeserved discounts.

How It Works

GoPayLocal uses two layers of VPN detection:

1. ASN (Autonomous System Number) Checking

Every IP address belongs to an ASN — a network identifier. VPN providers operate their own networks with recognizable ASNs. GoPayLocal maintains a list of known VPN/proxy ASNs and checks incoming requests against it.

Examples of VPN ASNs:

• AS9009 — M247 (hosts many VPN providers)
• AS20473 — The Constant Company (Vultr, used by WireGuard services)
• AS13335 — Cloudflare Warp

2. Open-Source IP Lists

GoPayLocal uses curated open-source IP lists that track known VPN, proxy, and data center IP ranges. These lists are updated regularly and stored in a Cloudflare KV namespace for fast edge lookups.

Sources include:

• Open-source VPN IP databases
• Data center IP ranges (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.)
• Known proxy/relay services

Detection Flow

1. Visitor's IP → Extract ASN
2. Check ASN against known VPN ASN list
3. Check IP against known VPN/proxy IP ranges
4. If match → return show: false with reason: "vpn_detected"
5. If no match → proceed with normal PPP logic

Accuracy

Method	Accuracy	False Positives
ASN checking	High	Very low
IP list matching	Medium-High	Low
Combined	High	Very low

The combined approach catches the vast majority of consumer VPN services (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, etc.) while maintaining very low false positive rates.

Known Limitations

• New VPN services may not be in the lists until they’re added
• Residential proxies are harder to detect (they use residential IP addresses)
• Corporate VPNs may trigger false positives if their exit nodes are in known data centers
• Tor exit nodes are detected via IP lists

What Happens When a VPN Is Detected

When a VPN is detected, GoPayLocal responds with:

{
  "show": false,
  "country": "IN",
  "countryName": "India",
  "reason": "vpn_detected"
}

The banner is not shown, and no discount is offered. The visitor sees the original price.

Note

VPN detection does not block the visitor or show an error. It simply withholds the PPP discount. The visitor can still purchase at full price.

Upgrading Detection

The free tier uses open-source ASN and IP lists. For higher accuracy, GoPayLocal supports integration with paid VPN detection services:

Service	Method	Coverage
Open-source lists (default)	ASN + IP lists	Good
IPQualityScore	Real-time API	Excellent
MaxMind GeoIP	Database lookup	Very good
IP2Location	Database lookup	Very good

Paid detection services are available on Business plans or as an add-on.

Configuration

VPN detection is enabled by default and cannot be disabled on a per-campaign basis (it’s a security feature). However, you can:

1. Allowlist specific IPs — Useful for testing from known VPN connections
2. Allowlist specific ASNs — Useful for corporate networks

Configure allowlists in the dashboard under Settings > Security.

Testing VPN Detection

To test VPN detection:

1. Connect to a VPN service
2. Visit your page with the GoPayLocal banner
3. The banner should not appear
4. Check the API response for "reason": "vpn_detected"

Or test via the API directly:

# Without VPN — should return show: true
curl https://api.gopaylocal.com/v1/banner/config/gpl_pk_live_abc123

# With VPN — should return show: false, reason: vpn_detected
# (make the request through a VPN)

Tip

VPN detection is a key differentiator for GoPayLocal. Neither ParityDeals nor Evendeals offer VPN detection in their free plans.