A static public IP address is an IP that belongs to you and does not change. It is what makes it possible to run a web server, email server, VPN, game server, or any other service at a stable internet address that the rest of the world can reach.
Most home and small-office internet connections do not ship with one. ISPs hand out dynamic addresses by default, and increasingly sit customers behind CGNAT — a shared IP pool that makes inbound connections effectively impossible. Asking your ISP for a static IP is sometimes an option, but it is usually expensive, limited to business plans, and locked to the one physical location where the line is installed.
The guides below walk through what a static IP actually is, why it matters for self-hosting, the options available (including ISP requests, VPS hosting, and dedicated services like GetPublicIP), and the trade-offs of each approach. If you just want a dedicated, portable public IP delivered to your existing server over a WireGuard tunnel — no router changes, no ISP negotiations, works anywhere — sign up or start here.