OPNsense vs ShieldX comparison

Why PeerSpot?

The compared OPNsense and Fortinet solutions aren't in the same category. OPNsense is ranked #7 in Firewalls , with an average rating of 8.1, and holds a 7.0% mindshare in the category. Fortinet is ranked #11 in MS , and holds a 2.7% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of OPNsense users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

OPNsense

Read 47 OPNsense reviews

28,343 Views
26,642 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

ShieldX

Read 4 ShieldX reviews

1,628 Views
488 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

OPNsense

ShieldX

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

OPNsense and ShieldX are both formidable players in the network security space. While OPNsense is renowned for its open-source nature and versatility, ShieldX stands out for its advanced security features and scalability. ShieldX appears to have an edge due to its superior threat detection capabilities and advanced security features.

Features: OPNsense offers a rich set of plugins, extensive customization options, and strong performance monitoring tools. ShieldX provides superior threat detection capabilities, AI-driven security analytics, and robust scalability.

Room for Improvement: OPNsense faces challenges with the complexity of its initial setup, occasional stability issues, and documentation clarity. ShieldX needs to address its high resource consumption, steep learning curve, and improve user interface simplicity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OPNsense's deployment is straightforward but can be challenging due to its customization options. Its customer service is highly responsive. ShieldX offers a seamless deployment process with guided setup, but some users find customer support less responsive compared to OPNsense.

Pricing and ROI: OPNsense is praised for its affordability and transparent pricing model, contributing to favorable ROI. ShieldX, with higher costs, justifies the investment through its robust security features, providing positive ROI in terms of enhanced protection.

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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

OPNsense

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewalls (7th)

ShieldX

Average Rating

9.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsegmentation Software (11th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. OPNsense is designed for Firewalls and holds a mindshare of 7.0%, down 11.3% compared to last year.
ShieldX, on the other hand, focuses on Microsegmentation Software, holds 2.7% mindshare, up 0.6% since last year.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
OPNsense	7.0%
Fortinet FortiGate	12.9%
Cisco Secure Firewall	8.1%
Other	72.0%

Firewalls

Microsegmentation Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ShieldX	2.7%
Illumio Segmentation	21.9%
Akamai Guardicore Segmentation	18.3%
Other	57.1%

Microsegmentation Software

Featured Reviews

Peter Muiruri

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.

Read full review

MichaelProcyshyn

IT Director at park holidays uk

Proactively monitors, blocks, and reports what it has blocked; and self-updates meaning there is zero maintenance

The most valuable feature is the automatic scaling. With its microservices, it scales both up and down, depending on traffic and throughput. The traffic through our website depends on holiday bookings. It's very quiet in November through January, and then our traffic picks up quite rapidly and, at our peak, we will take in excess of a million pounds of business a day through our website. The UI was also one of the huge selling points. My web development manager was blown away with the detail and the granularity that you can get out of the UI. It is a very strong and informative UI, with the amount of data it provides. Uptime on the system has been 648 days and we do very little to it because it self-updates and alerts. It does everything that we need it to do, so the administration side of it is zero. One of the beauties about ShieldX is that it's such a good "fire-and-forget" product.

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 has firewall and VPN capabilities, which are very valuable features."

"We saved up to half a million Egyptian pounds, which is nearly $100,000 yearly on licensing or subscription using this kind of software, and the network attacks reduced by approximately 60% after using that, even without customizing the custom configuration yet."

"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."

"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."

"Overall, I would rate OPNsense as nine out of ten."

"It's open source."

"We have found pretty much all the features of the solution to be valuable."

"The VPN server feature is the most valuable. It is integrated with Radius and AAA for doing accounting and authentication. Insight view is also an important feature for me at this time. It allows me to assess our network traffic. I also like the firewall feature. The BSD kernel has a packet filter. It is one of the most solid frameworks for firewalls. Its user interface is one of the best interfaces I have used."

More OPNsense pros

"...It takes the exact same policies that you would apply to your on-premise environment and enables you to simply apply them to the cloud. It becomes one policy for both on-prem and for the cloud."

"The most valuable feature is the automatic scaling. With its microservices, it scales both up and down, depending on traffic and throughput."

"Once you install it you can virtually forget about it; it's very low-maintenance and high-protection."

"ShieldX has been designed from the very beginning to work well in cloud environments. It understands autoscaling, automation, and auto-configuration. These are the things which are important in today's operating environment."

"The Adaptive Intention Engine is fantastic. It allows us to develop security policies using the language of our internal customers. It's machine-learning applied to security workflows. That allows us to much more easily construct the policies that will protect those workflows."

"For other security professions who are looking for something which is low in cost that does microsegmentation, they should look at ShieldX."

"ShieldX makes it a lot easier and a lot simpler to define your policies and define your rules, and that greatly reduces the opportunity for user error."

"It has helped us tighten our security posture. Now, staff can only access things that they should be accessing."

More ShieldX pros

Cons

"They should improve IPEs for security in the future."

"There should be more technical documentation."

"FortiGate is a better firewall but that is commercial software that you have to buy a license for."

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

"OPNsense struggles to handle large volumes of voice traffic, indicating scalability issues in that specific use case."

"OPNsense can be improved by making it more user-friendly, as its current UI is not that user-friendly when compared to paid software such as Sophos."

"It is stable, but for us, it is not yet so reliable."

"The support service isn't very accessible, so you have to look at the forums to solve some issues."

