bore vs pgrok
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
bore
Modern, simple TCP tunnel in Rust
VS
pgrok
Self-hosted ngrok alternative for sharing local services
| Feature | bore | pgrok |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,363 | ★ 3,546 |
| First released | 2022 | 2023 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok |
Why pick each one
Choose bore if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.4k GitHub stars
Choose pgrok if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is bore or pgrok better?
bore is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider pgrok if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are bore and pgrok free and open-source?
Yes. bore is licensed under MIT and pgrok under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run bore and pgrok with Docker?
bore: yes. pgrok: yes.