awesome-tunneling

Tunneling alternatives

A curated list of tunneling solutions focused on self-hosting and decentralization

List of ngrok/Cloudflare Tunnel alternatives and other tunneling software and services. Focus on self-hosting.

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Recommendations
Cloudflare Tunnel For most people, I currently recommend . Although it's closed source, this is the production-quality service that gets the closest to achieving the dream. It's also a loss-leader for Cloudflare's other products which means they can offer it for free
frp 86,463 14 days ago If you want to self-host, there are many options. For something production ready is probably what you want. If you're a developer, I'd recommend starting with my own project and modifying it for your needs. For non-developers and those wanting more of a GUI experience, I created . It's my take on a comprehensive tunnel proxy solution. It's in beta but currently solves almost everything I want. Once the server is running this is a very easy tool to use and has some nice features

Open source (at least with a reasonably permissive license)
Telebit Written in JS.
tunnel.pyjam.as No custom client; uses WireGuard directly instead. Written in Python
SSH-J.com Public SSH Jump & Port Forwarding server. No software, no registration, just an anonymous SSH server for forwarding. Users are encouraged to use it for SSH exposure only, to preserve end-to-end encryption. No public ports, only in-SSH connectivity. Run and it will display usage information
frp 86,463 14 days ago Comprehensive open alternative to ngrok. Supports UDP, and has a P2P mode. Supports multiplexing over TCP (single connection or pool), QUIC, and KCP
ngrok 1.0 24,183 7 months ago Original version of ngrok. No longer developed in favor of the commercial 2.0 version
localtunnel/localtunnel Written in node. Popular suggestion
chisel 13,601 about 2 months ago SSH under the hood, but still uses a custom client binary. Supports auto certs from LetsEncrypt. Written in Go
sshuttle 11,787 21 days ago Open source project originally from one of the founders of Tailscale. Server doesn't require root; client does. Explicitly designed to avoid TCP-over-TCP issues
rathole 9,775 5 months ago Similar to frp, including the config format, but with improved performance. Low resource consumption. Hot reload. Written in Rust
bore 8,640 about 1 month ago Minimal tunneling solution. MIT Licensed. Written in Rust
expose 4,246 about 2 months ago ngrok alternative written in PHP
sish 4,018 7 days ago Open source ngrok/serveo alternative. SSH-based but uses a custom server written in Go. Supports WebSocket tunneling
wstunnel 4,310 13 days ago Proxies over WebSockets. Focus on proxying from behind networks that block certain protocols. Written in Rust with executables provided
gost Looks like a comprehensive option. TCP and UDP tunneling. TAP/TUN devices. Load balancing. Web API. Written in Go
progrium/localtunnel 3,195 over 2 years ago As far as I know this is the first ever tool of this kind, predating ngrok and the other localtunnel. No longer maintained, but here for posterity. MIT License. Written in Go
go-http-tunnel 3,239 7 months ago Uses a single HTTP/2 connection for muxing. Need to manually generate certs for server and clients
pgrok/pgrok 3,206 17 days ago A multi-tenant HTTP reverse tunnel solution through SSH remote port forwarding
zrok Aims for effortless sharing both publicly and privately. Supports multiple types of resources, including HTTP endpoints and files. Built on OpenZiti (see overlay section below). Apache 2 License. Written in Go
portr Has a JavaScript/Python admin page and request inspection/replay features. AGPL-3.0 License. Tunneling implemented in Go
tunnelto Open source (MIT). Written in Rust
piko 1,897 6 days ago Piko is an open-source alternative to Ngrok, designed to serve production traffic and be simple to host (particularly on Kubernetes). MIT License. Written in Go
gsocket/Global Socket The Global Socket Toolkit allows two users behind NAT/Firewall to establish a TCP connection with each other. Securely. Written in C
