IPFire vs Smoothwall Express
IPFire
ipfire.orgSmoothwall Express
smoothwall.orgSide by side
| Figure | IPFire | Smoothwall Express |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $91.58/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · Firewall Software | 9.3 (#2) | 7.9 (#40) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Lightning Wire Labs offers professional support, and the project points users to documentation, community forums, mailing lists, and a bug tracker. | The download page recommends a my.smoothwall profile for manuals and patch or update email notifications, and directs users to the community for help and feedback. |
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.
Smoothwall Express
Smoothwall Express has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.