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.
"The most valuable feature is the ease of use."
"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."
"We can use our devices to check all of the perimeters. It secures email websites."
"The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products."
"The features that prevent internet connections, the filtering are the most valuable because we did not have any internet protection before."
"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."
"The most valuable features are simplicity, management, and that it's constantly evolving."
"Customers are more inclined towards FortiGate because of application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features. The support from the FortiGate team is good, and price-wise, it is affordable."
"I like the connectivity to the open VPN. It's very smooth."
"The most valuable features are the VPN and the capture photo."
"This solution has helped our organization by protecting our network from attacks."
"One of the advantages of pfSense is that it is very easy to work with. It is a very good open-source solution, and it works really well. pfSense provides a complete package. For some features, it could be the first solution in the world. It is a very good alternative in the market for a firewall solution. You don't need to go to Cisco or other brands with expensive firewalls. pfSense also allows us to offer some support services."
"Its reliability and cost-effectiveness stand out."
"I have found the firewall portion for the blocking most valuable."
"I mostly like all of it. Whatever we use is valuable."
"pfSense helped us during COVID-19 because we used OpenVPN to connect from home."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"OPNsense is easy to use and open source."
"URL blocking, Wireguard, Tail Scale, Engine Blocker, and VPN are the most valuable features for me."
"The IDS and IPS features are valuable. From the usability perspective, there is a lot of good documentation. As IT professionals, we found it very easy to configure the firewall. It was easy to configure and use."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"OPNsense is easy to scale when running on the hardware."
"What I like best about OPNsense is that, as a firewall, it's pretty good. I'm quite impressed with it. I had an excellent experience with OPNsense, which helped me achieve the targets I wanted."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."
"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."
"The inability to scale the FortiAnalyzer to match our growth necessitates the purchase of new hardware."
"The logging details need to be improved."
"The license renewal process, annual renewal price, and the web application firewall features should be improved."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"The central management for the FortiGate Fortinet Firewall needs improvement. They have the manager to do the essential management for both SD-WAN and for the security policy. They should also improve the SD-WAN function."
"There are some problems that support cannot give you a logical reason as to why it happened. For example, I had a case where I was dealing with a WhatsApp application that was giving issues. Technical support gave more than one reason it could be giving issues, but none of them solved the problem. Eventually I solved the problem, but it was far from the solutions that support had given."
"The GUI. There are TONS of plugins for pfSense, as such, if a user wants to add quite a bit of functionality, the GUI will feel a little congested."
"Web interface could be enhanced and more user friendly."
"It would be great to add more to security."
"Lacks instructional videos."
"Many people have problems setting up the web cache for the web system."
"It requires more attention to provide a better alternative for open source to small government or educational institutions with reduced budgets in terms of technology."
"I have been using WireGuard VPN because it is a lot faster and more secure than an open VPN. However, in the latest version of pfSense, they have removed this feature, which is one of the main features that I need. They should include this feature."
"The security could be improved."
"You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it."
"There are some add-ons that need enhancements to make management easier for users, especially the reporting features. Some reports don't show the level of detail I'm looking for, and I've had trouble installing certain add-ons, especially for Internet bandwidth shaping within my company."
"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."
"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."
"The reporting part could be better."
"The ability to set the VPN IP address would be a welcome addition."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"There should be more technical documentation."
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, Sophos UTM, KerioControl, Cisco Secure Firewall and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas OPNsense is most compared with Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM, IPFire and Cisco Secure Firewall. See our Netgate pfSense vs. OPNsense report.
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