Best Playit.gg Alternatives in 2025

Gaming has evolved significantly, and so have the tools that enable seamless multiplayer experiences. While Playit.gg has been a popular choice for gamers looking to host servers without port forwarding, the landscape of gaming connectivity solutions has expanded dramatically in 2025.

Whether you're hosting a Minecraft server for friends, running a Terraria world, or need reliable tunneling for any multiplayer game, this comprehensive guide explores the best Playit.gg alternatives available today.

What is Playit.gg?

Playit.gg is a global proxy service that allows gamers to host servers without the complexity of port forwarding. It uses tunneling technology to create a bridge between your local game server and the internet, making it accessible to players worldwide. The service supports both TCP and UDP protocols, making it compatible with most popular games.

Why Look for Alternatives?

While Playit.gg is effective, users often seek alternatives for various reasons:

• Performance concerns: Lower latency requirements
• Cost considerations: Free vs. paid options
• Feature limitations: Need for custom domains or advanced configurations
• Reliability issues: Seeking more stable connections
• Platform compatibility: Better support for specific games or operating systems

Top Playit.gg Alternatives

1. Tunneling & Port-Forwarding Services

These solutions create secure tunnels to expose your local servers to the internet:

Pinggy

Pinggy stands out as a lightweight and fast tunneling solution that's particularly well-suited for gaming applications. Unlike more resource-intensive alternatives, Pinggy is designed with minimal resource usage in mind, making it an excellent choice for gamers running servers on older hardware or systems with limited specifications. The service provides comprehensive support for HTTP, HTTPS, and TCP tunnels, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of games from web-based multiplayer experiences to traditional client-server games like Minecraft and Terraria.

One of Pinggy's standout features is its CLI-based control system, which appeals to advanced users who prefer command-line interfaces for their server management tasks. This approach not only reduces overhead but also allows for easy automation and scripting. For users requiring professional branding or consistent URLs, Pinggy offers custom domain support on their paid plans, making it suitable for gaming communities that want to maintain a professional appearance. The service's ability to work effectively on low-end devices makes it an accessible alternative to more demanding solutions like Ngrok or traditional VPN services.

Best For: Gamers who need a quick, reliable tunneling solution with minimal setup, particularly those running servers on resource-constrained hardware or preferring command-line management tools.

LocalXpose

LocalXpose provides a robust tunneling solution that excels in security and performance for gaming applications. With support for HTTP, TCP, and UDP protocols, it's versatile enough to handle various gaming scenarios from web-based games to traditional multiplayer titles requiring direct connections.

What sets LocalXpose apart is its focus on enterprise-grade security features while maintaining user-friendly interfaces. The service offers end-to-end encryption for all tunneled traffic, protecting player data and server communications from potential eavesdropping or manipulation. For gaming communities concerned about DDoS attacks, LocalXpose includes built-in protection mechanisms that help mitigate common attack vectors.

The platform's custom subdomain feature allows gaming communities to create memorable, consistent access points even on the free tier—a significant advantage over services that provide only random URLs for non-paying users. For professional gaming communities, the paid tiers offer custom domain support, wildcard certificates, and increased bandwidth allocations suitable for higher player counts.

Best For: Security-conscious gaming communities that need reliable tunneling with custom subdomains and protection against common network attacks.

Ngrok

Ngrok has established itself as one of the most user-friendly tunneling solutions available, providing straightforward tunneling capabilities combined with excellent monitoring features that make it particularly valuable for gaming applications. The service's hallmark feature is its one-command setup process, which allows users to expose local game servers to the internet with a single terminal command—a significant advantage over more complex alternatives like SoftEther VPN or manual port forwarding configurations.

What sets Ngrok apart from simpler solutions like Playit.gg is its comprehensive real-time traffic inspection capabilities, accessible through an intuitive web dashboard that provides detailed insights into connection attempts, player traffic patterns, and potential issues. This monitoring functionality proves invaluable when troubleshooting connectivity problems or optimizing server performance for games like Minecraft or Counter-Strike. The service supports both HTTP and TCP tunnels, ensuring compatibility with web-based games as well as traditional multiplayer titles that require direct TCP connections.

While Ngrok's free tier provides temporary URLs that change with each session, this limitation makes it less suitable for permanent gaming communities compared to solutions like ZeroTier or paid hosting services. However, for development, testing, or temporary gaming sessions, this approach offers excellent flexibility without long-term commitments.

Best For: Short-term gaming sessions, development testing, and scenarios where detailed traffic monitoring and analysis are important for troubleshooting or optimization purposes.

PageKite

PageKite offers a unique approach to tunneling that emphasizes flexibility and open-source principles. As one of the few major tunneling solutions with an open-source core, PageKite provides transparency and customization options that closed-source alternatives cannot match. This open architecture allows technically-inclined gamers to inspect, modify, and extend the tunneling functionality to suit specific gaming requirements.

