pfSense vs. Ubiquiti Networks UniFi

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
pfSense is a firewall and load management product available through the open source pfSense Community Edition, as well as a the licensed edition, pfSense Plus (formerly known as pfSense Enterprise). The solution provides combined firewall, VPN, and router functionality, and can be deployed through the cloud (AWS or Azure), or on-premises with a Netgate appliance. It as scalable capacities, with functionality for SMBs. As a firewall, pfSense offers Stateful packet inspection, concurrent…
$179
per appliance
Ubiquiti Networks UniFi
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Ubiquiti Networks in San Jose provides their UniFi wi-fi hotspot technology.N/A
Pricing
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Editions & Modules
SG-1100
$179
per appliance
SG-2100
$229
per appliance
SG-3100
$399
per appliance
SG-5100
$699
per appliance
XG-7100-DT
$899
per appliance
XG-7100-1U
$999
per appliance
XG-1537
$1,949
per appliance
XG-1541
$2,649
per appliance
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Considered Both Products
pfSense
Chose pfSense
Overall, pfSense is the most complete solution in terms of features included even though it currently lack of a centralised management interface.The Ubiquiti firewall offering is often appealing being well integrated within the Ubiquiti dashboard and it is often a solution of …
Chose pfSense
pfSense itself is free and can be installed on just about any hardware so from a hardware cost perspective it can beat out anybody. In terms of features it's above many pro-sumer/small business solutions like Ubiquiti. It can't really stand against high-end gear like Cisco but …
Chose pfSense
While you can get the performance out of other products, pfSense offers the unique ability to put other services on the same device. Products such as Untagle's NG Firewall and SonicWall's TZ series offer cost effective options for firewall and VPN services, having incoming load …
Ubiquiti Networks UniFi
Chose Ubiquiti Networks UniFi
We've had all kinds of access points and switches in our organization over the years. Between Apple AirPort, NetGear, LinkSys, and Dell, the UniFi access points have been the best ones. The UniFi switches have been good except for some minor mishaps with firmware bugs. We …
Chose Ubiquiti Networks UniFi
Cisco Meraki's solutions closely provide the benefits Ubiquiti provides with a more consumer-level financial accessibility. Ubiquiti has been exponentially increasing its attention and being implemented by home users means gaining a huge market within users that are attentive …
Chose Ubiquiti Networks UniFi
One way of looking at network equipment is by grouping all into two categories: Standalone, and Centrally Managed.
Most home or SOHO network equipment is standalone, meaning each device is configured individually. If you need to adjust settings off-site, you need to allow it …
Chose Ubiquiti Networks UniFi
As far as meshed wireless networks and point to point antenna's go, Ubiquiti is the best in my opinion. Where else can you purchase a fully meshed wireless network with a single management interface starting at $89? A typical Aruba Networks Access point starts at $500 for just …
Top Pros
Top Cons
TrustRadius Insights
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

PfSense is a powerful firewall software solution, while Ubiquiti Networks Unifi is WiFi hotspot software. Though they specialize in different niches, Ubiquiti Networks Unifi also offers security features, while PfSense can be used as a wireless solution.

PfSense is an open source software that is either deployed through the cloud or on a network box. In order to use it to handle WiFi, it must be deployed through a box. PfSense is completely customizable and can utilize many different wireless cards. This makes PfSense a good choice for companies with specific needs and the technological know-how to make a network box that suits those needs.

Ubiquiti Networks Unifi offers WiFi and security as separate pieces of hardware that can integrate with each other. Ubiquiti Networks Unifi is a good choice for a company that doesn’t need significant customization or lacks the technical staff to manage a customized network box.

Features

PfSense offers strong firewall and security features while Ubiquiti Networks Unifi offers strong WiFi support features. Both solutions have a few standout features that set them apart from other choices.

PfSense is open source, so there is a lot of guidance and documentation for it online, this also means it works with a wide variety of wireless software and hardware. Additionally, PfSense has some add-ons that are available to improve features at no charge, though there are also commercial add-ons that must be purchased. PfSense offers a huge variety of implementations, including cloud-based solutions for businesses that only want it’s security features.

