HTTP & HTTPS Tunnels
Share local web apps with a public HTTPS URL. Automatic TLS certificates, subdomain routing, custom domains. Works with any framework.
The quickest way to put something on the internet. Run one command, get a real HTTPS URL, and anyone — a client, a teammate, a webhook provider, your phone on mobile data — can reach the app running on your laptop. Works with React, Next.js, Django, Rails, Flask, Express, Laravel, or anything else that speaks HTTP.
Basic usage
localport http 3000 --token YOUR_TOKEN
Localport prints a public URL on a subdomain of tunnel.localport.dev. Both http:// and https:// resolve — the HTTPS URL is served with a real, browser-trusted certificate, no self-signed warnings or extra setup.
The round trip adds a few milliseconds of overhead. For development, demos, webhook testing, and mobile QA, it's unnoticeable.
Custom subdomains
By default, Localport generates a random subdomain like abc123. On any plan, you can reserve a subdomain from the dashboard so your URL stays the same between sessions:
https://my-app.tunnel.localport.dev
When to reserve a subdomain
End-to-end encryption
Traffic from the browser to Localport's edge is always HTTPS. The hop from the edge to your machine is its own TLS-1.3 connection. For most apps that's plenty — your dev server speaks plain HTTP locally and never sees the public internet directly.
If you need the bytes to stay encrypted all the way to your local server — for example, a service that already terminates TLS on a real certificate — use the tls protocol instead:
localport tls 3000 --token YOUR_TOKEN
The edge runs TLS pass-through: encrypted bytes flow straight to your local TLS server without ever being decrypted in transit. Your service handles the handshake and the certificate.
For stronger guarantees — restricting which clients are allowed to connect at all — see Locked tunnels, which adds mutual TLS on top.
Common use cases
- Demo to a client — Share your work-in-progress without deploying anywhere
- Test webhooks — Point Stripe, GitHub, or Slack at your tunnel URL (webhook guide)
- Mobile testing — Open the URL on your phone to test responsive layouts on a real device
- Team review — Share with teammates for quick feedback
- OAuth callbacks — Use a real HTTPS URL for redirect URIs during development
- AI tool callbacks — Provide a public endpoint for AI/LLM integrations that need a URL
Next steps
- TCP Tunnels — For databases, game servers, and SSH
- Webhook Development — Step-by-step guide for Stripe, GitHub, Slack, and Twilio
- CLI — All flags and options
- Configuration — YAML config file reference