AI visibility report
NetFoundry ranks #8 in Developer Tunnels & Localhost Ingress AI search.
Outside the top three on 20 of the 25 prompts buyers actually ask.
ngrok is cited on 13 of those losses.
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Start free trial#8 among 10 vendors · still absent from 96.8% of tracked prompt responses
Top-3 citations across 125 prompt × platform pairs
Peer Ranking
Key Metrics
Platform Breakdown
Grok
Google AI Mode
Perplexity
Gemini Search
ChatGPTNarrower footprint, stronger tone. NetFoundry ranks #8 on presence but #4 on sentiment. That means the brand is framed well when it appears, but still needs broader prompt-response coverage.
Where NetFoundry is losing
Prompts where competitors are visible and NetFoundry is not.
These prompt-level losses are the first prompts to track and repair.
Where NetFoundry is winning
No clear strengths identified yet.
Where NetFoundry is losing5
What tunneling solutions integrate well with edge platforms or CDNs to combine tunneling with caching and WAF?
Competitors on 4 platforms
Track this promptWhat are the most reliable tunneling platforms for production-grade ingress, not just dev testing?
Competitors on 4 platforms
Track this promptWhich tunneling tools handle long-running production deployments without dropping connections?
Competitors on 4 platforms
Track this promptWhich localhost tunneling platforms support custom domains and persistent URLs across restarts?
Competitors on 3 platforms
Track this promptWhich tunneling tools have the best traffic inspection and request replay features for debugging webhooks?
Competitors on 3 platforms
Track this prompt
Track NetFoundry daily before the next report refresh.
Track these gapsResearch dossierCapabilities, use cases, sources, reviews, pricing, and FAQ
Overview
NetFoundry is a Charlotte, NC-based company and the creator of OpenZiti, the world's most widely used open-source zero-trust networking software. Founded in 2016, it operates a dual-product portfolio: the NetFoundry Platform, a cloud-native Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) for enterprise zero-trust overlay networking, and zrok, an open-source developer-tunnel tool built on OpenZiti that enables secure localhost and service sharing without opening firewall ports. NetFoundry serves over 2,000 organizations, including 8 of the 10 largest U.S. banks, processing over 1 billion sessions per month across 100+ global Points of Presence. In April 2025, the company raised its first external funding, a $12 million Series A from SYN Ventures, after operating self-funded since inception.
NetFoundry is the commercial developer and operator behind OpenZiti—the leading open-source zero-trust networking framework—and zrok, an open-source developer tunneling product. In the Developer Tunnels vertical, zrok enables developers to securely share local services, web servers, and files over the internet with no firewall ports opened, using OpenZiti's zero-trust overlay for identity-based mutual TLS. For enterprises, the NetFoundry Platform provides a managed NaaS that replaces VPNs, secures APIs, connects IoT/OT, and enables app-embedded zero-trust networking through multi-language SDKs.
Key Facts
- Founded
- 2016
- HQ
- Charlotte, NC, United States
- Founders
- Galeal Zino, David Hart, Robert Caamano +3 more
- Employees
- 51-200
- Funding
- $12M
- Customers
- ~2,000
- Status
- Private (Series A)
Target users
Key Capabilities10
- Open-source zero-trust developer tunnel (zrok) with public HTTPS shares and private token-gated shares
- Outbound-only connections — no open inbound firewall ports required
- Identity-based mutual TLS (mTLS) for all sessions via OpenZiti overlay
- App-embedded zero-trust SDKs (Go, C, C#, Java, Node.js, Swift, Python)
- Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) with 100+ PoPs and up to 99.95% SLA
- Self-hosted, hybrid, and on-premises deployment options including air-gapped sites
- FIPS-compliant encryption option for government and regulated environments
- Identity-based microsegmentation and lateral-movement prevention
- Built-in PKI (X.509 enrollment, revocation, renewal) with optional external CA/IdP support
- API-first orchestration via web console, REST API, or existing DevOps tooling
Key Use Cases8
- Localhost and local service sharing over the internet without firewall changes (zrok)
- Zero-trust VPN replacement for B2B and partner connectivity
- Secure API exposure and zero-trust API security
- IoT/OT device connectivity and identity-based micro-segmentation
- Secure remote management and DevOps/DevSecOps pipelines
- AI, MCP server, and LLM secure deployment enclaves
- Software provider / ISV embedding secure customer connectivity into products
- Multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud secure workload connectivity
NetFoundry customer outcomes
Replaced site-to-site VPNs for all B2B customer connectivity on their iPaaS platform; security reviews went from deal blockers to a competitive advantage, with customers able to onboard without changing firewalls or networks.
