Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs OPNsense comparison

Check Point Software Technologies and OPNsense are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Check Point Software Technologies is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6, while OPNsense is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3. Check Point Software Technologies holds a 0.3% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to OPNsense’s 13.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Check Point Software Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of OPNsense users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security and OPNsense compete in network security. Data shows that although Check Point CloudGuard is valued for its security features, OPNsense is preferred for cost-effectiveness and ease of use.

Features: Check Point CloudGuard offers advanced threat prevention, centralized management, and scalability. Users value these features for comprehensive security. OPNsense includes firewall services, two-factor authentication, and plugins for extended functionalities. Users find OPNsense's features adequate, though not as extensive as Check Point CloudGuard.

Room for Improvement: Users of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security cite complex configuration and high resource consumption as areas needing improvement. OPNsense users mention occasional stability issues and the need for more advanced features. Check Point CloudGuard should focus on simplifying configurations, whereas OPNsense needs to enhance stability and advanced functionality.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Check Point CloudGuard is noted for a challenging deployment process but has responsive customer service. OPNsense is praised for straightforward deployment and satisfactory support. The ease of deploying OPNsense is a notable advantage, contrasting with Check Point CloudGuard's complex setup.

Pricing and ROI: Check Point CloudGuard users report higher setup costs and longer ROI periods. Conversely, OPNsense is favored for its cost efficiency and quicker ROI. While Check Point CloudGuard justifies its cost with robust features, OPNsense offers a more immediate financial benefit.

To learn more, read our detailed Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. OPNsense Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. OPNsense

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.7%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is 0.3%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 13.3%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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Martin Raška

Senior Security Engineer & Instructor at Arrow Electronics

Unification of security features strengthens network protection

The overall network security is good. It's big-picture, all in one bundle. It's valuable to have everything in one place instead of spreading across different products. Unified security management positively affects a company's security operations. They have one unified view of the security. I can connect multiple gateways to the management and have the view. I can have reporting and walks in a single pane of glass on the consolidated platform. It's easy to use. The management is the best on the market. It's very easy to work with, read, understand, and navigate. It helps increase our customer's security posture. We can see in some cases CloudGuard improves our customer's posture overall.

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Eddy Ramirez

IT Security Director at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Good interface and firewall capabilities and overall easy to use

The security has improved as we can isolate the network. We can do attrition prevention via a tool that comes with the solution. We can have a VPN solution in place for those that work from home, outside the network, in a secure manner. We also like that it offers good authentication. It offers radius-based authentication, which has been useful for the company. The main platform is under the Open VPN firewall. The solution has high availability. When we have different ISPs, we can actually load balance those links or actually put some priority or even classify the traffic that might go into one ISP or another.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."

"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."

"The most valuable features are SD-WAN, application control, IPS control, and FortiSandbox."

"Initial setup is easy to configure."

"The web tutor and automatic rules by schedule are good features."

"I'm looking forward to FortiGate's dashboard features, insights, application oversight, and monitoring, which could help us significantly."

"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."

"The solution is stable."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It makes securing our cloud workload super easy, and we are able to push any sort of policy changes we need pretty quickly"

"The endpoint VPN is super stable. The routing is also very good. We tried a competing product first, but we could not make it work. We came across CloudGuard. The network routing across different virtual networks in Azure and AWS was way ahead of any of the other technologies. That helped us be able to cover the whole network using one single cluster."

"Its blades and VSLS (Virtual System Load Sharing) work fine."

"The URL filtering provides a lot of added value compared to the Azure Firewall."

"Now, we can filter which websites users can access and block categories that are a risk. For example, we can block social media and gambling sites. This has helped to decrease the risk of access to malicious content on the internet."

"The tool's deployment is rapid. Its dashboard is also useful. It's easy to deploy both on-premises and in Azure. In an office with VMware running, deployment is a simple process. Similarly, in Azure, deployment is easy and scalable. Adding more CPUs is a straightforward task – just shut it down, modify the security, and restart. This ease of use translates into cost and resource savings, and faster deployment times."

"The management is the best on the market."

"The product offers an easy and nice way to manage the gateways, similar to on-prem hardware. It has packet filtering features. Our security operations are faster and less prone to errors. We selected CloudGuard Network Security due to its visibility."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security pros

"It is a very good solution. I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it."

"The solution has high availability."

"URL blocking, Wireguard, Tail Scale, Engine Blocker, and VPN are the most valuable features for me."

"I find the solution to be user-friendly. It has a lot of reports and easy settings."

"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."

"The initial implementation process is simple."

"The technical support is very good."

"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."

More OPNsense pros

Cons

"They need faster serviceability and more security features."

"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."

"Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors."

