LocalToLink vs Cloudflare Tunnel
Different tools, different jobs
| | LocalToLink | Cloudflare Tunnel |
|-|-------------|-------------------|
| Primary use | Local dev sharing | Production ingress |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Minutes (account, config) |
| Account required | No | Yes (Cloudflare) |
| Install | npx localtolink | cloudflared binary |
| Custom domain | No (v1.0) | Yes (your domain on CF) |
| Production-ready | No | Yes |
| Request inspector | No | No |
LocalToLink: local dev speed
npx localtolink
One command, no account, random HTTPS subdomain. Ideal for:
- Webhook testing during development
- OAuth callback testing
- Sharing WIP with a colleague for an hour
- Mobile testing via QR code
Cloudflare Tunnel: production ingress
cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:3000
Routes traffic through Cloudflare's network to your origin. Ideal for:
- Exposing internal services to the internet permanently
- Production deployments behind Cloudflare WAF
- Custom domains with Cloudflare DNS
Feature comparison
| Feature | LocalToLink v1.0 | Cloudflare Tunnel | |---------|------------------|-------------------| | HTTPS | Automatic | Automatic | | WebSocket | Yes | Yes | | WAF / DDoS protection | Basic abuse prevention | Full Cloudflare stack | | Session limits | 2h, 1GB (anonymous) | No dev-session limit | | Persistent URL | No (random subdomain) | Yes (with named tunnel) | | Zero config | Yes | No |
Can you use both?
Yes. Many teams use LocalToLink (or similar) for daily dev and Cloudflare Tunnel for staging/production.
See Is Cloudflare Tunnel Overkill for Local Dev?
LocalToLink limitations
- Not for production traffic
- No custom domains (v1.0)
- Single VPS backend — no multi-region
- No WAF rules or advanced security policies
Try it now
Start a tunnel from your project directory — no account required.
$ npx localtolink