What is Cloudflare Tunnel used for?

Cloudflare Tunnel securely connects web services and private networks to Cloudflare without opening inbound ports on the origin server. It is a good fit for publishing a self-hosted app without port forwarding and securing access to internal tools.

Is Cloudflare Tunnel open source?

No. Cloudflare Tunnel is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel include Zrok, frp and Pangolin.

What are some alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel?

Cloudflare Tunnel competes with ngrok, Tailscale and Twingate. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Cloudflare Tunnel alternatives.

Cloudflare Tunnel: features, pricing and alternatives

About Cloudflare Tunnel

Cloudflare Tunnel is a product from Cloudflare that lets you publish applications or reach private resources through Cloudflare's network. A lightweight connector runs next to the service and makes outbound connections, so the origin does not need a public IP address or open inbound firewall ports.

It is part of Cloudflare's zero trust and networking platform, and it is commonly used to expose self-hosted web apps, internal tools and SSH access with access policies applied at Cloudflare. The vendor's website could not be read when this entry was prepared, so current features and plan limits should be confirmed on the official site.

Key features

Outbound-only connections from the origin
No public IP needed for services
Access policies through Cloudflare
Exposes self-hosted apps securely

Good fit for

→Publishing a self-hosted app without port forwarding
→Securing access to internal tools

Tags: tunneling; zero-trust; cloudflare; networking; self-hosting; security

Cloudflare Tunnel: questions and answers

What is Cloudflare Tunnel used for?: Cloudflare Tunnel securely connects web services and private networks to Cloudflare without opening inbound ports on the origin server. It is a good fit for publishing a self-hosted app without port forwarding and securing access to internal tools.
Is Cloudflare Tunnel open source?: No. Cloudflare Tunnel is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel include Zrok, frp and Pangolin.
What are some alternatives to Cloudflare Tunnel?: Cloudflare Tunnel competes with ngrok, Tailscale and Twingate. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Cloudflare Tunnel alternatives.