SirTunnel 1,352 8 months ago Minimal, self-hosted, 0-config alternative to ngrok. Similar to sish but leverages Caddy+OpenSSH rather than custom server code
boringproxy Designed to be very easy to use. No config files. Clients can be remote-controlled through a simple WebUI and/or REST API on the server
Tunnelmole 1,271 22 days ago Open source and optionally self hostable. The client and server are both written in TypeScript
jprq 968 20 days ago Proxies over WebSockets. Written in Go
Wiretap 853 6 days ago Transparent tunneling over WireGuard (UDP) using userspace network stack. Root not required on server. Supports multiple clients and servers. Written in Go
PageKite Comprehensive open source solution with hosted options
onionpipe 526 7 days ago Onion addresses for anything. forwards ports on the local host to remote Onion addresses as Tor hidden services and vice-versa. Written in Go
Crowbar 473 almost 4 years ago Tunnels TCP connections over HTTP GET and POST requests
tunneller 477 3 months ago Open source. Written in Go
tunnel 325 about 1 year ago This one is a Golang library, not a program you can just run. However, it looks easy to use for creating custom solutions. Uses a single TCP socket, and for multiplexing
jerson/pgrok Fork of ngrok 1.0, with more recent commits. Archived
remotemoe 278 6 months ago SSH-based, with custom golang server. Does some cool unique things. Instead of just plain tunnels, it drops you into a basic CLI UI that offers several useful commands interactively, such as adding a custom hostname. Also allows end-to-end encryption for both HTTPS and upstream SSH. Doesn't appear to offer non-e2e HTTPS, ie no auto Let's Encrypt support
docker-tunnel 260 over 2 years ago Simple Docker-based nginx+SSH solution
hypertunnel 240 almost 2 years ago Public server appears to be down. MIT Licensed. Written in JavaScript
tunwg 221 2 months ago Wireguard in userspace based. Offers end to end encrypted TLS with LetsEncrypt certificates generated automatically by clients, with support for custom domains. Server can be self-hosted and doesn't require storing any data
reverse-tunnel 182 about 1 year ago Support TCP and UDP tunnels. Has docker images. Supports Let's Encrypt. MIT License. Written in Go
gt 121 23 days ago Supports peer-to-peer direct connection (P2P) and Internet relay. Focus on performance. Written in Go
jkuri/bore 84 8 months ago Reverse HTTP/TCP proxy via SSH. Written in Go
EXPOSE SSH-based open source tool, with no configuration or installation, distributed worldwide, to expose your local services. Uses your GitHub username and public SSH keys to authenticate you and provide you with a short personalised URL. AGP-3.0 License. Written in Python
srv.us SSH-based. Terminates TLS. Hostnames based on your key, optionally GitHub and/or GitLab username. 0BSD License. Written in Go
holepunch 58 about 5 years ago Uses SSH for muxing. Domain has expired. AGP-3.0 Licensed. Written in Python
docker-wireguard-tunnel 62 8 days ago Connect two or more Docker servers together sharing container ports between them via a WireGuard tunnel
cactus-tunnel 44 5 months ago 🌵 A charming TCP tunnel over WebSocket and Browser. Written in TypeScript
chiSSL 48 3 months ago Lightweight version of Chisel that allows you to expose local servers running on your development machine to the internet with valid SSL certificates. MIT License. Written in Go
specter 26 8 months ago Interesting approach utilizing a DHT. QUIC transport. MIT License. Written in Go
tnnlink 24 over 3 years ago SSH-based. Golang. Not maintained
ngtor 24 11 days ago Easily expose local services via Tor. Written in Java
Punchmole 10 5 months ago Can be integrated directly into an existing Node.js project. Written in JavaScript
ephemeral-hidden-service 5 7 months ago Create ephemeral Tor hidden services from the command line. Written in Python
netmask 4 6 months ago A TCP/UDP self-hostable network tunneling solution that supports IPv4 and IPv6. Client has a GUI. MIT License. Written in Python
tunnelite 13 24 days ago A self-hostable tunneling solution for TCP, HTTP and WS connections over websockets. CLI client. MIT License. Written in .NET