The service's "kite" concept creates persistent named tunnels that maintain consistent access points across sessions—a significant advantage over temporary URL services for established gaming communities. PageKite's multi-protocol support encompasses HTTP, HTTPS, and raw TCP connections, providing compatibility with most gaming applications from web-based titles to traditional client-server games.

One of PageKite's distinctive features is its "flying" capability, which allows tunnels to seamlessly migrate between different backend servers without disrupting active connections. This resilience proves particularly valuable for gaming sessions that need to survive network changes or server migrations. The service's pay-what-you-want model for personal use makes it accessible to casual gamers while providing clear upgrade paths for growing communities.

Best For: Technical users who value open-source solutions, require persistent named tunnels, and appreciate flexible pricing models for personal gaming projects.

Portmap.io

Portmap.io distinguishes itself from other tunneling solutions by leveraging OpenVPN-based infrastructure combined with strategic regional server selection capabilities. This approach addresses one of the most critical concerns for competitive gamers: latency optimization. Unlike generic tunneling services that route traffic through centralized servers, Portmap.io allows users to select relay servers geographically closer to their player base, potentially reducing ping times significantly compared to solutions like basic Ngrok setups or distant Playit.gg relay points.

The service's comprehensive protocol support encompasses both TCP and UDP traffic, making it compatible with a broader range of games than HTTP-focused alternatives. This dual-protocol capability is particularly important for modern multiplayer games that utilize UDP for real-time communication while maintaining TCP connections for reliable data transfer. Games like Valorant, Apex Legends, and Rocket League benefit significantly from this mixed-protocol approach.

For gaming communities seeking professional presentation, Portmap.io offers custom domain options on premium tiers, allowing servers to be accessed through branded URLs rather than generic subdomains. The underlying OpenVPN-based security provides enterprise-grade encryption, making it a more secure alternative to simpler solutions while maintaining the ease of use that gamers expect. This security focus makes it particularly suitable for gaming communities concerned about protecting player data and preventing unauthorized access.

Best For: Competitive gamers and communities prioritizing low latency through geographic optimization, particularly those requiring both TCP and UDP protocol support with enhanced security features.

2. Game Server Hosting Services

Skip the complexity entirely by using dedicated game server hosting:

Aternos (Free Minecraft Hosting)

Aternos represents a compelling alternative to tunneling solutions like Playit.gg by eliminating the need for local server hosting entirely. This completely free Minecraft hosting service operates on an ad-supported model, providing full-featured server hosting without subscription fees or hidden costs. The platform's one-click server setup process makes it significantly more accessible than complex alternatives like VPS hosting or self-managed solutions, allowing even non-technical users to create and manage Minecraft servers within minutes.

What makes Aternos particularly attractive is its comprehensive mod and plugin support, rivaling paid alternatives like Apex Hosting in terms of customization options. Users can install popular modifications like Forge, Fabric, or server plugins like Bukkit and Spigot, creating highly customized gaming experiences. The service includes basic DDoS protection, addressing security concerns that plague self-hosted solutions using tunneling services.

However, Aternos operates with certain limitations that distinguish it from premium alternatives. The service restricts servers to approximately 2GB of RAM, which may limit performance for heavily modded servers or large player counts compared to scalable solutions like ZeroTier networks with dedicated hardware. Additionally, the auto-shutdown feature activates when servers remain idle, requiring manual restarts—a trade-off for the free service model that differs from always-on solutions like Tailscale mesh networks or paid hosting services.

Best For: Casual Minecraft players and small friend groups seeking a completely free hosting solution without the technical complexity of tunneling services or VPN configurations.

Paid Game Server Hosts

Professional game server hosting services like Apex Hosting, Nitrado, and Exaroton represent the premium alternative to DIY solutions like Playit.gg tunneling or free services like Aternos. These platforms provide dedicated resources allocated exclusively to your gaming community, ensuring consistent performance that doesn't fluctuate based on shared infrastructure load—a significant advantage over tunneling solutions that depend on relay server availability and performance.

The hallmark of professional hosting services is their 24/7 uptime guarantee, backed by redundant infrastructure and professional monitoring systems. This reliability contrasts sharply with home-hosted solutions using Ngrok or Pinggy, where server availability depends on your local internet connection and hardware stability. Professional support teams provide technical assistance for server configuration, mod installation, and troubleshooting—services unavailable with self-managed alternatives like ZeroTier networks or VPS hosting.

These services offer scalable plans that can grow with your gaming community, from small friend groups to large public servers supporting hundreds of concurrent players. Advanced control panels provide intuitive interfaces for server management, mod installation, and player administration, eliminating the technical complexity associated with command-line tools or manual server configuration required by solutions like SoftEther VPN or custom Tailscale setups.

