What Is MoleTun? The Free Virtual LAN for Playing LAN Games Online

MoleTun is a free virtual LAN tool for gamers. It puts you and your friends on the same private network over the internet, so any game with a LAN or "local network" multiplayer mode works as if everyone were sitting in the same room. You create a room, share the room ID, your friends join, and the game sees everyone on one LAN. No port forwarding, no router settings, no public IP address, and no networking knowledge required.

This page is the complete introduction: what MoleTun is, how it works from a player's point of view, which platforms and games it supports, how the public game lobby works, what the plans cost, and how it compares with Hamachi, ZeroTier, Radmin VPN and other tools.

What is MoleTun?

Plenty of great multiplayer games were built around the LAN party. Minecraft has "Open to LAN", Terraria and Stardew Valley let you join by IP, and classics like Age of Empires, StarCraft and Warcraft III shine in their local network modes. The catch is that these modes expect every player to be on the same home network. Your friend across town, or across the ocean, is not.

The traditional fix is to host a server and open ports on your router. That means fiddling with router admin pages, static IPs and firewall rules — and today it often doesn't work at all, because many internet providers put customers behind CGNAT (carrier-grade NAT), where you simply don't have a public IP to forward.

MoleTun takes a different approach. It's a game LAN tool that creates a virtual LAN between the players in a room. Each player gets an address on that private network, and games treat it like an ordinary wired LAN. Whatever the game would do at a LAN party — discover hosts, list sessions, connect by IP — it can now do over the internet.

In short, MoleTun lets you play LAN games online with friends:

• •Free to start – the Free plan lets two players play together right away.
• •No port forwarding – nothing to open on your router.
• •Works behind CGNAT and double NAT – no public IP needed on either side.
• •Low latency – players connect peer-to-peer (P2P) directly whenever the network allows.
• •Cross-platform – Windows, macOS, Linux (including Steam Deck and Bazzite) and Android.

How MoleTun works (from a player's point of view)

You don't need to understand networking to use MoleTun. Here is the whole flow:

1. •Create a room. One player opens MoleTun and creates a room. The room gets a short room ID.
2. •Share the room ID. Send it to your friends through Discord, WhatsApp, a text message — whatever you already use.
3. •Friends join. They open MoleTun, enter the room ID, and they're in. Friends join for free; only the room creator's plan matters.
4. •Play. Everyone in the room is now on the same virtual LAN. The host starts the game in LAN mode (or as a server), and the others find it in the game's LAN list or connect to the host's MoleTun address.

P2P direct connections for low latency

Whenever possible, MoleTun connects players peer-to-peer, so game traffic goes straight from one player's device to another. That keeps latency low — usually close to what you'd get with a normal online match between the same two locations. When a direct path can't be established on a particular network, MoleTun falls back to optimized connections through nearby servers so you can still play together.

Only game traffic, only your room

MoleTun is not a general-purpose VPN. It doesn't change your IP address for websites, doesn't route your browsing, and isn't meant for getting around network restrictions. It creates a private LAN for the people in your room, and that's it. Your web browsing, streaming and other apps keep using your normal connection.

No port forwarding, no public IP, works behind CGNAT

This is the main reason people switch to MoleTun. Traditional hosting needs at least one player with:

• •a public IPv4 address,
• •access to the router to set up port forwarding,
• •and a firewall configured to let the game through.

Many players have none of these. Mobile hotspots, dorm and apartment networks, many fiber and 5G home internet plans, and lots of ISPs across Asia, Europe and Latin America use CGNAT or double NAT. With MoleTun, nobody has to touch their router. If the MoleTun app can reach the internet, it can join the room.

Want the details? Read our guides on playing without port forwarding and CGNAT gaming.

Supported platforms

MoleTun runs on every major desktop platform and on Android:

Players on different platforms can share one room, so a Windows PC, a MacBook and a Steam Deck can all be on the same virtual LAN — as long as the game itself supports cross-platform play.

Which games work with MoleTun?

