Don't you also need a server? The point of cloudflare is that they give you use of their server, for free.
Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
111–120 of 132 posts
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#112This seems really interesting for managing a lot of remote dev boxes or something like that... so, kind of an uneducated question (from someone who isn't heavily involved in actual infrastructure)... I haven't used CF tunnels, and the extent of my proxying private services has pretty much been either reverse proxy tunnels over SSH, or Tailscale. Where pretty much any service I want to test privately is located on som…
Thanks! I think what you are using (SSH, Tailscale) is great for your use case! We see this as more of a static and permanent tunnel to a service - less ephemeral than a ssh tunnel - and more to get public users into your application. Meaning if you had a internal app for your business or some homelab application like Immich or Grafana at home/work that you want to expose to your family in their browser this could be…
If you have an internal app or homelab app or whatever, why don't you just... route to it? Configure your firewall to let traffic in and out?
I get there's a tunnel provided by this sort of software, I just don't understand how so many people actually need one.
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of curiosity why not give your sister restricted access to your tailnet instead? Then nothing is public.
Tailscale and Plex do not play nicely, particularly since Plex implemented a bunch of shit to try to charge users for accessing their own files outside what it considers a local network. Switching to Jellyfin is on my maintenance list. It's very understandable that if you had given a family member access to your Plex server before this year and it "just worked" you might look now at Tailscale as a way to put them on…
I don't want to defend plex too hard, but I was super confused by what you were talking about:
> But suddenly one day your free mobile viewer app updates and requires payment to stream your own mp4 files
I have a plex server that a dozen of my friends and family use and none of them have to pay a cent to access it.
Then after thinking about it a bit longer, I remembered that plex was making some kind of distinction about "members of a household", apparently called Plex Home [1].
I'm not sure what benefits you get from using it, since I haven't bothered trying to see what it needs to work.
Long story short, however, is if you just have your family members sign up for their own plex account, then add them to your plex server as a separate user, things will continue to Just Work and do so for free.
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#114[dead]
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#115My homelab has a setup like this, but all done somewhat-manually. HTTPS for my Docker images running in the homelab via a certbot image. A Wireguard setup to connect the homelab to a small Hetzner VPS, and a proxy there to allow certain traffic through. I've been wanting to add some authentication lately so that I can manage access to the homelab resources. I currently prohibit all traffic and only allow the Wireguar…
I keep seeing people say they run things like this and I continue to be confused.
> proxy there to allow certain traffic through.
Why not just run the proxy .. on your homelab?
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#116genuine, security newbie, question. What's the worst case scenario that can happen on using this type of solution from a security standpoint? I do get it the authentication would be compromised. Probably some internal ports would be exposed publicly too.. what else?
Good question. I think absolute worse case scenario the tunnel and VPS is compromised and someone is able to gain access to the private network. We advise people in the docs to always consider this a possibility and secure Newt and what is has access to. A slightly worse case is there is a bypass in the forward auth and someone can get access to the webpage of a private service without passing the user/pass auth etc.…
I’m running pangolin for a couple months now and instead of newt I use my router WireGuard Client in a VLAN.
Any „wanted“ traffic is then routed via DNAT/firewall to my home server.
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks! I think what you are using (SSH, Tailscale) is great for your use case! We see this as more of a static and permanent tunnel to a service - less ephemeral than a ssh tunnel - and more to get public users into your application. Meaning if you had a internal app for your business or some homelab application like Immich or Grafana at home/work that you want to expose to your family in their browser this could be…
If you have an internal app or homelab app or whatever, why don't you just... route to it? Configure your firewall to let traffic in and out? I get there's a tunnel provided by this sort of software, I just don't understand how so many people actually need one.
My ISP blocks port 25, 80 and 443, so need to tunnel those. Some don't want to expose their IP directly. If you have dynamic IP you don't have to update the IP in DNS (since the "application" connects to the tunnel endpoint).
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#118This is super exciting! The “Cloudflare Tunnel” lock-in has always bugged me, so seeing an open source option is genuinely refreshing. I’m especially curious how Pangolin handles the gritty stuff—flaky networks, authentication headaches, scaling up when things get real. If anyone’s kicked the tires on this in the wild, how does it compare to the “it just works” magic of Cloudflare? Bonus points if you’ve wrangled it…
More on it here, for those interested: https://aazar.me/posts/reincarnating-a-raspberry-pi
Getting `Cloudflare Tunnel error`
Re: Show HN: Pangolin – Open source alternative to Cloudflare Tunnels
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tailscale and Plex do not play nicely, particularly since Plex implemented a bunch of shit to try to charge users for accessing their own files outside what it considers a local network. Switching to Jellyfin is on my maintenance list. It's very understandable that if you had given a family member access to your Plex server before this year and it "just worked" you might look now at Tailscale as a way to put them on…
I don't want to defend plex too hard, but I was super confused by what you were talking about: > But suddenly one day your free mobile viewer app updates and requires payment to stream your own mp4 files I have a plex server that a dozen of my friends and family use and none of them have to pay a cent to access it. Then after thinking about it a bit longer, I remembered that plex was making some kind of distinction a…
I haven't found this to be the case. I use the free plex server on Windows and MacOS, and connect to my home boxes from my phone. Prior to April 2025, I could stream on my phone from my Plex servers anytime. Since the last update, attempting to stream from any device that's not on the same LAN as the server pops up a window asking you to subscribe if you want to stream "remotely". This is even in cases where nothing is being sent through Plex's servers except for signaling data. It is only possible to stream over the internet for free now if you tunnel to that server, make it your tailscale exit node, and use the web app, not the mobile app.
I'm not sure what the deal is with Plex Home but maybe they grandfathered in some kinds of older accounts. At this point though, it no longer appears to be a free option to easily stream from your home server if you're setting it up fresh or have a regular account.