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Huawei NGFW vs Netgate pfSense comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.3
Deploying Huawei NGFW improved network security, efficiency, and resource control, while reducing costs and enhancing threat detection and response times.
Sentiment score
5.9
Netgate pfSense provides significant ROI with cost-effectiveness, eliminating license fees, ideal for small to mid-sized companies replacing costly systems.
Compared to what we were doing with Sophos, it provides a great value financially and in terms of time savings.
Director of IT at a religious institution with 51-200 employees
I have seen a return on investment with cost savings after implementing Netgate pfSense, as other firewalls would cost me lakhs of rupees while pfSense is free.
Information Technology Infrastructure Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We have been saving by having a stable, well-known product.
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Huawei NGFW customer service is praised for speed but criticized for language barriers and inconsistent service levels.
Sentiment score
7.8
Netgate pfSense receives praise for effective support, though some users experience slow responses; forums often suffice for troubleshooting.
When we're down, that's $8000 an hour on a $1500 firewall.
Chief information security officer at Center for Information Management, Inc.
The support is prompt and effective, making it well worth the investment.
Owner at GroupGates, LLC
Even when they're in the middle of deploying a new version, I've reached out and received a download link within five minutes.
Senior Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Huawei NGFW is scalable and flexible, though users face extra costs and hardware limitations in expanding capabilities.
Sentiment score
6.6
Netgate pfSense is highly scalable for SMBs, supporting high user counts and complex configurations depending on hardware choices.
The next step up now is to the 4100, which gives you an additional preconfigured WAN port that allows you to easily separate networks.
CIO and President at Aim High! Inc.
Netgate doesn't come anywhere close to the scalability that its competitors do.
Chief information security officer at Center for Information Management, Inc.
Due to the absence of a single pane of glass management feature, scaling out pfSense becomes quite challenging.
Technical Project Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Huawei NGFW is generally stable but has occasional issues, with most users rating it seven to nine out of ten.
Sentiment score
7.1
Netgate pfSense is highly stable, with users attributing minimal issues to hardware rather than the firewall, ensuring reliable performance.
Netgate pfSense rates a 10 for stability, and I have experienced no issues there.
Workday Reporting & Analytics Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Otherwise, I've never seen one have a problem. It's just rock solid.
Chief information security officer at Center for Information Management, Inc.
It has been running for four years now without any issues.
Director Solutions Architecture and Business Development at Puma Cybersystems, Inc.
 

Room For Improvement

Huawei NGFW needs improvements in configurability, performance, support, and features, addressing session handling, upgrades, and usability issues.
Netgate pfSense requires better centralized management, an updated user interface, improved security integrations, and enhanced documentation for ease of use.
I need to speak to someone immediately.
Owner at GroupGates, LLC
You could add AI for troubleshooting with Netgate pfSense because it will be easier for new engineers.
Network & Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd
I would like to have the ability to control all my devices from one place.
CIO and President at Aim High! Inc.
 

Setup Cost

Huawei NGFW offers competitive pricing with potential discounts, though setup costs are high and separate support contracts are required.
Netgate pfSense is affordable, offering open-source and paid versions with robust features and competitive hardware pricing.
The cost of the 3500 was closer to $4,000.
CIO and President at Aim High! Inc.
I don't always seek the cheapest or most expensive option but rather the best value for my investment.
IT Supervisor at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
The total cost of ownership is very low.
Technical Project Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Valuable Features

Huawei NGFW is lauded for its user-friendly interface, seamless integration, high performance, scalability, and effective security features.
Netgate pfSense offers reliable VPN and firewall features, user-friendly management, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and strong community support.
pfSense's flexibility is great. If you don't have the money to buy the NetGate hardware, anything works with it. You can toss it on any low-end piece of hardware or virtualize it if you choose to virtualize it.
Senior Network Administrator at Elite Computers
We have multiple VLANs, and with assistance, it was easy to get everything set up and running in our organization the way we needed it to.
Director of IT at a religious institution with 51-200 employees
We had downtime before pfSense. We've never gone down using the solution.
Head of IT at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Huawei NGFW
Ranking in Firewalls
37th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (13th)
Netgate pfSense
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
221
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Huawei NGFW is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 7.4%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Netgate pfSense7.4%
Huawei NGFW1.1%
Other91.5%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

VZ
Senior Manager Technology at CNS Engineering
GUI application allows for easy monitoring and analysis of potential intrusions but needs improvement in threat prevention signatures
Based on the threat prevention signatures, they need updates. They should add some machine learning features and Machine learning detection. In future releases, I would like to see improvements in CDR technology. Forcepoint is pitching CDR technology, which extends sandboxing. Configuring data on the console needs enhancement. Huawei also need to improve spam techniques and add a web application firewall. Currently, Huawei does not have a built-in web application firewall (WAF) like Fortinet does. Tools like SIEM, SOAR, and Tenable can be integrated, but they require additional setup and should be integrated via API. For external threat detection, using the TAXII or STIX protocol, would be an improvement over the current features.
JA
Principal Cloud Architect - Software Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Rapid VPN setup has connected offices in minutes and brings live insights for proactive issue control
What I appreciate the most about Netgate pfSense is the ease and straightforward nature of the platform. I can set up a new office in less than 10 minutes. The benefits of using Netgate pfSense are that I can set up VPNs in less than two to three minutes, and then just deploy the file across my networks, where everybody would be connected in less than an hour. The dashboards of Netgate pfSense bring all the necessary information that I need at a glance, and it is actually a live update every three to five seconds. It is spotless, and I have been able to catch issues before they hit operations.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business171
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Huawei NGFW?
The pricing is quite cheap compared to other NGFWs like Palo Alto or Cisco.
What needs improvement with Huawei NGFW?
Huawei should improve their threat intelligence. They need to have a more diversified platform and continuously update it with information from all vendors. Without diversified threat intelligence,...
What is your primary use case for Huawei NGFW?
I am working as a solution architect in my organization. Whenever we design a total network infrastructure, for ensuring the overall network security, we provide the firewall. If the client is aski...
Help me find the best open source router
You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I recommend PFSense. This software solutions can be installed on youf own hardware or ...
How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?
Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigate both cost-effective and efficient. One of the features we like most is that Fo...
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 client, Open VPN and client, and PPTP client. Both also have intrusion detection a...
 

Also Known As

Huawei USG Firewalls, USG9500 Series, USG6600 Series, USG6300 Series
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

KMITL, Peking University
Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring
Find out what your peers are saying about Huawei NGFW vs. Netgate pfSense and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.