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Networking · head to head

HiveMQ vs ngrok

HiveMQ logo

HiveMQ

Networking

Enterprise MQTT broker for industrial IoT with a published self-managed price list

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ngrok logo

ngrok

Networking

Reverse tunnel service that gives a local or private service a public URL without opening a firewall

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: HiveMQ the Community Edition lacks clustering, persistence extensions, the control centre and all enterprise bridges, so a prototype built on it does not become production by buying support.; ngrok free HTTP endpoints show a browser interstitial before the page loads, which breaks first impressions in demos and confuses anyone you send the link to.
  • They diverge on capability: HiveMQ covers MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, ngrok covers Outbound agent tunnels.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HiveMQ and ngrok actually diverge.

Attributes where HiveMQ and ngrok differ
AttributeHiveMQngrok
Pricing modelPer month by connections and throughputPer user per month
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, WebLinux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Networking).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in HiveMQ

  • MQTT 5 and 3.1.1
  • Native clustering
  • Data Hub
  • Extension framework
  • Enterprise bridges
  • Control centre

Only in ngrok

  • Outbound agent tunnels
  • Static domains
  • Traffic policy
  • Request inspection
  • Kubernetes ingress
  • TCP and TLS endpoints

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

HiveMQ

  • A connected vehicle fleet where devices drop off the network for hours and sessions must survivenot ngrok
  • An industrial plant bridging MQTT telemetry into Kafka without writing and operating the bridgenot ngrok
  • A utility that needs message-level schema validation so one faulty firmware release cannot corrupt the data lakenot ngrok
  • An IoT project that needs a self-managed broker price for a budget submission without entering a sales processnot ngrok

ngrok

  • Receiving webhooks from a payment or messaging provider on a laptop during developmentnot HiveMQ
  • Demonstrating a work in progress application to someone outside the network without deploying itnot HiveMQ
  • Publishing a service inside a private network or Kubernetes cluster without a public load balancernot HiveMQ
  • Giving a partner a temporary authenticated endpoint into an internal APInot HiveMQ

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

HiveMQ

  • The Community Edition lacks clustering, persistence extensions, the control centre and all enterprise bridges, so a prototype built on it does not become production by buying support.
  • The entry commercial tiers cap at ten thousand connections, and device fleets grow, so the step to Enterprise capacity pricing arrives sooner than most projects plan for.
  • It is a JVM application, so memory tuning and garbage collection behaviour become the operator’s problem at high connection counts, unlike the C-based brokers in this space.
  • Extensions are written in Java against HiveMQ’s SPI, which means custom authentication logic is locked to the platform and cannot move to another broker.
  • For simple use cases it is substantially heavier and more expensive than Mosquitto or EMQX, and small deployments frequently pay enterprise prices for clustering they never use.

ngrok

  • Free HTTP endpoints show a browser interstitial before the page loads, which breaks first impressions in demos and confuses anyone you send the link to.
  • All traffic passes through ngrok infrastructure, so you inherit its latency and an ngrok incident takes every published endpoint down at once with no local failover.
  • Pricing is per user seat plus allowances, so a platform team publishing many endpoints ends up buying seats for people who never open the dashboard.
  • Bandwidth is metered on paid tiers, so a workload that quietly grows into serving real traffic produces overage rather than a flat bill.
  • Traffic policy configuration is specific to ngrok, so the authentication and routing logic you accumulate at the edge has to be rebuilt if you later move to a conventional ingress.

Pricing, plan by plan

HiveMQ

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • MQTT 3.1.1 and 5 support
    • Single broker, no clustering
  • Launch$299/month
    • Ten thousand connections
    • Five hundred messages per second
    • Single broker deployment
  • Run$499/month
    • Ten thousand connections
    • One thousand messages per second
    • Single broker deployment
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Priced by connections and throughput
    • Multi-broker and multi-site deployments
    • Distributed data intelligence

ngrok

Free
  • FreeFree
    • One static domain
    • HTTP endpoints with a browser interstitial
    • Limited simultaneous connections
  • Personal$undefined/month
    • Removes the interstitial warning page
    • Additional reserved domains
    • TCP endpoints
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • Per user billing with team accounts
    • Traffic policy rules and edge authentication
    • Higher bandwidth allowances
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom terms and volume pricing
    • Dedicated capacity options
    • Compliance and audit requirements

Which should you pick?

Choose HiveMQ if

  • You need mqtt 5 and 3.1.1.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want native clustering.
HiveMQ review

Choose ngrok if

  • You need outbound agent tunnels.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want static domains.
ngrok review

Questions people ask

Is HiveMQ or ngrok better?
Neither clearly leads. HiveMQ starts at Free and ngrok at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HiveMQ or ngrok?
HiveMQ starts at Free and ngrok at Free.
Does HiveMQ or ngrok run on more platforms?
HiveMQ runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web. ngrok runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
Can I use HiveMQ for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is HiveMQ best used for?
HiveMQ is most often used for a connected vehicle fleet where devices drop off the network for hours and sessions must survive, an industrial plant bridging mqtt telemetry into kafka without writing and operating the bridge, a utility that needs message-level schema validation so one faulty firmware release cannot corrupt the data lake, an iot project that needs a self-managed broker price for a budget submission without entering a sales process. Of those, a connected vehicle fleet where devices drop off the network for hours and sessions must survive and an industrial plant bridging mqtt telemetry into kafka without writing and operating the bridge are not what ngrok is typically brought in for.
What can HiveMQ do that ngrok cannot?
HiveMQ covers MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, Native clustering, Data Hub, Extension framework. ngrok covers Outbound agent tunnels, Static domains, Traffic policy, Request inspection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HiveMQ: Is HiveMQ free?

The Community Edition is Apache 2.0 and free, but it has no clustering and none of the enterprise extensions.

ngrok: Can I use it in production?

It is sold for that now, with static domains, policy rules and a Kubernetes operator. The question is whether you accept a third party on the traffic path for every request.

HiveMQ: What does the commercial version cost?

Self-managed Launch is 299 US dollars a month for ten thousand connections; Run is 499 with higher throughput.

ngrok: Why does my free URL show a warning page?

Free HTTP endpoints carry an interstitial. Removing it requires a paid plan, and it is the most common reason people upgrade.

HiveMQ: Does it support MQTT 5?

Yes, both MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, including shared subscriptions and session expiry intervals.

ngrok: Does it work for SSH or a database?

Yes through TCP endpoints, which are a paid feature.

HiveMQ: Can it bridge into Kafka?

Yes, via a commercial enterprise extension, not in the Community Edition.

ngrok: What is the self hosted alternative?

A reverse proxy on a server you own with a tunnel back to the service, or one of the self hosted tunnel projects. All of them cost more setup time than the thing they replace.

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