The purpose of this list is to track and compare tunneling solutions. This is primarily targeted toward developers and self-hosters who want to do things like exposing a local webserver via a public domain name, with automatic HTTPS.

The dream

I started this list because I'm looking for a simple tool/service that does the following:

• Allows me to register a domain name and automatically points the records at the server running the tunnels.
• Automatically sets up and manages HTTPS certificates (apex and subdomains) for the domain.
• Provides a client tool that tunnels HTTP/TCP connections through the server without requiring root on the client.
• Provides a simple interface to allow me to map X domain/subdomain to Y port on Z client, and proxy all connections to that domain.

So far I haven't found a tool that does all of this. In particular, while some of them can do automatic certs through Lets's Encrypt, none of them integrate the domain registration and DNS management.

UPDATE: boringproxy is my take on a solution to this problem. It's in beta but currently solves everything above except auto DNS management, and that's planned.

Open source (at least with a reasonably permissive license)

• frp - Seems to be a pretty comprehensive open alternative to ngrok.
• ngrok 1.0 - Original version of ngrok. No longer developed in favor of the commercial 2.0 version.
• localtunnel - Written in node. Popular suggestion.
• inlets - Open source ngrok alternative. Has pro option.
• sshuttle - 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.
• ZeroTier - Layer 2 overlay network.
• chisel - SSH under the hood, but still uses a custom client binary. Supports auto certs from LetsEncrypt.
• expose - ngrok alternative written in PHP.
• Pritunl - Seems quite comprehensive and complicated. OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPSec support.
• teleconsole - SSH-based, but uses special client script. Focused on forwarding SSH console sessions, but can also forward ports.
• go-http-tunnel - Uses a single HTTP/2 connection for muxing. Need to manually generate certs for server and clients.
• sish - Open source ngrok/serveo alternative. SSH-based but uses a custom server written in Go. Supports WebSocket tunneling.
• tunnelto - Open core (MIT). Written in Rust.
• PageKite - Comprehensive open source solution with hosted options.
• Crowbar - Tunnels TCP connections over HTTP GET and POST requests.
• tunneller - Open source. Written in Go.
• jprq - Another home-grown Golang solution. Proxies over WebSockets.
• docker-tunnel - Simple Docker-based nginx+SSH solution.
• remotemoe - 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.
• holepunch.io - Has nice hosted solution. Uses SSH for muxing.
• SirTunnel - Minimal, self-hosted, 0-config alternative to ngrok. Similar to sish but leverages Caddy+OpenSSH rather than custom server code.
• tnnlink - SSH-based. Golang. Not maintained.
• StaqLab Tunnel - SSH-based. Client is open source. Server doesn't appear to be.
• 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.
• Telebit - Written in JS. Code.

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.
• Tailscale - Built on WireGuard. Easy to use. Doesn't include an HTTPS proxy on the public side, but could be combined with nginx/Caddy/etc. Some code available, but I'm not sure what the implications of the custom license is.
• Loophole - Offers end-to-end TLS encryption with the client automatically getting certs from Let's Encrypt. QR codes for URL sharing.
• CloudFlare Argo Tunnel - $5/mo + $0.1/GB. Integrates with Argo smart routing. Client source code is available.
• 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.
• Lynk - Advertises itself as a cheaper, faster, self-hostable (but not open source) alternative to ngrok. Blog post.
• 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.
• serveo - Mentioned quite a bit the last couple years, but appears to be down currently. Simply uses SSH for tunneling.

Blog posts

• Roll your own Ngrok with Nginx, Letsencrypt, and SSH reverse tunnelling
• Poor man's ngrok with tcp proxy and ssh reverse tunnel
• How I built Ngrok Alternative (jprq)

Discussions

• HN comment about needing Namecheap + CloudFlare + ngrok.