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ENOCH AMARH ANNOR ATTOH - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Defense Incident Responder at The Quantum Group, Ltd
Real User
Top 10
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?

The solution is being used for monitoring and as a firewall. 

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. 

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June 2025
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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.
PeerSpot user
Anwar Sleem - PeerSpot reviewer
Regional Director at Ceitcon
Real User
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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
OPNsense
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about OPNsense. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Elisee TAMBA - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder/IT Consultant at Open IT World
Reseller
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.
PeerSpot user
YaserAljohani - PeerSpot reviewer
OT/ICS Information Security Specialist at SANS
Real User
Top 10
A solution that detects and blocks malicious content with good reporting and visibility, but the reliability needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features in OPNsense are reporting and visibility."
  • "There are issues with stability and reliability."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of this solution is to detect and block malicious traffic, malicious files, and malicious links to protect the internal network from any external malicious website that may contain a virus or malware.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features in OPNsense are reporting and visibility. 

The visibility is awesome. With the visibility, you can see the data source, data destination, the source port, destination port, protocols, the most used, the malicious files that have been detected and blocked, the countries the customer has visited, and the IPs based on Suricata.

OPNsense also has ClamAV, which is a great tool.

What needs improvement?

I have some issues with OPNsense. I have created a virtual machine that I've lost connection at times and I am not able to connect to the gateway or ping the internet. When I started with OPNsense, it worked right away. It may be an issue with the virtual machine itself. I am currently setting up the protection on all of the virtual machines so they will connect to OPNsense and the internet, or anywhere they need to access.

I have tried to download some malicious files or a virus and it should dump the files and prevent the download, but I don't seem to get any notification or warnings.

It may be an issue with the configuration but I am not sure.

I would like to see improvements made to connectivity and alerting.

I wanted to deploy this solution in our organization and some of the workstations from remote sites but it's not reliable enough to do that yet.

In the next release, I would like to see real traffic monitoring and more visibility. Also, for the antivirus, I would like to see the files protected by ClamAV. 

I would like to see intelligence in OPNsense and have the option to apply it or not.

They need a threat intelligence tool similar to the one they would find with Cisco. It will show you the file hashes, all of the IFCs, the niches, the address information, and more.  With all of this information, you can be proactive and block the malicious file hashes, all of the malicious IP addresses, and the public IP addresses. It should help you be proactive.

It would be helpful to have OPNsense be one of the plugins, and they should include traffic capturing. With Palo Alto, you can monitor and specify which interface you want to monitor, the source IP, or you can specify the network and see the traffic that is coming from the VLAN, the destination, and any files being transferred over the network.

If you apply security profiles you can see the signatures.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using OPNsense for five months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There are issues with stability and reliability.

I set up two different virtual machines. I used a virtual box, I installed it and configured higher visibility for both. One was a master and the other a standby. 

I had a virtual machine installed on Windows 10 and put the gateway for it as OPNsense, which was the master. 

I tested and shut down the first one, which is the master. When I check to see if the second one would take over, it failed. 

I couldn't connect to the internet or any destination.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not explored the scalability. We are only a small lab with two to three workstations.

I have a colleague working with me, together. We meet weekly to share the progress we have.

I use the enterprise version daily. It's scalable, stable, they have proper documentation and support. We get daily updates from the vendor.

OPNsense is a great tool but it lacks information that you need before deploying it.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have reached out to the community for support, but they haven't seen anything like the issues that I am experiencing. 

I have not contacted OPNsense directly.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward and easy.

It took 30 to 45 minutes to set up and deploy OPNsense.

What about the implementation team?

I did not use a vendor to implement this solution, I did it myself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

OPNsense is a well known open-source tool.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I am currently evaluating and searching for open-source enterprise firewalls and doing a comparison of the features between all of them. I am assessing the pros and cons of vendors. 

I am looking for something that will give me a report on the comparison of features, capabilities, the different vendors, and the different open-source solutions that are available.

I am also doing a comparison on Palo Alto, Cisco Firepower, and Fortinet Fortigate.

What other advice do I have?

I don't have any information on the bandwidth and what it can handle, or how many workstations can work with it. This information is very important, but I can't find any resources for this information.

The reporting is amazing. You can export reports, you can set the parameters, and export reports based on your needs.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Technical support engineer at ADVANT računalniški inženiring, komunikacije, svetovanje in distribucija d.o.o.
Reseller
Top 20
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
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1027455 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Senior Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    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.
    PeerSpot user
    Gregor Godler - PeerSpot reviewer
    DevOps at Halcom
    Real User
    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.
    PeerSpot user
    Associate consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    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.
    PeerSpot user
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