Jetty vs localhost.run
localhost.run is admirably minimal: if you have SSH, you have a tunnel. No install, no account for the basics. Jetty asks for one install script and gives you everything a shared URL eventually wants — persistence, status, inspection, and a page to put it on.
The short version
For a one-off "look at this real quick" from a machine you will never touch again, localhost.run's zero-install SSH trick is hard to beat. The moment a URL needs to survive a reconnect, look professional, or be seen alongside a second server, you have outgrown it.
Side by side
| Jetty | localhost.run | |
|---|---|---|
| Share several servers as one page | Yes — public gallery page | No |
| Install | One install.sh | None — plain SSH |
| Persistent URLs | Reserved labels (free: 1) and custom domains | Custom domains on paid |
| Dashboard / tunnel status | Yes — live status, health, history | No |
| Request inspection + replay | Captain and up | No |
| Crew collaboration | Crews, roles, shared tunnels | No |
| TCP/UDP tunnels | Captain and up | HTTP-focused |
Comparisons reflect publicly documented behavior as of August 2026. Spot something out of date? Tell us: support@usejetty.online.
Where localhost.run wins
- Zero install — one SSH command from any machine, including boxes you do not control.
- Simplicity: no account, no dashboard, nothing to learn for the basic case.
Where Jetty wins
- Tunnels that survive: reconnection, heartbeats, degraded-status detection, and URLs that do not vanish.
- The gallery page, crew sharing, and traffic inspection — none of which exist there.
- A free tier that still includes a reserved label, so even $0 gets a stable URL.
See it instead of reading about it
The live demo gallery is the whole pitch. Dinghy is free — no card, no clock.