# Alternatives to OPNsense

The friendlier pfSense fork.

OPNsense ranks #7 of 7 in Firewall software, with an Alt Score of 55. It is licensed under BSD-2-Clause, open source with paid hosting from Free and available on the web. 8 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/opnsense/
Category: Firewall software

## Where OPNsense stands out

- **IDS/IPS** — 2 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Network-wide (router / gateway)** — 2 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: System administrators and small-to-medium organizations who need a full-featured network firewall/router without commercial licensing costs, as well as enterprises wanting a supported, open-source alternative to proprietary firewall appliances.
- **What you get**: A FreeBSD-based firewall and routing platform with a web management UI, stateful IPv4/IPv6 filtering, multi-WAN load balancing and failover, and NAT/port forwarding. It includes built-in VPN support (IPsec, OpenVPN, WireGuard), Suricata-based intrusion detection/prevention, and traffic shaping, extendable through a plugin system and configuration API.
- **How it works**: You install OPNsense on dedicated hardware or a virtual machine and deploy it as the gateway between networks, then configure firewall rules, VPN tunnels, and traffic shaping policies through its web interface. It inspects and filters traffic in real time, logging activity and enforcing the configured security and routing policies.

## Profile

- **License**: BSD-2-Clause (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Platforms**: Web
- **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 | [Little Snitch](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/little-snitch.md) | 60 | Proprietary | macOS |
| 5 | [GlassWire](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/glasswire.md) | 55 | Proprietary | Windows, Android |
| 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 | OPNsense | pfSense | NetGuard | LuLu | Little Snitch | GlassWire |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Donationware | One-time | Freemium |
| Starts at | Free | $269 | Free | Free | €59 | Free |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0-only | GNU General Public License v3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web | Web | Android | macOS | macOS | Windows, Android |
| Outbound connection alerts | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-app rules | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Network-wide (router / gateway) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Profiles (home, public) | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| One-time purchase option | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Traffic monitoring UI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IDS/IPS | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Partial |
| Low overhead | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | ? |

## Sources

Sources for OPNsense. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Starts at**: Free — <https://opnsense.org/download/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Community Edition free; Business Edition starts around €399 (3-year license).
  - Quote: “Download the best open source firewall today”
- **License**: BSD-2-Clause — <https://docs.opnsense.org/legal.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Simplified" license"
  - Quote: “OPNsense is available under the BSD 2-Clause ”
- **Status**: active — <https://opnsense.org/thriving-tiger/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Deciso is thrilled to announce the release of OPNsense® 25.1, aptly called 'Ultimate Unicorn'… January 29, 2025”
- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — <https://opnsense.org/download/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Community Edition free/OSS; paid Business Edition adds features and support.
  - Quote: “Download the best open source firewall today”
- **Platforms**: Web — <https://opnsense.org/get-started/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: FreeBSD-based OS installed on dedicated hardware/VMs; administered via a web UI.
  - Quote: “Install method: ISO installer image with live system capabilities running in VGA-only mode”
- **Outbound connection alerts**: Partial — <https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/ips.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: IDS/IPS (Suricata) alerts on outbound traffic matching signatures; no per-connection desktop popups.
  - Quote: “An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) watches network traffic for suspicious patterns and can alert operators when a pattern matches”
- **Per-app rules**: No — <https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/firewall.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Rules are IP/port/protocol at the network level; no per-application process filtering.
  - Quote: “OPNsense contains a stateful packet filter, which can be used to restrict or allow traffic from and/or to specific networks”
- **Network-wide (router / gateway)**: Yes — <https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/firewall.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “OPNsense contains a stateful packet filter, which can be used to restrict or allow traffic from and/or to specific networks as well as influence how traffic should be forwarded”
- **Profiles (home, public)**: No — <https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/firewall.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: No home/public profile switching; it is a fixed network appliance.
  - Quote: “OPNsense contains a stateful packet filter, which can be used to restrict or allow traffic from and/or to specific networks”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://docs.opnsense.org/legal.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Simplified" license"
  - Quote: “OPNsense is licensed under an Open Source Initiative approved license … BSD 2-Clause ”
- **Traffic monitoring UI**: Yes — <https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/reporting_traffic.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Under Reporting ‣ Traffic you will find a traffic monitor which show the current amount of data flowing through your firewall, measured in bps (bits per second)”
- **IDS/IPS**: Yes — <https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/ips.html> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “The Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) system of OPNsense is based on Suricata and utilizes Netmap to enhance performance and minimize CPU utilization. This deep packet inspection system is very powerf”
- **Low overhead**: No — <https://opnsense.org/get-started/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Runs as a dedicated full-OS appliance; not a minimal-footprint host agent.
  - Quote: “Recommended specifications to run all OPNsense® standard features: 1.5 GHz multi core cpu, ≥ 4 GB RAM, 120 GB SSD”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/