5 categories · RankedpfSense
pfSense is open-source firewall software that installs on commodity hardware, such as a multi-port mini PC, or on a Netgate appliance · pfsense.com ↗
Read the same way at every company size.
The standing depends on who is buying. Every model is asked the same questions for each company size.
Fortinet FortiGate is first at 72%.
Fortinet FortiGate is first at 71%.
Palo Alto Networks NGFW is first at 44%.
Why models recommend it
“If you want the most budget-friendly option, pfSense is often recommended for its low cost and high ratings.”Mistral Small · Budget-constrained question · first choice
“For Maximum Savings: Start with OPNsense or pfSense on your own hardware or a low-cost appliance.”Kimi K2 · Budget-constrained question · first choice
“Lowest-cost flexible option: pfSense or OPNsense — Worth considering if the company has in-house networking expertise”Perplexity Sonar · Budget-constrained question · alternative
“For the absolute tightest budget: Start with pfSense or OPNsense on repurposed hardware.”Kimi K2 · Budget-constrained question · alternative
What gives them pause
“they are packet filters/firewalls first... will choke your firewall's CPU”Qwen 3.7 Flash · Negative question · warning
“can run on $200–$400 hardware and offer many NGFW features free of charge, but they require more technical expertise”DeepSeek V4 Flash · Budget-constrained question · warning
“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 question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as pfSense, over the 44 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 20 | Compare → | |
| 22 | 0 | View → | |
| 17 | 0 | Compare → | |
| 14 | 0 | Compare → | |
| 13 | 1 | View → | |
| 13 | 0 | View → | |
| 8 | 0 | View → | |
| 5 | 0 | View → | |
| 4 | 4 | View → | |
| 4 | 1 | View → |
What the models named instead of pfSense →
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
At a glance
Stated on pfSense's own site, not checked by Gane.
- For
- thousands of enterprises
- Price stated
- starting at $0.08/hr
- Starting price
- 0.08
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 38 of the 44 answers that named pfSense and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
101 of the 101 domain citations in answers naming pfSense came from a third party's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
What it publishes
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-10 to 2026-09 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference or event | 6 | undated |
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page pfsense.com exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read September 29, 2026.