ngrok
Gives a service on your own machine a public URL, for demos, webhooks and production ingress.
- Verified facts
- 4 of 4
- Alternatives ranked
- 3
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About ngrok
ngrok gives a service running on your own machine a public URL. You run a small agent, point it at a local port, and ngrok forwards HTTPS or TCP traffic from its edge network to you, which makes it handy for showing work in progress, testing webhooks from services like Stripe or GitHub, or reaching a home lab without opening router ports. A built-in traffic inspector lets you see and replay requests. Over time it has grown into a broader API gateway with traffic policies, OAuth and other identity checks, load balancing and Kubernetes ingress, aimed at production traffic as well as development. There is a free plan with a one-time usage credit, a limited number of endpoints and a warning page in front of HTTP endpoints; paid plans add monthly usage credit, custom domains and team features, with usage-based billing on the higher tier. The agent runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and SDKs embed it in apps.
Best for: Developers who need a public URL for a local app or webhook test in seconds.
Pros and cons
What works
- One command gives a local app a public HTTPS URL
- Request inspector and replay help when debugging webhooks
- Can grow into production use with custom domains, auth and policies
Why people leave
- Free plan is tight, with a one-time credit and a warning page on HTTP endpoints
- Custom domains need the Pay-as-you-go plan
- Usage-based billing is harder to predict than a flat fee
Top ngrok alternatives
See all 3- 1
Cloudflare Tunnel66.5Free on Cloudflare's plans, with no open ports and Cloudflare's CDN and DDoS protection in front of your app.
- 2
Microsoft Dev Tunnels62.6No-cost tunnels built into Visual Studio and VS Code, private to your account by default.
- 3
Tailscale50.3Tailscale Funnel publishes a local service, and the same tool links your devices on a private network.
Why people left ngrok
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
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Reviews
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ngrok: common questions
Is ngrok free?
ngrok has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: Yes, $0 with one-time credit (checked on ngrok's own site).
Is ngrok open source?
No, ngrok is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Tailscale.
What platforms does ngrok run on?
ngrok is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.
What are the best alternatives to ngrok?
The highest-ranked ngrok alternatives right now are Cloudflare Tunnel, Microsoft Dev Tunnels and Tailscale. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.