# Alternatives to pfSense The open source router/firewall OS. pfSense ranks #1 of 7 in Firewall software, with an Alt Score of 75. It is licensed under Apache-2.0, open source with paid hosting from $269 and available on the web. 9 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pfsense/ Category: Firewall software ## Where pfSense stands out - **IDS/IPS** — 2 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this - **Low overhead** — 2 of 5 apps with a verified answer have this - **Network-wide (router / gateway)** — 2 of 7 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**: Network admins, IT teams, and technically inclined home users who need a full-featured firewall/router without buying proprietary hardware-locked appliances. Used from SOHO networks up to enterprise and datacenter deployments. - **What you get**: An open-source, FreeBSD-based firewall and router OS with a web-based configuration UI. Includes stateful packet filtering, NAT, VPN (IPsec, OpenVPN, WireGuard), traffic shaping, DHCP/DNS services, and a package system for add-ons like Snort/Suricata IDS/IPS. Runs on commodity x86 hardware, as a VM, or on Netgate's own appliances; a paid pfSense Plus tier adds extra features and official support. - **How it works**: Installed as the operating system on a dedicated machine (bare metal, VM, or cloud instance) sitting between networks, it routes and filters traffic according to rules configured through its web GUI, with the underlying FreeBSD/pf packet filter enforcing the policy. ## Profile - **License**: Apache-2.0 (verified 2026-07-09) - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-07-09) - **Starts at**: $269 (verified 2026-07-09) - **Platforms**: Web - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-09) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [NetGuard](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/netguard.md) | 70 | GPL-3.0-only | Android | | 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 | pfSense | NetGuard | LuLu | Little Snitch | GlassWire | OPNsense | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Donationware | One-time | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | | Starts at | $269 | Free | Free | €59 | Free | Free | | License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0-only | GNU General Public License v3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | BSD-2-Clause | | Platforms | Web | Android | macOS | macOS | Windows, Android | Web | | Outbound connection alerts | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Per-app rules | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Network-wide (router / gateway) | Yes | No | 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 | Yes | No | No | No | Partial | Yes | | Low overhead | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | ? | No | ## Sources Sources for pfSense. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Starts at**: $269 — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: 269.00"" — Netgate 1100 appliance (cheapest hardware); pfSense CE software is free. - Quote: “productPrice: ” - **License**: Apache-2.0 — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004” - **Platforms**: Web — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “pfSense® software is a free, open source customized distribution of FreeBSD specifically tailored for use as a firewall and router that is entirely managed via web interface” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “Version: 2.8.1” - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: CE free/OSS; Netgate hardware appliances and pfSense Plus are paid. - Quote: “The pfSense project source code is open source and distributed under the Apache 2.0 open source license.” - **Outbound connection alerts**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Can log/block outbound via egress/floating rules; no real-time desktop push alerts. - Quote: “The exception to this is Floating rules … which can act on any interface using the inbound, outbound, or both directions.” - **Per-app rules**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Network-level gateway; rules by IP/port/protocol, not per-application. - Quote: “A rule instructs the firewall how to match or handle network traffic.” - **Network-wide (router / gateway)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “pfSense® software is a free, open source customized distribution of FreeBSD specifically tailored for use as a firewall and router” - **Profiles (home, public)**: No — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: No named location profiles; it is a gateway appliance. - Quote: “One of the primary functions performed by pfSense® software is filtering traffic, deciding which traffic to pass or block between networks.” - **Open source**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “The pfSense project source code is open source and distributed under the Apache 2.0 open source license.” - **One-time purchase option**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: 269.00"" — Netgate hardware appliances are one-time purchases; pfSense CE is freely downloadable. - Quote: “productPrice: ” - **Traffic monitoring UI**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “pfSense® software has many built-in graphs that monitor different aspects of the system … throughput (in bytes as well as packets), link quality, traffic shaping queue usage, and more.” - **IDS/IPS**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Quote: “pfSense® software can act in an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) / Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) role with add-on packages like Snort and Suricata.” - **Low overhead**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-09) - Note: Designed to run as a dedicated appliance on minimal hardware. - Quote: “Minimum CPU - 500 Mhz RAM - 512 MB” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/