An ngrok Alternative for Webhooks and Localhost Tunnels (2026)

If you searched for an ngrok alternative, you probably hit one of ngrok's free-plan limits: the 2-hour session timeout, the random URL that changes every time you restart, or the bandwidth cap. ngrok is a great tunnel — but if your real job is receiving and forwarding webhooks, a tunnel alone leaves you doing the rest by hand.

Webhook Relay approaches the same problem from the webhook side: a stable public URL, request inspection, and the ability to forward, transform, retry and fan-out webhooks to localhost or any private server.

TL;DR

• Want a tunnel that doesn't time out and a URL that doesn't change? Webhook Relay's endpoint URL is stable on every plan, including free.
• Testing provider webhooks (Stripe, GitHub, Shopify)? Use the free Webhook Bin to inspect them in your browser, then forward to localhost with the agent.
• Need the webhook to reach a private server, container, or Kubernetes pod? Webhook Relay forwards into private networks with no public IP — a plain tunnel can't.
• ngrok is still the better pick for ad-hoc TCP/SSH tunnels and its polished inspector UI.

ngrok vs Webhook Relay at a glance

Competitor details reflect publicly documented plans as of 2026 and can change — check ngrok's current pricing before deciding.

Where ngrok shines

Let's be fair. ngrok is excellent at what it was built for:

• General-purpose tunnels, including raw TCP and SSH.
• A polished traffic inspector with replay.
• A huge brand and ecosystem, recently expanded into an "AI & API gateway."

If you need to occasionally expose an arbitrary local port for a quick demo, ngrok is hard to beat.

Where Webhook Relay wins for webhooks

1. A URL you configure once

The most common ngrok complaint is the changing URL. Every restart hands you a new random subdomain, so you re-paste it into every provider's webhook settings. With Webhook Relay, your endpoint URL is fixed — set it once in Stripe or GitHub and forget it.

2. Forward to localhost and private networks

ngrok exposes a port. Webhook Relay routes a webhook to wherever it needs to go — your laptop on localhost:8080, an internal API behind a firewall, or a Kubernetes service with no public IP:

# Install the agent, then forward your public endpoint to a local port
relay forward --bucket my-app http://localhost:8080/webhook

The agent makes an outbound connection, so there are no firewall ports to open.

3. Do something to the webhook in flight

Because Webhook Relay sits in the path, you can transform payloads with JavaScript or Lua (turn a raw GitHub event into a Slack message), fan-out to multiple destinations, filter noisy events, add authentication, or retry on failure. A tunnel can't do any of that — it just moves bytes.

4. A real free tier for testing

Open Webhook Bin, get an instant URL, and watch requests arrive in real time — no signup, no install, no 2-hour clock. When you're ready to forward them somewhere, install the agent.

How to switch from ngrok in 2 minutes

1. Inspect first (no install): open Webhook Bin, copy the URL, and point your provider at it.
2. Forward to localhost: create a free account, install the agent, and run relay forward.
3. Keep the URL forever: your endpoint doesn't change, so you never re-configure the provider.

Full steps are in the tunnels documentation.

When to pick which

• Pick ngrok for ad-hoc TCP/SSH tunnels and quick one-off port exposure.
• Pick Webhook Relay when the work is webhooks: stable URLs, forwarding to private infrastructure, transforming/fanning-out events, and not babysitting a session timeout.

Ready to stop re-pasting tunnel URLs? Start forwarding for free or test a webhook now.