LnkStart, frp and rathole
frp and rathole are direct tunnels, free and open, and they do their job well. The difference is not the tunnel: it is everything you have to build around it.
What it does better: frp and rathole
- They are free and open, with no licence and no registration of any kind.
- Years in production in a lot of places, and a configuration that allows almost anything.
- TCP and UDP out of the box, with more modes than we have.
- They are open source: you can read, audit and build them yourself.
Where we differ
- Automatic HTTPS per service: with frp or rathole that is nginx and certbot, wired by hand.
- With the service down, a notice page or a redirect; there what shows is the proxy's error.
- Failover between machines and load sharing for the same name, without writing configuration.
- A password or a token per service, installed in two commands with its own system service.
Side by side
- The visitor
- LnkStartInstalls nothing, opens your domainfrp and ratholeSame
- HTTPS
- LnkStartAutomatic, one certificate per servicefrp and ratholeYou wire it up (nginx + certbot)
- Service down
- LnkStartNotice page or redirectfrp and ratholeYou wire it up
- What is reachable
- LnkStartOne servicefrp and ratholeOne service
- TCP / UDP
- LnkStartYesfrp and ratholeYes, out of the box
- Licence
- LnkStartClosed binary, free with registrationfrp and ratholeFree and open
If you enjoy building your own stack and already run nginx and certbot, frp and rathole will be more than enough. LnkStart is for not building it: the same thing, solved, in two commands.