You've built a small site with AI, launched it on your computer, and want to show it to a colleague. The problem is that localhost only opens on your machine. For situations like this, there's TryCloudflare: free, temporary public access to a local web server through a shareable link.
The service is also known as Quick Tunnels. You don't need a Cloudflare account or your own domain. The cloudflared utility establishes an outgoing connection on its own, so there's no need to open ports on your router or get a static IP. The link works over HTTPS right away.
If cloudflared is already installed and your site is running on port 3000, this single command is all it takes:
cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:3000
Your terminal will display a random address like https://random-words.trycloudflare.com. Send it to a colleague, and they can open your working prototype right in their browser. On a Mac with Homebrew, you can install the utility with brew install cloudflared. Just swap port 3000 in the example for whatever port your app actually uses.
This trick is handy for showing a client an intermediate result or for testing a webhook — an incoming request from an external service. It's especially useful when you need feedback before the project ever touches a hosting provider.
The link stays active as long as your local server and the tunnel are both running. Keep in mind that it's public: HTTPS encrypts the connection, but it doesn't restrict who can view it. Use this approach only for projects without sensitive data.
Cloudflare positions Quick Tunnels as a tool for development and testing, with no uptime guarantees. There's a cap of 200 concurrent requests, and server-sent events (SSE) streaming isn't supported. If you need something more permanent, it's worth looking into Cloudflare's DNS, Workers, and Tunnels services together.
You can start with just one simple goal: show someone a prototype and get feedback while it's still easy to change.