rustunnel vs ngrok
An honest comparison of pricing, open source, self-hosting, protocols, and AI-agent support — including when ngrok is still the better pick. We build rustunnel; we still document the trade-offs.
This page is the scannable product comparison. The long-form essay, architecture notes, and migration checklist live in the ngrok vs rustunnel blog post. Same facts, different job.
Feature comparison table
| Feature | rustunnel | ngrok |
|---|---|---|
| Price model | Hobby free · PAYG $3/mo min credited at $0.10/GB · self-host free | Free (limited) · Hobbyist ~$8–10/mo · PAYG $20/mo + usage* |
| Idle cost | $0 while tunnels sit unused (min credited toward usage) | Paid plan fee still applies when endpoints sit idle |
| Custom subdomains | Yes on PAYG & self-host | Paid plans (not free tier) |
| Open source / self-host | AGPL — self-host free forever | Closed source · self-host is Enterprise sales |
| MCP for AI agents | First-class MCP server (Claude Code, Cursor, …) | No first-class MCP product surface |
| P2P tunnels | Yes (direct + relayed) | No equivalent open P2P mode |
| Load balancing + health checks | Named groups with TCP/HTTP probes | Available on higher tiers / product suite |
*ngrok figures from ngrok.com/pricing (checked 2026-07-15). Plans and included usage change — re-verify before budgeting. Deeper dive: long-form ngrok vs rustunnel essay.
When to choose ngrok
Those are real advantages. Pretending otherwise would make this page less useful.
- You want the most recognized brand in the category and zero interest in operatorship.
- Your company already standardized on ngrok (SSO, audit logs, enterprise contracts, BAAs).
- You need traffic policy / enterprise edge features that live deep in ngrok's commercial stack.
- A free or Hobbyist plan covers occasional webhook tests and you do not care about open source.
When to choose rustunnel
Prefer rustunnel when open source, metered bandwidth, or agent control actually matter to the job.
- You want open source + self-host without an enterprise sales process.
- You prefer pay-as-you-go economics where idle time is not a tax.
- You need UDP, P2P, and group load balancing with health checks from one CLI.
- You work with AI agents and want tunnels driven via MCP from Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex.
- You may start on managed cloud and move to self-host later without rewriting tooling.
Try rustunnel in a minute
Hobby is free (two concurrent tunnels, random subdomains). Pay-as-you-go starts at a $3/month floor credited toward usage at $0.10/GB. Self-host stays free under AGPL. No interstitial splash page in front of your traffic.
brew tap joaoh82/rustunnel
brew install rustunnel
rustunnel setup
rustunnel http 3000FAQ
Is rustunnel a free ngrok alternative?+
Yes. rustunnel has a free Hobby tier on the managed cloud (two concurrent tunnels with random subdomains) and the full server is open source under AGPL, so you can self-host with no usage limits. ngrok's free tier is useful for quick demos but is closed source and does not offer a free self-hosted relay.
How does ngrok pricing compare to rustunnel?+
ngrok sells fixed plans (Free with one-time usage credit, Hobbyist around $8–10/month, Pay-as-you-go from about $20/month plus metered usage). rustunnel meters bandwidth at $0.10/GB with a $3/month floor credited toward usage, and idle tunnels cost nothing beyond that floor. Self-hosting rustunnel is free forever.
Can I self-host ngrok?+
Self-hosting the ngrok relay is an Enterprise/sales-gated offering. rustunnel ships the full open-source server under AGPL — install on any VPS with automatic Let's Encrypt and keep full control of data and URLs.
Does rustunnel support TCP and UDP like ngrok?+
Yes. rustunnel supports HTTP/HTTPS, raw TCP, UDP forwarding, and direct peer-to-peer tunnels with QUIC/STUN hole punching. ngrok is strong on HTTP and TCP/TLS endpoints; product surface for UDP and P2P differs by plan and product line.
Which is better for AI agents and Claude Code?+
rustunnel ships an MCP server so agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and others) can open and manage tunnels in natural language. That agent-first surface is a first-class product feature, not an afterthought.