If a game supports LAN multiplayer, direct IP connect or a self-hosted server, it will generally work over MoleTun, because from the game's point of view it is just running on a local network. Popular choices include:

• •Minecraft (Java Edition "Open to LAN" and Bedrock LAN games) – see Minecraft LAN online
• •Terraria – Terraria multiplayer
• •Stardew Valley – Stardew Valley multiplayer
• •Valheim – Valheim with friends
• •Don't Starve Together – DST guide
• •Factorio – Factorio multiplayer
• •7 Days to Die – 7 Days to Die LAN
• •Left 4 Dead 2 – L4D2 LAN
• •Lethal Company – Lethal Company guide
• •Astroneer – Astroneer multiplayer
• •Palworld dedicated servers
• •Strategy classics such as Age of Empires, StarCraft, Warcraft III and Civilization
• •Co-op shooters and RPGs like Borderlands and Diablo II
• •Countless older LAN-party titles that never got proper online multiplayer

A few things to keep in mind: every player still needs their own copy of the game, games that only offer online matchmaking through their own servers don't need (and won't benefit from) a virtual LAN, and some very old titles use LAN discovery methods that need a direct IP connect instead of the in-game server list. Our connection troubleshooting guide covers the common cases.

The public game lobby

Private rooms are great when you already have a group. But what if you want to find people to play with?

MoleTun includes a public game lobby. Anyone on a paid plan can publish their room to the lobby with a room name that describes what's going on — for example "Valheim – new world, chill builders" or "Minecraft survival, EU evenings". Anyone can browse the lobby and join an open room with one click, and joining is free.

Because a room is a whole LAN, the host can mark which member's device is running the game server, so newcomers know exactly where to connect. That's handy when the person who created the room isn't the one hosting the world — for example when a friend with a stronger PC runs the Valheim server.

Unpublished rooms never appear in the lobby.

Plans and pricing

MoleTun is free to start, and only the person who creates the room needs a plan — friends always join for free. Networking is identical on every plan; paid plans give you bigger rooms, longer-lasting rooms and lobby publishing.

You can pay by card (renews automatically, cancel any time) or with Alipay (a one-time payment for a month or a year). A two-player co-op session costs nothing at all; a regular gaming group of four or five can share one Standard plan held by whoever creates the room.

Fast in Asia and on difficult networks

MoleTun was built with players in mainland China and across Asia in mind, as well as Europe and the Americas. Our servers are spread out so there is one nearby wherever you are, and signing in, creating rooms and joining rooms keep working even on slow or unreliable connections. That makes MoleTun a good fit for cross-border groups — say, friends in Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore sharing one Terraria world.

Privacy and security

• •Rooms are private by default. Only people who have the room ID can join, unless you choose to publish the room to the lobby.
• •Traffic between players is encrypted.
• •Only room members are on your virtual LAN. MoleTun doesn't connect you to strangers' networks.
• •It only carries game LAN traffic. Your everyday browsing doesn't go through MoleTun.

As with any LAN, keep your firewall on and only share room IDs with people you trust.

MoleTun vs Hamachi, ZeroTier, Radmin VPN and others

People usually find MoleTun while looking for a Hamachi alternative or a simpler ZeroTier alternative. The short version: MoleTun is built only for gaming with friends — rooms instead of networks to manage, a room ID instead of network IDs and approvals, a free tier for two players, Android and Steam Deck support, and a public lobby for finding players. Detailed comparisons:

• •MoleTun vs Hamachi
• •MoleTun vs ZeroTier
• •MoleTun vs Radmin VPN
• •MoleTun vs Tailscale
• •MoleTun vs Sakura FRP
• •MoleTun vs Oray Sunflower (蒲公英)
• •MoleTun vs EasyTier and vs Astral

If you were searching for a "free gaming VPN", MoleTun is probably what you actually wanted: a free, game-focused virtual LAN, not a privacy VPN. Our free VPN for gaming guide explains the difference.

Quick start: play a LAN game online in five steps

Troubleshooting pointers

Most problems come down to one of a few things:

• •The game doesn't appear in the LAN list – connect by the host's MoleTun address instead, and make sure everyone is in the same room. See fixing connection issues.
• •The firewall blocks the game – allow the game through Windows Defender Firewall (or your OS firewall) on the host's machine. The Windows setup guide shows how.
• •Lag or rubber-banding – check your own connection first, then see how to reduce lag.
• •Behind CGNAT or on mobile data – that's fine; see CGNAT gaming.

Frequently asked questions

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