Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs OPNsense comparison

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. OPNsense

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.1%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 12.3%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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Martin Raška

Senior Security Engineer & Instructor at Arrow Electronics

Unification of security features strengthens network protection

The overall network security is good. It's big-picture, all in one bundle. It's valuable to have everything in one place instead of spreading across different products. Unified security management positively affects a company's security operations. They have one unified view of the security. I can connect multiple gateways to the management and have it in one place. I can have reporting and views in a single pane of glass on the consolidated platform. It's easy to use. The management is the best on the market. It's very easy to work with, read, understand, and navigate. It helps increase our customer's security posture. We can see in some cases CloudGuard improves our customers' posture overall.

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Eddy Ramirez

IT Security Director at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Good interface and firewall capabilities and overall easy to use

The security has improved as we can isolate the network. We can do attrition prevention via a tool that comes with the solution. We can have a VPN solution in place for those that work from home, outside the network, in a secure manner. We also like that it offers good authentication. It offers radius-based authentication, which has been useful for the company. The main platform is under the Open VPN firewall. The solution has high availability. When we have different ISPs, we can actually load balance those links or actually put some priority or even classify the traffic that might go into one ISP or another.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"FortiGate is flexible and easy to use."

"The most valuable features are that it is very simple to configure and to manage."

"The response is very quick and they can visually resolve our problems in a short period."

"Reliability is the best feature. We faced some issues when we were setting it up, but the service, portal, and administration are good."

"FortiGate is very simple to manage and easy to use."

"One of the valuable features is a standardized OS."

"The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."

"The product has been very stable, based on my ten to eleven years of experience."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It offers remarkable flexibility in how we configure and utilize the resources."

"Check Point CloudGuard technical support is good."

"It has become less complex to use yet more complex in terms of infrastructure."

"I have no problems with stability. There is no downtime."

"The notifications, the visibility, and the deployment are the most valuable. It could be packaged in such a way that it took a lot of time and resources off our hands, so it was more efficient."

"CloudGuard's intelligent tools help us automate many manual security tasks, guaranteeing our customers' environments will be secure."

"The URL filtering provides a lot of added value compared to the Azure Firewall."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is that you can start off with a simple firewall and expand it to UTM."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security pros

"The system in general is quite flexible."

"OPNsense is easy to scale when running on the hardware."

"The solution has high availability."

"The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly which makes the product easy-to-use."

"The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."

"The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners."

"The most valuable features in OPNsense are reporting and visibility."

"It has firewall and VPN capabilities, which are very valuable features."

More OPNsense pros

Cons

"There are some complex administration tasks in their administration portal. That needs to be improved."

"Technical support is good but the response time could be faster."

"WAN load-balancing could be a lot better at detecting when a link is poor or inconsistent, and not just flat out dead."

"While FortiGate is cheaper than most other solutions, we're seeing increased license renewal costs. Most of our clients are asking for more significant discounts because the price is going up."

"The way everything is set up could be easier. Currently, people need a lot of experience and knowledge to administer it and to link it to devices."

"The solution can have more features in a single box that can be multi-applied to integrate everything."

"The Wi-Fi controller needs a lot of improvement."

"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The user interface can be improved."

"Today, we are trying to look more into encrypted traffic."

"Micro-Segmentation functionality for EAST-WEST traffic is not native and requires integration with a third-party OEM."

"I hope that Check Point continues to improve its technical documentation regarding the Check Point CloudGuard IaaS gateway and management system."

"CloudGuard Network Security needs to include new features. One specific feature I would like to see is the ability to protect external resources using single sign-on integration with various identity providers, including custom identity providers. Its pricing could also be cheaper."

"The licensing structure is unclear, so a transparent and flexible licensing structure would be preferable."

"The user experience might suffer if we don't have the time to follow up with our clients and ensure they are using the right options. Clients also want more local support in Portuguese and Spanish during their normal business hours. That's something I hear from my customers and my team, too."

