Top Openport Alternatives for Secure Port Forwarding
Openport is a valuable tool for establishing secure reverse SSH tunnels, allowing users to forward ports, track machines, and share files without the complexities of firewalls, DNS, or FTP. It simplifies exposing local services to the internet, but like any software, users may seek Openport alternatives for various reasons, including specific feature needs, platform compatibility, pricing, or open-source preferences. This article explores the best alternatives to Openport, helping you find the perfect solution for your port forwarding and tunneling requirements.
Top Openport Alternatives
Whether you're a developer needing to expose a local server or a user looking to share files securely, these Openport alternatives offer a range of features and functionalities to meet diverse needs.
ngrok
ngrok is a widely popular Openport alternative that exposes local servers behind NATs and firewalls to the public internet over secure tunnels. It's available on Freemium, Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, and FreeBSD platforms, and its primary feature is robust networking capabilities, making it excellent for testing webhooks or sharing development environments.
ZEIT Now
ZEIT Now, now Vercel, is a powerful serverless platform that serves as a strong Openport alternative for deploying web services with just one command. While more focused on serverless deployments, it implicitly handles the exposure of services to the internet, supporting Freemium models and platforms like Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, and GitHub Gist.
Pagekite
Pagekite is an excellent Openport alternative that gives your localhost servers names and makes them globally visible. It's a versatile, open-source solution available on Freemium, Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and BSD, offering strong networking and web server features for bringing local servers online.
Portmap.io
Portmap.io offers a port forwarding service for exposing local PCs to the internet from behind a firewall or without a real IP address, making it a direct Openport alternative. It utilizes OpenVPN or SSH encrypted tunnels and is available on Freemium, Mac, Windows, and Linux, boasting features like no installation, OpenVPN support, port forwarding, and a REST API.
sish
sish is an open-source, self-hosted Openport alternative that provides HTTP(S)/WS(S)/TCP tunnels to localhost using only SSH. It's a free solution for users who prefer to host their own tunneling service, offering raw TCP and SSH tunneling capabilities.
Packetriot
Packetriot simplifies exposing services and data on local and private networks to the Internet, making it a robust Openport alternative. Available on Freemium, Mac, Windows, Linux, and as a self-hosted option, it features support for Let's Encrypt, end-to-end encryption, port forwarding, firewall bypass, HTTPS, and web hosting capabilities.
Postern
Postern is an Android proxifier that allows network traffic on your device to go through configured proxy servers, offering a mobile-specific Openport alternative. It's a free solution for Android and Android Tablet users, primarily focusing on SSH tunnel functionality.
beame-insta-ssl
beame-insta-ssl is an open-source and free Openport alternative focused on making encryption easy for web developers. Available on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Web, it simplifies secure communications with features like SSL, tunneling, and AES encryption, making it ideal for secure development.
Dataplicity
Dataplicity provides a remote terminal for your Raspberry Pi, offering similar functionality to SSH without complex setup behind firewalls, thus serving as a niche Openport alternative. It's available on Freemium, Windows, Android, iPhone, Android Tablet, and iPad, and features port forwarding and SSH capabilities.
LocalXpose
LocalXpose is a reverse proxy that enables you to expose your localhost to the internet, making it a straightforward Openport alternative. It's available on Freemium, Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone, and its primary feature is reliable port forwarding.
Choosing the best Openport alternative depends on your specific use case, technical expertise, and budget. Whether you prioritize open-source solutions, specific platform compatibility, or advanced features like encryption and monitoring, the options listed above provide diverse capabilities to securely expose your local services to the internet.