"There are SD-WAN network monitoring, SD-WAN features, Industrial Databases, Internet of Things, Detection, etc., however, we do have not licenses for those features. We thought that if you bought a product, you should have all of the features it offers. Why should you need to make so many extra purchases to enable features? They should have one price for the entire offering."

"WAN load-balancing could be a lot better at detecting when a link is poor or inconsistent, and not just flat out dead."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve the user interface. There should be more functionality and options through the GUI."

"Its reporting can be improved. Sometimes, I don't get proper reports."

"They should make the rule sets more understandable for the end user. When you're trying to explain to somebody how a computer network is secured, sometimes it's difficult for an end user or customer to understand. If there was a way to make the terminology more accessible to the end user, the set up could be easier. They should translate the technical jargon to an easily relatable and understandable conversation for the end user, the customer, that would be brilliant. Particularly in an environment where the IT structure is audited regularly, there's always pressure from the auditor to up the standards and up the security and you get your USCERT's that come out and there's a warning about this and the customer will want to lock out so much and when you apply it they run into issue where they can't search the internet or print to their remote office. Of course they can't print to your remote office, they just locked it up. They should make the language more understandable for the customer. If there's a product out there that made the jargon understandable to John Q. Public, I would buy that."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"There is room for improvement in how it handles deployment itself, but I am not sure. It could be due to Azure's limitations, not Check Point's."

"At CPX, we heard that we can see all the things on the same platform. That is what we have been asking for, and hopefully, we are going to start seeing it this year."

"It should be more unified across all platforms."

"In the past year, I noticed that the challenging part, especially in the cloud, is upgrading to the next release of the firewall. Unlike on-premise upgrades, it's not as simple in the cloud. You need to recreate the machine, which makes the process more complex."

"The management console can be simplified because at the moment, it is a bit of a challenge to use."

"The product needs to improve technical support."

"From my experience, the failover times are unsatisfactory when dealing with HA failovers in the cloud, but this is connected to API calls within Azure."

"The user interface could be more intuitive, and the initial setup and configuration can be complex, requiring a technical team."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security cons

"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."

"On the customer-side, because I'm a small business, I need a cheaper or free solution option."

"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."

"Its interface should be a little bit better."

"The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."

"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 reporting part could be better."

"The interface needs to be simplified. It is not user-friendly."

More OPNsense cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable."

"If you compare Fortinet FortiGate with Sophos and other firewall products available in the market, this solution is affordable."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME."

"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."

"The price of FortiGate is comparable to that of most other firewall solutions and is more affordable than Cisco."

"In terms of the market, it's not a cheap product, but it's cost-effective."

"The cost is too high... They have to focus on more features with less cost for the customer. If you see the market, where it's going, there are a lot of players offering more features for less cost."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"I do not have too much to compare to, but if I compare it with Azure Firewall, Scale Set is quite good. It has quite a good price."

"Generally, it has been fine for me. I can find my way around the price list, and it is pretty simple."

"The product is too expensive."

"Check Point CloudGuard Network Security's pricing is far better than Palo Alto's because Palo Alto is very expensive."

"The licesning has some good features. For example, the scaling feature is free of charge, allowing multiple scale-ups and scale-downs over a two-week period, which is pretty good."

"The price could be better."

"The price of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very high compared to other solutions, such as Fortinet FortiMail. For the over 2,000 mailboxes we use with the solution it is very expensive."

"The cost is on the higher side, as it is based on workload, hence we need to decide which VPC or workload needs to be part of CloudGuard."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security pricing and cost advice

"It costs about $1000."

"OPNsense is open source software so at this time it is free for us to use."

"We are using the paid version."

"I would rate the pricing three out of ten."

"It is open source and free."

"It is not an expensive product. Basically, I deployed it because it was the fastest solution to satisfy our needs in open source."

"There are no licensing costs for OPNsence."

"It's not expensive."

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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What do you like most about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

The tool's most valuable feature is its management console.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Pricing is high, over $25,000 USD annually. The package offered includes features we may not need, and more flexible ...

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What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

The pricing is too high. We pay more than twenty-five thousand USD per year, which could be reduced. Moreover, Check ...

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What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?

Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...

See all answers

What do you like most about OPNsense?

What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?

I consider the pricing of OPNsense to be high when compared with other market products. However, as a free firewall p...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 23% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Sangfor NGAF vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 15% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 13% of the time

VMware NSX vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 9% of the time

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 3% of the time

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs OPNsense

Compared 50% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 9% of the time

Sophos XG vs OPNsense

Compared 8% of the time

Untangle NG Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos XGS vs OPNsense

Compared 3% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

February 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

February 2025

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security report

Download Check Point CloudGuard Network Security product report

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense

February 2025

Download OPNsense product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is designed to secure cloud assets, offering robust firewall capabilities and protection for both internal and external traffic across AWS, Azure, and on-premises environments.

