boringproxy 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?
boringproxy
Simple self-hosted reverse proxy and tunnel manager
VS
pgrok
Self-hosted ngrok alternative for sharing local services
| Feature | boringproxy | pgrok |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,381 | ★ 3,546 |
| First released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok |
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 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 boringproxy or pgrok better?
Neither is universally better. pgrok has the larger community, while boringproxy is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are boringproxy and pgrok free and open-source?
Yes. boringproxy is licensed under MIT and pgrok under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run boringproxy and pgrok with Docker?
boringproxy: yes. pgrok: yes.