frp vs noVNC
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?
frp
Fast reverse proxy to expose local servers behind NAT
VS
noVNC
VNC client that runs entirely in the browser
| Feature | frp | noVNC |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | bare-metal, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 108,622 | ★ 13,911 |
| First released | 2016 | 2010 |
| Replaces | ngrok | RealVNC |
Why pick each one
Choose frp if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 108.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose noVNC if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 13.9k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is frp or noVNC better?
Neither is universally better. frp has the larger community, while noVNC is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are frp and noVNC free and open-source?
Yes. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and noVNC under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run frp and noVNC with Docker?
frp: yes. noVNC: yes.