Cisco IOS Security vs OPNsense comparison

Cisco and OPNsense are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Cisco is ranked #21 with an average rating of 8.3, while OPNsense is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3. Cisco holds a 0.3% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to OPNsense’s 12.3% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Cisco 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

Cisco IOS Security and OPNsense compete in network security solutions. OPNsense seems to have an upper hand due to its comprehensive features and customization capabilities.

Features: Cisco IOS Security offers advanced threat protection, scalability, and robust support. OPNsense provides user-friendly configuration options, a rich plugin ecosystem, and significant customization capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Cisco IOS Security can improve its intuitive management tools, faster update cycles, and more flexible licensing options. OPNsense needs better documentation, enhanced multi-WAN support, and improved error handling.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco IOS Security offers straightforward deployment and excellent customer service. OPNsense is easy to set up but has mixed support quality, making Cisco IOS Security favored for reliable service.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco IOS Security tends to have higher setup costs, delivering good ROI due to reliability and support. OPNsense has lower initial costs and satisfactory ROI, appealing to budget-conscious users, thus more cost-effective.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco IOS Security vs. OPNsense Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS Security vs. OPNsense

April 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 April 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.1%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco IOS Security is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 12.3%, down from 17.6% 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.

Read full review

Karthik Venkataraman

Senior Consultant at Velocis Systems

User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues

Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Threat Containment feature. Its deployment and configuration are straightforward. From a networking perspective, for instance, Cisco IOS incorporates time-tested security features. The zone-based firewall feature has significantly influenced our network security management. For instance, when managing multiple geolocations, it's essential to apply geographically appropriate policies. If a customer operates within the UK zone, I need to implement UK-specific policies. This approach is also applicable to customers in the Asia Pacific and UK regions. It enables me to tailor security policies based on the geographical location of my customers, such as adjusting policies for customers in China or Japan. This flexibility helps in creating a comprehensive zone list. Additionally, this feature allows for seamless service agreements between all zones from headquarters, providing access to all zones within the firewall we create. Essentially, it facilitates the creation of zones within the firewall.

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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

"There are lots of features and most of them are deployed for internet security. Users are protected if they accidentally go to some malicious sites."

"FortiGate's web and URL filtering are unlike any other firewall I've used. The functionality of URL filtering in those solutions is problematic because everything is encrypted, and firewalls can't break that encryption protocol. Fortinet has an SSL proxy, so the encryption is done before the packet ever leaves the FortiGate. The URL filter is definitely one of the most helpful features."

"The multi-tenancy feature is most valuable. It integrates very well with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer."

"The flexibility and ease of configuration are the most valuable features."

"The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere."

"Using this product makes the VPN seamless and almost invisible to me in the sense that I don't have to think about it."

"Overall security features and performance routing is good."

"A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The security is very good."

"The capabilities for scalability with this product are huge"

"Cisco IOS Security has many good features, but compared to other solutions, it has a more user-friendly interface with steps to apply and manage rules. Another good part of the solution is that it's more straightforward."

"Cisco is head-and-shoulders above all of the competition when it comes to technical support."

"You can scale it when you need to."

"I've found their network routing to be very good."

"The stability of this solution is excellent."

"The Intrusion Firewall is a valuable feature."

More Cisco IOS Security pros

"The tool's integration is more like a button press."

"The initial implementation process is simple."

"OPNsense is highly stable."

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

"We have been operating here in our lab for several months, and everything appears to be extremely stable."

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

"I mostly rely on the solution's network intrusion detection and prevention system, along with other systems, CMs, and log management."

"The initial setup is easy. It only takes 15-30 minutes to deploy."

More OPNsense pros

Cons

"I think they need to improve more in order to be a competitor with the leaders of the field."

"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."

"I would like to have logs, monitoring, and reporting for a month without extra fees."

"To some degree, it's almost a question as to why some of this stuff isn't simpler. For example, for an AP deployment, while it's integrated, the number of steps that you have to go through in order to get the AP up, seems like a lot."

"It is very expensive, and their support is not very good. I hope that their technical support will be better in the future."

