SHSelfHostIndex

boringproxy vs gTunnel

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?
BO boringproxy Simple self-hosted reverse proxy and tunnel manager VS GT gTunnel Robust TCP tunneling solution over gRPC
FeatureboringproxygTunnel
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score15 · At risk8 · At risk
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM64 MB64 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerdocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 1,384★ 274
First released20202020
Replacesngrokngrok

What are boringproxy and gTunnel?

boringproxy

boringproxy is a simple but powerful tool for tunneling from a public server to a private machine, with automatic HTTPS. It is designed to be boringly reliable and easy to run.

  • Automatic HTTPS
  • Single binary
  • Web admin UI
  • Self-hosted tunneling

gTunnel

gTunnel is a self-hosted TCP tunneling tool built on gRPC that can forward and reverse-forward ports between a server and connected clients through firewalls. It is run as a server and client pair.

  • gRPC-based tunneling
  • Forward and reverse ports
  • Firewall traversal
  • Server-client model

boringproxy vs gTunnel: key differences

Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — MIT for boringproxy versus GPL-3.0 for gTunnel. Boringproxy has the considerably larger community, at 1,384 GitHub stars versus 274.

Why pick each one

Choose boringproxy if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
boringproxy details

Choose gTunnel if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Go
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
gTunnel details

Frequently asked questions

Is boringproxy or gTunnel better?

boringproxy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider gTunnel if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are boringproxy and gTunnel free and open-source?

Yes. boringproxy is licensed under MIT and gTunnel under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run boringproxy and gTunnel with Docker?

boringproxy: yes. gTunnel: yes.

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