localtunnel 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?
localtunnel
Expose your localhost to the world for testing
VS
tunnelmole
Open-source tunnel to expose local servers to the internet
| Feature | localtunnel | tunnelmole |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22,440 | ★ 1,885 |
| First released | 2015 | 2021 |
| Replaces | ngrok | ngrok, localtunnel |
Why pick each one
Choose localtunnel if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 22.4k GitHub stars
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 localtunnel or tunnelmole better?
Neither is universally better. localtunnel has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are localtunnel and tunnelmole free and open-source?
Yes. localtunnel is licensed under MIT and tunnelmole under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run localtunnel and tunnelmole with Docker?
localtunnel: yes. tunnelmole: yes.