The solution is being used for monitoring and as a firewall.
Cyber Defense Incident Responder at The Quantum Group, Ltd
A monitoring solution that is user friendly and easy to configure
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."
- "You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure.
What needs improvement?
You will need additional training before you can actually start to use it. You will need to gain some extensive knowledge.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using OPNsense for one year.
Buyer's Guide
OPNsense
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about OPNsense. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
869,785 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. Approximately fifty people are using the solution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used FortiGate. For security reasons, we moved to OPNsense.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment took a couple of minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using the paid version.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Cloud Projects Director at France Compétences
An easy-to-use and open source solution that helps secure our network
Pros and Cons
- "OPNsense is easy to use and open source."
- "The user interface could be improved, and the DNS section should be more intuitive."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to secure our network and kid’s Internet usage. Since COVID-19, remote work has become relatively standard.
What is most valuable?
OPNsense is easy to use and open source. When the setup is complete, you can forget about the software itself. You can check the logs occasionally and set up some automatic reporting.
What needs improvement?
The user interface could be improved, and the DNS section should be more intuitive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using OPNsense for a few days. We use the updated version of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s scalability a nine out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I’ve used pfSense and openWRT before.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. Being an engineer myself, I have no issues with systems on networks. The installation took around two hours to complete. When you download a system, it takes time. I’ve also installed one package named Zenarmor.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
OPNsense
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about OPNsense. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
869,785 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Regional Director at Ceitcon
A simple and free solution requiring no maintenance while providing stability to its users
Pros and Cons
- "I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free."
- "The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."
What is our primary use case?
We use OPNsense in our company to secure our servers.
What is most valuable?
To be honest with you, I feel that its valuable features are that it is simple and free.
What needs improvement?
The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings. The interface of the solution could be made better.
The user experience when we create policies can be made easier. Also, maybe some features should be added to the cloud.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using OPNsense for around six years. Also, I don't remember the version of the solution I am using.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 25 users who are all technical people using OPNsense in my organization.
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
As technical people, we have used many solutions previously for our company and customers. For customers, we have used Fortinet, Palo Alto, and others.
I didn't switch from Palo Alto to OPNsense. I use OPNsense because Palo Alto is used for enterprises. For me, I prefer open-source products. It's more flexible for us.
How was the initial setup?
I believe the setup phase was a fusion of straightforwardness and complexity. It's not complicated, so it's fine.
It's deployed on-premises because we put it on our server, and it is hosted in Germany.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's a free solution.
What other advice do I have?
The solution requires no maintenance.
I would recommend OPNsense to others.
Overall, I rate the solution between seven to eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Founder/IT Consultant at Open IT World
A secure, stable and reliable solution
Pros and Cons
- "It's more secure and more reliable."
- "The IPS solution could be more reliable."
What is our primary use case?
I moved to OPNsense because it's more secure and more reliable. I use it to secure access to the servers. I have a core backing server, an e-banking server, the main server, and other features with the solution. I make the multi-DMZ packs, so each service is in one DMZ bay, and I use it as a virtual chain.
What is most valuable?
The firewall solution is okay because it is like pfSsense.
What needs improvement?
The IPS solution could be more reliable. The IPS functioning and internal prevention system functioning could be added to the system. I didn't have it in pfSense, which is why I'm moving to OPNsense, but it is still not working well. They could also have the LZN ones.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about four years, and I am using the latest version, OPNsense 21.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable, and I rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution, but I didn't try to scale it because I just used one instance.
How are customer service and support?
I don't use technical support. Instead, I use community resources because they give me all the necessary solutions.
How was the initial setup?
It is easy to set up, and the deployment took about six months.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is good and is better than other computer solutions. The licensing cost is zero because you only have to buy the support. I believe that costs between $900 to $1000 a year.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution a nine out of ten. Regarding advice, if they want to use this solution, they have to know how they want to organize the actual networking. When it is well organized, you can easily deploy OPNsense inside it.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical support engineer at ADVANT računalniški inženiring, komunikacije, svetovanje in distribucija d.o.o.
Easy to manage, free and good for small offices
Pros and Cons
- "It is a very good solution. I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it."
What is our primary use case?
I use it for network traffic and routing for management. It improves the overall management and the traffic.
How has it helped my organization?
It helps to improve network security. It does its job.
What is most valuable?
It is easy to maintain. It is free. So, it is for small offices. It is a very good solution.
I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it.
What needs improvement?
If I require many site-to-site connections or prioritize advanced features, I might look at the other products.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for half a year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There was no need for scaling in our case.
Our customers are mostly small-sized businesses.
How are customer service and support?
I found everything I needed online.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience with Check Point and other products like Fortinet. They're different types of tools for different purposes.
My experience is that OPNsense is great for installing and setting up, and then I almost forget about it. It is a good tool for everyday use.
If I require many site-to-site connections or prioritize advanced features, I might look at the other products.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is free.
What other advice do I have?
If you're new to firewalls, I might recommend using this solution. It's very user-friendly, especially for the first-time users.
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. reseller
Senior Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Free to use, easy to manage, and offers good security options
Pros and Cons
- "The initial implementation process is simple."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
We just use the solution normally for its basic firewall functionality. OPNsense with WireGuard and CrowdSec bouncers handles all our requirements.
How has it helped my organization?
This is a free and secure solution that is easy to use.
What is most valuable?
The normal security options are great.
It's light and easy to manage.
The solution is very stable.
The initial implementation process is simple.