Moved to Infrastructure-as-Code automation including customer connectivity, eliminating S2S VPN and firewall port requirements for all MIS printing and labeling customers.
Recent Trend
How AI describes NetFoundry2
Zrok (by NetFoundry, based on OpenZiti) : Open-source zero-trust sharing.
What are the best tunnel solutions for teams that want to share local services with each other during development?
Netfoundry * OpenZiti : Related Helm charts and operators (e.g., KubeZiti) for mesh/overlay networking.
Which tunneling platforms have official Kubernetes operators or Helm charts for production ingress?
Most cited sources6
- 2
Share TCP and UDP services | NetFoundry Documentation
netfoundry.io·Documentation
- S1
How to Zitify your SSH connection with NetFoundry ZSSH
support.netfoundry.io·Documentation
1openziti/zrok: Secure internet sharing made simple.
github.com·Discussion
- 1
issues with self hosted kubernetes deployment (zrok, ziti ...
github.com·Listicle
- 1
Deploy zrok on Kubernetes
netfoundry.io·Documentation
- 1
Self-host a zrok Instance in Kubernetes
netfoundry.io·Documentation
Alternatives in Developer Tunnels & Localhost Ingress6
NetFoundry occupies a distinct position in the Developer Tunnels & Localhost Ingress vertical through its open-source zrok product, which is built on the OpenZiti zero-trust overlay rather than traditional reverse-proxy tunneling.
- Where ngrok and Cloudflare Tunnel focus on developer convenience and SaaS delivery, NetFoundry/zrok emphasizes security-first architecture: outbound-only connections, mutual TLS, identity-based access, and optional self-hosting on Linux, Docker, or Kubernetes.
- The backing enterprise platform (NetFoundry NaaS) gives it an enterprise credibility that pure-play tunnel tools lack, and the Apache 2.0 open-source model differentiates it from most commercial tunnel competitors.
- The trade-off is that onboarding complexity and brand awareness in the developer-tunnels segment are significantly lower than for ngrok or Cloudflare Tunnel.
Reviews
Praised
- Stable and reliable with no reported downtime
- Simple zero-trust network creation without hardware
- Reasonable and competitive pricing
- Easy onboarding without firewall or VPN changes
- Strong performance vs. legacy VPNs (reported 3–4× throughput gains)
- Open-source foundation builds trust and flexibility
- Responsive customer support and customization assistance
Criticized
- No built-in firewall capability requires additional security layer
- Lacks native internet access control
- Very low public review volume limits peer validation
- Quote-only enterprise pricing reduces transparency
- Mixed employee/employer reviews raise historical org stability questions
NetFoundry has a limited but positive public review footprint. On G2, it holds a 4.0/5 from 8 reviews, with the majority being 5-star; critical reviews reference historical operational issues unrelated to the product itself. On PeerSpot, it averages 9.0/10 (4.5/5), with reviewers praising its stability, reasonable pricing, and simplicity of zero-trust network creation. Gartner Peer Insights reviewers highlight 3–4× throughput improvements over legacy VPNs and ease of management. The main improvement area noted across platforms is the absence of a built-in firewall capability.
Pricing
NetFoundry offers a 30-day free trial with up to 10 endpoints and 1 TB of data. Business and Partner tiers are quote-based with no publicly listed prices; SLAs up to 99.95% and 24×7 support are included. Deployment options span cloud NaaS, hybrid, and on-premises (including air-gapped). The zrok developer tunnel is available as a free, open-source self-hosted install (Apache 2.0) or via the hosted myzrok.io service, which includes a generous free tier.
Limitations
- No built-in firewall capability—reviewers note an additional network control layer is required for full internet access control.
- Pricing for the enterprise platform is entirely quote-based with no self-serve tiers published, limiting transparent evaluation.
- Brand awareness in the developer-tunnel segment is low relative to ngrok or Cloudflare Tunnel, reflected in very thin public review volume. zrok hosted service (myzrok.io) limits and pricing are not fully documented in public sources.
