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Amirsaeed Iloukhani - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at Bank Meli Exchange
Real User
Aug 16, 2022
Simple initial setup, reliable, and open source
Pros and Cons
  • "OPNsense is highly stable."
  • "OPNsense can be deployed in the cloud and on-premises, and I have used OPNsense in many different types of companies, such as financial and metropolitan."
  • "The support for OPNsense is good because we have documents available on the internet. The support could improve a little."

What is our primary use case?

OPNsense can be deployed in the cloud and on-premises.

I have used OPNsense in many different types of companies, such as financial and metropolitan.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using OPNsense for approximately six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

OPNsense is highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of OPNsense is very good.

I have approximately 15 customer companies using this solution.

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How are customer service and support?

The support for OPNsense is good because we have documents available on the internet. The support could improve a little.

I rate the support from OPNsense a four out of five.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of OPNsense is straightforward. It took us a while to deploy the solution.

I rate the initial setup of OPNsense a nine out often.

What about the implementation team?

I did the implementation of OPNsense in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

OPNsense is an open-source solution and it does not require a license.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend this solution to others because in my country we have a limitation for buying any firewall.

I rate OPNsense a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Ralf Wenzel - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at infotek-software GmbH
Real User
May 13, 2022
Unbeatable pricing and easy to configure and use, but it can be configured only through the GUI, and the integration with Azure cloud is difficult
Pros and Cons
  • "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."
  • "Its pricing is unbeatable in comparison to other firewalls."
  • "We did not like the fact that you have to configure everything with the graphic user interface. We have used other firewalls, such as FortiGate, that you can configure via code. OPNsense is not easy to integrate. When you are deploying via GitHub or another source repository, this is not possible. That's one thing we didn't like much."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for intrusion detection and prevention. The firewall comes with a lot of third-party modules, and we also use proxy functionalities.

In our company, we are using it as an appliance, but we are bringing companies to the cloud. We ourselves do not have an Azure layer, but we have got a contract from a customer to bring them to the cloud. So, we are installing it there and monitoring it, but it is not owned by our company. OPNsense is available on appliances, but we have made a special integration with Azure. There is a special mechanism in Azure to deploy firewalls, and we have installed three or four of them.

We always have the latest version on the firewalls. One should run the updates very frequently.

How has it helped my organization?

We are onboarding cloud solutions for customers. We are on Azure. Especially on Azure, when the customers start, they always have small environments. We were looking for the best firewall solution for small environments, not big environments. We needed a small firewall, and we came across OPNsense. For small customers, we will use OPNsense in the future due to cost reasons. These are small installations, and Azure Firewall is very expensive.

What is most valuable?

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. 

What needs improvement?

The difficult part was the integration with Azure because OPNsense, in most cases, is not used on public clouds. It is on appliances that run on-prem. 

We did not like the fact that you have to configure everything with the graphic user interface. We have used other firewalls, such as FortiGate, that you can configure via code. OPNsense is not easy to integrate. When you are deploying via GitHub or another source repository, this is not possible. That's one thing we didn't like much. 

For how long have I used the solution?

Within our own company, we have been using it for three or four years as an appliance, and on Azure, we have been using it for three months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have run it for three months in production, and we haven't had any problems in three months. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We run it as an NVA cluster with Azure, and it has good scalability, but when we have bigger deployments, we would use another firewall. I'm not sure if it makes sense to scale up. OPNsense has a very good niche market in comparison to FortiGate, Azure Firewall, or other firewalls. If a customer is starting in the cloud and has 100 or 200 users, I would always recommend OPNsense, but if you have a big installation, and you have a good DevOps team that deploys via source code and things like this, then I would not recommend it. So, the software itself may be scalable, but I wouldn't call it an enterprise-scale firewall.

In terms of people working with this solution, I'm an architect, and we've got two people for monitoring and setup. Its usage is increasing. It has not been that long since we started using OPNsense, and it fills a gap. Not everybody needs a full-scaled enterprise firewall. So, it will be a part of our business. We've found a niche there.

How are customer service and support?

We were in touch with Microsoft support for special networking considerations. The firewall itself was easy for us, and we had no need to reach out to tech support of OPNsense. The heavy part was the Azure part, and we are specialists there.

How was the initial setup?

OPNsense deploys it on the Azure marketplace. So, you can download it directly via the Azure marketplace. You do not have to be a partner. From our perspective, it's easy to configure and it's intuitive. We have a background with a lot of firewalls, and we were just looking for a small one.

We found that not many people have used it on Azure. The firewall itself is not bad, but the support around Azure in terms of documentation and the required infrastructure is not so good, but because we are Azure specialists, we found a very good solution. We would not recommend it for a beginner in Azure.

In terms of the implementation strategy, there is a cloud adaptation framework. There is a white paper from Microsoft containing best practices for deploying firewalls on Azure, and we had to provide a setup for this, which took some time because it was not easy. It took at least two weeks, but it was only a one-time job. After that, for each firewall, you only have to adapt the rules, which takes two days, but it also depends on the complexity of the infrastructure. If a customer has hundreds of endpoints, it takes longer for sure.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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.

