# Alternatives to Little Snitch The Mac outbound-connection guardian. Little Snitch ranks #4 of 7 in Firewall software, with an Alt Score of 60. It is proprietary, sold as a one-time purchase from €59 and available on macOS. 8 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/little-snitch/ Category: Firewall software ## Where Little Snitch stands out - **One-time purchase option** — 3 of 6 apps with a verified answer have this - **Profiles (home, public)** — 3 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Mac users who want to know what their apps are doing on the network and want the ability to block connections without their consent — privacy-conscious individuals, developers auditing app behavior, and admins hardening a Mac against unwanted data exfiltration. - **What you get**: An application firewall that alerts you the moment any app tries to make an outgoing internet connection, letting you allow or deny it and save the decision as a rule. A Network Monitor view shows live and historical traffic broken down by app, domain, and country, including data volumes, ports, and protocols. You can import curated blocklists to block known trackers or ad servers in a few clicks, and switch between rule profiles for different contexts (e.g., trusted network vs. public Wi-Fi). It also includes built-in encrypted DNS (DoH/DoT/DoQ) and a command-line tool for scripting rule management. - **How it works**: Little Snitch installs a low-level network filter that intercepts outgoing connection attempts before they leave the Mac, cryptographically identifies the requesting process, and checks it against user-defined or profile-based rules to silently allow, silently deny, or prompt the user with an alert. ## Profile - **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-09) - **Pricing model**: One-time (verified 2026-07-09) - **Starts at**: €59 (verified 2026-07-09) - **Platforms**: macOS - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-09) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [pfSense](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pfsense.md) | 75 | Apache-2.0 | Web | | 2 | [NetGuard](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/netguard.md) | 70 | GPL-3.0-only | Android | | 3 | [LuLu](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lulu.md) | 65 | GNU General Public License v3.0 | macOS | | 4 | [GlassWire](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/glasswire.md) | 55 | Proprietary | Windows, Android | | 5 | [OPNsense](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/opnsense.md) | 55 | BSD-2-Clause | Web | | 6 | [Portmaster](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/portmaster.md) | 55 | GNU General Public License v3.0 | Windows, Linux | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Firewall software checklist | Little Snitch | pfSense | NetGuard | LuLu | GlassWire | OPNsense | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | One-time | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Donationware | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | | Starts at | €59 | $269 | Free | Free | Free | Free | | License | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0-only | GNU General Public License v3.0 | Proprietary | BSD-2-Clause | | Platforms | macOS | Web | Android | macOS | Windows, Android | Web | | Outbound connection alerts | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Per-app rules | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Network-wide (router / gateway) | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | | Profiles (home, public) | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | | Open source | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | One-time purchase option | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | | Traffic monitoring UI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | IDS/IPS | No | Yes | No | No | Partial | Yes | | Low overhead | ? | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | No | ## Sources Sources for Little Snitch. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Platforms**: macOS — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “macOS Tahoe … Also compatible with macOS Sequoia and Sonoma” - **License**: Proprietary — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Commercial proprietary software by Objective Development; no open-source license. - Quote: “Single License … 59 €” - **Pricing model**: One-time — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Perpetual license, paid upgrades for new major versions” - **Starts at**: €59 — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Single License … 59 €” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Little Snitch 6.4.1” - **Outbound connection alerts**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Whenever an app wants to connect to the Internet, Little Snitch shows a connection alert, so you can allow or deny the connection.” - **Per-app rules**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Description — Name of the connecting process and remote server … Answering the alert creates a rule which matches the connection.” - **Network-wide (router / gateway)**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Per-device macOS application firewall; no router/gateway mode. - Quote: “It has become the number one Network Monitor and Personal Application Firewall for the Mac.” - **Profiles (home, public)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “With Profiles, you can easily master all these situations, especially with automatic profile switching … The next time you join a network not yet associated with a profile, Little Snitch asks what to ” - **Open source**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Sold commercially under a proprietary license. - Quote: “Single License … 59 €” - **One-time purchase option**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Perpetual license, paid upgrades for new major versions” - **Traffic monitoring UI**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Unhide your Mac's secret network activity with Little Snitch Network Monitor … Analyze your Mac's network activity in real time.” - **IDS/IPS**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Application firewall, not an IDS/IPS. - Quote: “It has become the number one Network Monitor and Personal Application Firewall for the Mac.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/