Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ngrok VS Private Internet Access

Compare ngrok VS Private Internet Access and see what are their differences

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ngrok logo ngrok

ngrok enables secure introspectable tunnels to localhost webhook development tool and debugging tool.

Private Internet Access logo Private Internet Access

london trust media holdings (LTMH) will bring power back to the people.
  • ngrok Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22
  • Private Internet Access Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-18

ngrok features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    ngrok simplifies the process of creating secure public URLs to your local web server. It eliminates complex network configurations and is user-friendly even for beginners.
  • Security
    ngrok tunnels are secured with HTTPS, offering a robust way to expose services without compromising security. It supports multiple authentication methods, ensuring a secure connection.
  • Speed of Setup
    Setting up ngrok is quick. You just need to download the executable and run a simple command to get started. This makes it ideal for rapid development and testing.
  • Flexibility
    ngrok supports multiple protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, and TCP, making it versatile for various types of services.
  • Monitoring
    ngrok provides a web interface for monitoring HTTP traffic flowing through the tunnels, which helps in debugging and analytics.
  • Built-in Authentication
    It includes built-in authentication options, enabling you to create protected tunnels easily without needing to configure your web server.

Possible disadvantages of ngrok

  • Pricing
    While ngrok offers a free tier, many advanced features such as custom subdomains, reserved domains, and additional security features require a paid subscription.
  • Latency
    Because your data is routed through an external server, there can be a noticeable increase in latency, which might affect performance especially for real-time applications.
  • Temporary URLs
    The URLs provided in the free tier are temporary and change every time you restart ngrok. This can be inconvenient for long-term use or sharing links.
  • Rate Limits
    The free version has rate limits on the amount of traffic that can be tunneled, which could be restrictive for high-traffic applications.
  • Dependency
    Using ngrok creates a dependency on an external service, which means your tunnels are subject to ngrok’s availability and reliability. Any downtime on ngrok's end can affect your service.
  • Limited Customization
    The free tier offers limited customization options. More advanced customization requires subscription to a paid plan.

Private Internet Access features and specs

  • Strong Privacy Policy
    Private Internet Access (PIA) has a strong no-logs policy, ensuring that your online activities are not recorded or stored.
  • Wide Server Network
    PIA offers a broad range of servers located around the world, providing users with numerous choices to optimize speed and connect to different regions.
  • Advanced Security Features
    PIA includes features such as kill switch, DNS leak protection, and strong encryption protocols like OpenVPN, which enhance user security.
  • Affordable Pricing
    Compared to many other VPN providers, PIA offers competitively priced plans, making it an attractive option for cost-conscious users.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The PIA application is straightforward and easy to use, which is beneficial for both beginners and advanced users.

Possible disadvantages of Private Internet Access

  • U.S. Jurisdiction
    PIA is based in the United States, which is part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, potentially raising concerns for privacy-focused users.
  • Inconsistent Speed
    Some users report variability in connection speeds, which can be a drawback for activities requiring consistently high bandwidth.
  • Limited Streaming Support
    PIA has mixed success in unblocking popular streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, which might be a limitation for users seeking VPN for streaming.
  • Limited Customer Support
    PIA's customer support, mainly via email and tickets, can sometimes be slow, and the absence of live chat might be inconvenient for users needing immediate assistance.
  • Basic Customization Options
    While user-friendly, the PIA interface may lack advanced customization features that more experienced users might expect.

ngrok videos

EQUIP | The making of ngrok - Alan Shreve (ngrok)

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to use LPB Software + Easy Ngrok Setup
  • Tutorial - ngrok tutorial -Access your localhost Wordpress theme from anywhere of the world without hosting
  • Review - spynote x loclx

Private Internet Access videos

Private Internet Access Review - HONEST REVIEW!

