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 / $5-$9 Pro | Free / $3 Pro |
| Open Source CLI | ✓ Yes | ✕ No |
| Single Binary | ✓ Yes (Go) | ✓ SSH-based |
| HTTPS / WebSocket | ✓ Full + HMR | ✓ Yes |
| TCP / UDP / TLS Tunnels | ✓ All 3 (v0.4.0) | ✓ All 3 |
| Custom Subdomains | ✓ Pro | ✓ Pro |
| Custom Domains | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Wildcard Domains | ✓ Pro | ✓ Pro |
| Bandwidth | ✓ Unlimited | ✓ Unlimited |
| Multi-Region | ✓ ams, sea, sin | ✓ 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 | ✓ 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 | ✕ |
Pinggy is an excellent SSH-free tunneling tool with strong security features like bearer token auth, IP whitelisting, and multi-region support. However, tunr matches all of Pinggy's core features (QR codes, bearer token auth, IP whitelisting, header modification) and adds vibecoder superpowers that Pinggy doesn't have: freeze mode, demo mode, feedback widgets, auto-login bypass, MCP integration, and CORS handling.
With v0.4.0, tunr now ships TCP, UDP, and TLS tunnels alongside multi-region routing (ams, sea, sin), Docker self-hosting, Prometheus metrics, and official Python and Node.js SDKs. Pinggy still has the edge for one workflow — opening a tunnel directly over SSH without installing a CLI — while tunr offers the broader feature set and is fully open source. For web development, vibecoding, and AI-assisted workflows — tunr is the clear choice.