boringproxy vs tunnelmole
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | boringproxy | tunnelmole |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 66 · Good |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,384 | ★ 1,892 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok, localtunnel |
What are boringproxy and tunnelmole?
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
tunnelmole
Tunnelmole is an open-source tunneling tool that gives local web servers a public URL. The client and server are both open source so the entire service can be self-hosted.
- Public URLs for local apps
- Self-hostable server
- No signup needed
- Cross-platform client
boringproxy vs tunnelmole: key differences
Boringproxy is written in Go, while tunnelmole is built with TypeScript. Boringproxy is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for tunnelmole.
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)
Choose tunnelmole if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is boringproxy or tunnelmole better?
Neither is universally better. tunnelmole has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are boringproxy and tunnelmole free and open-source?
Yes. boringproxy is licensed under MIT and tunnelmole under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run boringproxy and tunnelmole with Docker?
boringproxy: yes. tunnelmole: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, boringproxy or tunnelmole?
boringproxy has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for tunnelmole. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.