gTunnel vs pgrok
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 | pgrok |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 8 · At risk | 79 · Good |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 274 | ★ 3,648 |
| First released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok |
What are gTunnel and pgrok?
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
pgrok
pgrok is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to ngrok for exposing local web servers to the internet via secure tunnels. It uses SSH for transport and is simple to deploy.
- SSH-based tunneling
- Self-hosted server
- Custom subdomains
- Lightweight Go binary
gTunnel vs pgrok: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for gTunnel versus MIT for pgrok. GTunnel is the more established project (first released 2020), while pgrok arrived in 2023. Pgrok has the considerably larger community, at 3,648 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 pgrok if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is gTunnel or pgrok better?
Neither is universally better. pgrok has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are gTunnel and pgrok free and open-source?
Yes. gTunnel is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pgrok under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run gTunnel and pgrok with Docker?
gTunnel: yes. pgrok: yes.