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi offers easier setup compared to PfSense. Its WiFi and security products are simpler to implement and can be easily controlled through an administration portal. Ubiquiti also offers additional solutions, such as its security system, as additional hardware that can easily be purchased and integrated with their WiFi offering.

Limitations

PfSense and Ubiquiti Networks WiFi both offer good features for their market, but there are a few areas where each one is limited.

PfSense having a wealth of open source add-ons is a strength in many ways, but also requires administrators to vigilantly check for updates to keep their system running smoothly. Additionally, add-on developers may stop development at any time, which can cause the deprecation of add-ons. PfSense also has a dated user interface, which can be a challenge to manage for new users.

Ubiquiti Networks WiFi lacks the flexibility PfSense offers by being open source. Additionally, Ubiquiti Networks WiFi has poor customer support. Many users claim that connecting directly with Ubiquiti support is difficult and time consuming. Documentation for implementation and new releases is also uncommon.

Pricing

PfSense has a large variety of physical boxes starting at $179.00 and reaching as high as $5,298.00. Additionally, a cloud-based version is available starting at $0.34 per hour for businesses that only want security features. The wide variety of packages ensures that any user can find a PfSense solution that suits their needs.

Ubiquiti offers several different WiFi solutions, from small hotspots starting at $149.00 to fully-featured boxes starting at $1499.00. Their Security Gateway can be purchased separately for as low as $139.00.

