We performed a comparison between Meraki MX and OPNsense based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."This is an easy solution to deploy."
"The Fortinet FortiGate local partners were good. I did not have direct contact with Fortinet support."
"Fortigate represents a really scalable way of delivering perimeter network security, some level of layer 7 security, WAF, and also a way to create a meshed ADVPN solution."
"The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN, as it allows us to connect and it separates this product from other firewalls."
"Layer-3 firewall and routing are the most valuable features."
"Using this product makes the VPN seamless and almost invisible to me in the sense that I don't have to think about it."
"It is a good source for firewall protection."
"We use a lot of function on the IPS and it works well for us."
"You can use your web browser to do the configuration which is easier than Cisco CLI transcripts."
"The simplicity of configuration is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"Site to Site VPN: The device can establish a VPN connection to multiple sites in a mesh environment in seconds, and without complex VPN knowledge."
"It's flexible, easy to configure, and easy to manage."
"It is easy to manage, which is one of the most important things for us. It is also flexible, stable, and scalable."
"They have very good technical support and I have relied heavily on them."
"Very easy to use and navigate."
"We switched to Meraki because it lets you see what's happening in your LAN and WAN in a graphic and web environment."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free."
"The most valuable feature is the Dual WAN in OPNSense, which offers advanced capabilities."
"It has firewall and VPN capabilities, which are very valuable features."
"The solution is good for a basic firewall for a small business or for home use."
"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
"The technical support is very good."
"The feature I find most valuable, is that the program helped me to realize all the requested functionality that was needed."
"You do need some IT knowledge in order to effectively work with the solution."
"They should offer special pricing to premium partners and customers."
"I use the FortiGate 60D model and realized the 300Mbps bandwidth limitation. Because it is a product that offers many services, I think it could have greater bandwidth capacity."
"It is quite new for us, and we need to go more in-depth into the monitoring tools. It provides different features that we need to do what we want. So far, it is okay for us. In terms of improvement, in the future, they can provide a faster implementation of features. Some of the features are first available in other solutions. Fortinet sometimes takes a little bit longer than other solutions, such as Check Point, to implement new features."
"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."
"FortiGate is really good. We have been using it for quite some time. Initially, when we started off, we had around 70 plus devices of FortiGate, but then Check Point and Palo Alto took over the place. From the product perspective, there are no issues, but from the account perspective, we have had issues. Fortinet's presence in our company is very less. I don't see any Fortinet account managers talking to us, and that presence has diluted in the last two and a half or three years. We have close to 1,500 firewalls. Out of these, 60% of firewalls are from Palo Alto, and a few firewalls are from Check Point. FortiGate firewalls are very less now. It is not because of the product; it is because of the relationship. I don't think they had a good relationship with us, and there was some kind of disconnect for a very long time. The relationship between their accounts team and my leadership team seems to be the reason for phasing out FortiGate."
"The cloud features can be improved."
"I would suggest that Fortinet add sandboxing to their solution."
"We can’t access GUI management and CLI opening features when the Internet is unavailable."
"What I would like to see in the next version is to have more interfaces for WAN links."
"They're very complacent and I find the rule set to be a little arcane."
"I do not have the kind of feature I need for SSL decryption in Meraki MX. It would be great to see the SSL decryption feature in Meraki MX."
"We do not have account managers in our region for the solution. Some governments don't use the product since it is attached to the internet."
"It would be nice to get detailed logging information without third-party software."
"The client-side VPN is weak. The product could be improved with deployment templates."
"The IPS, the Intrusion Prevention System, can be improved."
"Given that OPNsense plays a pivotal role as a firewall, safeguarding against various threats, having a reliable backup ensures uninterrupted protection even if unforeseen events impact the primary virtual machine."
"I think the most important thing is that it should be easily accessible, but currently, that doesn't seem to be the case. We need a hardware platform that's based on common standards and open computing principles, which would be like a commodity and benefit us greatly."
"I would like to see better SD-WAN performance."
"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."
"Its interface should be a little bit better."
"The solution could be more secure."
"The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."
"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."
Meraki MX is ranked 2nd in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 57 reviews while OPNsense is ranked 3rd in Firewalls with 36 reviews. Meraki MX is rated 8.2, while OPNsense is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Meraki MX writes "Cost-effective, simplified, easy to manage, and reliable with advanced security features and granular visibility". 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". Meraki MX is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Cisco Secure Firewall, Sophos XG, SonicWall TZ and Sophos UTM, whereas OPNsense is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM and IPFire. See our Meraki MX vs. OPNsense report.
See our list of best Firewalls vendors.
We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
