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rinetd vs Realm: catalog facts
rinetd	Realm
Best for: Administrators who need a lightweight port redirector	Best for: Self-hosters who need simple port forwarding or a traffic relay
Free Free and open source under GPL-2.0-or-later.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Windows, Linux, Command line	Windows, Linux, Self-hosted, Command line
Forwards TCP and UDP connections between addresses and ports Includes configuration files and a manual page All 3 strengths for rinetd Forwards TCP and UDP connections between addresses and ports Includes configuration files and a manual page Can be built from source	Starts a relay with a single command Concurrent bidirectional forwarding All 4 strengths for Realm Starts a relay with a single command Concurrent bidirectional forwarding Load balancing module included Container setup provided
Configured and operated from the command line	Command-line only, with no graphical interface Documentation is mostly in the repository readme
Downloadable app	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0-or-later	License: MIT
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for rinetd github.com/samhocevar/rinetd Catalog checked October 8, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Realm github.com/zhboner/realm Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.