ngrok

Tunneling and API gateway tool that lets developers expose local apps to the internet.

ngrok has real developer reach but no new funding round in over three years while Cloudflare gives away the same tools for free.

ngrok is a tool that lets software developers expose their work-in-progress code to the internet for testing without messy setup. The company has real users (5 million developers, paid customers at 30,000) and switching costs because ngrok is embedded in Microsoft, GitHub, and other big platforms' instructions. However, Cloudflare already built a free competitor called Cloudflare Tunnel that does the same job, connects better, and comes bundled with Cloudflare's other products, making it hard for ngrok to charge. ngrok recently pivoted to AI features (like an AI Gateway launched mid-2026) that are currently free and unproven, putting it in a crowded space where OpenAI and Anthropic could build the same features directly into their own AI products. The company has not announced new funding in 3.5 years despite a favorable fundraising environment, and has not publicly disclosed revenue or detailed growth numbers, making it hard to tell if the AI pivot is working or just treading water.

• 5M+ developers, 30k+ paying customers (Dec 2022)
• Only disclosed raise: $50M Series A (Dec 2022)
• Revenue estimates range $16.8M to $26.7M (Jul 2026)

• No Series B disclosed in over 3.5 years despite favorable AI-infra fundraising climate. Severity: high
• Cloudflare's free-bundled Tunnel and Zero Trust threaten ngrok's core tunneling revenue. Severity: high
• AI Gateway pivot (ngrok.ai) is unmonetized-unverified with thin per-token economics. Severity: medium
• Frontier labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI) could vertically integrate MCP/agent routing, bypassing gateways. Severity: medium
• Headcount flat at roughly 55-90 employees, limiting scale-up capacity. Severity: low

Is ngrok profitable in 2026?

ngrok has not disclosed profitability. Its own Dec 2022 statement claimed revenue was 'doubling year over year' with 30,000+ paying customers, but no subsequent revenue or profit figures have been disclosed by the company through mid-2026, and no Series B has been announced since the $50M Series A.

Could Cloudflare replace ngrok?

Cloudflare already ships a free-bundled competitor, Cloudflare Tunnel plus Zero Trust, with 200+ global points of presence versus ngrok's 8 as of July 2026. ngrok retains doc-embedded developer distribution, but its core tunneling product faces real commoditization pressure from Cloudflare's superior network.

Who is ngrok's biggest competitor?

Cloudflare is ngrok's most dangerous rival, offering Tunnel and Zero Trust free or bundled with a vastly larger network (200+ PoPs vs ngrok's 8, as of Jul 2026). Tailscale, Kong, and AI-gateway players like OpenRouter and Portkey also contest adjacent segments.

Who owns ngrok?

ngrok, Inc. is privately held with no parent company. It was bootstrapped for about seven years before raising a $50 million Series A in December 2022 led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with Coatue Management participating; that remains its only publicly disclosed funding round as of mid-2026.

Has ngrok raised a Series B?

No. As of July 2026, ngrok's only disclosed institutional round remains the $50 million Series A closed in December 2022, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with Coatue Management. No subsequent priced round, acquisition, or IPO activity has been publicly reported despite an active AI-infra fundraising environment.

What is ngrok.ai and does it make money?

ngrok.ai is ngrok's AI Gateway product, reaching general availability in July 2026, routing traffic across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other providers with automatic failover and a $0.05 per million token processing fee introduced in March 2026. No independently verified revenue from this line has been disclosed.

• 2026-07-01ngrok.ai AI Gateway reaches General Availability
• 2026-06-24ngrok ships MCP gateway support for AI agents
• 2026-04-07AI Gateway credit purchases extended to free-tier users
• 2026-03-01AI Gateway API Keys launched with $0.05 per million token fee
• 2025-12-14ngrok AI gateway opens early access with multi-provider routing
• 2024-02-14ngrok launches developer-defined API Gateway with Traffic Policy engine
• 2022-12-13ngrok closes $50M Series A led by Lightspeed and Coatue
• 2022-01-01ngrok reincorporates in Delaware as ngrok, Inc.
• 2015-07ngrok LLC registered in California after years as open source project
• 2013-03Alan Shreve begins ngrok as open-source Go project at Twilio

• ngrok Raises $50M in First Fundraise to Meet Demand for Frictionless Application Ingress (2022-12-12)
• Ngrok, a service to help devs deploy sites, services and apps, raises $50M (2022-12-13)
• ngrok Revenue History (2023-11-30)
• ngrok Security Rating, Vendor Risk Report, and Data Breaches (2026-07-11)
• Zendesk keeps 200 engineers focused, productive and safe
• Ngrok - Overview, News & Similar companies (2026-07-06)
• Ngrok, Inc
• Introducing ngrok's developer-defined API Gateway (2024-02-14)
• Introducing the ngrok AI gateway (early access) (2025-12-14)
• AI Gateway: use Anthropic and OpenAI with one API key (2026-03-01)
• ngrok documentation (2026-07-01)
• Using ngrok as your MCP gateway (2026-06-24)