Top Portmap.io Alternatives for Exposing Local Servers

Portmap.io is a valuable tool for developers and IT professionals, allowing you to expose your local PC to the internet from behind firewalls and without a real IP address. However, for various reasons—whether it's specific features, pricing, open-source requirements, or platform compatibility—you might be looking for a Portmap.io alternative. This guide explores some of the best tools available that offer similar or enhanced capabilities for tunneling your localhost to the world.

Top Portmap.io Alternatives

If you're seeking a robust and reliable way to expose your local development environment, web applications, or IoT devices to the public internet, these alternatives to Portmap.io provide a range of features and deployment options to fit your needs.

ngrok

ngrok is a widely popular Portmap.io alternative that securely exposes local servers to the public internet over secure tunnels. It's a Freemium service available across Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, and FreeBSD, and is well-regarded for its robust Networking features. You simply download and run a program on your machine to get started, making it incredibly user-friendly for quick setups.

ZEIT Now

ZEIT Now, now known as Vercel, offers a powerful serverless platform for deploying applications with just one command. While primarily a deployment platform, its serverless nature allows for exposing applications efficiently. It's a Freemium and Open Source option compatible with Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, GitHub Gist, and npm, providing a highly scalable and modern approach compared to simple tunneling.

Pagekite

Pagekite is an excellent Portmap.io alternative that brings your localhost servers online, making them globally visible. It's a Freemium and Open Source solution that works across Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and BSD. Pagekite focuses on Networking and Web Server capabilities, ideal for developers needing to share their local web projects.

sish

sish is a Free and Open Source serveo/ngrok alternative, providing HTTP(S)/WS(S)/TCP Tunnels to localhost using only SSH. Being Self-Hosted, it offers greater control and privacy, featuring Raw TCP and SSH Tunneling capabilities. This is a strong contender if you prefer self-managed solutions for exposing services.

Packetriot

Packetriot simplifies exposing local and private network services and data to the Internet. It's a Freemium and Self-Hosted solution available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, offering robust features like Support for Let's Encrypt, End-to-End Encryption, Port Forwarding, Bypass Firewall, HTTP Monitoring, HTTPS Support, Web hosting, Web Server, and Website monitoring. This makes it a comprehensive Portmap.io alternative for various use cases.

beame-insta-ssl

beame-insta-ssl is a Free and Open Source tool designed to make encryption easy for web developers, providing secure communications. Available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Web, it focuses on SSL, Tunneling, AES encryption, and general Networking, presenting a security-focused alternative to Portmap.io for local server exposure.

Yaler

Yaler provides secure remote Web and SSH access to embedded systems behind firewalls, NATs, or mobile network routers. It's a Commercial and Open Source solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux, with features like Embeddable, Networking, SSH, and Ssh tunnel, making it a specialized Portmap.io alternative for IoT and embedded development.

Burrow.io

Burrow.io is a Freemium Portmap.io alternative that allows you to expose localhost to the internet without any download required. It supports custom domains, SSL, HTTP basic auth, and an IP/CIDR firewall. Available for Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and BSD, its features include HTTPS Support, Built-in Firewall, Custom domain, Custom fixed subdomains, Protected by Password, Raw TCP, SSL encryption, and Tunnel.

LocalXpose

LocalXpose is a reverse proxy that enables you to expose your localhost to the internet. It's a Freemium solution available across Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone, primarily focusing on Port Forwarding. It's a straightforward and effective Portmap.io alternative for quickly sharing local services.

Webhook Relay

Webhook Relay is a Freemium Portmap.io alternative that forwards webhooks to localhost and exposes servers behind firewalls and NATs without public IP/domain. It's available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Raspberry Pi, offering features such as Custom domain, Dockerized, Jenkins integration, Jenkins Plugin, Lightweight, Networking, Port Forwarding, Security focused, Serverless, Support for NodeJS, and Support for TLS. It’s an ideal choice for developers working with webhooks or needing secure, exposed services.

Choosing the right Portmap.io alternative depends on your specific needs, whether it's for simple localhost exposure, secure tunneling, advanced networking, or integration with deployment pipelines. Explore these options to find the best fit that enhances your development workflow and securely exposes your applications to the internet.