Comparison conclusions:
pfSense offers paid options for additional support and features (pfSense Plus), a wider range of features and a larger community, but might have a steeper learning curve.
OPNsense provides a clean interface and built-in security features, but its community and documentation are smaller
The summary above is based on 40 interviews we conducted with pfSense and OPNsense users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"It's very fast and easy to configure."
"Allows for firewall rules to be programmed and named in a way that makes it “readable”"
"The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy."
"The main benefit is the grouping of our security monitoring."
"Fortinet FortiGate has many valuable features, such as IDS, and intrusion detection. It has security features that are in part with the technologies that are available in the market."
"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."
"The solution is very easy to understand. It's not overly complex."
"It is a good source for firewall protection."
"The solution is very robust."
"Technical support is perfect, excellent."
"Great extensibility of the platform."
"We've found the stability to be very good overall."
"The interface is straightforward and easy to use."
"Open source and support are valuable. I have community support."
"This solution has helped our organization by protecting our network from attacks."
"We like the fact that the product is open-source. It's free to use. There are no costs associated with it."
"URL blocking, Wireguard, Tail Scale, Engine Blocker, and VPN are the most valuable features for me."
"The system in general is quite flexible."
"The feature I find most valuable, is that the program helped me to realize all the requested functionality that was needed."
"We have been operating here in our lab for several months, and everything appears to be extremely stable."
"The VPN server feature is the most valuable. It is integrated with Radius and AAA for doing accounting and authentication. Insight view is also an important feature for me at this time. It allows me to assess our network traffic. I also like the firewall feature. The BSD kernel has a packet filter. It is one of the most solid frameworks for firewalls. Its user interface is one of the best interfaces I have used."
"The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates."
"It is a very good solution. I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it."
"The solution is good for a basic firewall for a small business or for home use."
"The Web-filter in this solution is not very good."
"In the next release, I would like to see the interface simplified to be more user-friendly."
"From a reporting perspective, there's room for improvement. They're providing FortiAnalyzer through which one can get some enhancements, but the visibility and reporting still need slight improvement."
"It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic."
"I would prefer to have more detailed logs within the FortiGate products themselves rather than relying on a separate tool."
"As far as wanting more scalability or things in the network diagram, it's going to cost you."
"The solution could be more user friendly."
"We would like to see better pricing."
"There are some bias issues and some intrusions in our network that have to be addressed. So, we're thinking of changing this firewall to something like a professional hardware-enabled firewall."
"My only observation is about the quality of the IPSec logs, which are difficult to interpret and are poor in filters."
"One concern I have with Netgate pfSense is related to packet filtering. Specifically, issues can arise with certain functionalities like GP, and, at times, there may be bugs."
"I would like to see SD1 integration into the software. That would be fantastic."
"As an open-source solution, there are so many loopholes happening within the product. By design, no one is taking ownership of it, and that is worrisome to me."
"Needs services on additional features, such as managing inventory and generating reports."
"There's a bit of a learning curve during the initial implementation."
"It was difficult to configure our web printer through the solution. This process could be easier. Additionally, integration with SD-WAN solution."
"There are issues with stability and reliability."
"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."
"The reporting part could be better."
"The only thing that I would like to see improved is the Insight or the NetFlow analysis part. It would be good to have the possibility to dig down on the Insight platform. Right now, we can easily do only a few analyses. If this page becomes more powerful, it surely will be a well-adopted platform."
"In terms of improvement, the performance could be enhanced."
"An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently. DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution. pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense."
"The logging could improve in OPNsense."
"The solution could be more secure."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while OPNsense is ranked 3rd in Firewalls with 36 reviews. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while OPNsense is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". On the other hand, the top reviewer of OPNsense writes "Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support". Netgate pfSense is most compared with Sophos XG, KerioControl, Sophos UTM, Cisco Secure Firewall and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas OPNsense is most compared with Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM, IPFire and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Netgate pfSense vs. OPNsense report.
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