pfSense
pfSense is used to route internal development networks, either tagged or untagged, manage the ACLs between those networks, and forward …
Starting at $179 per appliance
View PricingOverview
What is pfSense?
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…
Recent Reviews
Popular Features
- VPN (11)10.0100%
- Policy-based Controls (11)10.0100%
- Reporting and Logging (11)8.080%
- Content Inspection (11)4.040%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Video Reviews
2 videos
pfSense Review: With Over 10 Years of Service, pfSense Proves To Be A Reliable Firewall For Business
02:15
User Benefits From Open Source Nature of pfSense When Limitations Are Solved By Others: User Review
03:33
Pricing
SG-1100
$179
On Premise
per appliance
SG-2100
$229
On Premise
per appliance
SG-3100
$399
On Premise
per appliance
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.netgate.com/pricing-pfsense…
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
PFSense 2.4.4 with LCDproc on Broadband9 Firewall appliance! Tested with 100Mbit leased line
YouTube
Introduction of PFSense Open Source Firewall and Router
YouTube
pfSense installation and setup demo (VirtualBox)
YouTube
Building cloud firewall-router appliances for free: Installing Pfsense in Hyper-V
YouTube
pfSense Tutorial - How to enforce Google Safe Search using PfSense - Guide and Demo
YouTube
1. How to Install and Configure BGP in GNS3 using pfSense
YouTube
Features
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Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
What is pfSense?
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 IPv4 and IPv6 support, and intrusion prevention. Within its VPN capabilities, it provides SSL encryption, automatic or custom routing, and multiple tunneling options. pfSense also supports optional clustering and load-balancing, along with proxying and content filtering services. The product can also monitor and report on network traffic.
pfSense Videos
Pfsense vs Ubiquiti - Which is better for you?
In this video, TrustRadius goes over the pricing, top features, and user sentiment of pfSense.
pfSense Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows |
| Mobile Application | No |
Comparisons
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Reviews and Ratings
(69)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
pfSense has proven to be a versatile and reliable network solution, addressing various use cases for organizations of different sizes and industries. Users have successfully managed multiple ISPs and performed load balancing, ensuring efficient internet connectivity and reducing downtime. The ability to quickly backup and restore configurations has been appreciated by customers, providing peace of mind and minimizing disruptions. The stability and ease of management have been particularly important for small IT teams, allowing them to efficiently handle network operations.
Many organizations rely on pfSense as their primary firewall, utilizing its features for load balancing, failover, and hosting software and services. The support for multi-WAN and load balancing at both the WAN and load distributing levels has been highly beneficial for users. pfSense has also been successfully used to establish multiple IPsec tunnels for site-to-site VPN connections, enabling secure communication between different locations.
The scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of pfSense have made it a great solution for small to medium-sized businesses. It can be easily customized and integrated into existing infrastructures, including the implementation of VLANs and time-based rules. The GUI and CLI versions of pfSense have streamlined management tasks, making it accessible to users with varying technical expertise.
Furthermore, the extensive online manual and community support have received praise from users, providing valuable resources for troubleshooting and guidance. The community-supported nature of pfSense ensures that it stays up-to-date with the latest security measures.
Overall, pfSense serves as a reliable network backbone, handling routing, VPN connections, security features, failover scenarios, and inter-VLAN routing. Its versatility eliminates the need for multiple servers in smaller environments while providing essential security functions. Users appreciate its basic security measures and routing features which make it a cost-effective solution for those with limited budgets. With its proven reliability and enterprise-grade features, pfSense continues to be a trusted choice for organizations seeking a powerful network solution.
Intuitive User Interface: Users have consistently praised the intuitive and user-friendly interface of pfSense. Many reviewers have expressed that the well-thought-out web interface makes it easy to configure firewall rules and set up VPNs, allowing them to perform tasks quickly and efficiently.
Informative Dashboard: The extensive dashboard of pfSense has received widespread praise from users. Reviewers have mentioned that the traffic graphics on the dashboard are wonderful and provide all the necessary information at a glance, making it easy to monitor network activity and performance.
Low Hardware Requirements: Users appreciate that pfSense can run smoothly even on older PCs or router devices with lower-end specifications. This is seen as a significant advantage by many reviewers as it allows them to implement pfSense without the need for expensive hardware upgrades.
Inconvenient integration with modems: Several users have expressed frustration that integrating modem functionality into pfSense is not possible, which can be inconvenient for those looking for a more comprehensive solution.
Challenging web GUI setup and management: Non-expert users may find it challenging to set up and manage the web GUI, particularly when it comes to assigning WAN and LAN interfaces.
Limited API and scripting capabilities: Some reviewers have highlighted the lack of an API for making changes in pfSense. This limitation can be a hindrance in environments where frequent updates to firewall rules or HAProxy configs are required.
