pfSense vs SELKS
pfSense
pfsense.org
SELKS
stamus-networks.comSide by side
| Figure | pfSense | SELKS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software | 8.1 (#9) | 8.3 (#7) |
| Deployment | The software can run on selected hardware, virtual machines, and cloud instances; the project says it is the software portion of the firewall. | 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 | The feature page names Azure and name.com as dynamic DNS providers, and RADIUS/LDAP as VPN authentication sources. | The documented deployment can send logs to a Splunk indexer and optionally authenticate users through LDAP or LDAPS. |
| Intended users | Netgate identifies home and remote workers, businesses, government, education, and service providers as users of pfSense Plus. | Stamus Networks describes SELKS as suitable for many small-to-medium organizations and says practitioners, researchers, educators, students, and hobbyists use it to explore Suricata. |
| Support | Netgate Global Support covers installation, deployment, and configuration issues, and is available for self-installed and virtual pfSense software. | The maker directs users to GitHub for documentation, issues, and the wiki, and to Discord for questions and help. |
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
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.
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.