Opnsense Vs Ipfire – Which is the better firewall software

Ipfire and Opnsense are two of the most highly used and rated free and open source firewalls in the cyber security market today. Which one will best suit your individual or firm’s needs?

Finding a good firewall software can be quite a challenge, especially when you are on a low budget and would prefer a free firewall or you are a web system developer looking for a stable firewall code. Opnsense and Ipfire are two of the best options under these considerations. Although they are both free, they are based on different operating systems, making them appealing to different users, with Opnsense being based on Free BSD and Ipfire on Linux. Opnsense and Ipfire can both be used for routing and firewalling, with Ipfire being the superior firewall and Opnsense being the better router. However, they are both almost equally as efficient and effective as firewall software, with their differences being the determining factors for their diverse users.

What are the differences between Opnsense and Ipfire?

Opnsense Vs Ipfire- How do they compare?

Additional features

Opnsense and Ipfire both have a wide array of helpful firewall features that include packet filtering tools and VPN’s. However. Opnsense has a far wider range of features and applications that go beyond basic cyber security, like branding and routing applications, while Ipfire has fewer features that are more dedicated to performing firewalling tasks.

This means that Ipfire is excellent for targeted firewalling purposes, but Opnsense has a wider scope of application areas due to its diverse features and applications.

Ease of use

Opnsense and Ipfire both have GUI’s, with Ipfire giving the user an option of using the traditional Linux command line. However, despite being Linux based or perhaps because it is Linux based, Ipfire is far easier to use compared to Opnsense. The GUI for Ipfire is very intuitive and easy to navigate compared to the Opnsense GUI that is not as intuitive and is a bit confusing to navigate. In addition to this, the option of using a Linux command line gives an additional layer of ease of use for Linux programmers.

Ipfire is definitely the easier to use software, in addition to giving the user the option of using a Linux command line.

Configuration

Ipfire and Opnsense are both considered easy to configure. However, Ipfire goes the extra mile by giving a colour coded configuration guide; Green for internal, Blue for wireless and Red for external connections. On the other hand, Opnsense has a packet manager which requires very careful reading and may be difficult to understand and translate to practical use.

This makes Ipfire far easier to configure and set up for use than Opnsense

Efficiency

Ipfire and Opnsense are both quite efficient in performing their tasks. However, in case you need to load drivers on the kernel of the Opnsense start up, you will need to play around with the configuration files until the system agrees and will be unable to load network cards, lest the system reboots.  This is not the case for Ipfire which gives the user effortless functionality.

This implies that the functionality for Ipfire is more seamless and reliable.

Opnsense Vs Ipfire – A comparison review

Opnsense

Opnsense is an operating system software that is both free and open source. It was originally developed from the popular Routing and firewall software, Pfsense to act as a less mainstream and commercial alternative to cater to the increasing demand for Pfsense, and diversify their market. It has great firewall features like supporting site to site and IPsec VPN and VPN client, Open VPN and Open VPN client as well as PPTP client. It is preferred because of its support for high availability in its hardware components, because it allows the user to run two demanding hardware devices in availability mode removing the decision as to which device should get priority from the user. It also has dual-factor authentication that works with a radius server, which is remote to create and enable secure centralized management of the cyber network by the system administrator.

Pros

• It is free to download and use
• It has a wide range of features
• It supports high availability for hardware devices

Cons

• The high frequency of updates may lead to lost work for a user who is not diligent in updating their back-ups

Ipfire

Ipfire is a free Linux based Firewall distribution software that is built on top of Net filter, making it trusted and reliable. It can be used both as a router and as a firewall, in addition to having VPN gateway and proxy server capabilities. This diversity of uses is enabled by its great flexibility of configuration options, which are easy to learn and navigate. It has an inbuilt system for Intrusion Detection (IDS), which is designed to ensure that potential cyber-attacks are detected and prevented, before they make their way into and through the system. It also allows the user to enable automatic infection prevention which allows the software to automatically detect and prevent malware without seeking authorization, even while the system is inn use, then giving a detailed report after.

The software is easy to navigate and use, with an intuitive GUI which makes it very easy to tailor to the user’s needs and requirements. It has a feature that allows the system administrator to make multiple different groups of networks which helps in keeping the diverse customizable rules tidy and easy to find in the system.

Pros

• It is free to download and use
• It is easy to use
• It offers the option of using a Linux command line

Cons

• It does not have additional features that are not directly web security related

Conclusion

Opnsense and Ipfire are highly efficient and reliable. The major difference between them is that Opnsense has a wide range of features and thus a wider scope of uses, which exerts extra pressure on it CPU and processing power, making it suitable for a user with need beyond security, like routing. On the other hand, Ipfire is very efficient and tailor suited as a firewall, but not much else, making it ideal for a user who only requires Cyber security.

Verdict- So which is better, Opnsense or Ipfire?

Although both Ipfire and Opnsense are equally impressive firewalls, it is apparent that Ipfire ranks higher in the security of web applications as well as security monitoring and reporting, making it the better option.

FAQs

Is Opnsense the same as Pfsense?

They are two different projects, although they are connected. Opnsense was developed from Pfsense and designed to be less mainstream and commercial, but still free and open source, like Pfsense.  These two projects differ in their web User Interfaces and their frequency of updates, which makes them apply to different users.

Is Ipfire free?

Ipfire is free and can be downloaded from the official Ipfire website, together with the necessary documentation to run it.