Best Open Source Alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel

Compare the best free and open-source alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel — self-hosted and desktop replacements you fully control, ranked by GitHub stars, license and platform support.

Curated by open-source.store · Updated November 2026 · 5 alternatives

Cloudflare Tunnel

Proprietary SaaS

PricingFree

Platformsweb, linux, windows, macos

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Cloudflare Tunnel alternatives compared

Open-source alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel, compared by stars, license and platform
Tool		License	Platforms	Self-hosted
frp	110,395	Apache-2.0	LinuxmacOSWindows	No	Nov 2026	Visit
Tailscale	38,574	BSD-3-Clause		No	Nov 2026	Visit
Netbird	30,622	—	DockerLinux	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
Chisel	16,722	MIT	LinuxmacOSWindows	No	Oct 2026	Visit
Rathole	14,409	Apache-2.0	LinuxmacOSWindows	No	Aug 2026	Visit

Top open-source Cloudflare Tunnel alternatives

frp110,395Apache-2.0

frp is an open-source reverse proxy replacing ngrok and Cloudflare Tunnel with self-hosted TCP, UDP, and HTTP tunneling without SaaS subscription fees.

LinuxmacOSWindows

vs Cloudflare Tunnel: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed Apache-2.0.

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Tailscale38,574BSD-3-Clause

Tailscale creates secure, peer-to-peer WireGuard mesh networks between distributed servers and devices without central gateways or port forwarding.

vs Cloudflare Tunnel: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed BSD-3-Clause.

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Netbird30,622

NetBird is an open-source WireGuard overlay network and ZTNA alternative to ZeroTier and Twingate with peer-to-peer routing and SSO integration.

DockerLinux

vs Cloudflare Tunnel: a free, open-source option you fully control.

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Chisel16,722MIT

Chisel is an open-source TCP/UDP tunnel over HTTP that replaces commercial services like Packetriot with self-hosted, SSH-secured port forwarding.

LinuxmacOSWindows

vs Cloudflare Tunnel: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed MIT.

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Rathole14,409Apache-2.0

Rathole is an open-source Rust reverse proxy providing high-throughput, self-hosted NAT traversal as an alternative to commercial ngrok tunnels.

LinuxmacOSWindows

vs Cloudflare Tunnel: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed Apache-2.0.

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Best Open Source Alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel

Cloudflare Tunnel

Cloudflare Tunnel alternatives compared

Top open-source Cloudflare Tunnel alternatives

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