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IPFire vs OPNsense comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

IPFire
Ranking in Firewalls
29th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OPNsense
Ranking in Firewalls
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of IPFire is 0.9%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 7.0%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OPNsense7.0%
IPFire0.9%
Other92.1%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

AE
Chief Technology Officer at Agileware Limited
Firewall deployment has secured mission-critical public apps and simplifies Linux-based management
The best features IPFire offers include its very intuitive nature because, even though it has a Linux back-end, in terms of configuration, it has a very rich GUI interface. The GUI and configuration features of IPFire have made my work easier and more efficient because their positioning and the sequence with which I follow is easy. In terms of all the processes, what you need to do at first and the next thing that you need to do is clear. The GUI is well arranged in sequential order, so you can follow that from whatever you want to do until you get the target objective. IPFire includes features with a very robust and rich community that is very much valid in terms of content. IPFire has positively impacted my organization by giving us some mileage. At least, a lot of organizations now know that we have a solution that can deliver the same value.
PM
IT Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Open-source firewall has provided affordable real-time protection and secure remote access
In my opinion, OPNsense could improve by incorporating either an open side of wireless management or a way that you can also manage your interconnected devices. You could easily have SNMP, Simple Network Management Protocol, incorporated in it so that you can easily manage the devices and easily get the information about the devices that you are managing. Additionally, the inclusion of Pi-hole would allow you to create an ad-free network instead of adding it on a separate device. I would prefer that incorporated into OPNsense, or if it is there, I would appreciate guidance on how to use it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Regarding IPFire's AI capabilities, I think they are quite focused; in all the deployments I have done, I have not had any incidents or breaches."
"What I appreciate the most about IPFire is that it is simple, and I learned it when I was in school, so that is really something simple and I know it, so I continue to use it."
"IPFire has prevented any kind of hacking and enables us to comply with customer requirements."
"I would rate the stability as ten out of ten for IPFire."
"I find everything valuable in OPNsense; the configuration and reporting aspects are what we require, reporting on user access and data consumed is fascinating in OPNsense, and the configuration offers a clear idea of everything that I have configured in DHCP."
"The interface and the dashboard are the most valuable features of this solution."
"OPNsense is a great tool for problem-solving with a VPN."
"OPNsense is very stable, easy to upgrade, and maintain."
"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
"The initial setup is easy. It only takes 15-30 minutes to deploy."
"It has an open license. It works very well, and there is an update every month."
"The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners."
 

Cons

"Accessing the internet was a bit complicated."
"If anything, a graphical interface would be what I want."
"I would rate IPFire 8 out of 10 because I do not think there is any solution anywhere in the world that is 100 percent efficient."
"The graphical interface could be much better."
"The reporting part could be better."
"The ability to set the VPN IP address would be a welcome addition."
"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."
"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."
"Pricing in my opinion is just too expensive. It makes no sense. It moves in the direction of a monopoly."
"The solution could be more secure."
"The interface needs to be simplified. It is not user-friendly."
"The monitoring is a little complicated and I have tried to use a plug-in, but it's quite complicated to configure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It's a free solution."
"The price of OPNsense is good."
"It is open source and free."
"OPNsense is a well known open-source tool."
"It's not expensive."
"OPNsense is open source software so at this time it is free for us to use."
"I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition."
"The solution is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IPFire?
To be honest, I have not made the updates of IPFire since a long time, so I continue to use the 2017 asset. I do not know if today there is something I can add on it. I am just comfortable with it ...
What is your primary use case for IPFire?
I am still using IPFire, but at home, not at work. I have my own servers at home, and I have my test infrastructure here. I have my VPN, my DMZ, and my LAN actually on IPFire. I connect to my home ...
What advice do you have for others considering IPFire?
I would give IPFire a good eight on a scale from one to ten. This review reflects my overall rating of eight.
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 client, Open VPN and client, and PPTP client. Both also have intrusion detection a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?
Setup cost is almost zero as one can simulate the whole environment using open source version. Pricing seems fair enough. Open source license allows a beginner to have a complete firewall solution ...
What needs improvement with OPNsense?
When I talk about VPN, I am not completely satisfied with the VPN functions of OPNsense. What I have received so far is that sometimes the VPN route caches for some time and sometimes I want to cha...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Siemens 2. IBM 3. Cisco 4. Dell 5. HP 6. Intel 7. Oracle 8. Google 9. Microsoft 10. Amazon 11. Apple 12. Facebook 13. Twitter 14. Netflix 15. Adobe 16. SAP 17. VMware 18. Juniper Networks 19. Ericsson 20. Nokia 21. AT&T 22. Verizon 23. T-Mobile 24. Vodafone 25. Orange 26. Deutsche Telekom 27. British Telecom 28. Comcast 29. Time Warner 30. Sony 31. Samsung 32. LG
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 IPFire vs. OPNsense and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.