Openport

Openport is a managed tunnelling service for reaching local ports remotely, with web and API controls for connected devices. It suits people who need remote access without opening firewall ports, particularly IoT operators and service providers. The main trade-off is that the free account is extremely small, while useful fleet and API capabilities sit in paid tiers.

Overview

Openport creates a secure tunnel from a device to the internet, exposing a local TCP port without requiring a firewall port to be opened. That makes it appropriate for reaching services behind NAT or restrictive networks. Its web interface and API can show which devices are online and help manage an IoT fleet, while user groups let administrators restrict device access by team or role. Servers in different parts of the world are intended to reduce latency for geographically distributed connections.

HTTP forwarding can assign a session a hostname and serve the local port over HTTP or HTTPS with a valid certificate. A custom domain requires a CNAME record and works over HTTPS only, so it is better suited to administrators who control DNS than to quick, ad-hoc sharing. TLS passthrough keeps TLS termination on the user's device, preserving end-to-end encryption for tunnelled traffic. Forwarded ports are protected by default with token links: a visitor must click the link, and that authorization remains valid for 24 hours. Brute-force blocking and port-scanning detection add useful defensive measures.

TCP forwarding is joined by UDP forwarding on the same port when the server supports it, starting with client 2.3.0, and WebSocket connections are supported. Openport says it began in 2014 as a hobbyist tool and is also used by large providers managing thousands of devices. Its privacy policy places personal-data processing under GDPR and says personal data is stored or transferred only within the EEA.

Key features

• Remote tunnelling: Reach a local service externally without changing inbound firewall rules, useful for remote administration and device access.
• Fleet management: Online-device visibility, web controls and API access make it more suitable for an IoT estate than a one-off tunnel.
• Protocol coverage: TCP, supported UDP forwarding and WebSockets cover ordinary services as well as applications that need persistent or datagram connections.
• Access protection: Group-based permissions, expiring token links, brute-force blocking and scan detection provide layered controls, although token-link access still requires careful distribution.
• Deployment: The managed service offers both API and other configuration methods, with TLS termination support.

Pricing

Openport uses a freemium model, with paid plans from $1/mo and a 30-day trial on the paid offerings.

Platforms

Openport provides API, Linux, macOS, web and Windows access. Downloads cover Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11; Mac OS X 10.8 and newer; Debian/Ubuntu AMD64, ARM64 and ARMHF; and 64-bit Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS and Scientific Linux packages. This breadth is useful for mixed fleets, including ARM-based hardware.

Who it's for

Choose Openport for remote access to devices or local services where opening firewall ports is undesirable, especially when several operators need group-based permissions and a central view of device status. The Enterprise plan is aimed at organisations managing dozens or thousands of devices, while Home is the sensible paid option for a small persistent setup. The free plan is mainly a way to try the service, not a practical home for ongoing traffic. Users who need a custom hostname must also be comfortable adding a DNS CNAME and serving it over HTTPS.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Exposes local services without opening firewall ports.
• Web and API fleet management, with user-group access controls.
• TCP, supported UDP and WebSocket forwarding, plus TLS passthrough.
• Token-link protection, brute-force blocking and port-scan detection.
• Broad desktop, server and ARM package coverage.

Cons

• Free usage is limited to 10 MB per month, one device and one connection, with a one-day timeout.
• The free plan has no API access, limiting automation.
• Enterprise billing requires at least 30 devices despite its $1.00-per-device monthly rate.
• Custom domains require DNS configuration and HTTPS-only forwarding.

Alternatives

For a wider comparison, see Reverse Proxy Software.

• Fabio is a free, MIT-licensed option for Linux, macOS and Windows when self-hosting and Consul-based service discovery suit you.
• freenginx is free, BSD-like licensed software for readers who want a self-hosted reverse proxy rather than a managed tunnel.
• frp provides free, open-source self-hosted client and server binaries, including Android support.
• LocalXpose offers a free Starter tier with two active HTTP/HTTPS tunnels, SSL/TLS encryption and unique subdomains.
• ngrok is another freemium tunnelling service with API, web and desktop-platform support.
• Pomerium is a freemium access gateway with a free Personal plan for 10 users, 10 routes, five policies and two service accounts.
• Zoraxy is free AGPL open-source software for self-hosted deployments.
• Envoy Proxy is a free open-source proxy distributed through Docker, Homebrew or a static binary.

Verdict

Openport is a strong choice for teams that need managed, secure tunnels plus visibility and control across an IoT fleet. Its best reasons to choose it are the combination of broad protocol support, API management and layered access protection. Look elsewhere if you need substantial free usage, cannot meet the Enterprise 30-device minimum, or prefer to run the proxy infrastructure yourself.