#16 of 18 firewall and router platforms · Updated October 2026
IPFire review 2026
IPFire · Dependable builder
IPFire ranks #16 of 18 firewall and router platforms in the Firewall and Router Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 48.1 out of 100. IPFire is a free zone-based firewall with inline Suricata IPS and a steady update rhythm, but no high availability, API or official hypervisor list.
Scores
Source: Firewall and Router Ledger 2026, edition 2026-10-16. How each score works: methodology.
Pros
No domain scores 4 or higher out of 5.
Cons
- High availability and performance1/5
- Management, API and automation2/5
- Routing and WAN2.5/5
What the Ledger says
IPFire earns its points in threat protection and the VPN set, where inline Suricata, the new DNS Firewall, WireGuard and a rebuilt OpenVPN give a small site more filtering than most free firewalls, and in buyer safety, because there is nothing to buy and nothing to export from except text files. The scores stop where the product stops: no failover, no API, no central management, dynamic routing only through a command-line add-on and no official statement on which hypervisors it supports. The sustainability risk sits in the middle because the project is twenty years old and ships every few weeks, yet depends on a handful of developers and one small company. A buyer should check IPv6 support against their needs before choosing it, because the research did not assess it and the firewall line is scored without it.
IPFire uses no AI in detection or operations and announces none. Without an API there is nothing for an agent to drive beyond SSH.
Capability by area
Buying, lock-in and release record
Buying and licence (commercial risk)(lower is better)
- Maintainer concentration3.5
- Six named core developers inside a 31-person team; one lead developer has carried the project since 2004
- Backer health3
- Sponsor donations and one small company, Lightning Wire Labs, that sells appliances and support; no foundation and no investors
- Licence-change risk1
- Open source without a single corporate owner; the licence name was not read from the project page
- Abandonment signs1
- Six Core Updates in 2026 and a project history since 2004
- Security response1.5
- Kernel and library fixes ship in regular Core Updates and no KEV entries exist; no central advisory page was found
Technical lock-in(lower is better)
- Formats1.5
- Plain text configuration under /var/ipfire and a backup archive
- Export path2
- Readable text configuration; no converter to other firewalls
- Stack coupling0.5
- Runs alone with any upstream and any switch
- Hardware / cloud coupling0.5
- Any x86-64 or aarch64 machine, fully offline
- Skills and tooling coupling2
- Own colour zone model and Pakfire package manager; general Linux skills transfer partly
Release credibility
- Cadence3.5
- A Core Update every one to two months with a testing release announced first (199 in January, 200 in March, 201 in April, 202 in May, 203 in July, 204 in October 2026); no published schedule
- Roadmap transparency3
- Release notes per update and blog posts that explain direction; a bug tracker exists; no written roadmap
- Say-do3
- Few promises on record; the DNS Firewall named as the next milestone in March 2026 shipped in the next update; the DBL blocklist GA status is unconfirmed
- Velocity3
- One or two substantive items per Core Update (WireGuard, DNS Firewall, Knot Resolver, Wi-Fi 7 AP) around kernel and library updates
- Lifecycle stability3
- Rolling model with one supported branch and in-place upgrades; the Unbound to Knot Resolver swap caused a regression fixed one update later
Partners and services
- Partner programme openness1.5
- No partner programme found; Lightning Wire Labs sells appliances and support
- Multi-tenancy and self-service0.5
- None
- API and infrastructure-as-code0.5
- No API, Terraform or Ansible content found
- Skills and certification1
- Documentation and community forum; no training or certification found
Alternatives to IPFire
Questions about IPFire
Is IPFire any good?
IPFire ranks #16 of 18 firewall and router platforms in the Firewall and Router Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 48.1 out of 100. Its weakest are high availability and performance, management, api and automation, routing and wan.
What are the best alternatives to IPFire?
The closest by Ledger Index are TNSR (48.6), Forcepoint NGFW (47.3), Arista NG Firewall (46.4), OpenWrt (51.8).
How is IPFire licensed and sold?
Six named core developers inside a 31-person team; one lead developer has carried the project since 2004.
How much lock-in does IPFire bring?
IPFire scores 6.5 out of 25 on technical lock-in (lower is better). Export path: Readable text configuration; no converter to other firewalls.
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