Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

pfSense VS Fortinet

Compare pfSense VS Fortinet and see what are their differences

pfSense logo pfSense

pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

Fortinet logo Fortinet

Fortinet is a provider of network security appliances that include firewalls, security gateways, and complementary products.
  • pfSense Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-20
  • Fortinet Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-26

pfSense videos

pfsense Firewall Setup and Features in Depth Version 2.4

More videos:

  • Review - Pfsense: 5 Reasons to Use It
  • Review - Netgate SG-3100 Teardown / Speedtest / Review of this powerful pfsense packet pusher!

Fortinet videos

Fortinet Vs Palo Alto - High Level View

More videos:

  • Review - Fortinet FortiGate-100F Review: A Firewall Overview of Features, Benefits, & Specs
  • Review - Fortinet FortiGate-60F Review: A Firewall Overview of Features, Benefits, & Specs

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to pfSense and Fortinet)
Cyber Security
89 89%
11% 11
Security & Privacy
0 0%
100% 100
Perimeter Security And Firewalls
Monitoring Tools
88 88%
12% 12

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare pfSense and Fortinet

pfSense Reviews

The top 10 alternatives to OpenVPN
Netgate offers secure networking solutions, including pfSense Plus and TNSR software, which provide firewall, router, and VPN functionalities. These solutions cater to personal users, professional users, and organizations seeking secure and reliable internet connectivity.
Best pfSense Software Alternatives and Competitors
pfSense Software firewall is a robust, open-source security solution that is compatible with any hardware and can be tailored to meet your specific needs. It is a widely used technology, and many individuals seek dependable, popular software solutions with multi-device support, multiple concurrent connections, and protocol selections. Despite its usefulness, pfSense has...
The Best Open Source Router OS Software for Large or Small Networks
pfSense is a free and open-source router and firewall operating system based on the FreeBSD operating system. It is designed to be used on standard x86 hardware and can be deployed as a virtual machine or on dedicated hardware. pfSense offers advanced features and capabilities that are typically found in commercial routers and firewalls, making it an ideal solution for small...
Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
pfSense is one of the most popular operating systems today. It's a BSD-based system, similar to OPNSense, but with a longer history. pfSense started in 2004, and since then, it has grown to be the most well-known open-source platform in the industry. Although it gradually loses users to OPNsense, it's still an excellent system for new users because it has the most extensive...
Source: teklager.se
11 Best pfsense Alternatives To Secure Your Network
Unlike those of other available pfSense competitors, its capabilities allow it to be compared to commercial firewalls. You can also customize the pfSense firewall to match your needs based on the level of security and protection you want, as well as your specialist knowledge.

Fortinet Reviews

The top 10 alternatives to OpenVPN
Use cases: Fortinet is suitable for businesses seeking advanced network security, secure networking, security operations, and Universal SASE solutions.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, pfSense should be more popular than Fortinet. It has been mentiond 10 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

pfSense mentions (10)

  • Need some help on setting up home network
    Https://pfsense.org (netgate hardware is used in businesses). Source: about 1 year ago
  • Is pfsense.org down, or is it just me?
    I am having trouble seeing available packages, updating pkg, or getting a response from pfsense.org. Is anyone else seeing this or am I going to spend the rest of my day chasing bugs? Source: over 1 year ago
  • Help with VLAN
    From the PIA Client to pfsense.org PING pfsense.org (208.123.73.69) from 10.6.112.128: 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 208.123.73.69: icmp_seq=0 ttl=49 time=49.455 ms 64 bytes from 208.123.73.69: icmp_seq=1 ttl=49 time=51.927 ms 64 bytes from 208.123.73.69: icmp_seq=2 ttl=49 time=49.333 ms 64 bytes from 208.123.73.69: icmp_seq=3 ttl=49 time=49.133 ms 64 bytes from 208.123.73.69: icmp_seq=4 ttl=49 time=49.027 ms ... Source: over 1 year ago
  • Can Surveillance Station record offsite cameras ?
    The above setup is critical to a reliable system. I'd use enterprise quality routers for a store and home connection. I personally use https://pfsense.org but there are many to choose from and several open source. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Exposing Synology to web: best/practical practices?
    What I would do is put that thing in DMZ and install a good router behind it like https://www.pfsense.org. No affiliation, just been my router for many years. There's also it's sibling https://opnsense.org. There are many, just get a enterprise quality router. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Fortinet mentions (6)

  • DMARC failures for monthly "Fortinet Vulnerability Advisories" emails
    In short, they're signed by sendgrid.net, but not fortinet.com. Source: 6 months ago
  • FortiClient VPN-only version (MacOS) from Fortinet website
    I believe that forticlient.com will redirect you now back to fortinet.com. This has taken effect possibly due to the new changes in licensing. Source: 12 months ago
  • Why does my default dashboard need Fortinet.com??
    I have tried to recreate it on purpose, without luck. I can't get an "fortinet.com" URL to show in the webtools on loading. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Why does my default dashboard need Fortinet.com??
    After I allowed the fortinet.com URL, all off the dashboard are loading... Source: over 1 year ago
  • login to fortinet
    I have noticed that I cannot login to Fortinet by going to fortinet.com then clicking the login to cloud button represented by a profile head outline. Fortinet cannot recreate the issue but people on my team do. I can login with support.fortinet.com I just thought it was neat for this button to be broken for so long. Anyone else recreate? Source: over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing pfSense and Fortinet, you can also consider the following products

MikroTik RouterOS - The main product of MikroTik is a Linux-based operating system known as MikroTik RouterOS.

Emsisoft Online Armor Firewall - Emsisoft Online Armor Firewall is a freemium online firewall protection system by the Emsisoft that is based on the own independent protection technology of the Emsisoft.

OPNsense - OPNsense® you next open source firewall. Free Download. High-end Security Made Easy™. Offers Intrusion Prevention, Captive Portal, Traffic Shaping and more.

TinyWall - Lightweight and non-intrusive firewall

OpenWrt - OpenWrt is an open-source firmware based on Linux for wireless routers

Windows Firewall Control - Windows Firewall Control is not the built in firewall system in the Windows operating systems.