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 payment function for applications is good."
"The features that prevent internet connections, the filtering are the most valuable because we did not have any internet protection before."
"We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall."
"Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."
"It is a one box solution, which covers most of the edge device’s requirements."
"Easy to implement, and it is also reliable."
"Initial setup is straightforward. There weren't too many issues with setting it up. It takes one hour or so."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution."
"We've found the stability to be very good overall."
"Its features rival many of the high cost solutions out there."
"My company mainly works in the health and educational domain, schools and universities. I prevent the improper use of content from schools and universities. I defend the medical records for the patients in our hospitals. That is the main use case for me for the firewall."
"The classic features such as content inspection, content protection, and the application-level firewall, are the most important."
"It is easy to use and has integrity with other systems, such as proxies and quality of service."
"Routing, load balancing, Traffic Limiter and queues. Since this company relies on an Internet connection, having these features is a must."
"The concurrent users are perfect for us."
"Easy to deploy and easy to use."
"The most valuable features in OPNsense are reporting and visibility."
"The solution has high availability."
"The initial implementation process is simple."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"It is a very good solution. I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it."
"I have found the solution has some great features overall, such as guest access capabilities, dashboards, and ease of use. There is plenty of documentation and support and it has the plugins that I needed."
"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
"The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly which makes the product easy-to-use."
"Fortinet FortiGate should improve the VPN tokens."
"It should come integrated or have its own type of network monitor tool in a module. There should just be one package, and you are good to go."
"The reports are very basic."
"Vulnerability scanning could be improved."
"Lacks sufficient security options."
"The support costs and licensing are sometimes so expensive."
"The UI could be improved."
"At first glance, the interface for the device is very confusing."
"Other solutions provide more scope for growth. For instance, we can have only 10 to 20 employees on VPN, but other solutions can support more users. We also have more capabilities to increase the performance of the solution."
"The main problem with pfSense is that we have to use proxy solutions."
"If you want to take advantage of all of the solution's options, you need to have a bit of a technical background. It's not for a layperson."
"Perhaps the documentation is not clear and because it is supported in the community there is no basic documentation."
"For the third-party packages, I'd rather have it built-in, like a core feature of pfSense, part of the core model."
"Layer 7 advanced firewall features are not included in the solution."
"They could improve their commercial stance and be more agile when it comes to the commercial pricing of enterprise deals."
"The VPN feature of the solution could improve by adding better functionality and providing easier configure ability."
"The interface needs to be simplified. It is not user-friendly."
"We did not like the fact that you have to configure everything with the graphic user interface. We have used other firewalls, such as FortiGate, that you can configure via code. OPNsense is not easy to integrate. When you are deploying via GitHub or another source repository, this is not possible. That's one thing we didn't like much."
"The ability to set the VPN IP address would be a welcome addition."
"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."
"The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."
"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."
"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."
"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."
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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