GOST vs zrok
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?
GOST
Versatile secure tunneling and proxy toolkit
VS
zrok
Open-source sharing platform built on OpenZiti
| Feature | GOST | zrok |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,255 | ★ 4,611 |
| First released | 2017 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Chisel, ngrok | ngrok |
Why pick each one
Choose GOST if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 7.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose zrok if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is GOST or zrok better?
Neither is universally better. GOST has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are GOST and zrok free and open-source?
Yes. GOST is licensed under MIT and zrok under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GOST and zrok with Docker?
GOST: yes. zrok: yes.