A fair, feature-by-feature comparison of tunr and Pinggy — both excellent SSH-free localhost tunneling tools with modern security features.
| Feature | tunr Recommended | Pinggy |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Price | Free / $12 Pro | Free / $3 Pro |
| Open Source CLI | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Single Binary | ✓ Yes (Go) | ✓ SSH-based |
| HTTPS / WebSocket | ✓ Full + HMR | ✓ Yes |
| TCP / UDP / TLS Tunnels | ⚠️ Experimental (WebSocket only, no raw port) | ✓ All 3 |
| Custom Subdomains | ✓ Pro | ✓ Pro |
| Custom Domains | ⚠️ Coming soon | ✓ Yes |
| Bandwidth | No bandwidth cap · per-minute request limits | ✓ Unlimited |
| Multi-Region | 1 region (EU) · more planned | ✓ 5 regions |
| Docker / Self-Hosting | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
| Python / Node.js SDKs | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Prometheus Metrics | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
| System Service Install | ✓ systemd/launchd | ✕ |
| Corporate Proxy Support | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
| SSH-Based Tunnels (no CLI) | ✕ | ✓ Yes |
| Password Protection | ✓ Basic Auth | ✓ Basic Auth |
| Bearer Token Auth | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| IP Whitelisting | ✓ Yes (HTTP tunnels) | ✓ Yes |
| Header Modification | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| QR Code Sharing | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Request Inspector / Replay | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| CORS Preflight Handling | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
| x-forwarded-for injection | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
| Freeze Mode (crash protection) | ✓ Exclusive | ✕ |
| Demo Mode (read-only) | ✓ Exclusive | ✕ |
| Feedback Widget Injection | ✓ Exclusive | ✕ |
| Auto-Login Bypass | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
| Auto-Expiring Tunnels | ✓ Yes (TTL) | ✕ |
| Path Routing | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
| MCP / AI Integration | ✓ Yes | ✕ |
Competitor features and prices change often; check their current plan pages. tunr's raw TCP/UDP/TLS tunnels are experimental and the relay terminates TLS, so no tunnel is end-to-end encrypted.
Pinggy is an excellent SSH-free tunneling tool with strong security features like bearer token auth, IP whitelisting, and multi-region support. tunr matches Pinggy on HTTP tunnels (QR codes, bearer token auth, IP whitelisting, header modification) and adds client-demo tools that Pinggy doesn't have: freeze mode, demo mode, feedback widgets, auto-login bypass, MCP integration, and CORS handling.
tunr also ships self-hosting, Prometheus metrics and Python and Node.js SDKs; its TCP, UDP and TLS tunnels are still experimental. Pinggy has the edge on raw TCP/UDP ports, more regions, a lower Pro price and opening a tunnel over SSH without installing anything, while tunr's CLI is open source. For web development, vibecoding, and AI-assisted workflows — tunr is the clear choice.
This page compares tunr's tunnel (tunr share). tunr's main product is now Agent Bridge: approved, read-only, audited access for AI agents to customers' on-prem data. Tunnels & deploy are still part of tunr.