# Alternatives to NetGuard No-root Android firewall. NetGuard ranks #2 of 7 in Firewall software, with an Alt Score of 70. It is licensed under GPL-3.0-only, freemium from Free and available on Android. 9 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/netguard/ Category: Firewall software ## Where NetGuard stands out - **Low overhead** — 2 of 5 apps with a verified answer have this - **One-time purchase option** — 3 of 6 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Android users who want fine-grained control over which apps can reach the internet, without rooting their device. - **What you get**: A firewall that lets you allow or block internet access per app, separately for Wi-Fi and mobile data. It can also block known ad and tracker domains, notify you when an app tries to go online, and log network usage by app and address. It's free, open-source, and contains no ads or trackers of its own. - **How it works**: NetGuard uses Android's built-in VPN API to route device traffic through a local, on-device VPN it controls, without sending data to any external server. This lets it inspect and filter connections per app and block unwanted domains, all without root access. ## Profile - **License**: GPL-3.0-only (verified 2026-07-09) - **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-09) - **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-09) - **Platforms**: Android - **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 | [LuLu](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lulu.md) | 65 | GNU General Public License v3.0 | macOS | | 3 | [Little Snitch](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/little-snitch.md) | 60 | Proprietary | 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 | NetGuard | pfSense | LuLu | Little Snitch | GlassWire | OPNsense | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | Donationware | One-time | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | | Starts at | Free | $269 | Free | €59 | Free | Free | | License | GPL-3.0-only | Apache-2.0 | GNU General Public License v3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | BSD-2-Clause | | Platforms | Android | Web | macOS | 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) | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | | One-time purchase option | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | 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 NetGuard. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Pricing model**: Freemium — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “NetGuard is the first free and open source no-root firewall for Android. ... PRO features: Log all outgoing traffic; search and filter access attempts; export PCAP files to analyze traffic” - **Platforms**: Android — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Android 5.1 and later supported” - **License**: GPL-3.0-only — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “License: GNU General Public License v3.0 only” - **Starts at**: Free — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “NetGuard is basically free to use and that you don't need to pay anything to reduce your data usage, increase battery life, and increase your privacy.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Actively developed and supported” - **Outbound connection alerts**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Optionally notify when an application accesses the internet” - **Per-app rules**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Applications and addresses can individually be allowed or denied access to your Wi-Fi and/or mobile connection.” - **Network-wide (router / gateway)**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Per-device Android app using a local VPN sinkhole; not router/gateway-level. - Quote: “The only way to build a no-root firewall on Android is to use the Android VPN service.” - **Profiles (home, public)**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Profiles are inconvenient because they need to be operated manually. ... Therefore profiles will not be added” - **Open source**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “100% open source” - **One-time purchase option**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Pro features unlocked via one-time in-app purchase on Play; F-Droid build is fully FOSS. - Quote: “You can only purchase pro features when you have installed NetGuard from the Google Play store.” - **Traffic monitoring UI**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Optionally record network usage per application per address ... Log all outgoing traffic; search and filter access attempts; export PCAP files” - **IDS/IPS**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Firewall only; no IDS/IPS. - Quote: “NetGuard provides simple and advanced ways to block access to the internet” - **Low overhead**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “By default NetGuard will hardly use any battery power. All settings resulting in extra battery usage, like IP filtering and logging, have a warning.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/