"The management console can be simplified because at the moment, it is a bit of a challenge to use."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security cons

"I think the most important thing is that it should be easily accessible, but currently, that doesn't seem to be the case. We need a hardware platform that's based on common standards and open computing principles, which would be like a commodity and benefit us greatly."

"They should improve IPEs for security in the future."

"An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently. DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution. pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense."

"Given that OPNsense plays a pivotal role as a firewall, safeguarding against various threats, having a reliable backup ensures uninterrupted protection even if unforeseen events impact the primary virtual machine."

"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."

"The scalability needs improvement."

"While they do have paid options that actually gives better features, for most of the clients, if they tend to take a paid option will instead opt for Fortinet."

"The only thing that I would like to see improved is the Insight or the NetFlow analysis part. It would be good to have the possibility to dig down on the Insight platform. Right now, we can easily do only a few analyses. If this page becomes more powerful, it surely will be a well-adopted platform."

More OPNsense cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is too expensive to renew. The license renewal process is also complex."

"We have the full version of Fortinet FortiGate and we are on a three-year contract with a commitment of five years."

"Licensing is usually on a three-year period."

"Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."

"It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses."

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."

"It is quite affordable for our customers. There is a separate cost for IPS, antivirus, web filtering, and other features. They have a great choice of licenses. You can go for the license that you want, which is quite useful."

"Setup costs and pricing depends on many variables, but it's mostly affordable."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The price is fair for most of the customers. We don't find the price excessive. It's okay."

"The tool's monthly costs have undergone a significant reduction, dropping from approximately 12,000 euros to around 4,000. This represents a cost reduction of over 60 percent. However, it's essential to note that while costs decreased in some areas, they increased in others due to shifts in our environment. As our overall environment has grown, currently connecting 50 accounts to the cloud, it's challenging to directly compare costs with the state of our setup three years ago."

"I quite like the way they priced it. It is very reasonable."

"My experience has been extremely positive. It was not a concern because I had an account team that fought for pricing for our company. They were not pushing me to professional services for certain help. I was instantly getting a CloudGuard architect to help us out."

"The tool's pricing is not cheap."

"On average, it is normally on the lower end, being less expensive than Palo Alto or Cisco."

"It is not expensive, but it is a little bit above the middle range. There are other solutions that are a little more expensive than this, but they also have some interesting features."

"The tool's pricing is been higher than other solutions, but it seems like it's turning downwards."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security pricing and cost advice

"OPNsense is a well known open-source tool."

"We are using the paid version."

"OPNsense is open source software so at this time it is free for us to use."

"I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition."

"The solution is not expensive."

"I would rate the pricing three out of ten."

"It's a free solution."

"As an appliance, it's in the medium price range."

More OPNsense pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

22%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

What do you like most about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

The tool's most valuable feature is its management console.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Pricing in Jamaica is a major issue, with users often citing it as a reason for not using Check Point.

What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

They could improve the documentation. The interface is fine for me since I have been using it for some time.

What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?

Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...

What do you like most about OPNsense?

What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?

I consider the pricing of OPNsense to be high when compared with other market products. However, as a free firewall p...

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

Compared 23% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 10% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point NGFW vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 17% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 13% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 7% of the time

VMware NSX vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 6% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 3% of the time

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security Competitors

Netgate pfSense vs OPNsense

Compared 40% of the time

IPFire vs OPNsense

Compared 12% of the time

Sophos XG vs OPNsense

Compared 8% of the time

Untangle NG Firewall vs OPNsense

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos XGS vs OPNsense

Compared 4% of the time

More OPNsense Competitors

Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Download Check Point CloudGuard Network Security product report

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security report

OPNsense

Download OPNsense product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is designed to secure cloud assets, offering robust firewall capabilities and protection for both internal and external traffic across AWS, Azure, and on-premises environments.

Enterprises rely on Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for comprehensive network protection, threat prevention, and compliance enforcement. Supporting virtual machines and hybrid environments, it delivers advanced security measures including intrusion prevention and application control. Key functions include firewall security, network segmentation, and cloud environment protection, ensuring businesses maintain a secure and compliant IT infrastructure.

