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.
"Fortinet FortiGate's ease of management is the most valuable feature."
"I only deal with it from a security analyst's point of view. I don't really get into the features of the actual FortiGate. From the security point of view, it works, and it does its job."
"User-friendly and affordable security solution that's recommended for SMB customers. This solution has good technical support."
"It is a good source for firewall protection."
"The most valuable feature is the bundled subscription, which is IPS, TV and web filtering."
"The web filtering facility and application control are the most valuable features from the point of view of our clients. The VPN feature is also quite popular amongst our clients. Two-factor authentication is one of the good features in Fortinet. These features are important for the current scenario of security. Security has become a necessity nowadays. With cyber-attacks becoming more common, protecting an organization's data is one of the major tasks. It is also very stable and scalable, and it is very straightforward to configure. Their technical support is also good."
"Initial setup is easy to configure."
"The threat prevention is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"I mostly like all of it. Whatever we use is valuable."
"Creation of certificates and the facility to administer services are valuable features."
"The redundancy and scalability ARE very nice."
"It is a stable solution. It is also easy to install and can be deployed and maintained by one team member."
"The scalability is very good, where you can do an HA configuration and then bring in another box, if necessary."
"My company mainly works in the health and educational domain, schools and universities. I prevent the improper use of content from schools and universities. I defend the medical records for the patients in our hospitals. That is the main use case for me for the firewall."
"The concurrent users are perfect for us."
"pfSense helped us during COVID-19 because we used OpenVPN to connect from home."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"OPNsense is highly stable."
"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."
"I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free."
"The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly which makes the product easy-to-use."
"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
"The most valuable features are reporting, the Sensei plugin, and firewall capabilities."
"NGN, reporting and controls."
"The user interface could be improved."
"The process of configuring firewall rules appears excessively complex."
"The UI could be improved."
"The solution could be more evenly structured."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"FortiGate support could do some improvements on their IPv6 configuration. Right now it's still in the very early stage for utilizing in an enterprise level network environment."
"The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."
"Many people have problems setting up the web cache for the web system."
"The GUI could use more “bells and whistles”. It's got plenty of info for a Sysadmin but some people like shiny things."
"The GUI could use improvements, though it is manageable."
"Their support could be better in terms of the response time."
"Perhaps the documentation is not clear and because it is supported in the community there is no basic documentation."
"Web interface could be enhanced and more user friendly."
"Also, the GUI is helpful, but it's not user-friendly. It's complicated. It should be more intuitive for the average user and have an excellent graphical view. Of course, the user will typically know about network administration, but it still should be easy to understand."
"The product must provide integration with other solutions."
"There should be more technical documentation."
"Its interface should be a little bit better."
"An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently. DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution. pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense."
"The scalability needs improvement."
"The interface needs to be simplified. It is not user-friendly."
"OPNsense showed me some problems when using it in different environments. The problem is integration with a virtual server."
"You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it."
"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, Sophos UTM, KerioControl, Cisco Secure Firewall and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas OPNsense is most compared with Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM, IPFire and Cisco Secure Firewall. See our Netgate pfSense vs. OPNsense report.
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