The solution offers a free version.
What needs improvement?
While they do have paid options that actually give better features, for most of the clients, if they tend to take a paid option will instead opt for Fortinet.
They should make it so that it's easier to reverse proxy integration.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is quite stable and the performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We can easily scale the solution if we need to. It's not difficult.
How are customer service and support?
I've only used the free version of the solution. I just have to dig into the forums to find everything I need. There isn't a central place you can reach out to. I've found all the answers I've needed so far via the forums. There's a lot of information there.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It's not overly complex or difficult.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We're a customer and an end-user.
We are using the telemetry-free version of the solution.
Overall, the solution is quite affordable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I'm aware of Fortinet as well.
It depends on price versus performance. If you're willing to pay, Fortinet's great. If you don't have the budget, OPNsense is more affordable.
What other advice do I have?
We do supply the solution and we do use it for ourselves.
I'd advise users to get the Geo functionality. It's a nice add-on, which we make use of a lot. It allows which countries are allowed to access your instances, which is very helpful.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
DevOps at Halcom
Useful GUI, frequent updates, and free to use
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates."
- "When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."
What is our primary use case?
OPNsense is a firewall.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has helped our organization because we are able to easily set up IPSec and VPN tunnels.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates.
What needs improvement?
When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve.
In a feature release, it would be helpful to have some features that the new generation firewalls have, such as IPS.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used OPNsense within the last 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability of OPNsense a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately two large customers using this solution.
I rate the scalability of OPNsense a seven out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I needed to use the support twice. They could improve the support.
I rate the support of OPNsense a seven out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I use Fortinet before in another company.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment took approximately two hours.
I rate the initial setup of OPNsense a seven out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using the free open-source version of the solution. There is a paid version that has additional features.
I rate the price of OPNsense a five out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend using this solution.
I rate OPNsense a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Associate consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It helps control the bandwidth, is scalable, easy to set up, and has a lot of data available on how to set it up
Pros and Cons
- "What I like best about OPNsense is that, as a firewall, it's pretty good. I'm quite impressed with it. I had an excellent experience with OPNsense, which helped me achieve the targets I wanted."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
I'm using OPNsense as an open VPN and a firewall to control the traffic.
How has it helped my organization?
OPNsense improved my organization in terms of controlling the bandwidth. Limiting the bandwidth is the primary purpose of the solution in the organization.
What is most valuable?
What I like best about OPNsense is that, as a firewall, it's pretty good. I'm quite impressed with it.
I had an excellent experience with OPNsense, which helped me achieve the targets I wanted.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement in OPNsense is the hardware, which needs to be updated more frequently.
An additional feature I want to see in OPNsense is a transparent proxy.
DNS blocking is another good feature I want to be added to the solution, as that helps make processes faster.
pfSense has a peer-blocking feature that I also want to see in OPNsense.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using OPNsense for more than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
OPNsense is a stable solution. Stability-wise, it's seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
OPNsense is a scalable solution, and I find it very good, but it still depends on your requirement and what you want to achieve from OPNsense.
How are customer service and support?
I didn't use OPNsense technical support because I resolved any issues myself.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used pfSense before using OPNsense, and OPNsense covered most of my environment's needs. My organization uses only one firewall, and that's OPNsense.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up OPNsense was easy for me. Even if you don't have experience, there is so much data available that you can follow so that the setup can be done easily.
The initial setup for OPNsense is an eight out of ten, especially if you know what you want to do and achieve from the solution. You also must try blocking methods based on what and how you want to block.
It took me two weeks to implement OPNsense completely. I set up the network and made a lab before using OPNsense in a production environment.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented OPNsense in-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm using the free version of OPNsense. I didn't check the pricing for the solution because I still need to test it before getting the approval to purchase OPNsense, and it isn't easy to get approval from the higher-ups.
What other advice do I have?
I'm using two products, OPNsense and pfSense.
I upgraded to the latest version of OPNsense.
My organization is planning to move OPNsense to the cloud, in particular, hybrid cloud, but right now, it's deployed on-premises. Cloud deployment will be much more efficient than the current on-premises deployment, but I still need to test it before getting approval from the higher-ups.
Within my organization, fifty people use OPNsense because one department is trying it out. Still, when the solution is fully deployed, there could be from five thousand to six thousand users of OPNsense.
Ten to twelve people help maintain the solution yearly for the whole campus.
I advise anyone who wants to implement OPNsense to look into the suppliers and pick the right one because having the right supplier helps you achieve what you want from the solution.
My rating for OPNsense is eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free OPNsense Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2025
Product Categories
FirewallsPopular Comparisons
Fortinet FortiGate
Netgate pfSense
Sophos XG
Cisco Secure Firewall
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls
WatchGuard Firebox
Cisco Meraki MX
Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW)
Azure Firewall
SonicWall TZ
Sophos XGS
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
Juniper SRX Series Firewall
SonicWall NSa
KerioControl
Buyer's Guide
Download our free OPNsense Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?
- Can you recommend any good documentation on OPNsense NGINX plug-in (WAF rules)?
- Why is pfSense's firewall better than OPNsense's?
- What do you recommend for a corporate firewall implementation?
- Comparison of Barracuda F800, SonicWall 5600 and Fortinet
- Sophos XG 210 vs Fortigate FG 100E
- Which is the best network firewall for a small retailer?
- When evaluating Firewalls, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- Cyberoam or Fortinet?
- Fortinet, Palo Alto or Check Point?