What are the most valuable features of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Flexible Architecture: Adaptable to diverse cloud and on-premises environments.
UTM Capabilities: Unified Threat Management delivering multi-layered security.
Advanced Threat Prevention: Includes IPS, application control, and anti-malware.
Auto-scaling: Automatically adjusts capacity based on traffic and demand.
Comprehensive Threat Prevention: Protects against known and unknown threats.
Ease of Use: Streamlined deployment and management processes.
Integration with Cloud Platforms: Seamlessly works with AWS, Azure, and other clouds.
Centralized Management: Single-pane-of-glass visibility and control.
User Identity Awareness: Enhances security policies based on user identities.
Zero-touch Deployment: Simplifies initial setup and deployment.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Email Protection: Shields email communications from threats.
Anti-malware: Guards against malicious software.
Single-pane-of-glass Visibility: Provides a unified view for better security management.
Scalability: Grows with the business needs.
Seamless Cloud Transition: Eases the move from on-premises to cloud environments.

In industries such as financial services, healthcare, retail, and education, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is implemented to safeguard sensitive data, ensure compliance, and protect critical infrastructure. Companies in these sectors benefit from its advanced threat prevention and flexible deployment options, meeting their stringent security requirements while enabling secure digital transformation.

Check Point Software Technologies

OPNsense is widely used for firewall functionalities, intrusion detection, VPN and IPSec, content filtering, securing network traffic, and remote access. It protects internal networks and manages servers securely, suitable for small to medium-sized businesses.

OPNsense is a comprehensive firewall solution leveraging open-source technology. It integrates with third-party modules like WireGuard and CrowdSec, enhancing its security capabilities. Offering on-premises and cloud deployment, it features an intuitive graphical interface, advanced reporting, VPN functionality, IDS/IPS features, and high scalability. Users find it ideal for small businesses and home networks due to its stability and ease of use. Frequent updates and an active community support its continuous improvement. However, it needs advancements in VPN selection, scalability, and technical documentation. Enhanced high availability, threat intelligence, and integration with virtualization platforms are required. User feedback suggests improvements in connectivity, alerting, traffic monitoring, and antivirus protection.

What are the key features of OPNsense?

Strong Firewall: Robust firewall capabilities for securing network traffic.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Effective IDS/IPS for threat mitigation.
VPN Functionality: Comprehensive VPN support including WireGuard.
Content Filtering: DNS-level filtering for enhanced security.
Advanced Reporting: In-depth traffic analysis and reporting features.
High Scalability: Supports growing network demands.
Integration Capabilities: Works with third-party modules like CrowdSec.
Intuitive GUI: User-friendly graphical interface enhances usability.

What benefits should users look for in OPNsense reviews?

Security: High level of protection for internal networks.
Manageability: Easy management of servers and network traffic.
Cost-Effective: Open-source nature reduces costs.
Reliability: Stable performance suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Community Support: Active community and frequent updates.

OPNsense is implemented across various industries to secure network infrastructure and ensure reliable connectivity. In fintech, it safeguards sensitive financial data while maintaining compliance. Educational institutions deploy it to protect student information and enable secure remote learning environments. Healthcare organizations use it to secure patient data and comply with HIPAA regulations. By integrating with tools like WireGuard and CrowdSec, businesses enhance their cybersecurity posture and streamline network management, making OPNsense a versatile choice for diverse operational needs.

OPNsense

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance

1. Deciso B.V. 2. iXsystems, Inc. 3. EuroBSDCon 4. Netgate 5. Claranet 6. Voleatech 7. Open Systems AG 8. Securebit AG 9. Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH 10. AVM Computersysteme Vertriebs GmbH Additional customers include: T-Systems International GmbH, Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone GmbH, 1&1 IONOS SE, OVHcloud, Hetzner Online GmbH, Strato AG, PlusServer GmbH, Host Europe GmbH, United Internet AG, 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH, QSC AG, Bechtle AG, Cancom SE, Computacenter AG & Co. oHG, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, Atos SE, Capgemini SE, Accenture plc, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. OPNsense