Commercial/Closed source
ngrok 2.0 Probably the gold standard and most popular. Closed source. Lots of features, including TLS and TCP tunnels. Doesn't require root to run client
Cloudflare Tunnel Excellent free option. Nicely integrates tunneling with the rest of Cloudflare's products, which include DNS and auto HTTPS. Client is Apache 2.0 licensed and written in Golang
Microsoft Dev Tunnels Not as useful for self-hosting (no custom domains and it shows warnings when people visit the URLs), but a solid option for dev work
Livecycle Docker Extension Offer much more than just tunneling. Have a collaboration layer (Dashboard) that allows you to bring collaborations, debug, and gather feedback from the people you are working with. Share HTTPS URLs
Beeceptor Goes beyond tunneling. Rest API mocking and intercepting tool. You can view the live requests and send mocked responses. Written in JavaScript
Pinggy SSH based single command HTTPS / TCP / TLS tunnels, no downloads required. Rich terminal interface and a web debugger. Free tier - 60 min timeout. The paid tier allows custom domains with built-in Let's Encrypt certificates
Loophole Offers end-to-end TLS encryption with the client automatically getting certs from Let's Encrypt. QR codes for URL sharing. The client is open source. Can serve a local directory over WebDAV. MIT License. Written in Go
localhost.run Simple hosted SSH option. Supports custom domains for a cost
Packetriot Comprehensive alternative to ngrok. HTTP Inspector, Let's Encrypt integration, doesn't require root and Linux repos for apt, yum and dnf. Enterprise licenses and self-hosted option
Horizon Tunnel Easy to use HTTP(S) and websocket tunneling aimed at development. Free tier available. Fixed URL is part of paid plans
Hoppy WireGuard-based. Provides static IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for your machines, which is a simple and useful level of abstraction. Targeted towards self-hosters and people behind NATs
gw.run Specifically focusing on securely exposing internal web apps to a group of people; not for publicly facing apps. Share access via email address then allow users to log in with common login providers like Google
SSHReach.me Paid SSH-based option. Uses a simple Python script
KubeSail Company offering tunneling, dynamic DNS, and other services for self-hosting with Kubernetes
inlets Used to be ; now focused on a polished commercial offering. Designed to work well with Kubernetes
LocalToNet Supports UDP. Free for a single tunnel. Paid supports custom domains
LocalXpose Looks like a solid paid option, with a limited free tier
playit.gg Specifically marketed as tunneling for game servers. Client is open source. Server is not. Has a free tier. TCP and UDP supported. Custom domains and dedicated IPs available. Client written in Rust
Tabserve.dev Web UI that runs entirely in the browser and uses a Cloudflare Worker for https
Serveo SSH-based, signup optional, offering HTTP(S) and TCP tunneling and SSH jump host forwarding capabilities
Homeway Secure and private remote access for Home Assistant. The free tier has a monthly data limit cap, but unlimited data is only $2.49/month
btunnel Expose localhost and local tcp server to the internet. The free plan includes file server, custom http request and response headers, basic auth protection and 1 hour tunnel timeout
remote.it Tunnels SSH, HTTP/S, TCP, Docker, popular database etc. allows mapping a local port to a remote port
StaqLab Tunnel SSH-based. The client is open source. The server doesn't appear to be
LocalCan MacOS app for exposing local apps, has custom domains with built-in Let's Encrypt certificates. It also can publish .local domains on the local network
Openport.io Open-source client, written in Go. Supports HTTP(S) and TCP. REST Api. No account needed. Web dashboard. Also works on ESP32
Lokal.so HTTP/TCP/UDP Tunneling & Debugging, zero-config .local address with https, built-in S3 Server, AI Assistant, available as Desktop GUI, Web, REST API, and *CLI, available on Mac, Windows and Linux

