pfSense: Firewall and router software based on FreeBSD
Reviewed by Marco Wollank
pfSense
pfsense.org 1 rating so far*
Rate pfSense: No account needed
Threat level
Hardened
A hardened pick. Worth the effort once you have chosen to shrink your footprint on purpose. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
A serious FreeBSD-based firewall and router platform for people building a real network perimeter, not a quick router reflash. The power comes with weight: you typically run it on dedicated hardware or a VM, and the configuration depth assumes networking knowledge. Pick pfSense when you want enterprise-grade firewall control at home or in a small office and you’ll invest the time to learn it. Anyone just wanting better firmware on an existing consumer router will find OpenWrt a more proportionate fit.
GitHub at a glance
pfsense/pfsense
Stars
5,693
+ 29 this week
Last commit
4mo ago
healthy
License
Apache-2.0
Stars, last 38d
Website at a glance
pfsense.org
B score 70
Solid website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 6d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
pfSense alternatives
OpenWrt OpenWrt: Embedded operating system based on Linux secure by default
OPNsense OPNsense is a FreeBSD-based open-source firewall and routing platform, forked from pfSense. It provides a web-based interface for stateful firewall rules, VPN (WireGuard, OpenVPN, IPsec), traffic shaping, intrusion detection via Suricata, and a plugin system.
LibreCMC LibreCMC: For computers with minimal resources
pfSense license, in plain English
Apache-2.0 Permissive
Permissive like MIT, with an explicit patent grant and a requirement to flag any changes you make.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- License and copyright notice
- State changes
Does not provide
- Trademark use
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Permissive licensing lets anyone reuse this, including inside closed products. That is freedom to build on, but no guarantee that downstream copies stay open.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
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