ngrok is the best pick for most developers who want a request inspector, replay, and webhook verification in one place, with Cloudflare Tunnel as the best free pick for a stable named tunnel. Pinggy is the cheapest entry plan in this list at $2.50 per seat per month when billed annually, while LocalXpose Pro costs $8 per month billed annually and localhost.run costs $9 per month billed annually for a stable domain. zrok gives the most generous free transfer allowance in this list at 5 GB per rolling 24-hour period, against ngrok Free at 1 GB per month and 20,000 HTTP requests per month.
This list covers the named service and seven real alternatives, with prices taken from official vendor pages opened on 2026-11-12. Use the decision table near the end to match a tool to your volume, your budget, and your need for a stable address.
On this page
Alternatives to ngrok for webhook forwarding: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ngrok | Webhook testing with inspection and replay | $20 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 2 | Cloudflare Tunnel | Stable named tunnels on a domain you control | $7 per user/month | Yes | Visit |
| 3 | zrok | Free sharing with a large daily transfer allowance | $0 | Yes | Visit |
| 4 | Pinggy | Low-cost SSH tunnels with no install | $2.50 per seat/month | Yes | Visit |
| 5 | LocalXpose | Webhook testing with unlimited bandwidth on Pro | $8 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 6 | localhost.run | Fast SSH tunnels with a stable custom domain | $9 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 7 | Localtunnel | One-off webhook tests with no account | $0 | Yes | Visit |
| 8 | Tailscale Funnel | Sharing a local service with a private mesh network | $8 per user/month | Yes | Visit |
The 8 best alternatives to ngrok for webhook forwardings, in detail
ngrok
Best for: Webhook testing with inspection and replay
ngrok gives a local webhook endpoint a public HTTPS address, and its strongest feature for this job is the Traffic Inspector, which records requests, lets you replay a delivery, and keeps 24 hours of data on the Free plan. The Free plan costs $0 and includes a $5 one-time usage credit, up to 3 online endpoints, 1 GB of transfer per month, 20,000 HTTP requests per month, 5,000 TCP connections per month, and 500 webhook verifications per month. The Hobbyist plan adds 5 GB of transfer, 100,000 HTTP requests, and up to 10 ngrok-branded domains, and it removes the interstitial page.
- The Pay-as-you-go plan carries a $20 per month base fee that includes $20 of usage, unlimited online endpoints, 3 users included and then $5 per user,
- Skip it when your webhook volume is high and the 1 GB free transfer cap would push you to a higher plan sooner than a flat-rate tunnel would.
Pros
- Built-in Traffic Inspector with replay
- 500 webhook verifications per month on Free
- OAuth and OIDC sign-in for endpoints
Cons
- Free plan allows only 1 GB of transfer and 20,000 HTTP requests per month
- custom domains cost $0.01 per active hour on Pay-as-you-go
Cloudflare Tunnel
Best for: Stable named tunnels on a domain you control
Cloudflare Tunnel runs through the cloudflared connector, which makes an outbound-only connection from your machine to the Cloudflare edge, so no inbound port needs to open. A named tunnel gives you a stable hostname on a domain you control, which suits a webhook endpoint that a provider must keep calling over days or weeks. Cloudflare Access can sit in front of the tunnel, and the Zero Trust Free plan covers up to 50 users at $0, with 24 hours of log retention.
- Once you pass 50 Zero Trust users, the pay-as-you-go rate is $7 per user per month.
- Skip it when you need a request inspector with replay, because Cloudflare Tunnel does not offer the same webhook debugging view that ngrok provides.
Pros
- Tunnel is included on all Cloudflare plans, including Free
- named tunnels keep a stable hostname
- Access sign-in is free for up to 50 users
Cons
- A named tunnel needs a domain on Cloudflare
- quick tunnels cap in-flight requests at 200
zrok
Best for: Free sharing with a large daily transfer allowance
zrok is an open-source sharing platform built on OpenZiti, and it shares a local web service, file, or drive through a public or private share without opening firewall ports. The hosted Free plan costs $0, needs no credit card, and allows 5 GB of bandwidth per rolling 24-hour period, 25 environments, 50 share backends, and 50 private access frontends. The trade-off is that a running share is disabled once you pass the daily limit, and it stays disabled until usage drops back under the limit.
- Reserved shares and custom domains are not part of the free hosted plan, and commercial options for production workloads, service levels, and dedicate
- Skip it when you need a guaranteed stable custom domain on a self-serve plan, because that is not published as a fixed price.
