OPNsense vs Sangfor NGAF comparison

OPNsense and Sangfor are both solutions in the Firewalls category. OPNsense is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.1, while Sangfor is ranked #22 with an average rating of 8.4. OPNsense holds a 8.9% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sangfor’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of OPNsense users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Sangfor users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

OPNsense and Sangfor NGAF are competing in the network security category. Sangfor NGAF seems to have an edge due to its user-friendly configuration and reliable customer support, despite OPNsense's flexible, open-source nature.

Features: OPNsense is known for its flexibility, comprehensive reporting, and advanced VPN capabilities. Sangfor NGAF offers robust application control, integrated WAF capabilities, and effective intrusion detection. Both products provide valuable features suitable for various network security needs.

Room for Improvement: OPNsense needs better integration with virtual servers, user portal capabilities, and enhanced documentation. Sangfor NGAF could benefit from improved application filtering, scalability, and hardware performance, as well as enhanced report management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OPNsense supports on-premises and cloud deployments but relies on community support. Sangfor NGAF is noted for straightforward deployment across environments and reliable customer support, which offers an advantage for users seeking assistance.

Pricing and ROI: OPNsense is typically free, costing users only for hardware and optional support, making it attractive to small and medium enterprises, enhancing ROI. Sangfor NGAF is not free but offers cost-effective pricing and comprehensive security features, providing strong value compared to competitors like Fortinet and Sophos.

To learn more, read our detailed OPNsense vs. Sangfor NGAF Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense vs. Sangfor NGAF

April 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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 16.0%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 8.9%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	16.0%
OPNsense	8.9%
Sangfor NGAF	1.1%
Other	74.0%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav

Network Security Engineer at a retailer with 11-50 employees

Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches

Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.

Read full review

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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Zaid Farooqui

CIO at Indus Motor Company

Enhanced threat detection with integrated security features and good support

We are using application firewalling, WAF, and SD-WAN. The capabilities are mostly within the box. For example, you will get web application firewall WAF as part and parcel of this. SD-WAN is also bundled. It integrates with their SIEM and SOAR solutions very nicely. Lastly, the pricing point is very cost-efficient as well.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's features are highly customizable."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include the simple user interface."

"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."

"The support they provide is good."

"Fortinet FortiGate is both scalable and stable."

"The overall experience has been very good."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of use."

"Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple, and we are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"I have found the solution has some great features overall, such as guest access capabilities, dashboards, and ease of use. There is plenty of documentation and support and it has the plugins that I needed."

"The most valuable features in OPNsense are reporting and visibility."

"I find the solution to be user-friendly, with a lot of reports and easy settings."

"Based on my experience, the main benefits OPNsense provides for me are due to the limitation in getting financials to implement the most marketable solutions available in the market, which pushed me to find other open-source-related or cheaper solutions, and that is how I came upon OPNsense and pfSense, but OPNsense was the choice in this decision, providing a simple but also effective solution on a low budget."

"What I like best about OPNsense is that, as a firewall, it's pretty good. I'm quite impressed with it. I had an excellent experience with OPNsense, which helped me achieve the targets I wanted."

"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."

"The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates."

"The interface and the dashboard are the most valuable features of this solution."

More OPNsense pros

"The most valuable features are the WAN optimization, the internet access gateway (IAG), and the central console, which allows us to implement on their firewall."

"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 level of support provided to local companies is good. They transform their application control and other settings according to that country."

"The most valuable feature of Sangfor NGAF is its integration."

"The solution is quite safe and good, and furthermore, it is very good for different environments."

"The capabilities are mostly within the box."

"Sangfor NGAF's standout feature is its powerful application control, enabling precise restrictions on mobile user access to approved applications."

"Sangfor is a good solution that provides a WAF and firewall solution. Most other vendors, like Sophos and Fortinet and Cisco, only provide one solution. That's a valuable feature of Sangfor."

More Sangfor NGAF pros

Cons

"The product does need better support in the cloud environment. It's not exactly cloud-native right now."

"Right now, it's not really scalable, but it's okay for us. However, looking ahead to three years from now, we might have a problem with scalability."

"I see room to explore its integration with Secure Service Automation for a more comprehensive security view."

"In terms of what could be improved, the SD-WAN is quite difficult, because if you install the new box, 15 is okay, but if you change from an old configuration, if there is already configuration and a policy when you change to SD-WAN, you must change the whole policy that you see in the interface."

"The IPS monitoring can be improved."

