---
title: Introduction
order: 1
---

# Introduction

Expose is a tunnel application that allows you to share your local sites and applications with others on the internet. It is open source, written in PHP and the best alternative to ngrok for PHP developers.

You can host your own Expose server and customize the application to your own needs or create a [Beyond Code Account](https://beyondco.de/login) and use our managed infrastructure. The managed Expose network has a free plan that runs on the test infrastrcture in our data center in Germany – and a Pro plan that uses the global Expose network with access points all over the world.

If you decide to host your own server, you can extend Expose with additional features and middleware classes on the server and client side. This gives your the full flexibility of true customization but comes with some maintenance overhead.

Expose has a powerful CLI and a web-based dashboard. Both show you incoming HTTP requests on the client.

If you work with PHP and use composer, [install Expose now](/docs/getting-started/installation).

![](/img/expose_terminal.png)

![](/img/expose_dashboard_details.png)