Best For: Serious gaming communities requiring reliable, always-on servers with professional support, particularly those prioritizing consistent performance and minimal technical management overhead.

3. VPN & Virtual LAN Solutions

Create secure, direct connections between players:

ZeroTier

ZeroTier revolutionizes gaming connectivity by creating virtual networks that function identically to local LANs, offering a fundamentally different approach compared to tunneling services like Playit.gg or Ngrok. This software-defined networking solution establishes direct peer-to-peer connections between gaming devices, effectively bypassing the relay servers and potential bottlenecks associated with traditional tunneling approaches. The result is LAN-like performance over internet connections, making it ideal for games that were originally designed for local network play.

The platform's cross-platform compatibility spans Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, ensuring that gaming groups using diverse hardware can participate in the same virtual network. This universality surpasses platform-specific solutions like Radmin VPN (Windows-only) while providing more direct connectivity than web-based alternatives. ZeroTier's advanced NAT traversal technology automatically handles complex network configurations, eliminating the manual port forwarding requirements that make traditional hosting challenging.

ZeroTier's web-based management interface provides centralized control over network membership, access permissions, and routing configurations, offering more granular control than simpler solutions like Hamachi while remaining more user-friendly than enterprise VPN solutions like SoftEther. The free plan's support for up to 100 devices makes it suitable for large gaming communities, significantly exceeding the limitations of basic tunneling services or free hosting alternatives like Aternos.

Best For: Creating private gaming networks with LAN-like performance, particularly for groups requiring direct peer-to-peer connectivity and minimal latency for competitive or cooperative gaming experiences.

Tailscale

Tailscale represents the cutting edge of VPN technology for gaming applications, leveraging the modern WireGuard protocol to deliver secure, high-performance connections that significantly outperform older VPN solutions like Hamachi or traditional tunneling services like Playit.gg. The WireGuard foundation provides state-of-the-art encryption with minimal performance overhead, ensuring that security doesn't compromise gaming performance—a critical balance for competitive multiplayer experiences.

The service's mesh VPN architecture creates direct connections between all devices in the network, eliminating the single-point-of-failure issues common with centralized solutions. This approach delivers lower latency than relay-based alternatives like Ngrok or Portmap.io, as traffic flows directly between gaming devices rather than through intermediate servers. The mesh topology also provides better scalability than hub-and-spoke VPN models, making it suitable for growing gaming communities.

Tailscale's integration with existing Google and Microsoft accounts streamlines the onboarding process, eliminating the complex certificate management or manual key exchange required by solutions like SoftEther VPN or OpenVPN. This ease of setup, combined with automatic device discovery and connection management, makes Tailscale more accessible than technical alternatives while providing enterprise-grade security. The simple setup process contrasts favorably with the configuration complexity of ZeroTier or manual VPS hosting solutions.

Best For: Small to medium gaming groups prioritizing both security and performance, particularly those seeking enterprise-grade encryption with consumer-friendly setup and management interfaces.

Radmin VPN

Radmin VPN offers a compelling solution for Windows-based gaming communities, providing completely free unlimited peer connections that surpass the limitations of alternatives like Hamachi (5-device limit) or the complexity of Playit.gg tunneling setups. This specialized gaming VPN is optimized specifically for low-latency gaming traffic, delivering high-speed connections that often outperform general-purpose VPN solutions or tunneling services in gaming scenarios.

The service's unlimited peer connection capability makes it particularly attractive for large gaming communities, eliminating the device restrictions that limit other free alternatives. Unlike cross-platform solutions like ZeroTier or Tailscale, Radmin VPN focuses exclusively on Windows environments, allowing for deeper system integration and optimization. This specialization results in streamlined performance for Windows-based games, particularly older titles that rely on LAN discovery protocols or direct IP connections.

While the Windows-only limitation restricts its applicability compared to universal solutions like Ngrok or web-based hosting services like Aternos, this focus enables Radmin VPN to provide superior performance for homogeneous Windows gaming environments. The service requires no complex configuration or technical expertise, making it more accessible than enterprise solutions like SoftEther VPN while providing better gaming-specific optimization than general tunneling services.

Best For: Large Windows-based gaming communities requiring unlimited peer connections with gaming-optimized performance, particularly groups playing older or LAN-focused games that benefit from direct network connectivity.

SoftEther VPN

SoftEther VPN provides one of the most versatile and powerful VPN solutions for gaming communities with advanced technical requirements. This open-source, multi-protocol VPN software supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, SSTP, and its native SoftEther protocol, offering unparalleled flexibility for diverse gaming environments. The platform's protocol negotiation capability automatically selects the optimal connection method based on network conditions and firewall restrictions, ensuring reliable connectivity even in challenging network environments.

