Comparison

SimpleTunnel vs Cloudflare Tunnel

Cloudflare Tunnel is powerful but complex. SimpleTunnel gives you tunneling without managing DNS zones, Zero Trust policies, or Cloudflare's ecosystem.

Feature Comparison

Feature	SimpleTunnel	Cloudflare Tunnel
Price	$10/mo (Pro)	Free (basic)
Setup Complexity	One command	DNS + Dashboard + cloudflared
Requires Domain on Cloudflare	No	Yes
Multi-port Tunnels	Yes	Via config file
HTTP/HTTPS	Yes	Yes
TCP Tunnels	Yes	Yes
UDP Tunnels	Yes	No
WebSocket	Yes	Yes
Instant URL	Yes	No (use your domain)
Vendor Lock-in	None	Cloudflare ecosystem

Why Developers Choose SimpleTunnel

Zero Setup Friction

No DNS configuration. No dashboard. No YAML config files. Just run the command and get a public URL instantly.

simpletunnel --port 3000
# URL ready in seconds

No Domain Required

Cloudflare Tunnel requires your domain to be on Cloudflare DNS. SimpleTunnel gives you a subdomain instantly — no domain purchase or DNS migration needed.

UDP Support

Cloudflare Tunnel doesn't support UDP. SimpleTunnel handles UDP natively for game servers, VoIP, and real-time applications.

No Ecosystem Lock-in

Cloudflare Tunnel is part of their Zero Trust platform. Great for enterprises, but overkill for most developers. SimpleTunnel is just tunneling — simple and focused.

When to Use Each

Use SimpleTunnel when:

+ You want to expose localhost in seconds
+ You need UDP tunneling
+ You don't have a domain (or don't want to move DNS)
+ You want multi-port with one command
+ You're testing webhooks, sharing demos, or developing

Use Cloudflare Tunnel when:

+ You're already on Cloudflare for DNS/CDN
+ You need enterprise Zero Trust features
+ You want Cloudflare's DDoS protection
+ You're running production infrastructure
+ You want free (and complexity doesn't bother you)