More OPNsense cons

"They need to be consistent in performance and capabilities over time, given the fact that this is new and I want to see where this goes in the next year or so. As the vendor continues to evolve and add future functionality, we want to make sure that we are still keeping up with the integrations, etc. Time will be the key factor here. The proper support for some of the latest technologies, Docker containers, etc. They need to keep up with threat landscape, so we will see how the security get layered. This is what we are going to be keeping an eye on."

"I would like better reports and in-depth reporting."

"With any kind of tool like ShieldX, where you're in the cloud instead of a traditional firewall, you're using CPU resources in those environments to provide the protection. So there's a cost associated with CPU resources. I'm pressing upon them to make the product much more efficient and use less CPUs to do the same thing."

"They need to be consistent in performance and capabilities over time, given the fact that this is new and I want to see where this goes in the next year or so."

"There should be a bit more customer care, with regular review meetings on it or regular reports. It would be nice to have a quarterly or biannual review of what ShieldX has blocked."

"We are having some issues with their LDAP and integrating it with the Active Directory. We can't seem to set it up."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of OPNsense is good."

"I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition."

"I've used the free version. My computer with two network cards at home allows me to try as many different software options as I want. I did pay for the license, but it was for the Zenarmor license, which is the packet inspection tool. They use AI for packet inspection, which integrates with OPNsense and pfSense."

"There are no licensing costs for OPNsence."

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

"It costs about $1000."

"It's not expensive."

"Its pricing is unbeatable in comparison to other firewalls. You can have a small instance that could be €80 a month with the hardware underneath. Azure Firewall and FortiGate are out of the question at this price. If you are on a public cloud, you need the underlying infrastructure. Other than that, there is no additional cost. If you have it on-prem, you have to buy the server or the appliance. The hardware cost is replaced with the infrastructure cost in the cloud. You also have costs for the public IPs and underlying VMs, but that's not related to OPNsense. It would be the same for a FortiGate deployment on Azure. You need a FortiGate license, and you need the underlying infrastructure that scales up depending on your needs."

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

"ShieldX ensures that we can have the separation needed for our environment to avoid drastically increasing the cost on the licensing side. From this perspective, it's been very positive and helpful."

"We are actually expecting our costs to drop in the coming year, but it is just a matter of the licensing expiring. That is going to happen in the next six months or so. Then, we will start to see a decrease in overall spend."

"We are very happy with the pricing and licensing. It's about getting a site-wide license. One of the challenges that we've had with our previous vendor had been the cost of licensing."

"Security policies are now applied as applications are going up. Because it's automated, we don't have the three to four week delay. The insertion of applications in the cloud for us dropped from an average of three to four weeks to a couple of days."

"For other security professions who are looking for something which is low in cost that does microsegmentation, they should look at ShieldX. It might not be the big name out there, but it does everything that you are looking for in microsegmentation at a very low price."

"ShieldX also enables us to migrate to cloud environments faster. That is an important part of it for sure because it takes the exact same policies that we would apply to our on-premise environment and enables us to simply apply them to the cloud. It becomes one policy for both on-prem and for the cloud."

"For a three-year deal we paid £55,000 plus tax... But, and this is a big "but," this was over two years ago. ShieldX had only just hit the market. We were the first company in Europe to buy ShieldX."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

18%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

21%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

No data available

Questions from the Community

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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...

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Comparisons

Netgate pfSense vs OPNsense

Compared 48% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs OPNsense

Compared 6% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 4% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs ShieldX

Compared 24% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs ShieldX

Compared 20% of the time

Illumio Segmentation vs ShieldX

Compared 9% of the time

VMware NSX vs ShieldX

Compared 8% of the time

SonicWall NSv vs ShieldX

Compared 2% of the time

More ShieldX Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

OPNsense

October 2026

Download OPNsense product report

Buyer's Guide

ShieldX

October 2026

Download ShieldX product report

Also Known As

No data available

APEIRO, ShieldX APEIRO

Overview

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

ShieldX offers advanced, scalable security for cloud and data center environments, addressing dynamic threats with precision. Its robust framework enables efficient threat detection and response, safeguarding critical infrastructure.

Specialized in delivering comprehensive security, ShieldX is designed for organizations looking to protect their cloud assets and on-premises data centers. It integrates seamlessly within existing IT frameworks, providing multi-layered defense against cyber threats. ShieldX uses machine learning and AI to detect anomalies and respond to potentially malicious activities, ensuring data integrity and availability while maintaining regulatory compliance.

What are the most important features of ShieldX?

Dynamic Security Policies: Automatically adjust security measures based on current threats.
Micro-Segmentation: Provides granular control of traffic between workloads.
Automated Threat Detection: Leverages AI to identify and mitigate threats instantly.
Comprehensive Visibility: Gain insights into network activities across all environments.

What benefits should users look for in ShieldX reviews?

Scalability: Easily adapts to growing security needs without disrupting operations.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces overhead by streamlining security management processes.
Enhanced Compliance: Supports adherence to regulatory requirements with minimal effort.
Increased Uptime: Minimizes downtime by preemptively addressing threats.

ShieldX is widely implemented in industries like finance and healthcare, where data protection is critical. Its versatile security protocols are tailored to meet specific sector needs, fostering a reliable defense against sector-specific threats. Organizations in these fields leverage ShieldX to ensure client data confidentiality and operational continuity.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

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.

Iowa State University

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