# LocalXpose Alternative With No Account: qURL vs LocalXpose > qURL vs LocalXpose: LocalXpose needs an account and gives a public URL with optional basic auth; qURL needs no account and gives no public URL. Source: https://layerv.ai/compare/qurl-vs-localxpose/ --- [← All Comparisons](https://layerv.ai/compare/) # qURL™ vs LocalXpose A tunnel with an account and auth plugins, or a link with neither. LocalXpose needs an account, then its loclx CLI or GUI gives your app a public URL, with optional basic auth, a header key, or an IP allowlist. qURL needs no account: qurl publish keeps the app off the public internet, and qurl share prints a link that works once and expires within 24 hours. Facts checked October 14, 2026 against each vendor’s documentation. [Download the data](https://layerv.ai/data/localhost-tunnels/tunnels.json) LocalXpose is a hosted tunnel service with a CLI and a desktop GUI. qURL is a CLI that publishes a local app without a public route and hands out one link per recipient. ## How qURL and LocalXpose differ You sign up, log the loclx client in with your token, and start a tunnel; visitors reach the app on a public URL. The free Starter plan allows 2 active HTTP or HTTPS tunnels, time-limited, with an interstitial warning page for visitors and no custom domains; Pro adds TCP, TLS and UDP. Visitor access control comes from flags on the tunnel: --basic-auth, --key-auth, which checks an X-TOKEN header, and --ip-whitelist. qURL connects out from your machine too, but it gives the app no public address. qurl publish registers the app and prints its CRID, the app’s stable ID; qurl share turns the CRID into an access link for one recipient. Opening the link admits that recipient’s network address for the session; by protocol design, other addresses get no response. ## From a running app to a link you can send qURL CLI ``` qurl publish http://127.0.0.1:3000 qurl share ``` LocalXpose (free) ``` loclx account login loclx tunnel http ``` ## qURL and LocalXpose, side by side __qURL CLI compared with LocalXpose (free), with the source for each value__ | Question | qURL CLI | LocalXpose (free) | | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Account needed before the first URL | No. The first publish creates the device identity [our test](https://layerv.ai/research/qurl-behaviour) | Yes: a free account and access token [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/docs) | | What the URL looks like | A qurl.link access link per recipient; the app answers at r\_.qurl.site, a name absent from Certificate Transparency logs [our test](https://layerv.ai/research/qurl-behaviour) | Unique subdomain on the free plan; custom subdomains and custom domains on Pro [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/pricing) | | Who can reach it | No one until a link is opened; then the opener’s public IP for that session, including other devices behind that IP [layerv.ai](https://layerv.ai/docs/qurls.md) | Public: anyone with the URL [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/docs/tunnels/http) | | Warning page shown to visitors | None [our test](https://layerv.ai/research/qurl-behaviour) | Yes, an interstitial warning page on the free Starter plan [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/pricing) | | Visitor access control | Single-use access link by default; link and session lifetimes. IP allow and deny lists and other rules can gate links through the API, not the CLI [layerv.ai](https://layerv.ai/docs/qurls.md) | Basic auth (--basic-auth), key auth with an X-TOKEN header (--key-auth), IP whitelist (--ip-whitelist) [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/docs/tunnels/http/http-plugins) | | Link expiry | Yes. qurl share returned a 24-hour link in our no-account test; no-account links are capped at 24 hours [our test](https://layerv.ai/research/qurl-behaviour) | Free tunnels are time-limited (length not published) [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/pricing) | | Single-use links | Yes, the default for qurl share [our test](https://layerv.ai/research/qurl-behaviour) | Not documented [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/docs/tunnels/http/http-plugins) | | Protocols | HTTP(S), WebSocket, SSE; no raw TCP [our test](https://layerv.ai/research/qurl-behaviour) | HTTP(S) on the free plan; TCP, TLS, UDP on Pro [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/pricing) | | Free-tier limits | Without an account: up to 3 active resources, with links that last up to 24 hours [github.com](https://github.com/layervai/qurl-integrations/blob/main/apps/cli/README.md) | 2 active HTTP/HTTPS tunnels; time limits; interstitial warning page [localxpose.io](https://localxpose.io/pricing) | ## Which one to use ### Choose qURL to Share with one person or an agent without creating an account, putting the app on a public URL, or showing visitors a warning page. Each link works once and expires on its own. ### When LocalXpose is the better choice Choose LocalXpose when you want a desktop GUI, a public URL with basic auth or an IP allowlist, or TCP and UDP tunnels on a paid plan. ## Frequently Asked Questions Is LocalXpose free? It has a free Starter plan with 2 active HTTP or HTTPS tunnels, which are time-limited and show visitors a warning page. It needs an account. Who can open a qURL link? Whoever holds it, once: with no flags, qurl share prints a single-use link. Opening it admits the network address it was opened from for the session, which lasts 1 hour by default for an app published from the CLI. Other devices on the same public IP address, such as an office or café network, can reach the app until the session ends, so keep your app’s own sign-in for anything sensitive. By default a link admits whoever opens it; access rules set through the API, such as IP allow and deny lists, can restrict that. Can my coding agent share my app with qURL? Yes. Give Claude Code, Cursor, or Windsurf the qURL skill (https://layerv.ai/skills/qurl/SKILL.md) and ask it to share the app: it installs the qurl CLI, publishes the app privately, and gives you an address to send. The agent applies the private access rules you choose. For named recipients, give it their email addresses so it can send invitations. Recipients verify their email in the browser and save a passkey; they never send you their email verification code. The agent checks policy support before sharing and keeps the app private if the deployment cannot support it. For one person right away, ask it for a one-time link instead. Codex starts with network access off, so save the skill file for it first. ## Related Resources [ngrok alternatives with authentication →](https://layerv.ai/compare/ngrok-alternatives-with-auth/) [qURL vs Pinggy →](https://layerv.ai/compare/qurl-vs-pinggy/) [qURL vs localhost.run →](https://layerv.ai/compare/qurl-vs-localhost-run/) [ngrok alternatives →](https://layerv.ai/compare/ngrok-alternatives/) [Every localhost tunnel, compared →](https://layerv.ai/compare/localhost-tunnels/) [LocalXpose ↗](https://localxpose.io) ## Share your app without an account Paste one prompt into your coding agent, or install the qURL CLI and publish the app yourself. No sign-up, no API key. [Get the agent prompt ↗](https://layerv.ai/vibe-coding/) [Install the CLI ↗](https://layerv.ai/cli/) New to qURL? Start at [qurl.link ](https://qurl.link/) --- *This markdown version is auto-generated from [https://layerv.ai/compare/qurl-vs-localxpose/](https://layerv.ai/compare/qurl-vs-localxpose/) for AI agents. Curated agent resources: [llms.txt](https://layerv.ai/llms.txt). For the full interactive experience, visit the HTML version.*