WorksLocal

WorksLocal is an open-source tunneling tool for developers who need to expose a local environment to the internet. It is built to reduce the friction around temporary tunnels, including changing URLs and the need to log into a dashboard to test a webhook. The site also describes it as a free open-source ngrok alternative.

Its features include a built-in Web Inspector for replaying, inspecting, and modifying requests on the fly. A feature called Catch Mode lets it receive requests before a local server is running, then store them until the local environment is ready. The page also says WorksLocal uses a fixed persistent subdomain for a tunnel, and its comparison section states that the free tier has unlimited local bandwidth. It further presents the service as a “dumb pipe”: its servers do not terminate SSL connections and instead route raw TCP packets between the public edge and a local agent.

WorksLocal is aimed at developers, with webhook testing called out explicitly in the copy and a sample tunnel named for Stripe payments. It is delivered as a command-line tool and can be installed with npm using npm i -g workslocal. The page also references GitHub and a local inspector running at http://localhost:4040. The site states that no account setup is required for basic tunnels, and that there are no proprietary binaries tracking traffic or forced upgrades at a 5 requests/minute limit.

Pricing and licensing are presented in limited form on the page. WorksLocal is described as free and open-source, and the free tier comparison emphasizes unlimited local bandwidth.