ngrok Expands Free Access to Security Features

ngrok simplifies security for developers by adding OAuth and webhook validation to its free plan

SAN FRANCISCO — March 16, 2023 — ngrok, the API-first ingress-as-a-service platform, today announced it has expanded free access to security features. Developers on ngrok’s free plan can now take advantage of webhook validation and the ability to restrict access to services with OAuth, the modern standard for securing access to APIs.

“We’ve always focused on delivering superior developer experiences. But modern security features like OAuth are often difficult to implement or only enabled for paid or enterprise-grade plans, which makes it harder for developers to prioritize security when they’re getting started,” said Alan Shreve, founder and CEO, of ngrok. “Ngrok is eliminating this complexity because we believe that security is a right, not a privilege. Now, developers can add OAuth and webhook security for more than 70 providers with a simple command, making secure ingress more accessible.”

The free plan, which is ideal for developers who want to bring a new project to life, now includes OAuth integrations with Amazon, Facebook, GitHub, GitLab, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitch, Okta, and Auth0. These capabilities have historically been hard to implement, requiring that developers spend hours learning and configuring OAuth servers, client ids, secrets, and flows to secure their apps. With ngrok, OAuth security is available in a single line of code.

The plan also includes security validations for webhooks, the most popular method used by cloud services to notify developers of app events. To keep their apps safe, developers must validate webhook requests in many ways, such as ensuring the message comes from an authorized provider and the message content is not tampered. Because each provider applies different methods, it is hard for developers to validate messages. Ngrok has partnered with and built integrations for 60 of the most popular services. With free webhook validation, developers can easily secure their webhook communications up to 500 requests a month with a single command.

"We're thrilled to see ngrok expand their free plan with security features, making it incredibly easy to add OAuth and webhook validations, including to Zoom webhooks, in just one line of code. This commitment to security and ease of use is exactly what developers need to create secure applications quickly and efficiently. It aligns perfectly with our mission to securely connect people and enable them to achieve great things," said Tim Slagle, Developer Advocacy Manager at Zoom.

Every day, more than 4,000 new developers join the millions who have adopted ngrok to securely connect and control their applications. Visit the company blog to learn how the expanded free tier support ngrok’s commitment to the developer community. To try OAuth and Webhooks in one line, sign up for ngrok for free, then visit the website for webhook tutorials or get started with OAuth.

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