Topics

Both OPNsense and pfSense can run a reverse proxy on the firewall itself. HAProxy and nginx solve the same homelab problem differently. A practical comparison for routing multiple internal services behind one public IP.

Forget 'which is better.' The right firewall distro depends on what you're actually doing. A use-case-driven guide to picking pfSense or OPNsense for homelabs, small offices, VPN gateways, and appliance buyers in 2026.

WireGuard has become the homelab default, but OpenVPN is far from dead. A practical comparison of the two VPN protocols as you'd actually run them on OPNsense or pfSense — performance, NAT traversal, client experience, and when OpenVPN still wins.

WireGuard is now the default homelab VPN, but the experience differs sharply between OPNsense and pfSense. A practical comparison of setup, kernel vs userspace, road-warrior config, and which platform makes WireGuard less painful.

We rebuilt the same network on OPNsense 25.x and pfSense CE 2.7 and pfSense Plus 24. Here is how they compare on UI, packages, performance, upgrades, and long-term project health.

How much CPU does a home firewall actually need? A practical tiering of mini-PC silicon — older Celeron, Intel N100, and i5-class — mapped to real workloads like 1G/2.5G routing, WireGuard, and Suricata IDS/IPS.

Side-by-side hardware comparison of Protectli (VP2410, VP2420, VP4670) and Netgate (1100, 2100, 4100, 6100) firewall appliances. Specs, throughput, OS support, and value for OPNsense and pfSense homelabs.

A buyer's guide to picking the right firewall platform for a homelab in 2026. Covers OPNsense, pfSense, UniFi Dream Machine, MikroTik RouterOS, and OPNsense-on-Protectli — with decision criteria and budget tiers.