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Netgate pfSense vs Sangfor NGAF comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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

Netgate pfSense
Ranking in Firewalls
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
223
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sangfor NGAF
Ranking in Firewalls
31st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 6.6%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.4%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Netgate pfSense6.6%
Sangfor NGAF1.4%
Other92.0%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Juan-Arias - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Cloud Architect - Software Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Rapid VPN setup has connected offices in minutes and brings live insights for proactive issue control
What I appreciate the most about Netgate pfSense is the ease and straightforward nature of the platform. I can set up a new office in less than 10 minutes. The benefits of using Netgate pfSense are that I can set up VPNs in less than two to three minutes, and then just deploy the file across my networks, where everybody would be connected in less than an hour. The dashboards of Netgate pfSense bring all the necessary information that I need at a glance, and it is actually a live update every three to five seconds. It is spotless, and I have been able to catch issues before they hit operations.
AK
Network Administrator at GC University Lahore
Leverage detailed reporting for effective attack management
We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deployed in our data center, which is fully operational, we have various applications hosted there, websites, FTP portals, making it quite comprehensive. Essentially, it performs all the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"An incomparable stability is achieved with other firewall systems."
"I would recommend it; it is manageable and straightforward, it is not so complex, you have to know the different rules, but you can manage it easily and the performance is good."
"Our security in our organization was previously provided by our ISP and since we have been using pfSense it has provided me more abilities to manage my network in a secure way, and we have much better controls and security."
"We can run it on any hardware."
"The solution is very easy to use and has a very nice GUI."
"At our peak time, we have reached more than 5,000 concurrent connections."
"The quality of support is great."
"The solution's most valuable feature is that it is a highly configurable tool."
"I think the tool has the feature to detect and kill ransomware in three seconds."
"The solution is quite safe and good, and furthermore, it is very good for different environments."
"Sangfor NGAF works accordingly with our customers, the solution has good performance, is easy to use, and integrates well with the endpoints."
"The product is very fast and reliable."
"The top functionality is the reporting feature."
"It offers good value for money and is much cheaper compared to other firewalls."
"When it comes to the price of firewall solutions, Sangfor NGAF takes the cake, as it is cheaper than Fortinet, Sophos, Check Point and Palo Alto."
"The support from Sangfor NGAF here in Pakistan is great."
 

Cons

"The technical support needs to be improved."
"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."
"Netgate pfSense can improve by adding a different OS layer other than FreeBSD."
"I would like to see different graphs available in the reporting."
"I would like to see pfSense integrate WireGuard. Currently, pfSense uses OpenVPN, and there's nothing wrong with it, but WireGuard is a lot leaner and meaner."
"​Improve analysis of logs and dashboards (control panel) with improved alert functionality."
"They could make it easier to configure packages."
"I'd like to see it become more of a next-gen firewall or deep packet inspection, however, I'm very happy with the way it is as of now."
"They need to increase the number of ports in the firewall."
"There is room for improvement in dependency on certain infrastructure, like the DNS dependency on the current DNS server that the company has. It should be standalone. It should not depend on any other DNS server."
"I think the GUI needs to be improved, there are a lot of areas where the panes do not make sense."
"The web interface needs to be improved, making it more user-friendly."
"An area for improvement would be the number of ports defined on the box. In the next release, I would like them to develop their provisioning stage of enrolling end devices."
"Sangfor NGAF could improve the policies and default criteria. They could be much better."
"Sangfor could improve their interface capacity on the 5100 series model and upgrade their hardware from one gig to 10 gig. This would improve the overall throughput."
"The solution has too many bugs and these slow down the implementation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When it comes to Netgate pfSense, I use the basic TAC Lite license, which comes for about 100 USD."
"We are using its Community Edition, which is free. My company is a government school, and we don't have much budget."
"It is economical (i.e., free)."
"All costs are low compared to other solutions. The hardware is stable and cheap."
"I think Netgate pfSense's pricing or licensing models are fair enough...Overall, what I pay for the product is very reasonable."
"The price point is highly competitive."
"Netgate pfSense has a great pricing model."
"PfSense is reasonable for a business but a little pricey for home use. With the time savings and reliability, it pays for itself. I've been more than happy with the unit we've gotten here for the capacity we need. However, it'd be nice to have nice to have some nice home units that aren't a thousand dollars."
"The price falls in the mid-range, neither exceptionally low nor high."
"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."
"The price is unmatcheable."
"The license of Sangfor NGAF can be purchased at different interval lengths, such as annually or three years. They offer a range of packages to choose from, such as combo or hybrid packages. We are using the complete solution package which includes IM, NGF and SSL VPN, and WAF."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"For four to five physical appliances for a licensed firewall, it costs approximately $4,000."
"The solution has a TCO that is 32% to 50% less than Sophos, Fortinet, and SonicWall."
"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as three out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business172
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

Help me find the best open source router
You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I recommend PFSense. This software solutions can be installed on youf own hardware...
How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?
Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigate both cost-effective and efficient. One of the features we like most is that Fo...
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 Sangfor NGAF?
The licensing cost is quite high compared to other available firewalls in the market.
What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?
The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardware scalability, allowing for more storage and memory capacity. Making the soluti...
What is your primary use case for Sangfor NGAF?
We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deployed in our data center, which is fully operational, we have various applicatio...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring
The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate pfSense vs. Sangfor NGAF and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.