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 email protection and VPN features are the most valuable."
"Our project needs to link two sides through the internet. One of these was in Cairo and the other in another city. We used FortiGate as the integrating solution between the two locations, i.e. the Fortinet 30E & 100E."
"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."
"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."
"We have been able to offer several services to customers in a single box."
"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."
"The most valuable feature is the bundled subscription, which is IPS, TV and web filtering."
"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."
"pfSense helped us during COVID-19 because we used OpenVPN to connect from home."
"The most valuable features of pfSense are security, user-friendliness, and helpful online management."
"This solution has increased the level of security, given us more control, provided a deep insight into network traffic, and is a great VPN solution."
"The tools' most valuable feature is load balancing."
"Open source and support are valuable. I have community support."
"There is good documentation with a fantastic community and enterprise support."
"A very stable product that lasts over time, easy to understand, and administer."
"We like the fact that the product is open-source. It's free to use. There are no costs associated with it."
"The most valuable features are reporting, the Sensei plugin, and firewall capabilities."
"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."
"OPNsense is highly stable."
"The initial implementation process is simple."
"We can open a new VPN connection easily. It's much easier than with Fortinet in our experience."
"We have found pretty much all the features of the solution to be valuable."
"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
"We have been operating here in our lab for several months, and everything appears to be extremely stable."
"I would like to see improvements in the support from Fortinet. Here in the Philippines, whenever we have problems with a Fortinet product, we mostly ask for support from distributors and resellers and not directly from Fortinet."
"Some of the software stability could improve."
"They are doing good, but they can improve the distributor assignment. The availability of the product and the timeline of delivery are the main things. The distribution should be swift, and the distributor should not reach out to end customers directly. They should work as a distributor. There should also be one more local distributor. Currently, there is only one distributor in Pakistan, and the rest of them are in UAE. It is difficult to work with only one distributor. Sometimes, you don't get along with the same distributor, and that's why they should have one more distributor. Their licensing should also be improved. The activation or renewal of the product should be done from the date of renewal, not from the date on which the license expired."
"The solution lacks sufficient filtering."
"The web-cache feature which was previously on the FortiGate device, but was deleted with the recent upgrade should be returned. It was a very valuable feature for us."
"I would like to see improvements with the antivirus and IPS as they are not working properly all the time."
"I would suggest that Fortinet add sandboxing to their solution."
"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."
"The solution requires a lot of administration."
"pfSense could improve by having a sandboxing feature that I have seen in SonicWall. However, maybe it is available I am not aware of it."
"It needs to be more secure."
"They could improve their commercial stance and be more agile when it comes to the commercial pricing of enterprise deals."
"If a user doesn't have a large amount of experience in Linux systems, they will have problems using this solution. Users need to be highly skilled in troubleshooting competency. Users who do not have such skills will find the product difficult to use."
"Their support could be better in terms of the response time."
"The technical support needs to be improved."
"The solution could be more user-friendly, and the graphical interface needs some work so that someone without an IT background can use the application. I would like the ability to manage the on-premise appliance from the cloud. When I'm not in the office, it would be great to connect to the pfSense server and administer the network remotely."
"The interface isn't so friendly user. But we have some technicians here who are quite confident with this tool. OPNSense could maybe add sets of rules so it's simpler to manage different groups with particular needs."
"The interface needs to be simplified. It is not user-friendly."
"The logging could improve in OPNsense."
"When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."
"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."
"There should be more technical documentation."
"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."
"You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it."
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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