Enterprises rely on Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for comprehensive network protection, threat prevention, and compliance enforcement. Supporting virtual machines and hybrid environments, it delivers advanced security measures including intrusion prevention and application control. Key functions include firewall security, network segmentation, and cloud environment protection, ensuring businesses maintain a secure and compliant IT infrastructure.

What are the most valuable features of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Flexible Architecture: Adaptable to diverse cloud and on-premises environments.
UTM Capabilities: Unified Threat Management delivering multi-layered security.
Advanced Threat Prevention: Includes IPS, application control, and anti-malware.
Auto-scaling: Automatically adjusts capacity based on traffic and demand.
Comprehensive Threat Prevention: Protects against known and unknown threats.
Ease of Use: Streamlined deployment and management processes.
Integration with Cloud Platforms: Seamlessly works with AWS, Azure, and other clouds.
Centralized Management: Single-pane-of-glass visibility and control.
User Identity Awareness: Enhances security policies based on user identities.
Zero-touch Deployment: Simplifies initial setup and deployment.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Email Protection: Shields email communications from threats.
Anti-malware: Guards against malicious software.
Single-pane-of-glass Visibility: Provides a unified view for better security management.
Scalability: Grows with the business needs.
Seamless Cloud Transition: Eases the move from on-premises to cloud environments.

In industries such as financial services, healthcare, retail, and education, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is implemented to safeguard sensitive data, ensure compliance, and protect critical infrastructure. Companies in these sectors benefit from its advanced threat prevention and flexible deployment options, meeting their stringent security requirements while enabling secure digital transformation.

Check Point Software Technologies

OPNsense is widely used for firewall functionalities, intrusion detection, VPN and IPSec, content filtering, securing network traffic, and remote access. It protects internal networks and manages servers securely, suitable for small to medium-sized businesses.

OPNsense is a comprehensive firewall solution leveraging open-source technology. It integrates with third-party modules like WireGuard and CrowdSec, enhancing its security capabilities. Offering on-premises and cloud deployment, it features an intuitive graphical interface, advanced reporting, VPN functionality, IDS/IPS features, and high scalability. Users find it ideal for small businesses and home networks due to its stability and ease of use. Frequent updates and an active community support its continuous improvement. However, it needs advancements in VPN selection, scalability, and technical documentation. Enhanced high availability, threat intelligence, and integration with virtualization platforms are required. User feedback suggests improvements in connectivity, alerting, traffic monitoring, and antivirus protection.

What are the key features of OPNsense?

Strong Firewall: Robust firewall capabilities for securing network traffic.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Effective IDS/IPS for threat mitigation.
VPN Functionality: Comprehensive VPN support including WireGuard.
Content Filtering: DNS-level filtering for enhanced security.
Advanced Reporting: In-depth traffic analysis and reporting features.
High Scalability: Supports growing network demands.
Integration Capabilities: Works with third-party modules like CrowdSec.
Intuitive GUI: User-friendly graphical interface enhances usability.

What benefits should users look for in OPNsense reviews?

Security: High level of protection for internal networks.
Manageability: Easy management of servers and network traffic.
Cost-Effective: Open-source nature reduces costs.
Reliability: Stable performance suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Community Support: Active community and frequent updates.

OPNsense is implemented across various industries to secure network infrastructure and ensure reliable connectivity. In fintech, it safeguards sensitive financial data while maintaining compliance. Educational institutions deploy it to protect student information and enable secure remote learning environments. Healthcare organizations use it to secure patient data and comply with HIPAA regulations. By integrating with tools like WireGuard and CrowdSec, businesses enhance their cybersecurity posture and streamline network management, making OPNsense a versatile choice for diverse operational needs.

OPNsense

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance

1. Deciso B.V. 2. iXsystems, Inc. 3. EuroBSDCon 4. Netgate 5. Claranet 6. Voleatech 7. Open Systems AG 8. Securebit AG 9. Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH 10. AVM Computersysteme Vertriebs GmbH Additional customers include: T-Systems International GmbH, Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone GmbH, 1&1 IONOS SE, OVHcloud, Hetzner Online GmbH, Strato AG, PlusServer GmbH, Host Europe GmbH, United Internet AG, 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH, QSC AG, Bechtle AG, Cancom SE, Computacenter AG & Co. oHG, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, Atos SE, Capgemini SE, Accenture plc, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Buyer's Guide

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. OPNsense

January 2025

Free Report: Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. OPNsense

Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. OPNsense and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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