Cloudflare Tunnel
Cloudflare Tunnel is a secure, outbound-only connection tool that allows you to expose local servers and services to the internet without opening inbound firewall ports. It creates a persistent, encrypted tunnel between your infrastructure and Cloudflare's global network, routing traffic through Cloudflare's edge for security and performance benefits. This enables you to protect internal applications from direct exposure to the public internet while leveraging Cloudflare's DDoS protection, WAF, and zero-trust access controls.
Developers should use Cloudflare Tunnel when they need to securely expose internal applications, APIs, or development environments without modifying firewall rules or exposing public IP addresses. It's particularly useful for scenarios like remote access to on-premises services, securing legacy applications, or enabling zero-trust network access for distributed teams. The tool simplifies networking by eliminating the need for VPNs or complex port forwarding, making it ideal for hybrid cloud deployments and microservices architectures.