What distinguishes SoftEther from simpler gaming VPN solutions is its comprehensive server capabilities, allowing users to create sophisticated network topologies with multiple virtual hubs, cascading connections, and detailed access control lists. This advanced architecture enables gaming communities to implement complex setups like regional server clusters, separate networks for different game types, or tiered access systems for community administrators and players.

While SoftEther requires more technical knowledge than consumer-oriented alternatives, its enterprise-grade features provide capabilities typically found only in commercial solutions. The platform's dynamic DNS functionality, NAT traversal system, and VPN over HTTPS mode work together to overcome even the most restrictive firewalls and network configurations, making it particularly valuable for gamers in environments with limited connectivity options.

Best For: Technically advanced gaming communities requiring sophisticated network configurations, multi-protocol support, and the ability to overcome restrictive network environments.

4. Remote Play & Streaming Solutions

Share gaming sessions without dedicated servers:

Shadow

Shadow offers a revolutionary approach to gaming connectivity through its cloud-based virtual gaming PC service. Unlike traditional tunneling solutions like Playit.gg that focus on exposing local servers, Shadow provides complete high-performance Windows 10 PCs accessible from virtually any device. This cloud-native approach eliminates the need for powerful local hardware, allowing gamers to run demanding titles on basic laptops, tablets, or even smartphones.

The service's dedicated GPU resources deliver performance comparable to high-end gaming rigs, with support for ray tracing, high refresh rates, and 4K resolution streaming. This capability enables multiplayer gaming without the traditional constraints of local hardware limitations or complex server setups. For multiplayer scenarios, Shadow users can host game servers directly on their cloud PCs, leveraging the platform's enterprise-grade internet connections (up to 1Gbps) and eliminating the need for tunneling solutions entirely.

Shadow's persistent storage system preserves game installations and save files between sessions, creating a seamless experience that feels like using a local PC. The platform's low-latency streaming technology minimizes input delay to imperceptible levels for most games, making it suitable even for competitive titles where timing is critical. Monthly subscription pricing provides predictable costs without the large upfront investment of gaming hardware.

Best For: Gamers seeking a complete alternative to both local hardware and traditional server hosting, particularly those who want to play demanding titles on modest devices or host servers with enterprise-grade connectivity.

Parsec

Parsec represents a fundamentally different approach to multiplayer gaming connectivity, focusing on high-quality game streaming rather than traditional server hosting methods used by Playit.gg or Ngrok. This innovative solution enables seamless sharing of gaming experiences by streaming the host's screen and input to remote players, supporting up to 60 FPS at 4K resolution for crystal-clear gaming experiences that rival local play quality.

The platform's low-latency peer-to-peer connection architecture minimizes the delay between player input and on-screen response, making it suitable for fast-paced games that would be unplayable with traditional streaming solutions. Unlike server-based alternatives like Aternos or VPS hosting, Parsec leverages the host's existing hardware, eliminating the need for separate server infrastructure while providing access to the host's complete game library and local save files.

Parsec's simple client setup process contrasts favorably with the technical complexity of VPN solutions like ZeroTier or SoftEther VPN, requiring only a lightweight client installation on participant devices. The cross-platform support encompasses Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and web browsers, providing broader compatibility than platform-specific solutions like Radmin VPN while offering more direct gaming integration than general-purpose remote desktop solutions.

This approach proves particularly excellent for cooperative games, local multiplayer titles, or sharing single-player experiences with friends, scenarios where traditional server hosting through Tailscale networks or tunneling services would be unnecessarily complex or inappropriate.

Best For: Sharing single-player or local co-op games remotely, particularly for gaming sessions where one player owns the game and wants to include friends without requiring separate game purchases or server setup.

Comparison Table

How to Choose the Right Alternative

Consider these factors when selecting a Playit.gg alternative:

1. Game Type: Different games have different networking requirements
2. Player Count: Some solutions work better for small vs. large groups
3. Technical Expertise: Your comfort level with setup and configuration
4. Budget: Free vs. paid options and ongoing costs
5. Performance Requirements: Latency sensitivity and uptime needs
6. Platform Compatibility: Operating system and device support

Conclusion

The gaming connectivity landscape in 2025 offers numerous excellent alternatives to Playit.gg. Whether you prioritize ease of use, performance, cost-effectiveness, or advanced features, there's a solution that fits your needs.

For quick setup and testing, consider Ngrok or Pinggy. For professional gaming communities, paid hosting services or cloud VPS solutions provide the reliability you need. For maximum performance and security, VPN solutions like ZeroTier and Tailscale offer direct peer-to-peer connections.

The key is matching your specific requirements with the right tool. Many of these alternatives offer free tiers, making it easy to experiment and find the perfect solution for your gaming setup.

Have you tried any of these Playit.gg alternatives? Share your experiences and let us know which solution works best for your gaming needs!