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.
"Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network."
"The most valuable feature is the bundled subscription, which is IPS, TV and web filtering."
"I think that the UTM features are the most value, as it truly protects my infrastructure."
"FortiGate is on the cheaper end, and it offers good value."
"The solution is very user-friendly."
"Centralized monitoring, policy management, and virtualized appliances allow us to take control over our public and private infrastructure."
"What I like the most is the configuration and that it's simple, and straightforward to maintain."
"The product offers very good security."
"Centralized administration with multiple services, which allows for execution in several important functionalities of information security."
"It is very easy to use. The interface is quite understandable. There is a good community, and I can take over at any time I want. If there is anything wrong with it, I could just reinstall the whole thing and start all over again, and I'll be up again in less than a few minutes"
"The "OpenVPN Client Export" package is really helpful in exporting the VPN client software on most popular devices: iOS/Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, and a handful of SIP handsets."
"Improved service performance and availability through redundancy."
"The most valuable features of pfSense are security, user-friendliness, and helpful online management."
"The main features of this solution are customization and ease to use."
"pfSense allows us to spread the hours of connection and do the filtering on the pfSense site."
"The plugins or add-ons are most valuable. Sometimes, they are free of charge, and sometimes, you have to pay for them, but you can purchase or download very valuable plugins or add-ons to perform internal testing of your network and simulate a denial-of-service attack or whichever attack you want to simulate. You can also remote and monitor your network and see where the gap is. Did you forget a printer port? Most attacks at the moment are happening through printers, and they can tell you immediately that you forgot to close the port of the printer. There are more than one million printers that are in danger, and everybody knows that hackers are using them to enter the network. So, you can download plugins to protect your network."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"The system in general is quite flexible."
"The feature I find most valuable, is that the program helped me to realize all the requested functionality that was needed."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"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."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"It has firewall and VPN capabilities, which are very valuable features."
"The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates."
"Backup can be improved."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having better visibility. Palo Alto has better visibility."
"They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."
"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."
"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."
"The feedback that I have received is that the performance could be better, and the user experience is not as good compared to a previous solution we used. It could be more user-friendly. Of course, it still works fine for our operations."
"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."
"It needs to improve its ISP load balancing."
"Perhaps the documentation is not clear and because it is supported in the community there is no basic documentation."
"The configuration of the solution is a bit difficult."
"Layer 7 advanced firewall features are not included in the solution."
"In terms of areas of improvement, the interface seemed like it had a lot. The GUI interface that I had gotten into was rather elaborate. I don't know if they could zero in on some markets and potentially for small, medium businesses specifically, give them a stripped-down version of the GUI for pfSense."
"There could be a way to remote to it through a mobile app. You can always browse through your browser on your mobile phone or tablet, but it would be good to have a dedicated app. I understand that iOS and Android developers are expensive, but there should be a mobile app."
"This product needs improvements with respect to reporting and auditing."
"The router monitoring needs improvement when compared with Sonicwall."
"ClamAV AntiVirus can cause some crashes. That service should be improved."
"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."
"Its interface should be a little bit better."
"I would like to see better SD-WAN performance."
"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."
"On the customer-side, because I'm a small business, I need a cheaper or free solution option."
"In terms of improvement, the performance could be enhanced."
"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."
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.
See our list of best Firewalls vendors.
We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.