frp 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 | frp | RPort |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 0 · At risk |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 109,574 | ★ 21 |
| First released | 2016 | 2020 |
| Replaces | ngrok | TeamViewer, ngrok |
What are frp and RPort?
frp
frp is a fast reverse proxy that exposes a local server located behind a NAT or firewall to the internet. It supports TCP, UDP, HTTP, and HTTPS tunneling.
- Expose services behind NAT
- TCP, UDP, and HTTP tunnels
- Single binary
- Encryption and compression
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
frp vs RPort: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for frp versus GPL-3.0 for RPort. Frp is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for RPort. Frp is the more established project (first released 2016), while RPort arrived in 2020. Frp has the considerably larger community, at 109,574 GitHub stars versus 21.
Why pick each one
Choose frp if…
- Single lightweight binary
- TCP UDP HTTP tunneling
- Battle-tested and popular
Watch out for
- Needs a public server
- Manual config file editing
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 frp or RPort better?
Neither is universally better. frp has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are frp and RPort free and open-source?
Yes. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and RPort under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run frp and RPort with Docker?
frp: yes. RPort: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, frp or RPort?
frp 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.