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
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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 |
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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
(1-11 of 11)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
January 17, 2024
pfSense
pfSense is used to route internal development networks, either tagged or untagged, manage the ACLs between those networks, and forward specific protocols and ports from the outside to a DMZ. pfSense has been deployed in a HA configuration and IDS/IPS has also been set up by using snort. Snort is also used to prioritize some traffic over others.
- Filtering and NAT forwarding.
- Routing
- IDS/IPS
- IDS/IPS requires tuning and is sometimes too aggressive.
- Filtering acts only by specifying ips. Even if less performing and secure, allowing the user also to insert DNS names would be a nice option.
June 22, 2021
Pfsense for best security features
We are using [pfSense] for routing & security feature implementation on our infrastructure. It provides a custom kernel & based on FreeBSD open source solution that is easy to customize & integrate. We are using it across all the departments & implementation VLANs for allowing the specific data. It also provides a Geo-blocking feature & time-based rule feature that we are using as of now.
- VPN Server
- Load Balancing Feature
- It also provides Reverse proxy
- It support IPv6
- Wake-on-lan feature is also available with [pfSense]
- Less Documentation available
- Difficult to upgrade the firmware
- Software Bugs
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
May 13, 2021
Extremely flexible with a vast range of configurations and features for very little cost. Highly reliable.
We use pfSense to protect and route network traffic for ourselves as well as our business clients. It provides a highly reliable network solution with a huge range of enterprise grade features. It has complex firewall rules to allow us to complete PCIDSS compliance for card payment terminals. It also allows for seamless failover of multiple WAN internet connections to ensure that our staff and customers are never without internet access.
- Firewall rules
- Multiple WAN failover & balancing
- Statistics and reporting of internet connection use
- Automated configuration backup
- More support for PPOE connection drops/errors
- Central management console for multiple devices
We use pfSense on our campus as our primary firewall/internet gateway as well as DNS, DHCP, time, and VPN server/gateway. It also handles internal routing across our VLANs. The versatility/feature set is helpful as it avoids the need for running multiple other servers for a small-business environment.
- OpenVPN is very easy to set up and administer.
- The web UI makes it very easy to configure.
- The feature set is broad and powerful.
- No official central management system (cloud or otherwise).
- Support for WireGuard VPN is limited.
We use pfSense as our primary firewalls on two fiber connections into our organization. We also utilize pfSense for load balancing and fail over of incoming requests for our software and service hosting.
We needed something easy to setup and manage on a day to day basis that didn't come with expensive fees or recurring costs to reduce our financial exposure. As time marches on, we've definitely made the best choice in choosing pfSense as it fits our needs extremely well.
We needed something easy to setup and manage on a day to day basis that didn't come with expensive fees or recurring costs to reduce our financial exposure. As time marches on, we've definitely made the best choice in choosing pfSense as it fits our needs extremely well.
- Easily configure firewall rules through a well thought out web interface.
- Easy to configure VPN setups and if using OpenVPN, easy to deploy client setups.
- Many additional packages and features can be installed on the fly, including things like OpenBGPD, freeradius3, and lightsquid.
- Load Balancing and connection proxies built in and the ability to HAProxy easily.
- Backup and restore in minutes, not hours. A online (free) service is also offered to backup each and every change made to their cloud.
- There is no API for making changes. This can be a hindrance in environments where auto-deploying something needs firewall rules or HAProxy configs updated. Since all settings are stored in an XML file and then configs are generated from that, even manually updating config files cannot be done.
- Beware that some network cards can have issues. pfSense is based on FreeBSD, so it's best to look on their compatibility list before deploying.
February 13, 2018
iron firewall for your services
In my company we also manage a network of large numbers of users who need a stable server on which they can count at the time of sending a request. This software has helped me to have a Network Address Translation with which I get security in my sub network such that at the time of an attack, it can not reach our servers. It also has helped me to be able to place some services on the network through the property of the server DNS. It also offers the VPN connection so that I can connect from anywhere to check how my services are on the network
- stable vpn connection through your web application and easy to use
- load balancer that allows me to distribute the bandwidth to the ip that I need with more power at the request of the user and less power to users who have fewer requirements
- dns server that allows me to give a domain name to several applications that I have hosted in my network so that it has a connection from the outside and can be seen by the user
- they should improve in creating more manuals of procedures or processes that can be done with this systems since the documentation obtained from this system is small, which makes it difficult to use 100 percent of this system
February 07, 2018
PfSense decent Open Source Firewall to reduce costs!