What other advice do I have?

We use it on-prem, and we can recommend it for a standard, typical IT engineer with a networking background. We have had a good experience with it. It is good in terms of functionality and resource usage. It is easy, and we would recommend it, but for implementing it on the Azure cloud, you need good knowledge of Azure. When it comes to public clouds, you do not have your own hardware, and you need deep knowledge of the public cloud on which you are deploying it. It is a good solution if your installation is not too big. We would recommend it for small customers or companies that are starting in the cloud. 

I would rate it a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
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Technical support engineer at ADVANT računalniški inženiring, komunikacije, svetovanje in distribucija d.o.o.
Reseller
Feb 19, 2024
Easy to manage, free and good for small offices
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a very good solution. I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use it for network traffic and routing for management. It improves the overall management and the traffic.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It helps to improve network security. It does its job. 

    What is most valuable?

    It is easy to maintain. It is free. So, it is for small offices. It is a very good solution.

    I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it. 

    What needs improvement?

    If I require many site-to-site connections or prioritize advanced features, I might look at the other products.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using it for half a year. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    There was no need for scaling in our case. 

    Our customers are mostly small-sized businesses. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I found everything I needed online.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have experience with Check Point and other products like Fortinet. They're different types of tools for different purposes. 

    My experience is that OPNsense is great for installing and setting up, and then I almost forget about it. It is a good tool for everyday use.

    If I require many site-to-site connections or prioritize advanced features, I might look at the other products.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    It is free. 

    What other advice do I have?

    If you're new to firewalls, I might recommend using this solution. It's very user-friendly, especially for the first-time users.

    Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. reseller
    PeerSpot user
    Anwar Sleem - PeerSpot reviewer
    Regional Director at Ceitcon
    Real User
    Jul 5, 2023
    A simple and free solution requiring no maintenance while providing stability to its users
    Pros and Cons
    • "I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free."
    • "The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use OPNsense in our company to secure our servers.

    What is most valuable?

    To be honest with you, I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free.

    What needs improvement?

    The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings. The interface of the solution could be made better.

    The user experience when we create policies can be made easier. Also, maybe some features should be added to the cloud.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using OPNsense for around six years. Also, I don't remember the version of the solution I am using.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have 25 users who are all technical people using OPNsense in my organization.

    Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    As technical people, we have used many solutions previously for our company and customers. For customers, we have used Fortinet, Palo Alto, and others.

    I didn't switch from Palo Alto to OPNsense. I use OPNsense because Palo Alto is used for enterprises. For me, I prefer open-source products. It's more flexible for us.

    How was the initial setup?

    I believe the setup phase was a fusion of straightforwardness and complexity. It's not complicated, so it's fine.

    It's deployed on-premises because we put it on our server, and it is hosted in Germany.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    It's a free solution.

    What other advice do I have?

    The solution requires no maintenance.

    I would recommend OPNsense to others.

    Overall, I rate the solution between seven to eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Gregor Godler - PeerSpot reviewer
    DevOps at Halcom
    Real User
    May 11, 2023
    Useful GUI, frequent updates, and free to use
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates."
    • "When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."

    What is our primary use case?

    OPNsense is a firewall.

    How has it helped my organization?

    The solution has helped our organization because we are able to easily set up IPSec and VPN tunnels.

    What is most valuable?

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

    What needs improvement?

    When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve.

    In a feature release, it would be helpful to have some features that the new generation firewalls have, such as IPS.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I used OPNsense within the last 12 months.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I rate the stability of OPNsense a ten out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have approximately two large customers using this solution.

    I rate the scalability of OPNsense a seven out of ten.

    How are customer service and support?

    I needed to use the support twice. They could improve the support.

    I rate the support of OPNsense a seven out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Neutral

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I use Fortinet before in another company.

    How was the initial setup?

    The deployment took approximately two hours.

    I rate the initial setup of OPNsense a seven out of ten.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We are using the free open-source version of the solution. There is a paid version that has additional features.

    I rate the price of OPNsense a five out of ten.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would recommend using this solution.

    I rate OPNsense a nine out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Associate consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    Dec 25, 2022
    It helps control the bandwidth, is scalable, easy to set up, and has a lot of data available on how to set it up
    Pros and Cons
    • "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."
    • "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."

    What is our primary use case?

    I'm using OPNsense as an open VPN and a firewall to control the traffic.

    How has it helped my organization?

    OPNsense improved my organization in terms of controlling the bandwidth. Limiting the bandwidth is the primary purpose of the solution in the organization.

    What is most valuable?

    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.

    What needs improvement?

    An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently.

    An additional feature I want to see in OPNsense is a transparent proxy.

    DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution, as that helps make processes faster.

    pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using OPNsense for more than one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    OPNsense is a stable solution. Stability-wise, it's seven out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    OPNsense is a scalable solution, and I find it very good, but it still depends on your requirement and what you want to achieve from OPNsense.

