IPFire vs SELKS
IPFire
ipfire.org
SELKS
stamus-networks.comSide by side
| Figure | IPFire | SELKS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $91.58/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software | 9.0 (#3) | 8.3 (#7) |
| Deployment | The current download page offers x86_64 and aarch64 ISO and flash images for bare metal, virtual machines, embedded hardware, USB sticks, and SD cards. | The archive page offers a Docker Compose package for Linux and Debian-based ISO images with or without a desktop, deployable on bare metal or a virtual machine. |
| Integrations | SourceForge lists Cisco AnyConnect, AWS Marketplace, Amazon Web Services, Exoscale, Juniper Identity Management Service and OpenVPN as integrations. | The documented deployment can send logs to a Splunk indexer and optionally authenticate users through LDAP or LDAPS. |
| Licence | IPFire is free software distributed under GPLv3, while included components must use an approved open-source licence. | SELKS is released under the GNU GPL version 3 license. |
| 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. | Stamus Networks announced SELKS 10 general availability on June 13, 2024. |
| Rating on G2 | 5.0 out of 5 from 1 review. | The surfaced G2 listing was for related Suricata Turnkey GUI, rated 4.0 out of 5 from 2 reviews; it was not a SELKS product profile. |
| Security updates | Core Update 204 was released on October 14, 2026 to update the operating system and fix a Knot Resolver migration regression. | Stamus Networks says it may evaluate community bug-fix requests or pull requests individually, but has no planned SELKS releases after January 1, 2025. |
| Support | Lightning Wire Labs offers professional support, and the project points users to documentation, community forums, mailing lists, and a bug tracker. | The maker directs users to GitHub for documentation, issues, and the wiki, and to Discord for questions and help. |
| What it does | IPFire is a hardened Linux operating system functioning as a stateful firewall, VPN gateway, intrusion-prevention platform and extensible network appliance. | SELKS combines Suricata intrusion detection/prevention, network-security monitoring and threat hunting in a turnkey Debian-based distribution. |
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
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.
SELKS
SELKS is a free, open-source software package for network intrusion detection and prevention, network security monitoring, and threat hunting, built around Suricata. Its web interface manages Suricata rulesets, threat intelligence sources, custom rules, and IoC data files. Predefined filters and contextual views support threat hunting; thresholding and suppression can help reduce noisy alerts. SELKS 10 includes Suricata, Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, Stamus Community Edition, and functionality from Arkime, Evebox, and CyberChef. It can capture packets tied to detection events and export session PCAP files for investigation or playback in SELKS or other tools. Deployment options include Docker Compose for Linux and Debian-based ISO images, with or without a desktop, on bare metal or a virtual machine. SELKS is licensed under GPL 3.0-or-later. Stamus Networks says it stopped actively enhancing the legacy product on January 1, 2025, and has no future releases planned. The maker says SELKS was not designed for enterprise deployment.