OPNsense
OPNsense: A free, extensible firewall with VPN, IPS, high availability, and centralized management. Ranked #9 of 36 in Network Firewall Software by our editors (9.0/10); pricing: Free plan; best for organizations wanting a free, extensible firewall.
At a glance
- Editor score9.0 / 10
- PricingFree plan
- Best forOrganizations wanting a free, extensible firewall
- Free planYes
- Deployment modelHybrid
- Founded2014 · Middelharnis, the Netherlands
- Facts checked21 Sep 2026
Where it wins
- Free open-source edition with stateful IPv4 and IPv6 firewalling
- Includes VPN, IPS, multi-WAN, high availability, and reporting
- Plugins, APIs, and OPNcentral extend deployment and management options
Where it doesn't
- Self-hosted deployment requires suitable hardware and configuration
- Business Edition adds commercial features at a paid starting price
- Broad networking scope may exceed the needs of simpler firewall setups
Our verdict on OPNsense
OPNsense is an open-source, FreeBSD-based firewall and routing platform for individuals, businesses, and network administrators. Its capabilities cover stateful IPv4 and IPv6 firewalling, IPsec and OpenVPN, site-to-site VPN connectivity, traffic shaping, intrusion detection and prevention, monitoring, packet capture, NetFlow, and high availability. It is suited to organizations that want a free, extensible network security platform with web, API, and self-hosted access.
The Community Edition is available at no cost. The published plans show Business Edition and Business Edition 3Yr, with both adding a commercial firmware repository, an official OPNsense OVA image, selected professional plugins, and an integrated GeoIP database. The listed starting price is 149. OPNsense does not tie a product-wide firewall-throughput or concurrent-connection limit to its cheapest paid software plan; performance depends on the deployment hardware and configuration. This makes hardware planning an important part of evaluating the platform.
Its strongest advantage is breadth: multi-WAN load balancing and failover, Suricata-based intrusion detection and prevention, configuration and state synchronization, reporting, monitoring, APIs, plugins, and centralized firewall management through OPNcentral are included across a wide network-security scope. The trade-off is that this breadth may be more than a small environment needs, particularly when the priority is a simpler firewall with less infrastructure to configure. Organizations seeking control, extensibility, VPN connectivity, and advanced network operations should consider OPNsense. Those wanting a narrowly focused, low-administration firewall may prefer a more limited alternative.
Your product? Our editors can test OPNsense in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →
OPNsense pricing
All 2 OPNsense plans and prices →
OPNsense fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | Not verified |
| Deployment model | Hybrid |
| Intrusion prevention | Yes |
| SSL inspection | Yes |
| Site-to-site VPN | Yes |
| Firewall throughput | Not verified |
| Concurrent connections | Not verified |
| Deployment | Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web |
| Support | Email, Phone, Community, Docs |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise (editorial estimate) |
| Pricing | Free plan (source) |
| Website | opnsense.org |
| Facts checked | 21 Sep 2026 |
Alternatives to OPNsense
- Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation FirewallAn enterprise firewall family combining application control, threat prevention and centralized management.9.4
- FortiGateA broad hybrid firewall platform for enterprises that need integrated network security and automation.9.3
- Check Point Quantum Security GatewayA broad network security platform for enterprises that need clustered, policy-driven gateways.9.2
See all OPNsense alternatives →
Also Ranked In
OPNsense is ranked in 6 of our directories.
Used OPNsense? Be the first to review it
The editor score above is our own research. What this page doesn't have yet is a reader's view — what you used OPNsense for, what worked and what didn't. No stars are seeded and no review is paid for; an editor reads every one before it appears.
Write a reviewTwo minutes · verified accounts only · read by an editor before it appears
Featured on iTechGuides
OPNsense is listed in our Network Firewall Software directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.
<a href="https://www.itechguides.com/products/opnsense/"><img src="https://www.itechguides.com/best/badge/opnsense.svg" alt="Featured on iTechGuides" width="230" height="46"></a>
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
Last updated · How we research and update