ngrok is a globally distributed reverse proxy fronting your web services, running in any cloud or private network, or your machine. It allows you reach your localhost behind a NAT or firewall from the internet.

In this article we are going to explore six of the best ngrok alternatives and find out about the services they offer. We will consider the top features of each solution.

ngrok: A quick overview

ngrok (opens in a new tab) is the programmable network edge that adds connectivity, security, and observability to your apps with no code changes.

ngrok provides both a cloud-hosted and a self-hosted versions, but these two versions are functionally different. The Self-hosted ngrok was open source in version one, but became proprietary software more than 6 years ago.

Here are some of its top features (though not all are free)…

• Protect services with OAuth, SAML and OIDC.
• Support for HTTP, TLS, and TCP based protocol.
• Automatic certificates and an A+ SSL report card with no config.
• Use custom ngrok subdomain or your own custom domain.
• Support for wildcard domain.
• Cross-platform, one executable, Any OS, any CPU architecture.
• Runs as a background service.

Pricing:

ngrok provides three plans (opens in a new tab) starting from the free, Pro ($25) and Enterprise ($75) per license per month, a license has 20 tunnels.

So now that you know a bit about what ngrok has to offer, let’s next look at five top ngrok alternatives that may be a good fit for you.

Top 6 ngrok Alternatives to Try

1. LocalXpose (opens in a new tab)
2. Expose (opens in a new tab)
3. inlets (opens in a new tab)
4. Tunnelin (opens in a new tab)
5. Pagekite (opens in a new tab)
6. Openport (opens in a new tab)

1. LocalXpose

LocalXpose (opens in a new tab) is a reverse proxy that enables you to expose your localhost behind a NAT of firewall to the internet, no need to spend time configuring the cloud, no port forwarding, no dynamic DNS, no VPN, no jump hosts, instantly access your intranet with one line.

LocalXpose is extremely feature-rich without being intimidating for beginners to use.

Main Features:

• Unlimited Connections.
• GUI version.
• Support for HTTP/s, TLS, TCP and UDP protocols.
• Automatic Lets Encrypt certificate.
• Custom LocalXpose subdomain or your own custom domain.
• Support for wildcard custom domain.
• Cross-platform, one executable, Any OS, any CPU architecture.
• Key and basic authentication protection.
• Can run as a background service.
• Requests logging and inspection.

Pricing:

LocalXpose has a simple pricing, it provides two plans (opens in a new tab), the free and the Pro ($6) per seat per month. A Pro version has all the features included. A seat has 10 tunnels and 10 reservations.

2. Expose

Expose (opens in a new tab) is a tunnel application that allows you to share your local sites and applications with others on the internet. It is written in PHP.

Expose provides both a cloud-hosted and a self-hosted versions, the two versions are functionally same.

Main Features:

• Support for HTTP/s and TCP protocols.
• Basic authentication protection.
• Custom Expose subdomain.
• Automatic TLS/SSL certificates.
• Impressive UI for HTTP requests inspection.

Pricing:

Expose provides four plans (opens in a new tab), the Hobby, the Pro ($59 /user/year), Business $499 /year, Enterprise.

3. inlets

inlets (opens in a new tab) makes it easy to connect to services in any network conditions, including NAT, firewalls, HTTP proxies, containers and kubernetes.

Main features:

• Supports HTTP/s and TCP protocols.
• Automatic Let's Encrypt certificates.
• Custom domains.
• Native Kubernetes support.

Pricing:

inlets has three plans (opens in a new tab), Personal ($19.99/mo), Business ($249.99/mo) and Enterprise plan.

4. Tunnelin

Tunnelin (opens in a new tab) exposes web services running on personal computers or local servers sitting behind firewalls and NATs to the public internet over secure tunnels.

Main Features:

• Device monitoring.
• Sophisticated firewall functionality.
• API integrations.

Pricing:

Tunnelin provides three plans (opens in a new tab), Free, Pro ($8) and Enterprise.

5. Pagekite

Pagekite (opens in a new tab) is a system for connecting your localhost servers to the public Internet, giving them names and making them globally accessible. It works on most common operating systems and it doesn't matter what kind of Internet connection you have.

Main Features:

• Support for HTTP/s and TCP protocols.
• Custom Pagekite subdomain.
• Basic authentication protection.

Pricing:

Pagekite comes with one plan (opens in a new tab) ($4/mo).

6. Openport

Openport (opens in a new tab) is a reverse ssh service. It allow you to connect to a port on your machine from the internet.

Main Features:

• Support for HTTP/s and TCP protocols.
• Can run as a background service.

Pricing:

Openport has four plans (opens in a new tab) the free, home ($5/m), educational ($0) and the enterprise.

Self hosted ngrok alternatives:

• Boringproxy (opens in a new tab)
• FRP (opens in a new tab)
• rathole (opens in a new tab)
• sish (opens in a new tab)
• localtunnel (opens in a new tab)

We tried to highlight a few ngrok alternatives for accessing your localhost from the internet. Hopefully, this has saved you some time, and you may have even uncovered a new one.