    How are customer service and support?

    I didn't use OPNsense technical support because I resolved any issues myself.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I used pfSense before using OPNsense, and OPNsense covered most of my environment's needs. My organization uses only one firewall, and that's OPNsense.

    How was the initial setup?

    Setting up OPNsense was easy for me. Even if you don't have experience, there is so much data available that you can follow so that the setup can be done easily.

    The initial setup for OPNsense is an eight out of ten, especially if you know what you want to do and achieve from the solution. You also must try blocking methods based on what and how you want to block.

    It took me two weeks to implement OPNsense completely. I set up the network and made a lab before using OPNsense in a production environment.

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented OPNsense in-house.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I'm using the free version of OPNsense. I didn't check the pricing for the solution because I still need to test it before getting the approval to purchase OPNsense, and it isn't easy to get approval from the higher-ups.

    What other advice do I have?

    I'm using two products, OPNsense and pfSense.

    I upgraded to the latest version of OPNsense.

    My organization is planning to move OPNsense to the cloud, in particular, hybrid cloud, but right now, it's deployed on-premises. Cloud deployment will be much more efficient than the current on-premises deployment, but I still need to test it before getting approval from the higher-ups.

    Within my organization, fifty people use OPNsense because one department is trying it out. Still, when the solution is fully deployed, there could be from five thousand to six thousand users of OPNsense.

    Ten to twelve people help maintain the solution yearly for the whole campus.

    I advise anyone who wants to implement OPNsense to look into the suppliers and pick the right one because having the right supplier helps you achieve what you want from the solution.

    My rating for OPNsense is eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Elisee TAMBA - PeerSpot reviewer
    Founder/IT Consultant at Open IT World
    Reseller
    Nov 22, 2022
    A secure, stable and reliable solution
    Pros and Cons
    • "I moved to OPNsense because it's more secure and more reliable."
    • "The IPS solution could be more reliable."

    What is our primary use case?

    I moved to OPNsense because it's more secure and more reliable. I use it to secure access to the servers. I have a core backing server, an e-banking server, the main server, and other features with the solution. I make the multi-DMZ packs, so each service is in one DMZ bay, and I use it as a virtual chain.

    What is most valuable?

    The firewall solution is okay because it is like pfSsense.

    What needs improvement?

    The IPS solution could be more reliable. The IPS functioning and internal prevention system functioning could be added to the system. I didn't have it in pfSense, which is why I'm moving to OPNsense, but it is still not working well. They could also have the LZN ones.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for about four years, and I am using the latest version, OPNsense 21.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is very stable, and I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is a scalable solution, but I didn't try to scale it because I just used one instance.

    How are customer service and support?

    I don't use technical support. Instead, I use community resources because they give me all the necessary solutions.

    How was the initial setup?

    It is easy to set up, and the deployment took about six months.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price is good and is better than other computer solutions. The licensing cost is zero because you only have to buy the support. I believe that costs between $900 to $1000 a year.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate this solution a nine out of ten. Regarding advice, if they want to use this solution, they have to know how they want to organize the actual networking. When it is well organized, you can easily deploy OPNsense inside it.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    SergioRocha - PeerSpot reviewer
    IT infrastructure manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Apr 17, 2024
    Has an excellent dashboard and provides good security
    Pros and Cons
    • "What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
    • "In terms of improvement, the performance could be enhanced."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use OPNsense for network security.

    What is most valuable?

    What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control. It also provides good security.

    What needs improvement?

    In terms of improvement, the performance could be enhanced.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using OPNsense for a year.

    What other advice do I have?

    Overall, I would rate OPNsense as a ten out of ten. I would recommend it to others.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    ENOCH AMARH ANNOR ATTOH - PeerSpot reviewer
    Cyber Defense Incident Responder at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    Oct 31, 2023
    A monitoring solution that is user friendly and easy to configure
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."
    • "You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it."

    What is our primary use case?

    The solution is being used for monitoring and as a firewall. 

    What is most valuable?

    The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure. 

    What needs improvement?

    You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it. You will need to gain some extensive knowledge. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using OPNsense for one year. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is a scalable solution. Approximately fifty people are using the solution. 

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have used FortiGate. For security reasons, we moved to OPNsense.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment took a couple of minutes. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We are using the paid version. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Key Client Manager at O2
    Real User
    Jul 15, 2023
    Rock-solid stability and open source tool
    Pros and Cons
    • "It's open source."
    • "There are a few weaknesses. For example, there is a lack of some features that I have in certain commercial products."

    What is most valuable?

    It's open source.

    What needs improvement?

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

    Some of the features include classified traffic and better blocking of newly registered DNS domains.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with OPNsense for about three years. I use it both in my company and at home.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    OPNsense is very stable, rock-solid.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is a scalable solution. We haven't encountered any performance issues.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was easy. 

    What other advice do I have?

    Overall, I would rate OPNsense an eight out of ten. There is still some room for improvement.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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