Little Snitch vs pfSense
Little Snitch
obdev.atpfSense
pfsense.orgSide by side
| Figure | Little Snitch | pfSense |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €59/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · Network Firewall Software | 8.1 (#10) | 8.0 (#12) |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Headquarters | Vienna, Austria | Austin, Texas, USA |
| Intended users | The maker describes Little Snitch as suited to privacy enthusiasts, experts, and administrators protecting colleagues’ or employees’ privacy. | Netgate identifies home and remote workers, businesses, government, education, and service providers as users of pfSense Plus. |
| Purpose | Little Snitch shows where a Mac connects to the Internet and lets the user allow or deny connections. | pfSense is a free, open-source FreeBSD-based firewall and router distribution managed through a web interface. |
| Support | The maker provides a help center with Little Snitch support and a form to resend a lost license key by email address. | Netgate Global Support covers installation, deployment, and configuration issues, and is available for self-installed and virtual pfSense software. |
Plans
pfSense
- pfSense Plus SoftwarePrice not published
- pfSense Community EditionFree
- pfSense Plus CloudPriced on request
- pfSense Plus on third-party hardware$129 a year
- pfSense Plus on Netgate appliances$189, paid once
In their own words
Little Snitch
Little Snitch has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
pfSense
pfSense is a free, open-source firewall and router distribution based on FreeBSD, managed through a web interface. Its firewall uses stateful packet inspection and can block traffic based on policy matches. Routing features include policy-based routing, static routes, and concurrent IPv4 and IPv6 support. Security options include IDS/IPS, Snort packet analysis, Suricata rules, IP block lists, and application detection. It supports IPsec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard for site-to-site and remote-access VPNs. The software can run on selected hardware, virtual machines, and cloud instances, and is available in the Azure and AWS Marketplaces, including their US GovCloud regions. The Community Edition is free and open source. pfSense Plus on third-party hardware starts at $129 a year; on Netgate appliances it starts at $189, paid once, with the software included at no charge with an appliance. The USB installer overwrites the entire hard drive and does not support dual booting.