Skip to content
appsgit

6 self-hosted options

Open-source alternatives to ngrok

The best open-source alternatives to ngrok are sish, Pangolin and frp.

About ngrok: A tunneling service that exposes local servers to the internet.

Every option below is free to self-host and ranked by GitHub stars, so you can move off ngrok without giving up the features you rely on.

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    sish

    antoniomika/sish

    HTTP(S)/WS(S)/TCP tunnels to localhost using only SSH (serveo/ngrok alternative).

    Proxy & VPNGoDocker
  2. Rank 2:

    Pangolin

    fosrl/pangolin

    Identity-aware tunneled reverse proxy with dashboard UI, access control, and WireGuard-based tunnels (alternative to Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale).

    Web Servers & Reverse ProxiesTypeScriptDocker
  3. Rank 3:

    frp

    fatedier/frp

    Fast reverse proxy that exposes local servers behind NAT to the internet.

    Proxy & VPNGoDocker

Why switch

Why teams move off ngrok

Self-hosting is not only about saving money. These are the reasons people make the switch.

  • Own your data

    Your data lives on a server you control, not on ngrok's infrastructure. No surprise policy changes and no lock-in.

  • No per-seat pricing

    Open-source alternatives to ngrok are free to run for as many users as your server can handle. A small VPS often costs less than a single subscription.

  • Customize and extend

    Read the code, add plugins, connect it to your own tools and automate it through open APIs. When you need a feature, you can build it or fund it.

Full ranking

All 6 ngrok alternatives

Ranked by GitHub stars. Open any app for live stats, license details and a deploy option.

  1. 1

    sish

    HTTP(S)/WS(S)/TCP tunnels to localhost using only SSH (serveo/ngrok alternative).

  2. 2

    Pangolin

    Identity-aware tunneled reverse proxy with dashboard UI, access control, and WireGuard-based tunnels (alternative to Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale).

  3. 3

    frp

    Fast reverse proxy that exposes local servers behind NAT to the internet.

  4. 4

    Rathole

    Secure, high-performance reverse proxy for NAT traversal written in Rust.

  5. 5

    OpenZiti

    Fully-featured, zero trust, full mesh overlay network. Includes a 2FA support out of the box, clients for all major desktop/mobile OS'es.

  6. 6

    Traefik

    HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer that makes deploying microservices easy.

FAQ

ngrok alternatives: FAQ

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open-source alternative to ngrok?

sish is the most popular open-source alternative to ngrok, with 4,786 GitHub stars. Pangolin and frp are also strong choices. Compare features, license and recent activity to find the best fit for your team.

Is there a free alternative to ngrok?

Yes. All 6 apps on this page are open source and free to self-host, so you can run a ngrok replacement without per-user fees. You only pay for the server, and a small VPS is usually enough for personal use or a small team.

Can I self-host an alternative to ngrok?

Yes. sish, Pangolin and frp ship a Docker image, so you can run them on a home server or VPS with Docker Compose in a few minutes. Your data then stays on hardware you control.

How do I migrate from ngrok?

Start by exporting your data from ngrok, then check the import options of the app you pick, since many projects ship importers for popular formats. Run both side by side for a week before you switch so nothing is lost.