Replace / ngrok
Replace ngrok with frp / rathole
The best open-source alternative to ngrok is frp or rathole, self-hosted on Railway. Tunnels you host. frp and rathole are Apache-2.0 — ngrok without the tunnel meter.
Estimated save $1,200 a year.
Open the stackStart on Railway
How ngrok compares
| ngrok | frp / rathole | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Hosted subscription | Open-source or fair-code license; you pay the host |
| Hosting | Vendor cloud | Self-hosted on Railway or any VPS |
| Rough monthly cost | Public list price not verified this run | Hosting only — no SaaS seat meter in this repo |
- frp
Apache-2.0 fast reverse proxy (server + client)
- rathole
Apache-2.0 Rust tunnel if you want a smaller binary
FAQ
- Is it free?
- The frp / rathole licenses are open source or fair-code. You still pay hosting (Railway or any VPS) and any APIs the stack calls. There is no ngrok seat or task bill on this path.
- Can I migrate from ngrok?
- Yes. Start with the workflows or data you actually use, then cut over. The frp / rathole stack page has the agent prompt and the cost table; most teams rebuild the slice that matters and leave old ngrok links until they expire.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open the frp / rathole stack, copy the agent prompt, and deploy on Railway (one service, PORT, and a volume when the app needs disk). Placeholder: frp server (or rathole server) on Railway with a public domain; the client stays on the machine you are exposing. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway.
- What does this replace?
- ngrok. The published small-team estimate on this stack is $1,200 a year.
Related pages
Stack of the Week
Get one stack a week that replaces a SaaS bill.