Check Point UTM-1 [EOL] vs OPNsense comparison

Check Point Software Technologies and OPNsense are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 84% of Check Point Software Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of OPNsense users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Check Point UTM-1 [EOL] and OPNsense based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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Firewalls

May 2026

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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

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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William Cambronero

Consultant at ITQS

Great firewalls, VPN, and Intrusion prevention capabilities

Some features that could be improved are advanced threat protection, sandboxing, and vulnerability management. Another point is to improve the technical support provided by Check Point UTM-1. Although the company offers different standards, including basic and premium, by mail and by telephone, they present a very large deficiency in the time it takes to comply with the provisions of the SLA. Coordinating a meeting is complicated by the schedules. The documentation should also be improved by having it unified.

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Moutaz Sheikh Alard

ISO 27001 Lead Implementer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Has helped simulate enterprise security setups and strengthens network segmentation practices

For my capstone, I use OPNsense for my project and its broader benefits for enterprise and cybersecurity context. OPNsense is an open source based firewall and routing platform. It offers enterprise-grade features such as intrusion detection and prevention system, VPN support, traffic shaping, and web filtering, all without license cost. This platform has a modular design, a clean web-based GUI, and frequent updates that prioritize security and usability. It competes with commercial firewalls such as Cisco ASA, FortiGate, and Palo Alto, but stands out because it's community-driven, cost-effective, and transparent. I find OPNsense's feature of acting as a central firewall and gateway most valuable, providing robust point segmentation between the internal network and DMZs in my capstone project, intrusion detection to monitor malicious traffic, VPN services for secure remote access, and logging and monitoring for compliance and auditing. This allows me to simulate a real-world enterprise environment on a smaller scale, demonstrating both security hardening and network efficiency. OPNsense impacts my projects and home network positively because its cost-effectiveness is perfect for lab and enterprise setup without expensive licensing. The flexibility, easy VLAN and DMZ configuration supports different zones such as web servers, mail servers, and log servers. The security-first design for IDS/IPS integration helps me showcase modern defense-in-depth strategies. The user-friendly management through the web GUI makes it possible to manage complex firewall rules clearly, which is critical when documenting and presenting a capstone. Scalability is also an advantage. Although my project is lab-based, OPNsense can scale into production deployments in SMBs and enterprise.

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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

"If you use this solution, within three years, you will get your investment back."

"The dynamic segmentation feature in Fortinet FortiGate is pretty good."

"The Fortinet technical support is awesome."

"Fortinet's scalability and stability are fine because I have three units across India, and none have gone down so far."

"The most effective features for threat prevention are the IPS, content filter, and SD-WAN capabilities."

"The customization potential is quite impressive."

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is SD-WAN."

"Secure, user-friendly, stable, and scalable network security solution. Installation is straightforward."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Since I have installed the solution everything is working very great."

"When we were evaluating services, we knew we needed something robust and easy to implement with the old equipment and something that was safe."

"As a security information analyst, it helps me to see information in a very clear way."

"It has given us the ability to securely connect remote office sites to our Core Data Network over ISP DPLC Circuits."

"It safeguards against cyber attacks."

"Firewalls help us a lot in controlling traffic on our network and preventing unauthorized access."

"The solution is very robust."

"The solution came to give us an elimination of having independent products such as antivirus firewalls and all the types of applications that were previously used for this type of content filtering, and now it is a single solution."

More Check Point UTM-1 [EOL] pros

"It has an open license. It works very well, and there is an update every month."

"OPNsense can be deployed in the cloud and on-premises, and I have used OPNsense in many different types of companies, such as financial and metropolitan."

"I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free."

"The most valuable feature is the Dual WAN in OPNSense, which offers advanced capabilities."

"OPNsense is very stable, easy to upgrade, and maintain."

"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 is user-friendly and easy to configure."

"The most valuable feature of OPNsense is compatibility."

More OPNsense pros

Cons

"There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some of kind synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have."

"One of the most important areas for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is the limited resources for tests. I was limited to a few interfaces for one month, and it would be great if Fortinet could improve these features in their test versions."

"The AI part needs improvement to enhance its functionality."

"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."

"We would like to have the ability to disable some of the security functionalities."