- The product surface spans a wide range from lightweight developer tunneling (zrok) to full enterprise NaaS, which can create positioning ambiguity for evaluators.
Frequently asked questions
Topic coverageCoverage by buyer topic
Topic Coverage
Prompt-Level Results
| Prompt | Perplexity | Gemini Search | ChatGPT | Grok | Google AI Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Capability1/5 cited (20%) | |||||
What tools let me securely tunnel into a private network from anywhere without setting up a traditional VPN? | |||||
Which tunneling tools support TCP, UDP, and other non-HTTP protocols for game servers, MQTT, or databases? | |||||
What are the best zero-trust networking solutions that combine tunneling with identity-based access control? | |||||
Which tunneling platforms can expose Kubernetes services without configuring a load balancer or ingress controller? | |||||
Which secure access tools provide identity-aware proxies for SSH, databases, and Kubernetes API access? | |||||
Developer Experience2/5 cited (40%) | |||||
Which localhost tunneling platforms support custom domains and persistent URLs across restarts? | |||||
Which secure access platforms have the smoothest CLI experience for everyday developer workflows? | |||||
Which tunneling tools have the best traffic inspection and request replay features for debugging webhooks? | |||||
What tunneling tools work best for developers building integrations with external APIs that need to call back to localhost? | |||||
What are the best tunnel solutions for teams that want to share local services with each other during development? | |||||
Integrations & Ecosystem1/5 cited (20%) | |||||
What tunneling solutions integrate well with edge platforms or CDNs to combine tunneling with caching and WAF? | |||||
What tunneling tools integrate with identity providers like Okta, Azure AD, or Google Workspace for SSO? | |||||
Which developer tunneling tools have the best CI/CD integrations for spinning up ephemeral preview environments per pull request? | |||||
Which secure access platforms work with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform for repeatable network setup? | |||||
Which tunneling platforms have official Kubernetes operators or Helm charts for production ingress? | |||||
Performance & Reliability0/5 cited (0%) | |||||
What secure access platforms scale best to hundreds of devices and thousands of users in a corporate network? | |||||
What are the most reliable tunneling platforms for production-grade ingress, not just dev testing? | |||||
Which localhost tunneling services have unlimited bandwidth on their paid tiers? | |||||
Which tunneling tools handle long-running production deployments without dropping connections? | |||||
Which tunneling solutions offer the lowest latency by leveraging a global edge network? | |||||
Setup & First Run0/5 cited (0%) | |||||
I need to share a demo of an app running on my laptop with a remote client — what are my options? | |||||
Which localhost tunneling solutions don't require me to install a binary or sign up for an account? | |||||
What's the fastest way to expose a localhost server to the public internet for testing webhooks? | |||||
What's the simplest way to expose a local webhook endpoint to a third-party service like Stripe or Twilio for testing? | |||||
Which tunneling tools let me get a public HTTPS URL for my local dev server in under a minute? | |||||
Turn this matrix into daily prompt monitoring.
Track prompt changesVertical Ranking
| # | Brand | PresencePres. | Share of VoiceSoV | DocsDocs | BlogBlog | MentionsMent. | Avg PosPos | Sentiment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloudflare | 32.8% | 23.6% | 24.0% | 6.4% | 0.0% | #24.3 | +0.38 |
| 2 | ngrok | 31.2% | 23.0% | 22.4% | 12.8% | 0.0% | #16.4 | +0.43 |
| 3 | Pinggy | 30.4% | 13.9% | 3.2% | 28.8% | 0.0% | #25.0 | +0.42 |
| 4 | Tailscale | 25.6% | 20.2% | 11.2% | 7.2% | 0.0% | #28.7 | +0.31 |
| 5 | LocalXpose | 21.6% | 9.1% | 0.0% | 17.6% | 0.0% | #18.3 | +0.34 |
| 6 | Inlets | 5.6% | 3.2% | 4.0% | 0.8% | 0.0% | #35.6 | +0.54 |
| 7 | Teleport | 4.8% | 4.5% | 2.4% | 1.6% | 0.0% | #27.1 | +0.48 |
| 8 | NetFoundry | 3.2% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | #49.9 | +0.47 |
| 9 | NetBird | 2.4% | 1.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | #33.4 | +0.52 |
| 10 | PageKite | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | — |
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