Overlay networks and other advanced tools
headscale 23,430 8 days ago Open source implementation of Tailscale control server. Can be used with Tailscale's official open source client. Written in Go
Tailscale Built on WireGuard. Easy to use. Control server is closed source. Client available with a BSD3 license + separate patents file
Teleport Comprehensive control plane tool, but also supports behind NATs. Written in Go
Nebula 14,583 6 days ago Peer-to-peer overlay network. Developed and used internally by Slack. Similar to Tailscale but completely open source. Doesn't use WireGuard. Written in Go
ZeroTier Layer 2 overlay network. They take decentralization seriously, and like to say "decentralize until it hurts, then centralize until it works." Written in C++
Netmaker 9,518 6 days ago Layer 3 peer-to-peer overlay network and private DNS. Similar to Tailscale, but with a self-hosted server/admin UI. Runs kernel WireGuard so very fast. Apache 2.0 License. Written in Go
NetBird 11,151 6 days ago NetBird is an open-source VPN management platform built on top of WireGuard® making it easy to create secure private networks for your organization or home
Firezone Layer 3/4 overlay network. Runs on kernel WireGuard® and supports SSO using generic OIDC/SAML connectors. Distributed under Apache 2.0 license and written in Elixir/Rust
n2n - Built on nodes and supernodes. GPL-3.0 license. Written in C
innernet 5,006 28 days ago Similar to Netmaker, Nebula, and Tailscale. Takes advantage of existing networking concepts like CIDRs and the security properties of WireGuard to turn your computer's basic IP networking into more powerful ACL primitives. Written in Rust
Portals for Mac 4,471 6 days ago A Mac app that uses the library to privately share a service on your Mac to anyone, anywhere. The service is shared securely over an end-to-end encrypted Ockam Portal. Apache 2.0 License. Written in Rust
Pritunl Seems quite comprehensive and complicated. OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPSec support
Tinc 1,967 3 months ago Tinc is a peer-to-peer VPN daemon that supports VPNs with an arbitrary number of nodes. Instead of configuring tunnels, you give Tinc the location and public key of a few nodes in the VPN. After making the initial connections to those nodes, tinc will learn about all other nodes on the VPN, and will make connections automatically. When direct connections are not possible, data will be forwarded by intermediate nodes. Written in C
OpenZiti - Overlay network. The goal of OpenZiti is to extend zero trust all the way into your application, not just to your network. Apache 2.0 license. Written in Go
weron 1,821 3 months ago - Built on WebRTC. Can create Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks. NAT traversal via STUN and TURN. AGPL-3.0 license. Written in Go
bifrost 537 7 days ago Bifrost is a peer-to-peer communications engine with pluggable transports. It supports dynamic configuration of transports, listeners, forwarding rules, and can tunnel other protocols over WebRTC and Quic. Apache 2.0 License. Written in Go
Ngrok-operator 102 over 1 year ago Ngrok but integrated with Kubernetes, allows developers on private Kubernetes to easily access their services via Ngrok
chisel-operator 80 7 days ago Kubernetes integration for Chisel. Similar functionality to inlets. MIT License. Written in Rust
frp-operator 38 5 months ago Kubernetes integration for . MIT License. Written in Go
Mycoria Overlay network where the IPv6 address is the key: Easily share address + public key via a DNS AAAA record or map names locally. Secure by default (firewall included). BSD-3 license. Written in Go

Reference
Roll your own Ngrok with Nginx, Let's Encrypt, and SSH reverse tunnelling
Poor man's ngrok with tcp proxy and ssh reverse tunnel
How I built Ngrok Alternative (jprq)
Great SO answer by AJ ONeal about how these things work
Talk by AJ ONeal about tunneling tech
ngrok alternative: localtunnel + Caddy + Lets Encrypt
Can You Grok It - Another DIY tunnel blog post

Discussions
HN comment about needing Namecheap + Cloudflare + ngrok

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