Overview

NethSecurity is an OpenWrt-based unified threat management system for small and medium-sized businesses. It suits administrators who want firewall, VPN, traffic controls and intrusion prevention in a self-managed network appliance. Its broad network toolkit is compelling, but the x86-64 requirement and subscription gates on remote management and backups shape the buying decision.

Key features

The firewall combines multi-WAN, content filtering, deep packet inspection and intrusion prevention with VPN. Multi-WAN can balance connections, while traffic shaping lets administrators set minimum and maximum bandwidth to prioritize traffic. That makes NethSecurity a strong fit for businesses that need both perimeter controls and deliberate handling of competing network traffic.

VPN support covers IPsec, OpenVPN and WireGuard, including site-to-site VPN. Threat Shield blocks attacks from known malicious IP addresses using named blocklists and confidence scores. Netify Informatics can turn DPI metadata into network intelligence and visibility, though it is a third-party cloud service rather than a built-in local capability.

The optional NethSecurity Controller runs on NethServer 8 and remotely manages multiple installations. Without a subscription, it can register up to three community firewalls; a valid subscription removes the unit cap, but only subscribed firewalls can be registered. Automatic cloud backups run nightly, but also require a subscription. Those limits make the subscription relevant to teams managing several sites or relying on centralized backup, rather than merely an optional support purchase.

NethSecurity is described by its maker as fully open source. It is currently available only for x86-64 hardware, with minimum requirements of 1 vCPU/core, 1 GB RAM, 1 GB disk and two Ethernet cards. That is a meaningful constraint for anyone hoping to deploy it on ARM hardware or a single-port device.

Pricing

NethSecurity uses a freemium model, with a free plan and a 30-day trial. Plan prices are custom pricing.

Community: No subscription and up to three units in the Controller, with approximately 400 detected DPI applications. This is the sensible starting point for a small deployment that can live without subscribed-firewall registration and cloud backup.
Personal: Approximately 2,000 detected DPI applications.
Business: Approximately 2,000 detected DPI applications and two support tickets per year. Professional support response time is one business day during Monday-to-Friday business hours in the Italian time zone, excluding Italian holidays. The cap on support tickets means it is better suited to teams expecting occasional assistance than frequent support needs.
Partner: For more than 20 active subscriptions, with unlimited units. This is aimed at partners operating at larger scale.
Partner +20 active subscriptions: Billed as a yearly partnership fee, with 20+ active subscriptions and unlimited support tickets; contact sales. Its support allowance suits partners for whom two tickets a year would be restrictive.

The 30-day trial activates the Business plan, but commercial support cannot be requested during the trial and services with additional fees are excluded. Buyers should not treat the trial as a way to test the support response commitment.

Platforms

NethSecurity supports Linux, self-hosted and web environments, with a hybrid deployment model. The x86-64 requirement and two-Ethernet-card minimum are more consequential than the broad platform labels: this is for compatible network hardware, not a universal endpoint install.

Who it's for

NethSecurity fits small and medium-sized businesses that want firewalling, VPN, traffic management and intrusion prevention under one self-managed system. It is especially relevant when multi-WAN balancing, site-to-site VPN or DPI-based visibility matters. It is less suitable for organizations that need ARM support, subscription-free cloud backup, or Controller registration for more than three community firewalls.

Pros and cons

Pro: Firewall, multi-WAN, traffic shaping, content filtering, DPI, intrusion prevention and three VPN options bring substantial network controls together.
Pro: The Community plan permits up to three firewalls in the Controller without a subscription, giving smaller deployments a route to remote management.
Con: Controller registration without a subscription stops at three community firewalls, and subscribed-firewall registration requires a valid subscription.
Con: Nightly cloud backup is subscription-only, so the free deployment does not get that recovery convenience.
Con: x86-64 and two Ethernet cards are required, excluding other processor architectures and less-equipped hardware.
Con: Business includes only two support tickets per year, while trial users cannot request commercial support.

Alternatives

For broader comparisons, browse Network Firewall Software.

Choose pfSense if a free, open-source firewall and router software option is the priority; its Community Edition is free, while Plus has no listed price. Arista NG Firewall is worth considering for a web-based option with a free tier offering basic security and connectivity features with limited capabilities.

IPFire is a free open-source firewall operating system with no feature tiers or licence renewals, making it an alternative for readers who want to avoid renewing a licence. OPNsense offers a free Community Edition as well as paid Business Edition options. Sangfor EasyConnect is a paid option spanning Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows.

Zscaler Private Access is a paid option with a Standard tier described as limited private access for 5% of users. Cato SASE Platform uses pricing by request and invites buyers to contact sales for a tailored discussion. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Secret Management is a free API and web option for secret management rather than a like-for-like firewall alternative.

Verdict

Choose NethSecurity if your business wants an open-source, self-managed firewall platform that also handles VPN, multi-WAN traffic and threat controls. Its strongest case is the breadth of network functions in one system; look elsewhere if your hardware is not x86-64, or if you need cloud backups and scalable Controller management without a subscription.

	IPFire	NethSecurity
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Linux, self-hosted, Web	Linux, self-hosted, Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Deployment model	hybrid	hybrid
Intrusion prevention	Yes	Yes
SSL inspection	No	—
Site-to-site VPN	Yes	Yes

IPFire vs NethSecurity

IPFire

NethSecurity