sher: The Localhost Sharing Tool You Didn't Know You Needed

You haven't heard of sher, but you'll use it every day once you discover it. While everyone talks about ngrok tunnels and Vercel preview URLs, sher quietly solves the same localhost sharing problem with a simpler approach that just works.

It's a command-line tool that generates instant preview URLs for any local development project. Works with Vite, Next.js, Astro, and basically any framework that serves on localhost. No complex configuration, no webhook setup, no deployment pipeline—just run sher and get a shareable URL.

Why It's Underrated

The localhost sharing space is dominated by ngrok and cloud platform previews, but both have friction. ngrok requires account setup and has connection limits on the free tier. Vercel previews require Git commits and deployment overhead. sher eliminates both barriers.

For vibecoding workflows where you're iterating quickly and need to share work-in-progress with clients or team members, the difference matters. You don't want to commit half-finished code just to generate a preview URL, and you don't want to manage ngrok tunnels for every project.

sher fills the gap between "works on my machine" and "deployed to production." It's the tool for everything in between—design reviews, client previews, quick demos, and collaborative debugging sessions.

Better Than Paid Alternatives

Most paid tunneling services charge for features you don't need. Custom domains, analytics, webhook forwarding—useful for some teams, but overkill for the common case of "I need to show someone what I'm building."

sher focuses on the core use case: generate a preview URL quickly and reliably. It's freemium with a generous free tier, framework-agnostic, and has both CLI and video documentation.

Sometimes the best tools are the boring ones that solve daily problems without fanfare. sher is one of those tools—simple, reliable, and exactly what you need when you need to share localhost.

Try sher the next time you need to show someone your work-in-progress.