# rustunnel

> rustunnel is an open-source, self-hosted tunnel server written in Rust. Expose local HTTP, TCP, and UDP services to the internet — for webhooks, sharing a dev server, or AI agents — through the managed cloud or your own server. A self-hostable ngrok alternative.

## Start here

- [rustunnel](https://rustunnel.com): Product overview, pricing, and FAQ for the managed cloud.
- [Documentation index](https://rustunnel.com/docs/llms.txt): Curated index of all docs pages; the full docs as one markdown file are at https://rustunnel.com/docs/llms-full.txt.
- [Quickstart](https://rustunnel.com/docs/quickstart.md): Install the client, sign in with an API token, and expose your first local service over HTTPS.

## Use cases

- [Use cases hub](https://rustunnel.com/use-cases): Solution pages for commercial intent — webhook testing, share localhost, AI agents/MCP, TCP/SSH, game servers, IoT.
- [Test webhooks locally](https://rustunnel.com/use-cases/webhook-testing): Public HTTPS for Stripe/GitHub/SaaS callbacks to localhost.
- [Share local dev server](https://rustunnel.com/use-cases/share-localhost): Expose localhost to clients and teammates.
- [AI agents / MCP tunnel](https://rustunnel.com/use-cases/ai-agents): Let agents open tunnels via MCP in plain language.

## AI tools and agents

- [Agent manual (agents.md)](https://rustunnel.com/agents.md): Canonical copy-paste recipes for AI agents — install, open a tunnel, get the public URL, tear down, troubleshoot a 502 — plus an FAQ for agents.
- [AI tools hub](https://rustunnel.com/ai-tools): Per-harness setup pages with install one-liners and agent-ready prompts for Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP client.
- [Using rustunnel from an AI agent or LLM harness](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/agent-integration.md): Copy-paste MCP config for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and any custom MCP client.
- [MCP Tunnel Server](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/mcp-server.md): Any MCP-compatible agent can create, list, and close tunnels with six dedicated tools.
- [Claude Code Tunnel Plugin](https://rustunnel.com/docs/guides/claude-plugin.md): One-command MCP install for Claude Code.
- [Agent skill](https://rustunnel.com/skills/rustunnel): Teach your agent rustunnel with one command — npx skills add https://rustunnel.com/skills/rustunnel
- [Platform API OpenAPI spec](https://rustunnel.com/openapi.yaml): Machine-readable OpenAPI 3.1 description of api.rustunnel.com (auth, API keys, usage, billing).

## Blog

- [Best ngrok Alternatives in 2026 — Open Source, Free & Self-Hosted](https://rustunnel.com/blog/best-ngrok-alternatives): The best ngrok alternatives in 2026, ranked honestly: rustunnel, Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale Funnel, Pinggy, LocalXpose, Zrok, frp, Localtunnel, boringproxy. Comparison table, pricing, self-host notes, and FAQ.
- [ngrok vs rustunnel — Honest Comparison of Pricing, Features & Self-Hosting](https://rustunnel.com/blog/rustunnel-vs-ngrok): ngrok vs rustunnel head-to-head: pricing models (fixed tiers vs pay-as-you-go), open source and self-hosting, TCP/UDP/P2P, custom domains, MCP for AI agents, and when to pick each.
- [rustunnel — The Open-Source ngrok Alternative (Self-Hosted, Pay-As-You-Go)](https://rustunnel.com/blog/ngrok-alternative): Looking for a self-hosted ngrok alternative? rustunnel is open-source (AGPL), pay-as-you-go from $3/mo, and free to self-host. Feature matrix, pricing comparison, FAQ, and when NOT to self-host.
- [All posts](https://rustunnel.com/blog): Engineering blog — self-hosting walkthroughs, tunnel internals, and comparisons.

## Optional

- [rustunnel on GitHub](https://github.com/joaoh82/rustunnel): Source code for the tunnel server, CLI client, and MCP server.