Pfsense is our layer 2 software firewall that allows us a better control over the overrides for the internet navigation; give us an accurate integration with a ton of plugins you can build your on appliance using a decent desktop; to manage with ease two ISPs, make the load balancing, set the VPN for your external users, reduce the downtime's, backup your config, and restore it in matter of seconds. Pfsense work together with the IPS sensor from the basic to the hard case. It's a 10 in our organization.
- Open Source (free). Pay only for support.
- Plugins are the crown of the product.
- An extensive dashboard gives you all that you need to have on the first look.
- Traffic graphics are wonderful.
- You can't integrate modem functionality into a pFSense box.
- I don't want to go completely open source if downtime is a risk factor that could lose more income that supported products would cost.
- Can be an expensive configuration if you choose to build your own pFsense box for several ISP.
- For non expertise users is a pain in the neck to manage the web GUI.
September 12, 2017
Robust, configurable, feature-rich, and RELIABLE network infrastructure at the perfect price.
We are a small business, so we use pfSense to manage our office network.
I support ~15 network users, which represent something more like 30-40 devices (after notebooks, mobile phones, tablets, etc are accounted for).
pfSense is used as the primary router to our internet connection, as well as our VPN connect endpoint, local DNS resolution, and internet connection failover. Having all of these services bundled in one powerful, well supported, and robust software configuration platform saves a ton of time and makes managing our internal office network very easy.
I support ~15 network users, which represent something more like 30-40 devices (after notebooks, mobile phones, tablets, etc are accounted for).
pfSense is used as the primary router to our internet connection, as well as our VPN connect endpoint, local DNS resolution, and internet connection failover. Having all of these services bundled in one powerful, well supported, and robust software configuration platform saves a ton of time and makes managing our internal office network very easy.
- Point and click configuration for nearly any network infrastructure service you could need
- Centralized configuration, with documentation, of all firewall rules, dhcp lease rules, vlan routes, etc
- Fast security updates when vulnerabilities (and patches) are found in any of the software that pfSense uses out of the box
- Super simple to deploy
- Light-weight, doesn't need a high end system to run
- Some services can be clunky to configure if you're not 100% familiar with the technology
- Service configuration is bound to the pfSense interface, so if the UI doesn't expose configuration for a feature you need (and the service supports it), it's a significant challenge to configure the service outside of the pfSense system. (Note: this has rarely been an issue for us, once or twice in the entire time we've used the software)
May 01, 2017
PfSense: A powerful tool in your hand
Pfsense is used in our whole organization. Our main firewall has been made by using Pfsense. Recently we've bought two appliances with pfsense preinstalled. Pfsense is crucial for our enviroment because we're a small company so we cannot buy expensive firewall. After some research and local tests, we've decided to use pfsense.
- Web User Interface: With new web UI, based on Bootstrap framework, you can control your Pfsense from everywhere.
- Scalable: It's an all-in-one solution useful for every kind of company. It's also very easy to set up rules and NAT, and it has several modules like transparent proxy, VPN, and traffic shaping.
- Community: There's a large community behind Pfsense so you can find a lot of documentation, tutorials, and howtos and also support from the official forum.
- Virtualization: We use virtualization on our systems based on KVM enviroment so they could improve Virtualization integration.
- Export/Import: You cannot import/export all of pfsense modules configuration. And also sometimes pfsense export/import creates conflicts with s Mac address.
May 09, 2016
It's free - what's not to like!
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It's a firewall that will compete with any "enterprise" firewall solution and often kicks the paid-for competition into touch. The fact that it is community supported is a big advantage as it is always at the cutting edge of security and support. It's a firewall for technologists first but once installed even the non-technically minded can take advantage of an outstanding network security solution. The latest version of pfSense provides a much improved GUI that will appeal to the less technically minded but it still retains the same level of rich functionality.
- Easy and quick to change firewall rules - no painful re-loads or reboots (!) like some firewall solutions
- VPN support is excellent and so fast as hardware acceleration is supported
- Large set of free add-on tools
- Multiple hardware platforms supported
- Quality of service and traffic shaping setup could be better but the answers are usually on the pfSense forums if you look
- Non-technically minded will lose patience but it's designed to be a fully-fledged firewall so it's not surprising