freenginx vs LocalXpose
freenginx
freenginx.orgLocalXpose
localxpose.ioSide by side
| Figure | freenginx | LocalXpose |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Reverse Proxy Software | 8.6 (#6) | 8.3 (#7) |
| Platforms | The site lists tested Linux, macOS, and Windows platforms, along with FreeBSD, Solaris, AIX, and HP-UX. | The download page lists Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, and Docker, with direct downloads and package manager options including Chocolatey, Homebrew, Snapcraft, and npm. |
| Protocols | The HTTP server supports SSL/TLS SNI, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3. | It supports HTTP or HTTPS including WebSockets, TCP or TLS, and UDP tunnels. |
| Purpose | freenginx is an effort to preserve free and open development of nginx, an HTTP and reverse proxy server, mail proxy server, and generic TCP/UDP proxy server. | LocalXpose is a reverse proxy that exposes localhost services to the public internet through secure tunnels. |
| Support | Support is offered through English and Russian mailing lists; posting requires subscribing the email address used to post. | The maker says self-serve teams can get help by email, while business and enterprise plans add priority ticketing, 24/7 incident response, and migration assistance. |
Plans
In their own words
freenginx
freenginx is an effort to preserve free and open development of server software used for HTTP, mail, and TCP/UDP proxying. Its HTTP server can serve static files, reverse proxy with caching, balance load, and provide fault tolerance. It supports SSL/TLS SNI, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3, along with access controls based on client IP address, HTTP Basic authentication, or a subrequest result. Cached and accelerated connections are available for FastCGI, uwsgi, SCGI, and memcached servers. The mail proxy supports IMAP, POP3, and SMTP authentication methods with SSL and STARTTLS/STLS. TCP and UDP proxying includes load balancing, fault tolerance, and client-address access control. The process design uses one master and several workers running under an unprivileged user. Configuration can be reloaded and the executable upgraded without interrupting client service. Source and documentation are distributed under a 2-clause BSD-like license. The software is self-hosted and uses file-based configuration; downloads include source, Windows builds, and mainline and stable versions.
LocalXpose
LocalXpose is a reverse proxy for making services on a local machine reachable from the public internet through tunnels. It supports HTTP and HTTPS, including WebSockets, alongside TCP, TLS, and UDP. Users can work through a command-line interface or graphical interfaces, including a desktop app for sharing previews. The product includes authentication, rate limiting, IP whitelisting, header editing, and a built-in file server on all plans. Traffic logs cover HTTP, TCP, and UDP, and webhook payloads can be inspected, modified, and replayed. Custom and wildcard domains and automatic Let's Encrypt certificates for custom domains are available. The maker says tunnel hosts terminate at its edge with TLS 1.2+ encryption; users can configure scoped access tokens, IP allow lists, and authentication plugins. Starter is free and allows two active HTTP or HTTPS tunnels, with time limits and an interstitial warning page. PRO costs $8 a month, billed annually at $96/yr, and supports 10 tunnels. LocalXpose runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, web, and self-hosted environments.