Netgate pfSense vs Sangfor NGAF comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Netgate and Sangfor are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Netgate is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.8, while Sangfor is ranked #32 with an average rating of 8.0. Netgate holds a 6.8% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Sangfor’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Netgate users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Sangfor users who would recommend it.

Netgate pfSense

Read 223 Netgate pfSense reviews

33,879 Views
31,507 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Sangfor NGAF

Read 34 Sangfor NGAF reviews

5,678 Views
5,451 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Netgate pfSense

Sangfor NGAF

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Netgate pfSense and Sangfor NGAF are notable competitors in the network security and firewall category. Based on various assessments, Netgate pfSense offers an edge in flexibility through its open-source nature and community support, while Sangfor NGAF provides advanced security features with easier integration.

Features: Netgate pfSense is scalable, supporting customizable firewall settings and multi-WAN support, alongside VPN capabilities. It benefits from being open-source and having robust community backing. Sangfor NGAF excels with WAN optimization, deep packet inspection, and strong application control, integrating advanced security into a cohesive package.

Room for Improvement: Netgate pfSense requires enhancements in interface design, centralized management, and reporting features. Complexity in updating packages and compatibility with third-party plug-ins are noted. Sangfor NGAF needs better hardware scalability, a simpler interface, and more detailed reporting, along with improved SD-WAN capabilities and market exposure.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Netgate pfSense, implemented on-premises, demands technical expertise due to complex configuration options. It relies on community forums for support. Sangfor NGAF offers an easier deployment in on-premises and hybrid environments, with customer service generally satisfactory but needing improved communication and localization.

Pricing and ROI: Netgate pfSense is cost-effective as an open-source solution with no licensing fees, offering a favorable total cost of ownership. Sangfor NGAF competes with a price model undercutting rivals like Fortinet and Palo Alto, yet mandatory license renewals may increase costs. Both provide excellent ROI, each appealing to different organizational needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Netgate pfSense vs. Sangfor NGAF Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense vs. Sangfor NGAF

September 2026

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Helped 917,433 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Netgate pfSense

Ranking in Firewalls

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

223

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Sangfor NGAF

Ranking in Firewalls

32nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 6.8%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.2%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Netgate pfSense	6.8%
Sangfor NGAF	1.2%
Other	92.0%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Juan-Arias

Principal Cloud Architect - Software Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Rapid VPN setup has connected offices in minutes and brings live insights for proactive issue control

What I appreciate the most about Netgate pfSense is the ease and straightforward nature of the platform. I can set up a new office in less than 10 minutes. The benefits of using Netgate pfSense are that I can set up VPNs in less than two to three minutes, and then just deploy the file across my networks, where everybody would be connected in less than an hour. The dashboards of Netgate pfSense bring all the necessary information that I need at a glance, and it is actually a live update every three to five seconds. It is spotless, and I have been able to catch issues before they hit operations.

Read full review

AliKhan1

Network Administrator at GC University Lahore

Leverage detailed reporting for effective attack management

We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deployed in our data center, which is fully operational, we have various applications hosted there, websites, FTP portals, making it quite comprehensive. Essentially, it performs all the…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Failover, URL Filtering, Proxy server, traffic monitoring features inbuilt with SNORT IDS/IPS is all we use and have never faced any problem for over 5 years now."

"This solution has helped our organization by protecting our network from attacks."

"pfSense has been giving us better options than what Meraki is giving us at the moment."

"The plugins or add-ons are most valuable. Sometimes, they are free of charge, and sometimes, you have to pay for them, but you can purchase or download very valuable plugins or add-ons to perform internal testing of your network and simulate a denial-of-service attack or whichever attack you want to simulate. You can also remote and monitor your network and see where the gap is. Did you forget a printer port? Most attacks at the moment are happening through printers, and they can tell you immediately that you forgot to close the port of the printer. There are more than one million printers that are in danger, and everybody knows that hackers are using them to enter the network. So, you can download plugins to protect your network."

"The most valuable feature of pfSense is that it's a stateful firewall. I also like the way the rules are implemented on the firewall. It makes things much easier to see at a glance."

"I'm the expert when it comes to Linux systems, however, with the pfSense, due to the web interface, the rest of the staff can actually make changes to it as required without me worrying about whether they've opened up ports incorrectly or not. The ease of use for non-expert staff is very good."

"pfSense allows us to spread the hours of connection and do the filtering on the pfSense site."

"The solution is very robust."

