expose vs localtunnel
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | expose | localtunnel |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 52 · Fair |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,574 | ★ 22,486 |
| First released | 2020 | 2015 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok |
What are expose and localtunnel?
expose
expose is an open-source, PHP-based tunneling tool that shares local websites with anyone via a secure public URL. The server can be fully self-hosted on your own domain.
- Self-hosted tunnel server
- Custom domains and subdomains
- Request inspection
- Built with Laravel
localtunnel
localtunnel exposes a local web server through a public URL without configuring DNS or firewalls. The server component is open source and can be self-hosted.
- Public URL for localhost
- Self-hostable server
- No DNS configuration
- Useful for webhooks
expose vs localtunnel: key differences
Expose is written in PHP, while localtunnel is built with JavaScript. Localtunnel is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for expose. Localtunnel is the more established project (first released 2015), while expose arrived in 2020. Localtunnel has the considerably larger community, at 22,486 GitHub stars versus 4,574.
Why pick each one
Choose expose if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Choose localtunnel if…
- Zero configuration
- Free public URLs
- Self-hostable server
Watch out for
- Public server unreliable
- Limited security controls
Frequently asked questions
Is expose or localtunnel better?
localtunnel is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider expose if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are expose and localtunnel free and open-source?
Yes. expose is licensed under MIT and localtunnel under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run expose and localtunnel with Docker?
expose: yes. localtunnel: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, expose or localtunnel?
localtunnel has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for expose. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.