Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ngrok VS CodeSandbox

Compare ngrok VS CodeSandbox and see what are their differences

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ngrok logo ngrok

ngrok enables secure introspectable tunnels to localhost webhook development tool and debugging tool.

CodeSandbox logo CodeSandbox

Online playground for React
  • ngrok Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22
  • CodeSandbox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27

CodeSandbox

$ Details
Release Date
2017 January
Startup details
Country
The Netherlands
City
Amsterdam
Founder(s)
Bas Buursma
Employees
1 - 9

ngrok features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    ngrok simplifies the process of creating secure public URLs to your local web server. It eliminates complex network configurations and is user-friendly even for beginners.
  • Security
    ngrok tunnels are secured with HTTPS, offering a robust way to expose services without compromising security. It supports multiple authentication methods, ensuring a secure connection.
  • Speed of Setup
    Setting up ngrok is quick. You just need to download the executable and run a simple command to get started. This makes it ideal for rapid development and testing.
  • Flexibility
    ngrok supports multiple protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, and TCP, making it versatile for various types of services.
  • Monitoring
    ngrok provides a web interface for monitoring HTTP traffic flowing through the tunnels, which helps in debugging and analytics.
  • Built-in Authentication
    It includes built-in authentication options, enabling you to create protected tunnels easily without needing to configure your web server.

Possible disadvantages of ngrok

  • Pricing
    While ngrok offers a free tier, many advanced features such as custom subdomains, reserved domains, and additional security features require a paid subscription.
  • Latency
    Because your data is routed through an external server, there can be a noticeable increase in latency, which might affect performance especially for real-time applications.
  • Temporary URLs
    The URLs provided in the free tier are temporary and change every time you restart ngrok. This can be inconvenient for long-term use or sharing links.
  • Rate Limits
    The free version has rate limits on the amount of traffic that can be tunneled, which could be restrictive for high-traffic applications.
  • Dependency
    Using ngrok creates a dependency on an external service, which means your tunnels are subject to ngrok’s availability and reliability. Any downtime on ngrok's end can affect your service.
  • Limited Customization
    The free tier offers limited customization options. More advanced customization requires subscription to a paid plan.

CodeSandbox features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    CodeSandbox offers an intuitive interface that allows developers to quickly start coding without the need for complex setup or configuration.
  • Instant Collaboration
    The platform supports real-time collaboration, enabling multiple developers to work on the same project simultaneously.
  • Pre-configured Environments
    It provides a variety of pre-configured templates for popular frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, which saves time on setting up development environments.
  • Integrated Development
    CodeSandbox includes built-in terminal access and npm/yarn package management, making it possible to manage dependencies directly within the editor.
  • Live Previews
    Code changes are instantly compiled and displayed, providing immediate feedback with live previews of the application.
  • GitHub Integration
    Seamless integration with GitHub allows importing and exporting repositories, making it easier to manage version control and workflows.
  • Accessibility
    Being a web-based IDE, CodeSandbox can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, enhancing flexibility and mobility.

Possible disadvantages of CodeSandbox

  • Performance Issues
    Some users experience lag and slower performance, particularly with larger projects, compared to local development environments.
  • Limited Customization
    While convenient, the pre-configured environments might limit advanced customization options available in local IDEs.
  • Dependency on Internet
    As an online platform, a stable internet connection is required to use CodeSandbox effectively, which could be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity.
  • Free Tier Limitations
    The free version comes with certain restrictions on resources and functionality, which might not be sufficient for larger or more complex projects.
  • Security Concerns
    Storing code in an online platform can raise security concerns, especially for sensitive or proprietary projects.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its ease of use, developers new to online IDEs might face a learning curve in adapting from traditional, local development environments.

ngrok videos

EQUIP | The making of ngrok - Alan Shreve (ngrok)

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to use LPB Software + Easy Ngrok Setup
  • Tutorial - ngrok tutorial -Access your localhost Wordpress theme from anywhere of the world without hosting
  • Review - spynote x loclx

CodeSandbox videos

A browser IDE that's actually GOOD? (CodeSandbox.io Review!)

