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OPNsense VS Gargoyle

Compare OPNsense VS Gargoyle and see what are their differences

Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

OPNsense logo OPNsense

OPNsense® you next open source firewall. Free Download. High-end Security Made Easy™. Offers Intrusion Prevention, Captive Portal, Traffic Shaping and more.

Gargoyle logo Gargoyle

Gargoyle Router Firmware home page
  • OPNsense Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-26
  • Gargoyle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-05-03

OPNsense features and specs

  • Open Source
    OPNsense is open-source, which means it is free to use, modify, and distribute. This allows for community contributions and transparency in code.
  • Regular Updates
    The project provides regular updates and patches, ensuring the software is up-to-date with the latest features and security fixes.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The user interface is clean and intuitive, making it easier for both beginners and advanced users to configure and manage the firewall and other network settings.
  • Comprehensive Feature Set
    Includes a wide range of features such as VPN capabilities, IDS/IPS, Web Proxy, and more, making it a versatile solution for various networking needs.
  • Strong Community Support
    The active community and forums provide robust support, tutorials, and shared knowledge, which can be very helpful in troubleshooting and optimizing the system.

Possible disadvantages of OPNsense

  • Hardware Requirements
    To run efficiently, OPNsense can require relatively high hardware specifications, which might be an issue for some users with older or less powerful equipment.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    While the interface is user-friendly, the complexity of the features and settings can be overwhelming for users who are not already familiar with network security or firewall concepts.
  • Limited Commercial Support
    Being an open-source project, it lacks the extensive professional support structures that come with paid enterprise solutions, although commercial support is available through third parties.
  • Documentation Gaps
    Although there is a good amount of documentation available, some users find it lacking in detail, especially for more advanced configurations and troubleshooting scenarios.
  • Compatibility Issues
    There might be compatibility issues with certain hardware or software components, requiring users to invest additional time in ensuring everything works correctly.

Gargoyle features and specs

  • Open Source
    Gargoyle is open source, allowing users to modify and customize the firmware according to their needs without any licensing restrictions.
  • Broad Hardware Compatibility
    It supports a variety of routers, giving users flexibility in choosing devices and upgrading their network hardware.
  • Advanced Bandwidth Management
    Gargoyle offers advanced bandwidth management features such as QoS and bandwidth quotas, which help in optimizing network performance and preventing bandwidth hogging.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The interface is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, making it accessible to both novice and experienced users.
  • Extensive Feature Set
    It provides a range of features including VPN functionalities, dynamic DNS, and real-time monitoring, making it a comprehensive solution for router management.

Possible disadvantages of Gargoyle

  • Limited Hardware Support Compared to Commercial Firmware
    While broad, the hardware compatibility is not as extensive as some commercial router firmware options, limiting choices for some users.
  • Community-Driven Support
    Support primarily comes from community forums rather than official dedicated support staff, which can be less reliable for troubleshooting complex issues.
  • Potential for Software Bugs
    As with many open-source projects, there is the potential for bugs or instability that might not be present in more thoroughly tested commercial firmware.
  • Requires Technical Knowledge for Advanced Features
    While basic features are user-friendly, leveraging advanced functionalities may require a higher level of technical knowledge.
  • Frequent Manual Updates
    Users may need to manually update the firmware to access new features or security patches, which can be less convenient than automatic updates offered by some commercial options.

OPNsense videos

+ Add

Introduction to OPNSense firewall the PFsense fork. Overview

More videos:

  • Review - pfSense vs OPNsense
  • Review - ✅ OPNsense Install - not what i was expecting!

Gargoyle videos

+ Add

GTA Online Gargoyle DeathBike Review!

More videos:

  • Review - Gargoyles [Season 1] | Review / Retrospective - Bull Session

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OPNsense and Gargoyle)

OPNsense

Gargoyle

Operating Systems
83 83%
Operating Systems
17% 17
Perimeter Security And Firewalls
93 93%
Perimeter Security And Firewalls
7% 7
Routers
0 0%
Routers
100% 100
Linux
76 76%
Linux
24% 24

