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Ibrahim Pelumi Lasisi
Ibrahim Pelumi Lasisi

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Self-Hosted Ngrok Alternative in 200 Lines of Node.js

#webdev #node #opensource #tutorial

Self-Hosted Ngrok in 200 Lines of Node.js

Problem: Need to tunnel multiple local services. Ngrok free tier = 1 tunnel.

Solution: Built my own. Took 4 hours.

Demo

What It Does 

liptunnel http 3000,8080,5000 --multi
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Creates 3 public URLs on your domain. One command.

The Architecture 

User → yourdomain.com → VPS → WebSocket → Your PC → localhost
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Core concept:

// Server: Forward HTTP via WebSocket
app.use((req, res) => {
  const subdomain = req.headers.host.split('.')[0];
  tunnels[subdomain].ws.send(JSON.stringify(req));
  // Wait for response, send back
});

// Client: Receive, proxy, respond
ws.on('message', (data) => {
  http.request('localhost:3000', data.request, (response) => {
    ws.send(response);
  });
});
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That's the entire concept. The rest is error handling.

Why Self-Host?

✅ Privacy - Your traffic stays yours

✅ Cost - $0 beyond your VPS

✅ Branding - Your domain

✅ Control - Customize everything

Performance

  • Memory: 25MB/tunnel
  • Latency: ~5ms overhead
  • Throughput: 100+ req/sec
  • Setup: 5 minutes

Use Cases

Microservices: Tunnel entire stack locally

Webhooks: Test Stripe/GitHub without deploying

Demos: Client-branded URLs

Compliance: Healthcare/finance (no third parties)

Get Started

Full code + docs:

👉 github.com/ibrahimpelumi6142/liptunnel

git clone https://github.com/ibrahimpelumi6142/liptunnel
npm install
node server/server.js  # On VPS
liptunnel http 3000    # Local
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Tech Stack

  • Node.js (runtime)
  • WebSocket (tunnel)
  • Express (dashboard)

No frameworks. ~200 lines total.

What's Next

Coming soon:

  • HTTPS (Let's Encrypt)
  • Fixed subdomains
  • Auth tokens
  • Request inspector

Try It

⭐ Star on GitHub

Questions? Drop them below 👇

Tags: #nodejs #opensource #webdev #selfhosted

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