Features
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
pfSense
7.6
11 Ratings
11% below category average
Ubiquiti Networks UniFi
-
Ratings
Identification Technologies5.110 Ratings00 Ratings
Visualization Tools7.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Content Inspection4.111 Ratings00 Ratings
Policy-based Controls10.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP7.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Firewall Management Console9.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting and Logging8.011 Ratings00 Ratings
VPN10.011 Ratings00 Ratings
High Availability10.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Stateful Inspection7.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Proxy Server6.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Small Businesses
WatchGuard Network Security
WatchGuard Network Security
Score 8.9 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Likelihood to Recommend
9.7
(24 ratings)
8.7
(38 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.5
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.9
(6 ratings)
User Testimonials
pfSenseUbiquiti Networks UniFi
Likelihood to Recommend
Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
Because pfSense is built around open source software, it is very convenient to be able to deploy in the event of hardware failure. We once had a client with a proprietary router that failed. While the router was under warranty, the expected time for the new router to arrive was about 2 weeks. We decided to implement pfSense for the client as a stop gap and ultimately ended up deploying the full enterprise appliance. Being able to get up and running using commodity hardware was a huge win for the client. We've also had a great amount of success deploying pfSense hardware at apartment complexes. The DNS resolver works great and we've had no issues handling multiple VLANs with various DHCP scopes on it. Finally, we've had clients that require having a failover cluster. Utilizing the built in CARP capabilities, we've been able to provide a very robust failover system that requires little maintenance and no downtime in the event of equipment failure.
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Ubiquiti Networks
In the past few months we purchased thousands of dollars in brand new networking equipment from Ubiquiti. IT DOES NOT WORK CORRECTLY We bought 2 sets of hardware. 1 for home office and 1 for work. They both have the same issue (internet stops working). We have emailed literally dozens of times with customer service and they have not been able to resolve the issue. We have requested escalation to more trained technicians and have asked them to log into our system to assess. None of this has happened and our internet continues to intermittently work.
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Pros
Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
  • Easy to use. Good user interface design! Easy to understand and easy to set up.
  • Lower hardware requirement. 3 years ago, we used an old PC to run it. Now, we have changed to a router device with Celeron CPU and 8GB RAM. It runs smoothly with a 1000G commercial broadband.
Read full review
Ubiquiti Networks
  • AP's are very affordable.
  • Most of the AP's are highly reliable and can be used indoors or in covered outdoor spaces.
  • Outdoor Mesh AP's with an external directional antenna can effectively cover outdoor spaces with dual band wifi better than much more expensive APs.
  • Unifi Protect via the Cloud Key Gen2+ is probably the slickest, most affordable IP camera system on the market right now.
  • Unifi controller is powerful yet simple to administrate.
  • Remote management of entire networks through a single pane of glass is easy to accomplish with the Unifi controller.
  • Cloud Key Gen2 solves problems with the first Cloud Key wiht a built-in battery backup.
  • When you are "full stack" Unifi with wifi, network switches and gateways, the control you can wield over a network in just a few clicks and the amount of data you can glean from a quick glance in the controller is incredibly impressive. It makes an IT guy wish every product/service could be so tightly and well-integrated.
  • Community support is excellent, Unifi staff monitors their official forums and responds to almost every thread.
Read full review
Cons
Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
  • I did kind of mention a Con in the Pro section with OpenVPN.
  • When I create a config for an employee other employees are able to login to that config.
  • I could be doing something wrong when I am making it - I am not afraid to admit that as I am pretty new to all of this, but it seems like it builds a key and I would think the key would be unique in some way to each employee, but I could be wrong.
  • I actually do not have a lot of Con's for this software - I did not get to set this up on our work network so I am not sure of any downfalls when installing.
  • I installed this on my personal machine in a Hyper-V environment to get a feel for it before I started working on it at work and it seemed pretty smooth. I didn't run into any issues.
Read full review
Ubiquiti Networks
  • VLANs: They can make these work more smoothly. Setup can be more intuitive.
  • Cloud Key: These need to be stabilized; they lose their programming a little too easily.
  • Stop selling the Gen-1 cloud key: No battery means you need an external power source or you must be onsite to power it off before updating.
  • Portal can be modernized.
Read full review
Usability
Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
The interface is simple, has sane defaults, and is consistent throughout.
Read full review
Ubiquiti Networks
UniFi's system is intuitive in how options are placed and explained throughout the interface. What is not directly explainable within the interface, Ubiquiti does provide several knowledgebase documents explaining best practices and methods of troubleshooting when things don't go exactly right. We've been using them for over three years, and the benefits vastly outweigh any negatives we could come up with on the equipment and system.
Read full review
Support Rating
Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
No answers on this topic
Ubiquiti Networks
Support tickets can be proactively created within the dashboard with full detailed documentation. The Ubiquiti website provides detailed documentation on support. Forum and user groups also provide the interested community with information that covers all aspects of issues or questions users can encounter with the latest and most updated information.
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Alternatives Considered
Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
While you can get the performance out of other products, pfSense offers the unique ability to put other services on the same device. Products such as Untagle's NG Firewall and SonicWall's TZ series offer cost effective options for firewall and VPN services, having incoming load balancing and connection proxies on the same device as the firewall offers extremely easy configuration and day to day management of network services
Read full review
Ubiquiti Networks
Ubiquiti is overall easier to work with. There is no special training needed to accomplish many of the things required with a Cisco product. Since my time is stretched thin, I need something that I can manage without being weighed down by command-line communications. Also, I am able to use my wireless devices to maintain every Ubiquiti device on my network.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
  • Using pfSense has allowed us to build a professional network in our small office without needing a lot of proprietary hardware, saving thousands of dollars in IT infrastructure investment.
  • The cost for using pfSense is free, so it's a great option for those who don't have a large IT budget
  • pfSense utilizes all of the industry standard services to provide all of it's functionality, so support for service-level issues is readily available
  • Because of how much work has been put into pfSense to make it rock solid and reliable, we're able to support our network with minimal IT staffing, saving us thousands of dollars/year in personnel alone.
Read full review
Ubiquiti Networks
  • The access points and switch were extremely affordable and we've had minimal downtime over the life of the products.
  • The switch was in our main rack and there was a bug in the firmware that would reboot the switch if you made a change to one of the switch ports (that was not in use at the time). This caused our entire organization to have a network outage, in the middle of the day. Fortunately we didn't have any customer refunds to issue. We've had to purchase different switches for the main racks, and place the UniFi switch in a better suited place.
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