"The renewal price and the availability could be improved."

"Some of the software stability could improve."

"The cloud management and automation capability could be improved."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Cisco is a scalable product, but it is expensive compared to other vendors."

"We cannot directly upgrade the system. The tool's deployment is also very difficult in legacy environments. The tool needs to have bigger ports as well."

"It would be ideal if the solution had more capacity."

"Cisco IOS Security could improve by having more compatibility with other Cisco solutions."

"I think they should bring back remote VPN for users."

"We have a very bad experience on the support. They take too much time requesting logs, and they are not coming directly online to resolve the issues."

"There could be a bit more functions on offer that could make it easier to use."

"The initial setup is complicated."

More Cisco IOS Security cons

"OPNsense struggles to handle large volumes of voice traffic, indicating scalability issues in that specific use case."

"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."

"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."

"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."

"The user interface could be improved, and the DNS section should be more intuitive."

"You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it."

"In terms of improvement, the performance could be enhanced."

"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."

More OPNsense cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is fair for what we get with FortiGate."

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"

"If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly."

"It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses."

"Fortinet bundles FortiGate with other products and because of this, the price is a little expensive to some SMB enterprises."

"Fortinet has one or two license types, and the VPN numbers are only limited by the hardware chassis make."

"It has been two years. I don't remember the actual price, but it was affordable. We buy the boxes and then use the license for three years."

"The price is fair compared to the other competitors."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The cost of the license, to the best of my knowledge, is approximately two thousand dollars."

"The solution's pricing is very good."

"The pricing for Cisco IOS Security is reasonable compared to other Cisco products."

"The pricing is okay. It is competitive. It costs more when you need get more features."

"The pricing is expensive."

"The pricing is very expensive. Normally I do a yearly contract; I don't know the exact pricing, but it's around $75,000 USD per year. That's the standard licensing."

"The licenses for this solution are expensive."

"Cisco IOS Security is not very expensive, and pricing depends on where you live. It's affordable for both individuals and institutions. On a scale from one to five, I would give Cisco's pricing a four."

More Cisco IOS Security pricing and cost advice

"There are no licensing costs for OPNsence."

"It costs about $1000."

"As an appliance, it's in the medium price range."

"Its pricing is unbeatable in comparison to other firewalls. You can have a small instance that could be €80 a month with the hardware underneath. Azure Firewall and FortiGate are out of the question at this price. If you are on a public cloud, you need the underlying infrastructure. Other than that, there is no additional cost. If you have it on-prem, you have to buy the server or the appliance. The hardware cost is replaced with the infrastructure cost in the cloud. You also have costs for the public IPs and underlying VMs, but that's not related to OPNsense. It would be the same for a FortiGate deployment on Azure. You need a FortiGate license, and you need the underlying infrastructure that scales up depending on your needs."

"I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition."

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

"OPNsense is a well known open-source tool."

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

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

21%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

29%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

13%

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 Cisco IOS Security?

Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It off...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS Security?

Pricing can be reduced. I rate the current price for the product a four out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco IOS Security?

While I do not have specific recommendations for improvement, pricing can be reduced.

See all answers

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...

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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...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 22% 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

Check Point NGFW vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 37% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 13% of the time

Meraki MX vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 9% of the time

More Cisco IOS Security Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs OPNsense

Compared 40% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 12% 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 4% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS Security

April 2025

Download Cisco IOS Security product report

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense

March 2025

Download OPNsense product report

Also Known As

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

IOS 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

Cisco IOS Software delivers a sophisticated set of security capabilities for a comprehensive, layered security approach throughout your network infrastructure. Cisco IOS security technologies help to defend critical business processes against attack and disruption, protect privacy, and support policy and regulatory compliance controls.

Cisco

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

Arup Group, Brunel University London, City of Biel, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, K&L Gates , New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Offshore Northern Seas, Transplace

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

Cisco IOS Security vs. OPNsense

April 2025

Free Report: Cisco IOS Security vs. OPNsense

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS Security vs. OPNsense and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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