Tunneling solutions let you expose a local web server to the internet.

They create a secure tunnel from the public internet to a web server running on your local machine.

Here are some of the best open-source localhost tunnels, or reverse proxies, for development.

An image of the text ‘open source’ printed out on a typewriter

FRP provides advanced features such as encrypted traffic, load balancing, and custom domain names.

It is widely used for accessing local services from the internet, bypassing firewalls, and improving internet security.

FRP supports many operating systems and is currently the most popular open-source tunneling solution.

FRP is written inGolang, a modern statically typed programming languagedeveloped by Google.

One downside to using FRP is the complexity of its configuration setup.

2.Localtunnel

Localtunnel is a much more user-friendly tunneling solution for beginners to start with.

It currently has 15,000 GitHub stars and good documentation.

This open-source project runs in two parts, the Localtunnel npm package and the Localtunnel-server.

On the other hand, Localtunnel-server allows you to run your own Localtunnel server on a publicly accessible server.

Providing more control and flexibility over the service.

Localtunnel-server provides a simple command-line interface, making it easy to get started.

To use Localtunnel-server, you must have Node.js and npm installed on your system.

Once started, the Localtunnel client will create a public URL pointing to your local web server.

3.Chisel

This is another open-source tunneling solution written in Golang.

One of the key features of Chisel is its performance.

Chisel’s speedy and effective design enables developers to send huge volumes of data securely and quickly.

Chisel provides a simple command-line interface, making it easy for developers to start.

This makes it a great choice for developers.

5.Rathole

Rathole is another open-source tunneling solution, or reverse proxy,written in the Rust language.

Its developers sell it as a reverse proxy for NAT (web link Address Translation) traversal.

This technique establishes and maintains Internet connections for applications and devices that are behind a NAT firewall.

NAT firewalls commonly share a single public IP address among multiple devices.

Still, they tend to cause problems when establishing direct connections to devices behind the firewall.

you’re able to use NAT traversal techniques to overcome the limitations of NAT firewalls.

The outstanding feature unique to Rathole is its low resource consumption.

Meanwhile, the development team is working on more features like hot reloading.

You have options to choose from, from the secure and fast FRP to the user-friendly Localtunnel.

you’re free to support these projects too!