Netgate pfSense Reviews and Pricing

Professional Internship - System Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 28, 2015

It's simple and easy to understand to begin using.

What is most valuable?

It's easy to access and configure in general. As for features, the firewall and security options were valuable. These are valuable because I like simple things that are easy to work with, as too much difficulty or too much constraint is not good, and boring.

How has it helped my organization?

It provided us with better security.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used it for two months.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There were no issues during the time I used it.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There were no issues during the time I used it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no issues during the time I used it.

How are customer service and support?

It was straightforward because it's simple and easy to understand to begin using.

What about the implementation team?

We used a vendor team who had a good amount of knowledge,

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user179136Network Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

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Jun 5, 2015

I find PfSense to be just what it claims to be. An enterprise class firewall for the world to enjoy for free! It has all the features and none of the costs. If you understand network engineering concepts, PfSense is your "Swiss-Army-Knife"
Need a firewall? PfSense
Need to do static routing? PfSense
Need to route with RIPv2, RIPng, BGP or OSPF? PfSense
Need VPNs? PfSense Yes that includes GRE tunnels over IPSEC
Need Dynamic DNS Clients? PfSense
Need enhanced object tracking for static routing? PfSense
Need multiple WAN connections load balanced? PfSense
Need traffic shaping? PfSense
Need a proxy server? PfSense
Need IDS? PfSense... install the snort package

I've only listed a few of the things it can do. It's been my home router firewall for 10 years.
I recommend it to SOHO owners and home IT enthusiasts alike whom are on a tight budget. It's got a great interface and it's rock stable. It'll run like a dream on an Intel P3 Processor with 640 Megabytes of RAM installed. It works great on a multitude of used / outdated hardware and offers paid support if you can't do the research/reading yourself. What else could you possibly ask for?

it_user429552

Works with 51-200 employees

Jun 29, 2017

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VPN has allowed me to deploy applications just for the organization and not to public servers.

Pros and Cons

"The ability to create a VPN allows me to monitor branch offices from a central location."

"A way to clean squid cache from the GUI."

How has it helped my organization?

VPN has allowed me to deploy applications just for the organization and not to public servers.

What is most valuable?

The ability to create a VPN allows me to monitor branch offices from a central location.

What needs improvement?

A way to clean squid cache from the GUI.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Not at all.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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April 2025

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it_user231987

IT Chief at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Apr 30, 2015

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The pfSense OS is stable, but if the service packages are not updated to their new version when the OS is updated, we can't use those features.

What is most valuable?

Load balancer
Multi-WAN

How has it helped my organization?

Network security and speed have both improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it since 2010. I have used both the free version (5/10) and as a gold member (9/10).

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

When they make an update available, the problem is that pfSense service packages are not updated, it's just the OS. The pfSense OS is stable, but if the service packages are not updated to their new version when the OS is updated, we can't use those features.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

5/10.

Technical Support:

5/10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used -

Debian IPtables
Squid
I7 Patch

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user267969Sr. Sys Admin at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

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Jul 7, 2015

Hi,

SG-4860 pfSense® Security Gateway Appliance which we bought.

Also could u please tell me how will contact pfsense support?

Is there any on call facility to pfsense?

How many times they will support if we device buy?

Regards,
Giridharreddy Daida.

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it_user221874

Manager IT at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees

Mar 31, 2015

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The proxy filtering is valuable except for blocking HTTPS which it can't do.

What is most valuable?

MAC Filtered DHCP and DNS
Captive Portal
VPN
Proxy Server
Proxy Filter

How has it helped my organization?

It has provided us with secure internet browsing and a strong monitoring ability.

What needs improvement?

Proxy filters are not supported for the blocking of HTTPS sites.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for two to three years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered yet.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered yet.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered yet.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

I have not gotten any support from the customer service center because I can get all the solutions on their web blogs.

Technical Support:

I think it is perfect.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I was using another product, but it didn't have a bandwidth controller and monitoring tool like this product does. I switched because I can find everything in one window.

How was the initial setup?

Its installation setup & procedure is so simple that a layman could install it.

What about the implementation team?

I installed it by myself and used Google for assistance.

What was our ROI?

It's positive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I just downloaded the program from the website free of chard. The best thing is, this product can be installed on any machine.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other options were evaluated.

What other advice do I have?

It is recommended, as it is a stable product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user221874Manager IT at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees

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Jul 13, 2015

Can any one have experienced to deploy Pfsense on Hyper-V ... I am planning to deploy this scenario.

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Francis Abubot

System Administrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jan 5, 2022

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Affordable and scalable but some features are difficult to configure and enable

Pros and Cons

"Sophos Intercept X is scalable. Currently, we have almost 30 people using it in our company."

"It would be great to add more to security."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for this solution is Endpoint Advanced. I have set it up for the firewall and the open VPN connections.

What needs improvement?

It would be great to add more to security.

I know that pfSense has a lot of features, but I don't know how to configure and enable them. That is why I am looking into my support options. I am looking for better security and performance.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for almost two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

pfSense is scalable. Currently, we have almost 30 people using it in our company.

How are customer service and support?

I'm currently struggling with deploying pfSense more extensively. Right now, we are not getting much support on their end.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

My opinion about pfSense's pricing is good. They are open source.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user284163

System Administrator at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 2, 2015

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It's stable and features load balancing, although we've rebooted once in six months.

What is most valuable?

Snort
CARP
Load balancing
VPN

How has it helped my organization?

Reduced the cost of our firewall solution
Enhanced throughput compared with similar priced devices
Stability
Reliability

What needs improvement?

I'm no expert on this subject, and the OS performs all that is required.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for over one year.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We've only had to do one reboot in six months.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

None as yet, because the solution hasn't reached capacity yet.

How are customer service and technical support?

I'm yet to use the official tech support as the community provides all that I have required.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Sonicwall
Cisco ASA

We switched due to licensing costs and scalability.

How was the initial setup?

It's relatively simple and straightforward, with enough documentation avalable online for the average user to install and setup.

What was our ROI?

£2000+

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user280953

Network Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jul 29, 2015

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It supports multiple ISP's, making it good for implementation, but it doesn't allow FTP.

Valuable Features

This product supports multiple ISP's, so it's good for implementation.

Improvements to My Organization

It's made us more productive.

Room for Improvement

FTP was not allowed, and it didn't indicate during set up whether FTP was to be allowed or disabled.

Use of Solution

I've used it for about one year.

Stability Issues

The stability is good.

Scalability Issues

The stability is good.

Customer Service and Technical Support

The technical support is good.

Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

It's free.

Other Advice

All the other features are good, and with it being free, it is very attractive to the users.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Ross Bennett

Senior Systems Engineer at KeyTrust

Oct 15, 2018

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Perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI which is useful for diagnosing problems

Pros and Cons

"The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems."

"I would like to see multiple DNS servers running on individual interfaces."

What is our primary use case?

We only use our pfSense as a stateful packet inspection firewall.

We have around 10 VLAN interfaces with many allow/block policies, VIPs, and NATs.
Running on VMware as a virtual machine.

How has it helped my organization?

The main improvement was we were able to replace our old hardware-based firewall with a virtual machine having HA.

What is most valuable?

The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see multiple DNS servers running on individual interfaces.

It would be useful to manage firewall policies on a source interface and destination interface basis.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide

Download our free Netgate pfSense Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.

Updated: April 2025

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