Get Real IP vs Tailscale vs Cloudflare Tunnel
Quick answer
Use Tailscale when only your own devices need private access to each other. Use Cloudflare Tunnel when you're exposing a website (HTTP/HTTPS) and don't mind Cloudflare terminating TLS. Use Get Real IP when you need a real, dedicated public IP that anyone on the internet can reach on any protocol — game servers, email, SSH, VoIP, or raw TCP/UDP — with end-to-end encryption to your own server.
These three tools get lumped together because they all "make your home services reachable," but they solve genuinely different problems. Picking the wrong one is why people end up frustrated — so here's the honest breakdown.
Tailscale — a private mesh VPN
Tailscale connects your own devices into a private network (a "tailnet"). It's excellent for reaching your NAS from your laptop, SSHing into your home server from anywhere, or linking sites — all without opening any ports. It bypasses CGNAT beautifully.
The catch: it's private by design. Only devices signed into your tailnet can reach your services. A friend joining your game server, a payment provider hitting your webhook, or a stranger loading your public site can't — they're not on your tailnet. Tailscale Funnel can expose an HTTPS endpoint publicly, but it's HTTP-oriented and routed through Tailscale's relays, not a general public IP.
Cloudflare Tunnel — public, but HTTP only
Cloudflare Tunnel exposes a local web service to the public internet without a public IP, and it's free. If you're hosting a website or web app, it's a solid choice.
The limits are real, though: it carries HTTP and HTTPS only. No email (SMTP/IMAP), no game servers, no SSH on arbitrary ports, no VoIP, no raw TCP/UDP. And because Cloudflare proxies the traffic, TLS terminates on Cloudflare's servers — they decrypt your traffic at the edge before re-encrypting it onward. For many sites that's fine; for anything sensitive or non-web, it isn't an option.
Get Real IP — a real, dedicated public IP
Get Real IP routes a dedicated static public IPv4 to your own server, router, or laptop over an encrypted WireGuard tunnel. Because it's a real routed IP rather than an application proxy:
- Every protocol works — HTTP/S, email, game servers, SSH, VoIP, raw TCP/UDP.
- Anyone on the internet can connect — no client to install on their side.
- Your server terminates TLS — no intermediary decrypts your traffic; we never see plaintext.
- Reverse DNS (PTR) control — essential for running email.
- Compatible with your own domain name (optional) — point an A record at the fixed IP to use your own hostname.
- Works behind CGNAT — the tunnel is outbound, so carrier NAT doesn't matter.
Quick comparison
| Tailscale | Cloudflare Tunnel | Get Real IP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reachable by the public | ✗ your devices only | ✓ (HTTP only) | ✓ anyone |
| All protocols | ✓ (private) | ✗ HTTP/S only | ✓ |
| Dedicated public IP | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| End-to-end encrypted | ✓ | ✗ TLS at edge | ✓ |
| Reverse DNS / email | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Works behind CGNAT | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
They're complementary, not competitors: plenty of people run Tailscale for private device access and Get Real IP for the one or two services that need to be publicly reachable. Pick based on who needs to connect — just you (Tailscale), the web (Cloudflare Tunnel), or anyone on any protocol (Get Real IP).