Software Alternatives & Reviews

SmoothWall VS ZeroShell

Compare SmoothWall VS ZeroShell and see what are their differences

SmoothWall logo SmoothWall

Smoothwall Express Open Source Firewall distribution

ZeroShell logo ZeroShell

Zeroshell is a Linux distribution for servers and embedded devices aimed at providing the main...
  • SmoothWall Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-02
  • ZeroShell Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-19

SmoothWall videos

How to Install Smoothwall Express 3.1 SP2 + Review + VMware Tools on VMware Workstation Tutorial

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started With Smoothwall Express
  • Review - Install and Configure Smoothwall Firewall within VMware Workstation

ZeroShell videos

ZeroShell Webinar

More videos:

  • Review - Zeroshell Router Easy Setup

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SmoothWall and ZeroShell)
Perimeter Security And Firewalls
Operating Systems
41 41%
59% 59
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Firewall
62 62%
38% 38

User comments

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Reviews

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

SmoothWall Reviews

Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
Smoothwall got a good reputation in the early days when it was competing with IPCop. It went silent in 2014. Smoothwall OS has been abandoned and is no longer relevant or secure. You should avoid it. The website is still up and running but hasn't been updated in many years.
Source: teklager.se
8 Best Open Source Firewall to Protect Your Network
Smoothwall express supports LAN, DMZ, Internal, External network firewalling, web proxy for acceleration, traffic stats, etc.
Source: geekflare.com

ZeroShell Reviews

Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
Although Zeroshell never reached the point of being good enough to be recommended, we had high hopes for it in 2019 when we started maintaining this list of recommendations because it was developed from scratch rather than based on another system and had some innovative features. Unfortunately, the system got officially abandoned in September 2021. No longer maintained and...
Source: teklager.se
5 Router OS Turns Old PC Into High Performance Router And Enterprise Network Switch
Zeroshell is a Linux distribution for servers and embedded devices aimed at providing the main network services a LAN requires. It is available in the form of Live CD or Compact Flash image and you can configure and administer it using your web browser.
A Feast of Linux-Based Routers
I've also done tutorials on ZeroShell for LinuxPlanet, covering several topics: introduction and setup, setting up RADIUS server for Enterprise Wi-Fi encryption, configuring captive portal, Internet gateway and router, and creating bonded VPNs for higher throughput and failover.
The Hunt For the Ultimate Free Open Source Firewall Distro
Any chance for an overview/update of the top contenders? Your last update was 2015 and we are closing fast on 2020. I'd like to see a revisit of top contenders only - ideally free but feel free to include a commercial version or two if it is really that much better. In particular I'd appreciate more drill down on pfsense vs zeroshell. I've begun playing with zeroshell but...

What are some alternatives?

When comparing SmoothWall and ZeroShell, you can also consider the following products

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

IPFire - IPFire is a server distribution with intended to use as a firewall.

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

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.

Endian Firewall Community - Endian Firewall Community (EFW) is a "turn-key" linux security distribution that turns...

VyOS - VyOS in an open source Linux-based operating system sold and distributed by Sentrium corporations. It is geared toward IT specialists and network administrators for the purpose of securing network and company data... read more.