bore vs RPort
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | bore | RPort |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 0 · At risk |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,506 | ★ 21 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | ngrok | TeamViewer, ngrok |
What are bore and RPort?
bore
bore is a modern, simple TCP tunnel tool that exposes local ports to a remote server. It is a tiny self-hostable alternative to ngrok with just a few hundred lines of code.
- Minimal TCP tunnel
- Self-hostable server
- Optional secret auth
- Tiny codebase
RPort
RPort is an open-source remote management solution that lets you access and control servers and desktops behind firewalls. It provides tunnels, scripting, and a web UI.
- Remote access behind firewalls
- On-demand tunnels
- Script execution at scale
- Web management UI
bore vs RPort: key differences
Bore is written in Rust, while RPort is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for bore versus GPL-3.0 for RPort. Bore is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for RPort. RPort is the more established project (first released 2020), while bore arrived in 2022. Bore has the considerably larger community, at 11,506 GitHub stars versus 21.
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 11.5k GitHub stars
Choose RPort if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is bore or RPort better?
bore is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider RPort if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are bore and RPort free and open-source?
Yes. bore is licensed under MIT and RPort under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run bore and RPort with Docker?
bore: yes. RPort: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, bore or RPort?
bore has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for RPort. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.