Chisel 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 | Chisel | RPort |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 0 · At risk |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,570 | ★ 21 |
| First released | 2015 | 2020 |
| Replaces | ngrok | TeamViewer, ngrok |
What are Chisel and RPort?
Chisel
Chisel is a fast TCP and UDP tunnel transported over HTTP and secured with SSH. It is a single executable that helps bypass firewalls and provide secure endpoints.
- TCP/UDP over HTTP
- SSH-secured tunnels
- Single binary
- Firewall traversal
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
Chisel vs RPort: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Chisel versus GPL-3.0 for RPort. Chisel is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for RPort. Chisel is the more established project (first released 2015), while RPort arrived in 2020. Chisel has the considerably larger community, at 16,570 GitHub stars versus 21.
Why pick each one
Choose Chisel if…
- Single small binary
- SSH-encrypted tunnels
- Works over plain HTTP
Watch out for
- CLI configuration only
- Sparse documentation
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 Chisel or RPort better?
Neither is universally better. Chisel has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Chisel and RPort free and open-source?
Yes. Chisel is licensed under MIT and RPort under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chisel and RPort with Docker?
Chisel: yes. RPort: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Chisel or RPort?
Chisel 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.