More Netgate pfSense pros

"The top functionality is the reporting feature."

"The product is very fast and reliable."

"Particularly good in the DPI where we can inspect inbound and outbound traffic."

"The solution is quite safe and good, and furthermore, it is very good for different environments."

"We've found the technical support to be helpful."

"It enables us to not only detect but also prevent various types of incoming threats, allowing us to take appropriate corrective actions and exercise control over the network."

"The capabilities are mostly within the box."

"So far, the performance and reliability of the product have supported our company's critical network traffic."

More Sangfor NGAF pros

Cons

"One area where Netgate pfSense could be improved is that there are not many plugins for two-factor authentication."

"It would be great for the solution to have better logs."

"Their support could be better in terms of the response time."

"I would like to see SD1 integration into the software. That would be fantastic."

"A malware blocker should be included. I do not know if it is included yet. However, until now, we have not experienced a large malware invasion."

"I purchased a Netgate firewall, an SG-4100, which is a $600 device, intending to make it a solid piece of my home lab and support the project. It died in one and a half years."

"The initial approach is very complex because of the multiple functions, but after a short learning curve it is able to handle the standard functions."

"Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge to know how to do something when you want to do something, for instance, setting up a point to point VPN."

More Netgate pfSense cons

"Sangfor could improve by providing better real-time reporting, as the current reports don't offer the level of detail we need, especially for runtime insights."

"The support offered by the product has certain shortcomings where improvements are required. The knowledge levels and response time of the support team need improvement."

"The GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."

"I feel Sangfor should follow the hierarchy and close deals via resellers instead of closing it all with their own team."

"An area for improvement would be the number of ports defined on the box. In the next release, I would like them to develop their provisioning stage of enrolling end devices."

"I would be happy if Sangfor developed a firewall designed specifically for home use, as well as for small businesses such as clinics and so on. A household version of the Sangfor firewall for your personal computer or laptop would be ideal, in my opinion."

"Sangfor NGAF could improve by refining its application control policies, especially in addressing challenges with certain types of applications."

"We have deployed many firewalls and have faced two or three faulty devices that we have to replace over a year because their power supply was faulty."

More Sangfor NGAF cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using its Community Edition, which is free. My company is a government school, and we don't have much budget."

"It is a free solution."

"If you are a technical person, it is a pretty cheap solution because first of all, the Community Edition (CE) is free. I am in Australia, and my pfSense license is about 200 dollars. It is not bad because it is per year and not per month. It is cheap compared to other solutions."

"PfSense is reasonable for a business but a little pricey for home use. With the time savings and reliability, it pays for itself. I've been more than happy with the unit we've gotten here for the capacity we need. However, it'd be nice to have nice to have some nice home units that aren't a thousand dollars."

"I am using the community version of the solution which is free."

"Hardware costs more than $500. The cloud version costs me $50 a month."

"PfSense's pricing is reasonable. However, support is relatively expensive for smaller customers, and you need to pay per device to get it. So if Customer A is having an issue, I have to get support, and then I have to get support for Customer B, and so on. It would be nice as a managed services provider to get support for my company rather than individual devices."

"I think Netgate should charge something nominal like $50 a year for the community edition to deter people from using it for everything."

More Netgate pfSense pricing and cost advice

"The license of Sangfor NGAF can be purchased at different interval lengths, such as annually or three years. They offer a range of packages to choose from, such as combo or hybrid packages. We are using the complete solution package which includes IM, NGF and SSL VPN, and WAF."

"If you know you have around 200+ computer users on your network, then the Sangfor NGAF 5200-F-I model would be the minimum recommended model for that amount of users. This model includes modules for packet filtering, deep packet inspection, malware scanning, DSCP filtration, and many other features."

"For over 2000 users, the cost is around 5000 to 6000 USD. If you want a web application firewall, you have to purchase an additional license for it."

"The price falls in the mid-range, neither exceptionally low nor high."

"The product is very cost-effective compared to other brands or vendors."

"For four to five physical appliances for a licensed firewall, it costs approximately $4,000."

"It costs about 8 to 10 thousand dollars per year for 500 users, standard licensing fees included."

"Price-wise, I would not consider Sangfor NGAF to be a cheap product. It is an expensive firewall solution, though not as expensive as something like Palo Alto, which is costly. However, the higher price point is justifiable given the feature set the tool provides that other firewalls may not offer in a single dedicated appliance."