Users have made several recommendations based on their experiences with pfSense. The most common recommendations are:
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Users recommend reading the documentation and taking official training for pfSense. This suggestion highlights the importance of familiarizing oneself with the product and its features. By investing time in understanding the documentation and receiving official training, users can maximize their proficiency in network administration using pfSense.
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Users suggest making the switch to pfSense and using reliable hardware. This recommendation emphasizes the benefits of utilizing pfSense as a comprehensive solution for routing and firewall requirements in network administration. By switching to pfSense and ensuring the use of reliable hardware, users can optimize their network resource management.
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Users advise doing test builds and hardening before going live with pfSense. This recommendation underscores the importance of thorough testing and securing the system before implementing it in a live environment. By conducting test builds and hardening processes, users can identify potential issues or vulnerabilities, ensuring a smoother transition to pfSense.
These recommendations reflect user opinions on how to effectively utilize pfSense for routing and firewall requirements while optimizing network resource management.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-3 of 3)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
December 29, 2023
pfSense provides excellent routing and firewalling capabilities
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use pfSense both for ourselves and for our clients as a perimeter firewall and router. We've implemented it as a virtual machine, physical equipment, and in failover clusters. The deployments include everything from apartment complexes with between 1500-4500 devices to financial institutions, to businesses.
We've needed a solution that is easily managed, secure by default, and offers a wide enough feature set to handle unique requirements.
We've needed a solution that is easily managed, secure by default, and offers a wide enough feature set to handle unique requirements.
- Site to Site VPN
- VPN Client to Office connections
- Firewall
- Routing
- IDS Ease of use
- Layer 2 Filtering
- Multidevice management from one interface
68.18181818181819%
6.8
- Allowed us to be more competitive both in features and in pricing with our competitor MSPs
- Allowed us to eliminate extended downtimes due to equipment failure.
- Grants us the ability to fully customize and/or audit the codebase.
Meraki has a unified management login for all devices, which is nice. It also has decent content filtering, both areas where pfSense is weaker.
Where pfSense far ouclasses Meraki is in the ease of use and the other width of features. These include features such as better VPN interoperability, non-subscription based pricing, auditability, not relying on the infrastructure of a third party, more transparency of what's actually going on, easier to deploy replacements if hardware fails. Additionally, the NAT management for pfSense seems to be a bit better, as you can NAT between any network segment and not just the LAN segments out the WAN interfaces.
Where pfSense far ouclasses Meraki is in the ease of use and the other width of features. These include features such as better VPN interoperability, non-subscription based pricing, auditability, not relying on the infrastructure of a third party, more transparency of what's actually going on, easier to deploy replacements if hardware fails. Additionally, the NAT management for pfSense seems to be a bit better, as you can NAT between any network segment and not just the LAN segments out the WAN interfaces.
- Firewall configuration
- OpenVPN and Client Exporting
- Content Filtering
Yes
Anything I've needed to do, I've been able to do from the mobile interface, but I still prefer the desktop interface when possible.
June 22, 2021
Pfsense review
[pfSense] is [a] combination of firewall and router features. This is very good product [compared] to others open source firewall. If you [lack a] budget for firewall then you should go with this firewall. [pfSense] provides you basic security as well as routing features. I [have been] working on this device [for the] last 20 months and [it] helped my client to achieve their goal with no security budget..
- Vpn server
- Load balancing
- Traffic shaping
- Dns and dhcp server
- Intrusion Detection System and Intrusion Prevention System
- Packet Inspection
- No advanced security features
- No sandbox features available
- Complicated configuration
83%
8.3
- Open source firewall
- Very difficult to configure
- Gui is very complicated
- Advanced security features missing
April 02, 2019
pfSense Review from an SME IT manager
We use pfSense across several countries office such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai & Beijing and served over 150 staff. We use pfSense to build site-to-site VPN to link up our office network. pfSense is quite stable and easy to manage that is very important because our IT teams are small. Handled over 4 years, pfSense has not given me any big issue so I will recommend it to my friends.
- 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.
- Need to assign WAN, LAN interface in "text" console but not in web interface when you first install in a new network.
- I need to configure everything and send a pfSense device to my colleague in other countries, they are not IT professionals so they have difficulty assigning interfaces when they first boot.
- Positive. Old desktop + free software license, that is unbeatable ROI.
- At present, we use an Intel celeron + 8GB RAM device which supports a 30 person office with 1GB fixed IP WAN and IP phone systems very well.
First of all, I don't need to be a Cisco professional to manage VPN, load balance, multiple WAN/LAN, Firewall and etc. pfSense has an easy-to-use web interface and I can do everything and add packaged add-on services. Moreover, for Small & Medium Enterprise, IT budget is already a concern. A spare computer + free software license is quite a bit more attractive than Cisco products.