"It needs to improve its ISP load balancing."

"The solution could be more secure and stable."

"The routing capability on the FortiGate devices has room for improvement."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"There are issues with stability and reliability."

"There should be more technical documentation."

"I think the most important thing is that it should be easily accessible, but currently, that doesn't seem to be the case. We need a hardware platform that's based on common standards and open computing principles, which would be like a commodity and benefit us greatly."

"The IPS solution could be more reliable."

"There are a few weaknesses. For example, there is a lack of some features that I have in certain commercial products."

"The user interface could be improved, and the DNS section should be more intuitive."

"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."

"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."

More OPNsense cons

"However, the maintenance cost can be a bit high."

"The setup phase is quite complex."

"The product must provide more IPS features."

"The firewall system needs gradual improvements because there are more threats and challenges in the world every day."

"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."

"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 web interface needs to be improved, making it more user-friendly."

"The solution has too many bugs and these slow down the implementation."

More Sangfor NGAF cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for the solution annually."

"The price range is quite acceptable and normal."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG is an affordable solution."

"It's an expensive solution."

"The initial setup is super straight forward and as far as the licensing goes for the small product that we have, the pricing was pretty competitive. It wasn't as simple and as cheap as a SonicWall but for the service we would get it was a good price."

"There is no challenge in Fortinet FortiGate pricing."

"The solution is cheap."

"The pricing of the solution is very competitive."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"As an appliance, it's in the medium price range."

"It costs about $1000."

"There are no licensing costs for OPNsence."

"The price of OPNsense is good."

"It is free."

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

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

"It is open source and free."

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

"For over 2000 users, the cost is around 5000 to 6000 USD. If you want a web application firewall, you have to purchase an additional license for it."

"The price is unmatcheable."

"It costs about 8 to 10 thousand dollars per year for 500 users, standard licensing fees included."

"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."

"Sangfor NGAF price is reasonable and there is an annual license. However, the maintenance cost can be a bit high."

"Sangfor NGAF is a cheaply priced product, especially if I consider the previous product that was used in my company."

"When it comes to the price of firewall solutions, Sangfor NGAF takes the cake."

"The solution has a TCO that is 32% to 50% less than Sophos, Fortinet, and SonicWall."

More Sangfor NGAF pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

17%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	367
Midsize Enterprise	135
Large Enterprise	193

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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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 cl...

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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 eno...

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What needs improvement with OPNsense?

In my opinion, OPNsense could improve by incorporating either an open side of wireless management or a way that you c...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?

The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardwa...

See all answers

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 deploye...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 18% 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 OPNsense

Compared 53% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 6% of the time

Sophos UTM vs OPNsense

Compared 3% of the time

Untangle NG Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 2% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Sophos Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 13% of the time

H3C SecPath Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 7% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 6% of the time

Untangle NG Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 2% of the time

More Sangfor NGAF Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense

April 2026

Download OPNsense product report

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF

April 2026

Download Sangfor NGAF product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform

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

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

Sangfor NGAF offers a user-friendly firewall solution with a strong virus database and competitive pricing. It supports SSL VPN connectivity, intrusion detection, and is known for easy deployment and integration capabilities.

Sangfor NGAF is a comprehensive security platform providing robust network protection through its application control and detailed threat insights. While effective in preventing threats and ensuring network security, it has areas needing improvement such as real-time reporting and system support. It delivers secure internet and VPN connections, proficiently handling malware threats. However, it faces challenges with user experience, reporting capabilities, hardware scalability, and needs better third-party integration. Licensing costs are noted to be high, and there are performance variations between versions.

What are the key features of Sangfor NGAF?

User-friendly deployment: Offers an uncomplicated setup process.
Robust virus database: Provides reliable threat detection.
SSL VPN connectivity: Ensures secure remote access.
Application control: Manages application usage for enhanced security.
Intrusion detection: Detects unauthorized access attempts.
URL filtering: Prevents access to malicious websites.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Sangfor NGAF?

Affordability: Competitive pricing compared to peers.
Integration: Good capabilities with existing systems.
Support: Noted for providing reliable customer service.
Threat prevention: Effective in securing networks against various threats.

Sangfor NGAF is widely used across industries including education, healthcare, and finance for its reliable network security. It is favored for securing internal servers, offering robust threat protection, and managing bandwidth efficiently at a budget-friendly rate.

Sangfor

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

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.

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense vs. Sangfor NGAF

April 2026

Free Report: OPNsense vs. Sangfor NGAF

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