gTunnel vs tunnelmole
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?
gTunnel
Robust TCP tunneling solution over gRPC
VS
tunnelmole
Open-source tunnel to expose local servers to the internet
| Feature | gTunnel | tunnelmole |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 273 | ★ 1,885 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok, localtunnel |
Why pick each one
Choose gTunnel if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose tunnelmole if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is gTunnel or tunnelmole better?
tunnelmole is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider gTunnel if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are gTunnel and tunnelmole free and open-source?
Yes. gTunnel is licensed under GPL-3.0 and tunnelmole under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run gTunnel and tunnelmole with Docker?
gTunnel: yes. tunnelmole: yes.