Compare products

Put two or three cybersecurity products side by side and see how they differ on deployment, pricing, features, integrations and compliance.

pfSense CEAWS Network Firewall2 of 3 products

Side-by-side comparison of pfSense CE, AWS Network Firewall
Product	pfSense CE by Netgate View product	AWS Network Firewall by AWS View product
Overview
What it is	pfSense CE is an open source firewall & router software from Netgate. Learn how it supports firewall / NGFW, what features stand out and which Firewall tools compete.	AWS Network Firewall delivers automatic scaling for perimeter network defense. Explore its Network Security capabilities, deployment choices and top competitors.
Product type	Open Source Firewall & Router Software	Managed Cloud Network Firewall & IPS Service
Best for	Cross-industry, SMBs, Homelab, Small Business, IT Admins	Cross-industry, Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, Enterprise, Technology
Pricing
Pricing model	Contact Vendor	Contact Vendor
Free trial	Free trial: yes	Free trial: no
Deployment
Deployment options	On-Premise	CloudOn-Premise
Deployment details	Software; Open Source; Bare-metal; Bare-metal x86 hardware; Virtual machines	Cloud; AWS Cloud-native managed firewall endpoint per VPC/AZ
Data residency	On-premises; Customer Network	Deployed and inspected within customer-selected AWS Region and VPC subnets
Key features
What it offers	Stateful firewall OpenVPN/WireGuard Suricata/Snort DNS resolver DHCP server CARP HA Firewall / NGFW Network Security	Stateful Layer 3-7 packet inspection Intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS) Suricata-compatible rules Outbound domain filtering TLS decryption and inspection Automatic scaling multi-AZ high availability Perimeter network defense
Platform & access
API access	API access: no	API access: yes
Single sign-on (SSO)	SSO: no	SSO: yes
Role-based access (RBAC)	RBAC: yes	RBAC: yes
Multi-tenant	Multi-tenant: no	Multi-tenant: yes
Mobile app	Mobile app: no	Mobile app: yes
Supported platforms	x86 Bare-metalVMware ESXiProxmoxHyper-VKVM	Amazon VPCAWS Transit Gateway
Compliance	Open Source ComplianceGPL/Apache-style	SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, HIPAA eligible, FedRAMP High
Integrations & coverage
Integrations	FreeBSDOpen-source packagesSyslog	AWS Transit GatewayAmazon VPCAWS Firewall ManagerAmazon CloudWatchAmazon S3AWS KMS
Industries	Cross-industrySMBsHomelabSmall BusinessIT Admins	Cross-industryFinancial ServicesHealthcareGovernmentEnterpriseTechnology
Regions	Global	Global (supported AWS Regions)
Vendor
Company	Netgate	AWS
Headquarters	Austin, Texas, USA	Seattle, Washington, USA
Company size	201-500	100,000+
Founded	2000	2006

pfSense CE

by Netgate

View product

AWS Network Firewall

by AWS

View product

Overview

What it is

pfSense CE

pfSense CE is an open source firewall & router software from Netgate. Learn how it supports firewall / NGFW, what features stand out and which Firewall tools compete.

AWS Network Firewall

AWS Network Firewall delivers automatic scaling for perimeter network defense. Explore its Network Security capabilities, deployment choices and top competitors.

Product type

pfSense CE

Open Source Firewall & Router Software

AWS Network Firewall

Managed Cloud Network Firewall & IPS Service

Best for

pfSense CE

Cross-industry, SMBs, Homelab, Small Business, IT Admins

AWS Network Firewall

Cross-industry, Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, Enterprise, Technology

Pricing

Pricing model

pfSense CE

Contact Vendor

AWS Network Firewall

Contact Vendor

Free trial

pfSense CE

AWS Network Firewall

Deployment

Deployment options

pfSense CE

On-Premise

AWS Network Firewall

CloudOn-Premise

Deployment details

pfSense CE

Software; Open Source; Bare-metal; Bare-metal x86 hardware; Virtual machines

AWS Network Firewall

Cloud; AWS Cloud-native managed firewall endpoint per VPC/AZ

Data residency

pfSense CE

On-premises; Customer Network

AWS Network Firewall

Deployed and inspected within customer-selected AWS Region and VPC subnets

Key features

What it offers

pfSense CE

Stateful firewall
OpenVPN/WireGuard
Suricata/Snort
DNS resolver
DHCP server
CARP HA
Firewall / NGFW
Network Security

AWS Network Firewall

Stateful Layer 3-7 packet inspection
Intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS)
Suricata-compatible rules
Outbound domain filtering
TLS decryption and inspection
Automatic scaling
multi-AZ high availability
Perimeter network defense

Platform & access

API access

pfSense CE

AWS Network Firewall

Single sign-on (SSO)

pfSense CE

AWS Network Firewall

Role-based access (RBAC)

pfSense CE

AWS Network Firewall

Multi-tenant

pfSense CE

AWS Network Firewall

Mobile app

pfSense CE

AWS Network Firewall

Supported platforms

pfSense CE

x86 Bare-metalVMware ESXiProxmoxHyper-VKVM

AWS Network Firewall

Amazon VPCAWS Transit Gateway

Compliance

pfSense CE

Open Source ComplianceGPL/Apache-style

AWS Network Firewall

SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, HIPAA eligible, FedRAMP High

Integrations & coverage

Integrations

pfSense CE

FreeBSDOpen-source packagesSyslog

AWS Network Firewall

AWS Transit GatewayAmazon VPCAWS Firewall ManagerAmazon CloudWatchAmazon S3AWS KMS

Industries

pfSense CE

Cross-industrySMBsHomelabSmall BusinessIT Admins

AWS Network Firewall

Cross-industryFinancial ServicesHealthcareGovernmentEnterpriseTechnology

Regions

pfSense CE

Global

AWS Network Firewall

Global (supported AWS Regions)

Vendor

Company

pfSense CE

Netgate

AWS Network Firewall

AWS

Headquarters

pfSense CE

Austin, Texas, USA

AWS Network Firewall

Seattle, Washington, USA

Company size

pfSense CE

201-500

AWS Network Firewall

100,000+

Founded

pfSense CE

2000

AWS Network Firewall

2006