Point any domain at your local server and get automatic HTTPS. tunnelto handles DNS verification and certificates for you. Free plan, no credit card.
Random tunnel subdomains break webhook configurations, OAuth callbacks, and any URL you’ve shared with a teammate. With your own domain, the URL is yours forever. Reconnects, restarts, and reboots don’t change it.
Sharing preview.acme.com with a client looks more credible than a 30-character random subdomain. Whether it’s a demo, a stakeholder review, or a job interview, your own domain says “this is real.”
If you ever decide to move off tunnelto, your URL stays the same. You just point the CNAME somewhere else. Compare that with random *.somevendor.com URLs, where every link in your project becomes a migration headache.
Many OAuth providers reject random tunnel subdomains as redirect URIs. Custom domains pass their checks. Set up a Google or GitHub OAuth app once, and you’re done.
Run tunnelto add api.mycompany.com 8080. tunnelto returns a CNAME target for you to add at your DNS provider.
Open your DNS provider (Cloudflare, Route 53, Namecheap, etc.) and add a CNAME for the subdomain pointing to the tunnelto target.
tunnelto detects the DNS change, issues a TLS certificate via Let’s Encrypt, and starts routing traffic. Usually takes under a minute.
Most other tunneling tools gate custom domains behind a paid plan. We don’t.
| tunnelto | ngrok | Cloudflare Tunnel | localhost.run | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom domain on free | ✓ 1 included | × | ✓ Cloudflare DNS only | × |
| Works with any registrar | ✓ | Paid only | Cloudflare DNS required | × |
| Wildcard DNS | ✓ | Paid only | ✓ | × |
| Automatic TLS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cheapest persistent custom domain | Free | From $8 / month | Free (Cloudflare account) | From $3.50 / month |
Compared on publicly documented features as of April 2026.
Yes. tunnelto’s Free plan includes 1 custom domain at no cost. Point any domain you own at your tunnel and tunnelto handles DNS verification, certificate issuance, and routing automatically. Most other localhost tunneling tools gate custom domains behind a paid plan.
When you add a custom domain, tunnelto gives you a CNAME target. You add one CNAME record at your DNS provider pointing your subdomain at that target. tunnelto detects the DNS change automatically and issues a TLS certificate via Let’s Encrypt. The whole process usually takes a few minutes.
Yes. tunnelto supports wildcard DNS for custom domains, so you can route any subdomain (e.g., *.dev.acme.com) to your local server. Useful for multi-tenant testing and previewing branches as separate subdomains.
You can use a free *.tunnelto.me subdomain on any plan, no domain purchase required. Custom domains are an option, not a requirement.
One CNAME record. Automatic HTTPS. Free plan, no credit card required.
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