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.
"Offers good security and filtering."
"Security management tool that's easy to integrate and easy to work with. No issues found with its stability and scalability."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are remote access, web filtering, and IPS."
"FortiGate has a very strong unified threat management system."
"The technical support in our region is excellent."
"I like several features that this product has, such as antivirus and internet navigation inspection. It is also simple to use."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."
"The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere."
"It is a stable solution. It is also easy to install and can be deployed and maintained by one team member."
"It's a good solution for end-users. It's pretty easy to work with."
"The scalability is very good, where you can do an HA configuration and then bring in another box, if necessary."
"We like the fact that the product is open-source. It's free to use. There are no costs associated with it."
"pfSense helped us during COVID-19 because we used OpenVPN to connect from home."
"It is much simpler than other solutions such as Fortinet."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"My technicians find the pfSense's web interface very useful. It is very easy to use. pfSense is very reliable and stable. We like the OpenVPN clients that can be deployed using pfSense very much."
"The system in general is quite flexible."
"I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free."
"The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly which makes the product easy-to-use."
"The solution is good for a basic firewall for a small business or for home use."
"The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners."
"We can open a new VPN connection easily. It's much easier than with Fortinet in our experience."
"We have been operating here in our lab for several months, and everything appears to be extremely stable."
"The initial implementation process is simple."
"There is room for improvement related to the logging and reporting aspect."
"The solution could be more user friendly."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"It needs to improve its ISP load balancing."
"The product does need better support in the cloud environment. It's not exactly cloud-native right now."
"The solution lacks multi-language support."
"Vulnerability scanning could be improved."
"I have to say that the initial setup was complex. The deployment took a few days to get set up. Initially, we were using an IPVanish. We switched to this tool since we thought it would be easier. But it turns out it wasn't easier to set up and run."
"I tried pfSense, and it has a big issue with file system consistency, and this is what drove me to OPNsense. The file system stability is quite a big issue for us. We have a lot of outages related to power issues, and OPNsense is much more stable on this side."
"The main problem with pfSense is that we have to use proxy solutions."
"The main problem with pfSense is that it lacks adequate ransomware protection."
"We have not had any problems with it, and we also do not have a need for any new features. If anything, its reporting can be better. Sophos has better reporting than pfSense. Sophos has more detailed information. pfSense is not as detailed. It is summarized."
"I've never tried it in large environments. All my clients are small businesses with a handful of employees, so I am not sure how it works in large environments. I keep up with recent versions, and there's nothing I'm waiting for, and nothing breaks when I get a new version."
"This solution is good for small businesses but it is not as stable as other competitors such as Fortinet."
"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."
"They can improve the dynamic of the input of IPs from outside."
"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."
"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."
"While they do have paid options that actually gives better features, for most of the clients, if they tend to take a paid option will instead opt for Fortinet."
"When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."
"The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."
"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."
"The support for OPNsense is good because we have documents available on the internet. The support could improve a little."
"There are issues with stability and reliability."
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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