More videos:

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ngrok and CodeSandbox)
Testing
100 100%
0% 0
Text Editors
0 0%
100% 100
Localhost Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Programming
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ngrok and CodeSandbox

ngrok Reviews

Localtonet | Best Ngrok Alternatives
Exposing local web services to the internet is essential for web developers, but it can be a bit challenging. Ngrok has been the most popular tool for this job, but it's not the only option out there. In this article, we'll explore some of the best ngrok alternatives
Source: localtonet.com
Best ngrok alternatives for localhost tunnels
ngrok provides tunnels for ingress through its programmable network edge. Additionally, it offers observability as well as the ability to change traffic parameters such as headers on the go to your apps with no code changes. In order to use ngrok you must download the ngrok client and sign up to get an account.
Source: pinggy.io
7 Ngrok Alternatives & Competitors for App Tunneling, Free & Paid
For example, let’s say you have a web project on your machine written in Python using the Django framework. Your local server will probably run on an URL like http://localhost:8000 ― which is only accessible on your local machine. With a service like Ngrok, you can configure a public URL like https://myapp.ngrok.io in a single command line and have all the traffic from this...
Source: onboardbase.com
Tools for Testing Webhooks
As it supports cross-platforms, download the suitable binary for OS. For Windows, there is only one binary, ngrok.exe. Copy this to the C:\ngrok folder (or wherever preferred) and enter the command below: [code lang=text] ngrok http 7071 -host-header=localhost [/code]
Top 4 BEST Ngrok Alternatives In 2021: Review And Comparison
NgrokUser is required to sign up in order to generate auth token.Supports all 3 protocols.Usage is through ngrok executable (or through node js based library).Offers both free and paid version. Free version has limited but rich functionalities.Subdomains are supported in the paid version.

CodeSandbox Reviews

8 Best Replit Alternatives & Competitors in 2022 (Free & Paid) - Software Discover
Codesandbox is an online code editor and prototyping tool that makes creating and sharing web apps faster. Codesandbox: Online code editor and ide for rapid web development.
12 Best Online IDE and Code Editors to Develop Web Applications
CodeSandbox can be thought of as a much more powerful and complete take on JSFiddle. True to its name, CodeSandbox provides a complete code editor experience and a sandboxed environment for front-end development.
Source: geekflare.com

Social recommendations and mentions

ngrok might be a bit more popular than CodeSandbox. We know about 399 links to it since March 2021 and only 310 links to CodeSandbox. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ngrok mentions (399)

  • How to Chat with Gemini 2.5 Pro from VSCode via AI Studio (Free and Unlimited)
    Create a tunnel to my local server using a tool like ngrok. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • I made slack agent without langchain
    If you are testing locally, you can use a service like ngrok to expose your local server to the internet. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • SSR Deep Dive for React Developers
    Now, expose the website to the outside world with ngrok (or a similar tool if you have it):. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Fast and secure ingress to remote AIs with ngrok, Deepseek, and Ollama
    Ngrok: You’ll lean on ngrok’s universal ingress platform for securing and persisting ingress to Ollama and the GPU power behind your LLM. Ngrok abstracts away the networking and configuration complexities around securely connecting to remote services, while also layering in authentication, authorization, and observability you’ll need for a viable long-term solution. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • DeepSeek-R1 on Cursor with Ollama
    By default, ollama serve endpoint http://127.0.0.1:11434 but if u direct using the endpoint to cursor I cant be used. So we need ngrok. U can download and login it, then they instruct u to login via auth token. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

CodeSandbox mentions (310)

  • How To Install Shadcn UI In React JS
    CodeSandbox Examples: Check out CodeSandbox for live projects using Shadcn UI. It’s a great way to see the toolkit in action. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Thankful for CodeSandbox
    I am thankful for a platform like CodeSandbox because it allows me to offload majority of the processing power and memory resources to the cloud. With a local VS Code installed, I can tunnel in via a remote connection to work on my projects, tinker, or do a deep-dive on certain topics; all while ensuring that the RPi 4 still has sufficient resources left to run other things in the background. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Some useful .new "shortcut" domains
    To create a new React JS environment in CodeSandbox. Similar domains include js.new, vue.new, etc.,. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after app update debacle
    I have, it's called Visual Studio Code and I ditched my old native editor(s) for it. I'd even suggest that the fact that it's JS based has significantly changed the tech world because the editor itself will run in a browser so it's here https://godbolt.org/ , and here https://codesandbox.io, and here https://www.postman.com/, and here https://aws.amazon.com/pm/cloud9/ and 100s or 1000s of other sites. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • React Native Online Compiler: Compare the Top 5 Platforms for Your Development Needs
    CodeSandbox for web-first collaborative projects. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ngrok and CodeSandbox, you can also consider the following products

Pagekite - Bring your localhost servers on-line.

CodePen - A front end web development playground.

localhost.run - Instantly share your localhost environment!

replit - Code, create, andlearn together. Use our free, collaborative, in-browser IDE to code in 50+ languages — without spending a second on setup.

Portmap.io - Expose your local PC to Internet from behind firewall and without real IP address

JSFiddle - Test your JavaScript, CSS, HTML or CoffeeScript online with JSFiddle code editor.