Pros
- Free plan allows 5 GB of transfer per rolling 24-hour period
- self-hosting is open source under Apache 2.0
- private shares and OAuth sign-in are available
Cons
- Custom domains need a commercial option
- unverified free accounts show an anti-phishing page on first visit
Pinggy
Best for: Low-cost SSH tunnels with no install
Pinggy starts a tunnel with one SSH command and nothing to install, which makes it the fastest option in this list for a first webhook test. The free tier needs no sign-up, tunnels run for 60 minutes, and it includes HTTP, TCP, TLS, and UDP tunnels, unlimited transfer, header changes, and a web debugger for request inspection and replay. Pro costs $3 per month, or $2.50 per seat per month when billed annually, and each seat includes one persistent TCP or UDP port.
- Pro adds persistent subdomains, custom and wildcard domains, persistent TCP and UDP ports, teams, remote device management, and it removes the screeni
- Skip it when a 60-minute free session is too short for a long test, because the free address changes on every reconnect and the provider must be updat
Pros
- No install needed for HTTP, TCP, and TLS tunnels
- unlimited bandwidth
- UDP tunnels and apex domains on Pro
Cons
- Free tunnels last 60 minutes and get a new address each time
- UDP tunnels need the Pinggy CLI
LocalXpose
Best for: Webhook testing with unlimited bandwidth on Pro
LocalXpose gives a service on a private machine a public address through an outbound connection, so it works behind carrier-grade NAT and on networks where you do not control the router. Starter tunnels are time limited and visitors see an interstitial warning page, so Starter suits short tests rather than a shared demo that must stay up all day. Pro costs $8 per month, or $96 per year when billed annually, and includes 10 tunnels, HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, TLS, and UDP tunneling, TCP and UDP port forwarding, custom subdomains and domains, wildcard tunnels, automatic certificates, 24/7 availability, and unlimited bandwidth.
- Choose it when you want 10 tunnels and no transfer meter for $8 per month.
- Skip it when you need raw TCP or UDP on the free plan, because those protocols are held for Pro.
Pros
- Pro includes unlimited bandwidth and 10 tunnels
- Starter covers HTTP and HTTPS at $0
- automatic certificates on every tunnel
Cons
- Starter allows only 2 active HTTP or HTTPS tunnels and shows an interstitial warning page
- TCP and UDP forwarding need Pro
localhost.run
Best for: Fast SSH tunnels with a stable custom domain
localhost.run is the most minimal tool in this list, with SSH and nothing else, so a tunnel starts with one command and no config file. The service describes the free tier as free with no session time limit, and the main free limits are the rotating domain and speed-limited traffic, with no auth or allowlisting features on that tier. A Custom Domain subscription costs $9 per month when billed annually and gives your tunnel a stable domain and a priority share of bandwidth.
- You can use your own domain or a subdomain of lhr.rocks, and you can connect up to 5 tunnels at the same time.
- Choose localhost.run when you want the simplest possible tunnel and a stable domain for $9 per month.
- Skip it when you need to inspect and replay webhook payloads, because that view is not part of the service.
Pros
- No client to install, one SSH command starts a tunnel
- Custom Domain plan allows up to 5 tunnels at the same time
- TLS passthrough is available on the Custom Domain plan
Cons
- Free domain rotates on every new connection and traffic is speed-limited
- no built-in request inspector or replay view
Localtunnel
Best for: One-off webhook tests with no account
Localtunnel is an open-source npm package that gives a local port a public HTTPS address in one command, with no account and no dashboard. You can request a subdomain, which helps when you need a readable address for a short test, and the tool works on Windows, macOS, and Linux through Node.js. The address is not permanent, and once you stop the command the subdomain can be handed to another user.
- Traffic passes through a community-run relay, so Localtunnel suits a quick local test and not a webhook that carries sensitive data or must stay up fo
- Choose it when you want zero setup and zero cost for a single test.
- Skip it when you need a stable address, access control, or a record of past deliveries.
Pros
- No account, no sign-up, and no request cap is published
- requested subdomains are available
- the server can be self-hosted
Cons
- No built-in request inspector or replay
- the address is gone when you stop the command and can be handed to someone else next
Tailscale Funnel
Best for: Sharing a local service with a private mesh network
Tailscale Funnel publishes a local service from a device in your tailnet to the public internet, and it is a feature of a private mesh network rather than a standalone tunnel product. Funnel is available on all plans, including Personal, and the TLS connection ends on your own device, so the traffic is decrypted on hardware you control. The limits are narrow and matter for webhook work.
- Funnel listens only on ports 443, 8443, and 10000, and it handles HTTPS only, so raw TCP or UDP is out of scope.
- A Funnel address always uses a ts.net name, with no custom domain option, and Tailscale states that Funnel traffic is subject to bandwidth limits that
- Standard costs $8 per user per month and Premium costs $18 per user per month.