More videos:

  • Review - 5 Reasons Not to Buy Private Internet Access!
  • Review - Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN review: is it good enough for you? | VPNpro

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ngrok and Private Internet Access)
Testing
100 100%
0% 0
VPN
0 0%
100% 100
Localhost Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud VPN
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ngrok and Private Internet Access

ngrok Reviews

Localtonet | Best Ngrok Alternatives
Exposing local web services to the internet is essential for web developers, but it can be a bit challenging. Ngrok has been the most popular tool for this job, but it's not the only option out there. In this article, we'll explore some of the best ngrok alternatives
Source: localtonet.com
Best ngrok alternatives for localhost tunnels
ngrok provides tunnels for ingress through its programmable network edge. Additionally, it offers observability as well as the ability to change traffic parameters such as headers on the go to your apps with no code changes. In order to use ngrok you must download the ngrok client and sign up to get an account.
Source: pinggy.io
7 Ngrok Alternatives & Competitors for App Tunneling, Free & Paid
For example, let’s say you have a web project on your machine written in Python using the Django framework. Your local server will probably run on an URL like http://localhost:8000 ― which is only accessible on your local machine. With a service like Ngrok, you can configure a public URL like https://myapp.ngrok.io in a single command line and have all the traffic from this...
Source: onboardbase.com
Tools for Testing Webhooks
As it supports cross-platforms, download the suitable binary for OS. For Windows, there is only one binary, ngrok.exe. Copy this to the C:\ngrok folder (or wherever preferred) and enter the command below: [code lang=text] ngrok http 7071 -host-header=localhost [/code]
Top 4 BEST Ngrok Alternatives In 2021: Review And Comparison
NgrokUser is required to sign up in order to generate auth token.Supports all 3 protocols.Usage is through ngrok executable (or through node js based library).Offers both free and paid version. Free version has limited but rich functionalities.Subdomains are supported in the paid version.

Private Internet Access Reviews

Best NordVPN Alternatives
PIA, short for Private Internet Access, is one of the oldest VPNs on this list. It’s also the one with the widest array of servers. With over 29,500 servers in 78 countries, the VPN offers impressive performance at cheap prices as plans start at $2 per month. The company also focuses on streaming and bypassing blocks, but it hails from the USA. Other drawbacks include a...
Source: vpnwired.com
7 Best VPNs for Gaming in 2020
Private Internet Access is one of the more popular VPN providers and one we think you’ll be thrilled with depending on your needs. They offer some of the most competitive pricing in the industry and are ideal if you plan on using P2P services when you take a break from your gaming PC.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ngrok seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 399 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ngrok mentions (399)

  • How to Chat with Gemini 2.5 Pro from VSCode via AI Studio (Free and Unlimited)
    Create a tunnel to my local server using a tool like ngrok. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • I made slack agent without langchain
    If you are testing locally, you can use a service like ngrok to expose your local server to the internet. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • SSR Deep Dive for React Developers
    Now, expose the website to the outside world with ngrok (or a similar tool if you have it):. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Fast and secure ingress to remote AIs with ngrok, Deepseek, and Ollama
    Ngrok: You’ll lean on ngrok’s universal ingress platform for securing and persisting ingress to Ollama and the GPU power behind your LLM. Ngrok abstracts away the networking and configuration complexities around securely connecting to remote services, while also layering in authentication, authorization, and observability you’ll need for a viable long-term solution. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • DeepSeek-R1 on Cursor with Ollama
    By default, ollama serve endpoint http://127.0.0.1:11434 but if u direct using the endpoint to cursor I cant be used. So we need ngrok. U can download and login it, then they instruct u to login via auth token. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

Private Internet Access mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Private Internet Access yet. Tracking of Private Internet Access recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ngrok and Private Internet Access, you can also consider the following products

Pagekite - Bring your localhost servers on-line.

Hotspot Shield - Hotspot Shield is a software application developed by AnchorFree, Inc.

localhost.run - Instantly share your localhost environment!

TunnelBear - Really simple VPN to browse the web privately & anonymously.

Portmap.io - Expose your local PC to Internet from behind firewall and without real IP address

OpenVPN - OpenVPN - The Open Source VPN