# https://tunnels.io/use-cases

Use cases

# What people build with tunnels.io.

One mechanism, nine jobs. A local port gets a public address, and whether that port is a web server, an sshd, a database or a Minecraft world only changes what you type after it. Every page below has the commands, the honest limits and the plan it needs.

[Get started free →](https://tunnels.io/get-started) [See pricing](https://tunnels.io/pricing)

## Development and testing

These are HTTPS tunnels, so they all start on the free plan. Free gives one tunnel at a time and a subdomain that changes on restart, which is the reason people upgrade rather than the protocol.

[Webhook development Receive real Stripe, GitHub and Shopify deliveries on your own machine, and see every one of them in the local inspector.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/webhooks) [Real-device testing A public HTTPS URL your phone can reach from any network, including cellular, where nothing on your own LAN can help.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/mobile-testing) [Preview URLs in CI A reachable URL for every pull request, for end-to-end tests and for the reviewer who wants to click something.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/ci-cd)

## Raw TCP

Bytes forwarded without caring what protocol they are. Raw TCP tunnels start on the Professional plan at $4 a month; the free plan is HTTPS only.

[SSH access Reach an sshd on a machine with no public IP, without touching the router in front of it. Shells, scp, rsync and git over SSH all ride the same tunnel.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/ssh) [Database access Hand a teammate a connection string to the Postgres, MySQL, Redis or Mongo running on your own machine, then close the tunnel when they are done.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/database) [Remote desktop RDP or VNC into a machine that has no public address and no port forward. Fine for administration, poor for video.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/remote-desktop) [Minecraft (Java) Friends join a world running at your house with no router change. Java Edition is TCP, so it works. Bedrock is UDP, and we do not carry UDP.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/minecraft-server)

## Always on

For a machine that runs permanently and that you cannot reach any other way.

[Homelab and self-hosting Your ISP put you behind CGNAT and will not give you a port to forward. An outbound tunnel does not need one, and bandwidth is the thing to budget for.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/homelab) [IoT and embedded A device on a customer's network you will never have access to. There are published armv7 and arm64 builds for exactly this.](https://tunnels.io/use-cases/iot)

## Not sure which one you are doing?

Start on the free plan and find out. If you want the mechanism first, [the explanations](https://tunnels.io/learn) cover what a tunnel is and why an outbound connection reaches where an inbound one cannot. If you are weighing us against something else, there are [honest comparisons](https://tunnels.io/compare) including where the other tool wins.

[Get started →](https://tunnels.io/get-started) [See pricing](https://tunnels.io/pricing)