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Share Your Dev Server With a Client: an ngrok Alternative
ngrok is an ingress platform for exposing a local port to the public internet.
Updated
Forkbench's Live Link puts the dev server running on your machine behind a temporary HTTPS link that only people invited to that Thread can open. There is nothing to install or configure and no public address for strangers to find, so showing a client what the agent just built takes seconds.
Most ngrok sessions are a person wanting to see something. For that errand, you want a link that only they can open.
| Forkbench | ngrok | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can open the link | Only people invited to the Thread | Anyone with the address, unless you add auth |
| Setup | Pick a port in the Thread | Install the agent, add an authtoken, run a command |
| Interstitial before your app | Never | On the free plan for HTTP/S |
| Webhooks and machine callers | No, people only | Yes |
| Lifetime | Expires on its own; revocable any time | Until you stop it |
| Price | Free | Free tier with caps; paid from $10/mo |
Why developers pick Forkbench
- Only invited Thread members can open it, by design.
- No agent to install, no authtoken, no interstitial page.
- It expires on its own and you can revoke it any time.
- Free.
What ngrok does well
- General purpose: webhooks, TCP and machine callers.
- Custom domains and traffic policy.
The verdict
Keep ngrok for webhooks. For showing a person what you built, Forkbench's Live Link is faster, private by default and already in the app your agents run in.
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Comparison based on publicly available information, checked on the date above. Spot something out of date? Tell us.