Feature-by-feature comparison to help you choose the right tunneling tool.
Updated: March 2026
| Feature | ShubhamTun | Cloudflare Tunnel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free / from $2.50/mo | Free (with CF account) |
| Ecosystem lock-in | None | Cloudflare required |
| Protocols | HTTP + TCP + UDP | HTTP + TCP |
| Desktop GUI | Yes | No |
| Traffic inspector | From $2.50/mo | No |
| Setup complexity | One command | CF dashboard + cloudflared |
| Custom domains | From $2.50/mo | Free (CF-managed only) |
| UDP support | Yes | No |
| Open source | Yes (on GitHub) | No (proprietary) |
Cloudflare Tunnel is free, but it requires a Cloudflare account and your domain must be managed through Cloudflare DNS (source: cloudflare.com/products/tunnel, March 2026). ShubhamTun is also free to start, and you keep full independence — no ecosystem lock-in, no mandatory DNS migration. Use any domain registrar you prefer. That said, Cloudflare offers a global CDN network and DDoS protection as part of its free tier, making it a strong choice for high-traffic production sites.
Cloudflare Tunnel supports HTTP and TCP traffic, but not UDP (source: cloudflare.com/products/tunnel, March 2026). ShubhamTun supports all three protocols: HTTP, TCP, and UDP. Need to expose a game server, DNS, or another UDP service? Only ShubhamTun handles UDP with dedicated port allocation. This difference is especially felt by IoT developers, VoIP telephony providers, and game server operators, where UDP is the only acceptable transport.
With Cloudflare Tunnel, your domain DNS must be on Cloudflare, your traffic routes through their network, and you depend on their platform. ShubhamTun is fully independent — use any DNS provider, any domain registrar, and keep full control of where your traffic flows. For many projects, single-provider lock-in creates strategic risks: if Cloudflare changes terms or experiences an outage, migrating tunnels and DNS simultaneously becomes a double headache.
Cloudflare Tunnel requires the cloudflared CLI and dashboard configuration, meaning you switch between terminal and browser to create a tunnel. ShubhamTun offers a native desktop application with visual tunnel management, system tray integration, and auto-reconnect — everything in one window, no terminal or web dashboard needed. The app is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Yes. ShubhamTun's Go server, CLI client, desktop GUI, and web frontend are all open source on GitHub. You can audit the code, contribute pull requests, or fork the project. Cloudflare Tunnel's server is proprietary — only the cloudflared client is open source, so you cannot verify how Cloudflare processes your traffic on the edge. For organizations with audit requirements or teams that simply prefer transparency, open source provides verifiable trust.
Choose ShubhamTun if you value ecosystem independence, need UDP support, a traffic inspector, or an open-source codebase you can audit. Cloudflare Tunnel is the better choice if you already use Cloudflare for DNS and CDN and want a free HTTP/TCP tunnel backed by a global delivery network, DDoS protection, and a built-in WAF. Both services are free to start, but they solve different problems.