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Index › IT › Network and edge › Firewalls › pfSense vs Sophos Firewall
Next-generation firewalls · November 2026 Edition

pfSense vs Sophos Firewall

Zero of fourteen models named pfSense first on the direct prompt; zero named Sophos Firewall. pfSense was named by eight of the fourteen models and Sophos Firewall by fourteen and pfSense carries 10 labels and Sophos Firewall 47, so the shares are not directly comparable.

pfSense

accepted challenger

Named in five categories this edition.

Sophos Firewall

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share4%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate20%4%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#4A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels1047A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, pfSense reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Fortinet FortiGate was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Fortinet FortiGate vs pfSense · Fortinet FortiGate vs Sophos Firewall · Palo Alto Networks NGFW vs pfSense

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the next-generation firewalls page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
pfSenseFirst choices, of fourteen modelsSophos Firewall
Direct00
Paraphrase011 against pfSense
Comparative00
Budget-constrained201 against pfSense
Scale-constrained00
Negative002 against Sophos Firewall
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, pfSense and Sophos Firewall were named in the same answer seventeen times, of the 44 answers naming pfSense and the 113 naming Sophos Firewall. In those answers Sophos Firewall took the first choice zero times and pfSense one.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where pfSense and Sophos Firewall stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
pfSense Sophos Firewall first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, pfSense on the left and Sophos Firewall on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where pfSense and Sophos Firewall stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashFortinet FortiGate alternatives: Check Point Quantum, Palo Alto Networks NGFW, Sophos Firewall
Perplexity SonarFortinet FortiGate alternatives: Palo Alto Networks NGFW, Sophos Firewall
Grok 4.20Fortinet FortiGate alternatives: Barracuda CloudGen Firewall, Check Point Quantum NGFW, Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks NGFW, SonicWall NSa Series, Sophos Firewall
Qwen 3.7 FlashFortinet FortiGate alternatives: Palo Alto Networks NGFW, Sophos Firewall
MiniMax M2.5Fortinet FortiGate alternatives: Check Point Quantum, Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks NGFW, Sophos Firewall
Muse Glimmer 30BFortinet FortiGate alternatives: Palo Alto Networks NGFW, Sophos Firewall, WatchGuard Firebox

Neither was named

8 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
GPT-5.4 miniPalo Alto Networks NGFW alternatives: Cisco Secure Firewall, Fortinet FortiGate
Mistral SmallFortinet FortiGate, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall alternatives: Check Point Quantum, Cisco Secure Firewall
DeepSeek V4 FlashFortinet FortiGate alternatives: Cisco Secure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks NGFW
Llama 4 MaverickFortinet FortiGate
Kimi K2Fortinet FortiGate alternatives: Palo Alto Networks NGFW
GLM 4.7 FlashXFortinet FortiGate
GPT-6 LunaFortinet FortiGate alternatives: Check Point Quantum, Palo Alto Networks NGFW

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Sophos Firewall leads by five points.
Sophos Firewall7%#2 of 9
pfSense2%#5 of 9
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: pfSense leads at mid-market.
pfSense4%#3 of 9
Sophos Firewall2%#4 of 9
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
pfSense0%#– of 6
Sophos Firewall0%#6 of 6
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about pfSense

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of five in this category shown.

“can run on $200–$400 hardware and offer many NGFW features free of charge, but they require more technical expertise” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“pfSense on a white‑box server can be a viable option, but you’ll need to invest more time in configuration” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“If you want the most budget-friendly option, pfSense is often recommended for its low cost and high ratings.” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
“For Maximum Savings: Start with OPNsense or pfSense on your own hardware or a low-cost appliance.” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · first choice
“Lowest-cost flexible option: pfSense or OPNsense — Worth considering if the company has in-house networking expertise” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · alternative

What the models said about Sophos Firewall

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.

“some Check Point and Sophos models rated only "limited value,"” Perplexity Sonar · negative prompt · soft negative
“Sophos XGS in large environments ... Cautious adoption” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“I'd recommend Sophos Firewall or Fortinet FortiGate as they offer the best balance of performance, features, ease of management, and cost” Claude Haiku 4.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Choose Sophos if you are an SMB or mid-sized enterprise looking for an affordable, easy-to-manage firewall” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
“Best For: Mid-market organizations and MSPs (Managed Service Providers); those wanting AI-driven automation.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Also compared
Fortinet FortiGate vs pfSenseFortinet FortiGate vs Sophos FirewallPalo Alto Networks NGFW vs pfSensePalo Alto Networks NGFW vs Sophos FirewallpfSense vs SonicWallSophos Firewall vs SonicWallAll ten head-to-head pages and the full firewalls standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.