"We had a minor problem where there was a major system upgrade on the hardware platfrom and the Mac client was not available as soon as it might have been. The PC client was available immediately, but we had to wait a month or so, before there was a mac client. I was slightly irritated that it was not ready on time, but it was eventually resolved."

"Sometimes the dashboard does not open properly. When we add more options, SD-WAN features, and user control features, the opening is very slow."

"The configuration part was challenging, especially converting configurations from another OEM to FortiGate."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The pricing is too high."

"The solution could be improved if there was a better way to report. The reporting functionality is not really good. Even though it's not the major function. Maybe adding a way to make a custom report."

"The interface needs improvement."

"The physical memory is insufficient for installing policies and some other operations."

"Customer service is definitely degrading, according to me."

"Specifically on the user experience, sometimes the set up of things, such as the VPN SSL, takes a lot of time to load and a lot of time to get up and running on every session."

"As we don't have a representative of Check Point supplier in our country, this makes it very difficult when we have some issues to resolve."

"The entire GUI, look and feel of the application."

More Check Point UTM-1 [EOL] cons

"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."

"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."

"When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."

"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."

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

"OPNsense could be improved with a better wizard, as when I first installed it, it seemed difficult to know where to go."

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

More OPNsense cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."

"Although the solution's pricing is high, compared with other products, it may be cheap."

"Fortinet FortiGate IPS' licensing is quite simple to understand."

"We are currently evaluating a Palo Alto solution, and the pricing could be a reason for going for Palo Alto."

"I would say that all things considered, the pricing is pretty good."

"It is around $50,000 per month."

"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."

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

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is too high."

"This cost is between 3,000 and 5,000 euros per year, so some other solutions are cheaper and the pricing should be improved."

"The price of OPNsense is good."

"We are using the paid version."

"It is free."

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

"It's a free solution."

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

"We are not paying any licensing fees. OPNsense is completely free for us."

"It's not expensive."

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Comms Service Provider

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	370
Midsize Enterprise	138
Large Enterprise	195

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	8

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs Check Point UTM-1 [EOL]

Compared 43% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Check Point UTM-1 [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

Sophos UTM vs Check Point UTM-1 [EOL]

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Check Point UTM-1 [EOL]

Compared 12% of the time

More Check Point UTM-1 [EOL] Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs OPNsense

Compared 52% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 6% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos UTM vs OPNsense

Compared 3% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 3% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Check Point UTM-1 [EOL]

June 2026

Download Check Point UTM-1 [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense

June 2026

Download OPNsense product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Check Point UTM-1 delivers proven, best-in-class security ideal for use in industrial Ethernet and SCADA environments. Robust performance and central management provide unmatched value in a simple, all-in-one solution.

Check Point Software Technologies

OPNsense is an adaptable open-source firewall and routing platform appreciated for its flexibility, scalability, and user-friendly interface. It is equipped with robust security features and offers excellent reporting and visibility, essential for small businesses and home setups.

OPNsense stands out for its modular design, allowing cost-effective customization. This system supports VPNs and various firewall capabilities, making it suitable for securing networks from malicious traffic. Its frequent updates and extensive documentation, combined with a supportive online community, enhance user experience. However, there is room for improvement in integration with virtual servers and Azure. Scalability and hardware updates are important for large-scale environments, and users desire more reliable VPN solutions and enhanced threat intelligence tools.

What are OPNsense's most important features?

Flexibility: Easily customizable due to its open-source nature.
Robust Security: Advanced security features for network protection.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplified management and configuration.
Frequent Updates: Regular improvements and new features.
Dense Documentation: Extensive resources and community support.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Cost-Effectiveness: Open-source design reduces costs.
Scalability: Ability to grow with business needs.
Customizability: Tailored solutions for different requirements.
Community Support: Access to a strong network of resources and peers.

OPNsense is implemented in industries requiring VPN and firewall functions, supporting site-to-site connections, protecting servers, and managing commercial network traffic. Companies apply it for security, UTM, SD-WAN, content filtering, intrusion detection, and prevention, utilizing its open-source nature and effectiveness as a next-generation firewall.

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

AccessIT Group Inc., Accuvant, Cadre Computer Resources Inc., Compuquip Technologies Inc, Dimension Data North America Inc., Forsythe Solutions Group, Gotham Technology Group LLC, GuidePoint Security LLC, Iovations, IPS

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.

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Sophos and others in Firewalls. Updated: May 2026.

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