- Choose Funnel when your team already uses Tailscale and you want public access without a second tunnel tool.
Pros
- Funnel is included on every plan, including the free Personal plan
- TLS ends on your own device
- Personal covers up to 6 users with unlimited user devices
Cons
- Funnel listens only on ports 443, 8443, and 10000
- no custom domain option, only ts.net names
How we chose
We kept only tools that give a local service a public HTTPS address that a webhook provider can call, and we checked each price and limit on an official vendor pricing page or official docs page opened on 2026-11-12. A tool qualified when it could forward an HTTP webhook to localhost, when its free or entry plan was published, and when its limits were stated in numbers rather than vague claims. We did not test any tool hands-on. Prices and plan limits come from official vendor pricing pages and docs opened today, and a price that was not published is written as quote only. The unique angle in this list is the billing difference inside ngrok itself: Hobbyist endpoints stop when the $10 monthly usage credit runs out, while Pay-as-you-go endpoints keep running and overuse is billed, so Pay-as-you-go buys continuity that the lower plan does not.
Which option fits your webhook work
| Situation | Pick | Why the numbers fit |
|---|---|---|
| You need inspection and replay | ngrok | Free includes 500 webhook verifications per month and a Traffic Inspector with replay |
| You want a stable address at $0 | Cloudflare Tunnel | Named tunnels are included on Free, and Access is free for up to 50 users |
| You forward a high volume for free | zrok | Free allows 5 GB per rolling 24-hour period, against 1 GB per month on ngrok Free |
| You want the lowest entry price | Pinggy | Pro is $2.50 per seat per month when billed annually, with unlimited bandwidth |
| You want 10 tunnels and no transfer meter | LocalXpose | Pro is $8 per month billed annually, with 10 tunnels and unlimited bandwidth |
| You want the simplest SSH tunnel | localhost.run | Free needs no sign-up, and a stable domain is $9 per month billed annually |
| You want a one-off test with no account | Localtunnel | $0, no account, and a public HTTPS address in one command |
| Your team already runs Tailscale | Tailscale Funnel | Funnel is included on Personal at $0 for up to 6 users, for non-commercial use |
Frequently asked questions
Which alternative to ngrok is best for webhook forwarding?
ngrok is the best pick for most developers because its Traffic Inspector records each delivery, lets you replay it, and includes 500 webhook verifications per month on the Free plan. Cloudflare Tunnel is the best free pick when you want a stable named tunnel, and Pinggy is the best low-cost pick at $2.50 per seat per month when billed annually.
Is there a free alternative to ngrok for webhook forwarding?
Yes. Cloudflare Tunnel is included on all Cloudflare plans, including Free, zrok Free allows 5 GB per rolling 24-hour period at $0, Localtunnel is free with no account, and Tailscale Funnel is included on the Personal plan at $0 for up to 6 users. Each free plan has a real limit, such as a rotating address, a transfer cap, or HTTPS only.
How much does ngrok cost for webhook testing?
ngrok Free costs $0 and includes 1 GB of transfer, 20,000 HTTP requests, and 500 webhook verifications per month. Hobbyist is $8 per month when billed annually or $10 per month when billed monthly, and Pay-as-you-go carries a $20 per month base fee that includes $20 of usage, with custom domains at $0.01 per active hour.
Which tool gives a stable webhook address for the lowest price?
Pinggy Pro is the lowest entry price in this list at $2.50 per seat per month when billed annually, and it adds a persistent subdomain and custom domains. LocalXpose Pro costs $8 per month billed annually with 10 tunnels, and localhost.run costs $9 per month billed annually for a stable custom domain with up to 5 tunnels at the same time.
Can I forward webhooks without installing anything?
Yes. Pinggy and localhost.run work with one SSH command and no client to install, Localtunnel works with npx and no account, and Cloudflare quick tunnels need only cloudflared for a temporary address. These options suit a first test, but a named tunnel or a higher plan is better when the provider must keep calling the same address.
Sources
- https://ngrok.com/
- https://ngrok.com/pricing
- https://www.cloudflare.com/
- https://www.cloudflare.com/en-ca/sase/products/access/
- https://zrok.io/
- https://zrok.io/pricing/
- https://pinggy.io/
- https://pinggy.io/blog/best_ngrok_alternatives/
- https://localxpose.io/
- https://localxpose.io/free-port-forwarding
- https://localhost.run/
- https://localhost.run/docs/custom-domains
- https://localtunnel.me/
- https://tailscale.com/
- https://tailscale.com/pricing
Prices and features were read on each company’s own website in November 2026. They change often, so confirm the current offer on the official site before you sign up or buy.