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.
| Feature | gTunnel | tunnelmole |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 8 · At risk | 66 · Good |
| 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 | ★ 274 | ★ 1,892 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok, localtunnel |
What are gTunnel and tunnelmole?
gTunnel
gTunnel is a self-hosted TCP tunneling tool built on gRPC that can forward and reverse-forward ports between a server and connected clients through firewalls. It is run as a server and client pair.
- gRPC-based tunneling
- Forward and reverse ports
- Firewall traversal
- Server-client model
tunnelmole
Tunnelmole is an open-source tunneling tool that gives local web servers a public URL. The client and server are both open source so the entire service can be self-hosted.
- Public URLs for local apps
- Self-hostable server
- No signup needed
- Cross-platform client
gTunnel vs tunnelmole: key differences
GTunnel is written in Go, while tunnelmole is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for gTunnel versus MIT for tunnelmole. GTunnel is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for tunnelmole. Tunnelmole has the considerably larger community, at 1,892 GitHub stars versus 274.
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.
Which is lighter on resources, gTunnel or tunnelmole?
gTunnel has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for tunnelmole. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.