pfSense vs TNSR
pfSense
pfsense.comTNSR
netgate.comSide by side
| Figure | pfSense | TNSR |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $83.25/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 3 |
| Spec score · Firewall Software | 7.5 (#62) | 8.7 (#11) |
| Founded | 2004 | 2004 |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Intended users | The maker lists home and remote workers, businesses, government, education, and service providers among pfSense Plus users. | Netgate identifies businesses, ISPs, internet telephone providers, hosting providers, managed service providers, and SaaS providers as potential users. |
| Support | Netgate offers purchasable global support for self-installed software and virtual pfSense deployments. | Netgate says TNSR subscriptions include 24x7 TAC support, and its overview describes access to support veterans, professional services, and training. |
| VPN | pfSense supports VPN options including IPsec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard. | TNSR provides site-to-site IPsec and high-speed VPN capabilities, with WireGuard support documented for remote access. |
Plans
pfSense
- pfSense CEPrice not published
- pfSense Plus with TAC LitePrice not published
- pfSense Plus with TAC ProPrice not published
- pfSense Plus with TAC EnterprisePrice not published
TNSR
- TNSR AWS/Azure proof of conceptFree
- TNSR Software Subscription - Renewal$999 a year
- TNSR softwarePrice not published
In their own words
pfSense
pfSense is a free, open-source FreeBSD distribution for firewall and router functions, managed through a web interface. Its source code is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license, and a package system lets users add functionality. Documented network features include firewalling, routing, VLANs, multiple WAN connections, high availability, traffic shaping, and captive portal. VPN options include IPsec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard; OpenVPN documentation lists authentication through local users, LDAP, or RADIUS servers. Deployment options include hardware, virtual machines, and public cloud. The software is available in the AWS and Azure marketplaces, including their US GovCloud regions. Netgate publishes security advisories, accepts vulnerability reports through its Security Team, and sells global support for self-installed software and virtual deployments. The Community Edition is a free download; listed Plus support plans offer either a limited number of tickets or unlimited tickets. One installation constraint: the USB memstick installer overwrites the entire hard drive and does not support dual booting with another OS.
TNSR
TNSR is a software router and VPN concentrator for high-speed routing and VPN workloads. Netgate says its Vector Packet Processing can scale from 1 to 1000 Gbps and beyond on commercial off-the-shelf hardware. Routing options include BGP, OSPF, static and dynamic routing, policy-based routing, carrier-grade NAT, and equal-cost multipath. For VPNs, it supports routed site-to-site IPsec and WireGuard, with IKEv1 and IKEv2. Administrators can manage TNSR through a CLI, RESTCONF API, or NETCONF. Monitoring options include SNMP and a Prometheus exporter for dataplane statistics. Security features listed include access control lists, packet filtering, password or key authentication, RADIUS, and role-based access control. Netgate offers cloud deployments through AWS and Azure marketplaces, as well as its 6100, 8200, and 8300 appliance systems. Subscriptions include 24x7 TAC support. TNSR has firewall capabilities, but Netgate does not position it as a firewall and warns it may lack features customers expect from pfSense Plus.