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OPNsense and Gargoyle

OPNsense Reviews

Best pfSense Software Alternatives and Competitors
OPNsense is the best open-source and free firewall alternative to pfSense Software. OPNsense is a user-friendly, open-source, FreeBSD firewall and router. Most of the same capabilities are available in this fork of pfSense Software. It distinguishes itself from other firewalls by combining highly sophisticated features with an open-source system. First, the OPNsense firewall...
Source: www.zenarmor.com
The Best Open Source Router OS Software for Large or Small Networks
OPNsense is an open-source router OS software that is based on FreeBSD. It is designed to be used as a firewall, router, and VPN gateway, and it includes a range of advanced networking features. OPNsense is a fork of the pfSense project, and it is actively maintained by the OPNsense community.
Source: www.comparitech.com
Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
OPNsense makes the top of the list in 2023 because, for the last four years of maintaining this list, it has proved to be one of the most quickly developing operating systems on the market. It's an easy to use, mature system with a slick UI. OPNSense includes most, if not all, features found in expensive enterprise commercial firewalls. It has the quality of a commercial...
Source: teklager.se
11 Best pfsense Alternatives To Secure Your Network
By screening out unnecessary network traffic and malicious apps, firewall software protects networks and computers from attacks. For safeguarding your secure network from malware attacks and unauthorized access, OPNsenseis arguably top on our list of pfSense alternatives.
Source: technicalustad.com
Top 7 pfSense Alternatives
OPNSense is a rising star in the router software arena. It is powered by HardenedBSD, which is a security-oriented fork of FreeBSD. Its current development pace is rapid, and it’s packed with features. It also has one of the best user interfaces of all of these options. Like a lot of these options, its primary weakness is its Wi-Fi support. A lot of OPNSense users started...
Source: hometechhacker.com

Gargoyle Reviews

7 Best Router Firmware | Open Source | 2022
Gargoyle is a Linux-based open-source firmware. It is also one of the best open-source router firmware with amazing features. It is best for Atheros and Broadcom routers, you can find both the Graphical and command-line user interface.
Source: viralhax.com
7 Free Alternative Router Firmware – Unlock Hidden Features
Gargoyle is a free firmware upgrade for your wireless router, based on OpenWRT but with an enhanced interface (not LUCI) focused on ease of use. Reliable, easy to use and configure, and you’ll know exactly where your bandwidth is allocated thanks to the convenient graphs available in the administration interface.
Source: www.geckoandfly.com
DD-WRT vs. Tomato vs. OpenWRT: Which Router Firmware Is the Best?
Gargoyle – It’s based on OpenWRT and offers both a GUI and a command line interface. It’s designed mainly for older routers with Atheros and Broadcom-based chipsets. You’ll also find a built-in VPN, QoS, adblocker, Tor client, and network file sharing capabilities.
Source: www.maketecheasier.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, OPNsense seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 95 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OPNsense mentions (95)

  • US Weighs Banning TP-Link Routers
    >I'm currently upgrading my home network, trying various options, and one of the headaches is provenance of the equipment. If you're concerned about provenance (or even if you're not), I suggest using a general purpose device and rolling your own ala pfSense[0]/OPNSense[1], etc, or just use one of the BSDs or Linux and use native tools or one of the many router/firewall distros[2] [0] https://www.pfsense.org/ [1]... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • How to bypass public IP and NAT
    Firmware's like Asuswrt-Merlin or OpenWRT can support dynamic-dns, or you can do like I do and run something like OPNsense in an x86 VM with a NIC passed through, or buy an inexpensive firewall appliance (up to 500mbps/1gbps/10gbps). Source: over 1 year ago
  • Stop ISP from getting into my Router
    The easiest solution is to buy your own router, set it up, disable the router functionality on the Fritzbox 7590 and plug your router into it. It'll be cheaper and easier than a Cisco Firewall, but if you want to go the dedicated firewall route then I would recommenced OPNsense. Source: over 1 year ago
  • OpenBSD Innovations
    BSDs may not have a significant presence on desktops, but they're well known in the networking world for their reliability. They also were the foundation used to build OSes for specific applications. OpnSense and XigmaNAS, for example, are two excellent FreeBSD based applications aimed at firewalling/security and NAS/services. https://opnsense.org/ https://xigmanas.com/xnaswp/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Switches That You Actually Own
    For switches? OpenWrt supports a few models toward the lower end, and SONiC support a bunch at the higher-end datacenter ToR market, but none of these options are SME production-ready like Linux servers or OPNsense firewalls. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Gargoyle mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Gargoyle yet. Tracking of Gargoyle recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OPNsense and Gargoyle, you can also consider the following products

pfSense - pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

OpenWrt - OpenWrt is an open-source firmware based on Linux for wireless routers

VyOS - VyOS in an open source Linux-based operating system sold and distributed by Sentrium corporations. It is geared toward IT specialists and network administrators for the purpose of securing network and company data... read more.

MikroTik RouterOS - The main product of MikroTik is a Linux-based operating system known as MikroTik RouterOS.

AdvancedTomato - A Tomato by Shibby fork with intuitive and modern flat design GUI.

IPFire - IPFire is a server distribution with intended to use as a firewall.

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