awesome-tunneling README

The project's README from github.com/anderspitman/awesome-tunneling. As one markdown file: README.md.

UPDATE 2026-08-10: I did a lot of backlog cleanup over the weekend. I used AI to help with automation and write comments, but I tried to make all the yes/no decisions myself. Some things almost certainly slipped through the cracks. If you feel your issue/PR was closed in error, please comment so I can take a closer look.

UPDATE 2026-02-16: Given the sensitive nature of tunneling tools, I'm going to start requiring at least 100 GitHub stars on any new additions. Projects not hosted on GitHub and commercial offerings will be handled case-by-case. Feel free to open an issue if you see a problem with this policy.

What is this list for

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

The dream

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

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

Recommendations

Open source (at least with a reasonably permissive license)

Commercial/Closed source

Overlay networks and other advanced tools

Reference

Discussions

awesome-tunneling (anderspitman/awesome-tunneling)

Searching Database…

What is this?A curated list of tunneling tools and services (alternatives to ngrok, Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale, and ZeroTier) that let you expose a local server to the internet, with a focus on self-hosting.
Is this one big list or organized into categories?It is organized by category, starting with open source tools (with license and language noted for each), and the author explicitly separates recommendations from the full catalog.
Where should I start if I just want something that works?The author recommends Cloudflare Tunnel for most people, Pangolin or frp for production self-hosting, and SirTunnel for developers who want something minimal to hack on.
Do these tools need their own client software, or can I use plain SSH?It varies per entry: several (like SSH-J.com, srv.us, tunnl.gg) work with just a standard OpenSSH client and no extra software, while others (frp, rathole, chisel, sish) require installing a custom client/server binary.
Is there a tool here that does everything the author wants?No — as of writing, the author still hasn't found one tool that combines automatic domain registration/DNS, automatic HTTPS certs, a rootless client, and a simple GUI all together.
Who is this list for?Self-hosters and developers who want to expose a local webserver via a public domain with automatic HTTPS, even behind NAT or a restricted network.
Does the list avoid untrustworthy or unmaintained projects?The maintainer now requires at least 100 GitHub stars for new entries due to the sensitive nature of tunneling tools and reviews additions manually, though some unmaintained projects remain flagged in the list.
What kind of problem does tunneling software actually solve?It lets a server sitting behind NAT or a restricted network (like a home computer) expose a local service to the public internet through a relay, without port forwarding or a public IP.
Are entries actively curated or just dumped in?Yes, the maintainer actively curates: issues/PRs get reviewed (with AI-assisted triage for comments), and new entries must meet a 100-star threshold unless they are notable commercial offerings.
Does the list cover non-open-source options too?Yes, it covers both open source projects (each tagged with license and implementation language) and closed-source commercial services like Cloudflare Tunnel.
Why does the author maintain this instead of just using ngrok?The author wants a tool that combines domain registration, automatic DNS, automatic HTTPS certs, a rootless client, and a simple GUI — something no single existing tool (including ngrok) fully provides.
Size
0.4 MB
Stars
22K
Updated
CommitOct 06
Age
6y
Commits · 90 Days