# xip.io (Defunct) > Analysis by Optimly for Optimly AI Visibility, in the Optimly AI Brand Index. Last analyzed August 9, 2026. > xip.io is a free DNS service designed to resolve hostnames containing an IP address directly to that IP address, enabling easy access to local development environments (like Laravel Homestead) from other devices on the same network. - Business Profile: https://optimly.ai/brand/xip-io-defunct - Publisher: Optimly (https://optimly.ai) - Dataset: Optimly AI Brand Index (https://optimly.ai/brand) - Official website: https://christoph-rumpel.com/ - Logo: https://logo.clearbit.com/christoph-rumpel.com - Slug: xip-io-defunct - Brand Authority Index tier: Low Visibility - Archetype: Phantom - Category: Networking - Last Analyzed: August 9, 2026 ## Buyer Intent Signals Problems: Manual /etc/hosts file configuration: Manually editing the hosts file on each device to map an arbitrary hostname to the local IP of the development machine. | Localhost only testing: Limiting testing to the host machine where the development environment is running, foregoing multi-device testing capabilities. Solutions: xip.io | free dns service local ip | access homestead from another device | laravel local network access | ngrok: Using a tunneling service like ngrok to expose a local development server to a public URL, accessible from any device with internet access. | Vagrant Share (built-in): Vagrant's built-in 'vagrant share' feature can share your Vagrant environment with others over the internet, serving a similar purpose to xip.io for remote access.