More Sangfor NGAF pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Manufacturing Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	172
Midsize Enterprise	34
Large Enterprise	29

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

Help me find the best open source router

You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I recommend PFSense. This software solutions can be installed on youf own hardware or ...

See all answers

How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?

Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigate both cost-effective and efficient. One of the features we like most is that Fo...

See all answers

What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?

Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and client, Open VPN and client, and PPTP client. Both also have intrusion detection a...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor NGAF?

The licensing cost is quite high compared to other available firewalls in the market.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?

The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardware scalability, allowing for more storage and memory capacity. Making the soluti...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Sangfor NGAF?

See all answers

Comparisons

OPNsense vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 50% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 3% of the time

Sophos UTM vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 3% of the time

More Netgate pfSense Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 9% of the time

H3C SecPath Firewalls vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 9% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Sangfor NGAF

Compared 3% of the time

More Sangfor NGAF Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense

October 2026

Download Netgate pfSense product report

Buyer's Guide

Sangfor NGAF

September 2026

Download Sangfor NGAF product report

Also Known As

No data available

Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform

Overview

Netgate pfSense is an open-source firewall and router software known for scalability, cost-effectiveness, and community support. It includes customizable packages for varied network management needs, offering solid performance and straightforward management for diverse setups.

Netgate pfSense provides an impressive range of functionalities including firewall capabilities, VPN options, and extensive customization through packages. Its low resource usage and high availability make it viable for businesses of all sizes, especially when dealing with tailored network demands. Despite its strengths, users suggest improvements in ease of use, mobile compatibility, and support for plug-ins. Enhanced centralized management, better documentation, and additional security features are frequent requests.

What are the key features of Netgate pfSense?

Scalability: Suits any network size from small home setups to large enterprises.
Open-source: Offers transparency and flexibility, allowing for community-driven development.
Firewall Capabilities: Provides robust protection against unauthorized access.
VPN Options: Supports secure remote connectivity with various VPN protocols.
Customizable Packages: Allows users to personalize functionalities to fit network needs.
High Availability: Ensures continuous network operations with redundancy features.
Load Balancing: Distributes traffic efficiently across multiple paths or connections.
Traffic Shaping: Manages bandwidth allocation to optimize network performance.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Significant savings due to low operational costs and open-source nature.
Performance: Reliable service delivery with minimal hardware demands.
User-friendly Interface: Intuitive design that simplifies complex network management.
Community Support: Access to extensive community resources for troubleshooting and advice.
Comprehensive Documentation: Detailed guides and tutorials to facilitate installation and configuration.

In education and healthcare, Netgate pfSense is employed for secure connectivity and efficient traffic management, accommodating distinct demands of remote access and content filtering. Organizations in these sectors often utilize features such as load balancing and VPNs to maintain secure and reliable network operations while integrating with services like Active Directory for streamlined identity management. Small to medium-sized enterprises benefit from its affordability and robust functionality, making it a go-to choice for managed service environments requiring effective network security and control.

Netgate

Sangfor NGAF offers a user-friendly firewall solution with a strong virus database and competitive pricing. It supports SSL VPN connectivity, intrusion detection, and is known for easy deployment and integration capabilities.

Sangfor NGAF is a comprehensive security platform providing robust network protection through its application control and detailed threat insights. While effective in preventing threats and ensuring network security, it has areas needing improvement such as real-time reporting and system support. It delivers secure internet and VPN connections, proficiently handling malware threats. However, it faces challenges with user experience, reporting capabilities, hardware scalability, and needs better third-party integration. Licensing costs are noted to be high, and there are performance variations between versions.

What are the key features of Sangfor NGAF?

User-friendly deployment: Offers an uncomplicated setup process.
Robust virus database: Provides reliable threat detection.
SSL VPN connectivity: Ensures secure remote access.
Application control: Manages application usage for enhanced security.
Intrusion detection: Detects unauthorized access attempts.
URL filtering: Prevents access to malicious websites.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Sangfor NGAF?

Affordability: Competitive pricing compared to peers.
Integration: Good capabilities with existing systems.
Support: Noted for providing reliable customer service.
Threat prevention: Effective in securing networks against various threats.

Sangfor NGAF is widely used across industries including education, healthcare, and finance for its reliable network security. It is favored for securing internal servers, offering robust threat protection, and managing bandwidth efficiently at a budget-friendly rate.

Sangfor

Sample Customers

Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.

Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense vs. Sangfor NGAF

September 2026

Free Report: Netgate pfSense vs. Sangfor NGAF

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