IPFire vs NethSecurity
IPFire
ipfire.org
NethSecurity
nethsecurity.orgSide by side
| Figure | IPFire | NethSecurity |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $91.58/mo | €12.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 5 |
| Spec score · Firewall Software | 9.3 (#2) | 9.0 (#6) |
| Spec score · Network Firewall Software | 9.0 (#1) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Firewall | Its Linux Netfilter-based firewall supports network zones, port forwarding, NAT, and stateful packet inspection. | The product provides stateful firewall rules and groups rules by category. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | SourceForge lists Cisco AnyConnect, AWS Marketplace, Amazon Web Services, Exoscale, Juniper Identity Management Service and OpenVPN as integrations. | Netify Informatics is a third-party cloud service that uses NethSecurity DPI metadata to provide network intelligence and visibility. |
| Notable news | Core Update 203 replaced Unbound with Knot Resolver, added encrypted upstream forwarding and 6GHz Wi-Fi access-point support on July 20, 2026. | NethSecurity 8.8.0 was released on 29 July 2026 according to the project release notes. |
| Security updates | Core Update 204 was released on October 14, 2026 to update the operating system and fix a Knot Resolver migration regression. | Release 8.8.0 rebased the system on OpenWrt 25.12.5, moved package management from opkg to apk, added persistent metrics storage and web-interface alerts. |
| Support | Lightning Wire Labs offers professional support, and the project points users to documentation, community forums, mailing lists, and a bug tracker. | The subscription page states that professional support response time is one business day during Monday-to-Friday business hours in the Italian time zone, excluding Italian holidays. |
| VPN | IPFire supports IPsec, WireGuard, and OpenVPN for site-to-site or remote access VPNs. | Supported VPN technologies are IPsec, OpenVPN and WireGuard, including links between sites. |
| What it does | IPFire is a hardened Linux operating system functioning as a stateful firewall, VPN gateway, intrusion-prevention platform and extensible network appliance. | NethSecurity is an OpenWrt-based unified threat-management Linux firewall aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. |
Plans
IPFire
- IPFireFree
- IPFire softwareFree
- IPFire Nano Appliance$749, paid once
- IPFire Mini Appliance (US)$979, paid once
- IPFire Standard Support$1,099 a year
- IPFire Enterprise Appliance (US)$4,299, paid once
NethSecurity
- CommunityFree
- PartnerFree
- Personal€150 a year
- Business€297 a year
- Partner +20 active subscriptionsPriced on request
In their own words
IPFire
IPFire is a free, open-source firewall and security platform for networks from home offices to global enterprises. Its Linux Netfilter-based firewall supports network zones, port forwarding, NAT, and stateful packet inspection. VPN options include IPsec, WireGuard, and OpenVPN for site-to-site or remote access. A Suricata-powered intrusion prevention system detects and blocks malicious traffic using updated rule sets. IPFire includes a Squid web proxy with optional URL filtering through URLFilter or SquidGuard, and uses Red, Green, Blue, and Orange zones for roles such as trusted networks, DMZs, and Wi-Fi. Its web interface monitors bandwidth, connections, and intrusion attempts. Proxy authentication can use Microsoft Windows Active Directory, LDAP, or RADIUS. The download page offers x86_64 and aarch64 images for bare metal, virtual machines, embedded hardware, USB sticks, and SD cards; cloud images are available for AWS, Exoscale, and other providers. The project says it releases frequent security updates. Documentation, forums, mailing lists, and a bug tracker are available, and Lightning Wire Labs offers professional support.
NethSecurity
NethSecurity is an OpenWrt-based unified threat management solution for small and medium-sized businesses. It combines firewall, multi-WAN, content filtering, deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention, and VPN capabilities, including IPsec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard. Multi-WAN can balance connections, while traffic shaping applies minimum and maximum bandwidth settings. Threat Shield blocks known malicious IP addresses using named blocklists and confidence scores. NethSecurity is an open-source project and is currently available only for x86-64 systems; minimum requirements are 1 vCPU/core, 1 GB RAM, 1 GB disk, and two Ethernet cards. Its optional Controller runs on NethServer 8 and manages multiple installations remotely. Without a subscription, it can register up to three community firewalls; with a valid subscription, there is no unit limit, but only subscribed firewalls can be registered. Nightly automatic cloud backup is subscription-only. A 30-day trial activates the Business plan, but commercial support cannot be requested during the trial. Professional support response time is one business day during specified Italian business hours, excluding Italian holidays.