ngrok

ALMOST

A weekend of work, and real gaps remain.

A public address for something running on your laptop: a tunnel from their edge to your local port, with a stable domain, TLS and a request inspector.

Promptfree, for everyone, and the only version there is

Build the tunnel on a server you already have.

STACK
- A small VPS with a public address, plain OpenSSH, Caddy in front

THE TUNNEL
- Remote port forwarding: ssh -R binds a port on the server to a port on your laptop
- GatewayPorts clientspecified in the server config, or the bind stays on localhost and nothing reaches it
- Caddy terminates TLS and proxies a subdomain to that port; certificates are automatic

KEEPING IT UP
- autossh, or a systemd user service with restart on failure
- ServerAliveInterval so a dead connection is noticed rather than hanging

THE INSPECTOR, WHICH IS THE PART WORTH COPYING
- A tiny proxy in front of your app that records method, headers and body of every request
- A page listing them with a replay button; replaying a webhook while debugging is the whole reason people pay for this

SECURITY
- Never expose a development machine without at least basic authentication in Caddy

Include the SSH config, the Caddyfile and the inspector.

What you lose

A global edge with low latency wherever the caller is, which one small server cannot match
A request inspector that lets you replay a webhook you just received
Reserved domains, TLS and authentication configured rather than assembled

If you would rather not build

Cloudflare Tunnel, free for most uses
Plain SSH remote forwarding, which needs no software at all

The escape hatch

open source · no votes, no paid placement

frp

A fast reverse proxy for exposing a local server, self-hosted on both ends.

fatedier/frpfree · open source

localtunnel

A simple tunnel with a server you can run yourself.

localtunnel/localtunnelfree · open source

Why this verdict

our own opinion · changed only by a person

62/100

Verdict kinda at 62. The tunnel is four lines of SSH; the replayable request inspector is what takes a weekend and what you actually miss.

History

tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten

Interest · last 30 days

Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.

Questions about ngrok

answered from the record above

Is ngrok free?

No — the plan we track is $8 a month. Personal at $8/month billed monthly, cheaper annually; a free tier gives a rotating address.

Can you replace ngrok by building your own?

ALMOST. A weekend of work, and real gaps remain. Replacement score 62 out of 100, build time a weekend. Read what you lose before you decide.

How much does ngrok cost?

$8 a month on Personal — $96 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.

What do you lose by replacing ngrok?

A global edge with low latency wherever the caller is, which one small server cannot match; A request inspector that lets you replay a webhook you just received; Reserved domains, TLS and authentication configured rather than assembled. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to ngrok?

Yes: frp, localtunnel. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.

Related entries

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All 36 in Dev tools

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