Endpoint Types

Endpoints have a type, which can be either agent or cloud.

Cloud Endpoints vs Agent Endpoints

In general, Cloud Endpoints are the most flexible option, but which endpoint type you should choose depends on your use-case. The following table outlines the differences between Cloud and Agent endpoints.

	Cloud Endpoints	Agent Endpoints
Lifetime	Always-on. Must be manually terminated.	Live as long as the agent process that started them.
Connection Handling	Can be configured with Traffic Policy.	Forward traffic to the agent that created them.
Configuration	Can be managed at any time via the API or dashboard.	Managed by the agent that initiates them.
Dashboard accessibility	Can be created and configured from the dashboard.	Read-only in the dashboard.
Can use generated URLs?	No. Must be provided a fully qualified URL on creation.	Yes. Ngrok can generate a URL for you on creation.
Traffic Policy required?	Yes.	No, but you can provide one if you'd like.
Globally available	Yes.	No.
Can be managed with the API?	Yes.	Yes, but the /endpoints resource can only read agent endpoint data.
Pricing options	Available on paid plans.	Available on all plans.

Learn more in the Endpoints documentation.

Protocols, Binding and Pooling

Both Agent and Cloud Endpoints support:

• All Endpoint Protocols

  • http/https
  • tcp
  • tls

• All Endpoint Bindings

  • public
  • internal
  • kubernetes

• Endpoint Pooling. You can also pool Agent Endpoints with Cloud Endpoints.

Get started

• See the Cloud Endpoints Quickstart.
• See the Agent Endpoints Quickstart.