3 Best Free GlassWire Alternatives [TESTED in 2024]
Quick Summary: While I stand behind all the alternatives below, pfSense outperformed them all. However, it’s not as secure as GlassWire. That being said, the open-source firewall has some solid features that prevent unauthorized users from attacking your computer.
GlassWire is a powerful firewall that will increase your online security, monitor your bandwidth usage, and improve online privacy. It constantly runs in the background, scanning for breaches, viruses, changes in the DNS, and ARP spoofing. The software sends instant alerts when it detects questionable behavior.
The only complaint I have with GlassWire is that the free plan blocks most of the advanced features. I wanted to see if reliable free firewall platforms with premium features exist.
Of all the free firewall software I downloaded and tested, only three were acceptable. The others slowed down my computer, didn’t have the features I needed, or were not user-friendly. My top choice is pfSense, a popular open-source option with a solid set of features. In addition to the firewall, it includes a WireGuard VPN, speed management, and fault tolerance.
Quick Guide: 3 Free GlassWire Alternatives in 2024
- pfSense: User-friendly platform with customizable settings, segments traffic for extra protection, but doesn’t allow for multiple profiles.
- ZoneAlarm: Prevent unauthorized access to your network and adjust the device privacy settings, but security settings are very sensitive, resulting in too many alerts.
- TinyWall: Run a scan with the auto-learn feature so it understands which programs can be added to a safe list, but the browser often blocks the app download.
What I Look for in a Free GlassWire Alternative
GlassWire is by far the best firewall that I’ve used for my PC. It has a robust collection of features that give me peace of mind knowing that my network is secure. Therefore, when looking for an alternative, I need to find a program that will block hackers from stealing my data. Here are some of the criteria I needed to add a firewall to my recommended list.
- Ease of Use: Firewalls are managed through a complex interface, but I’m looking for something as easy as GlassWire. I don’t want to read manuals and worry that I didn’t activate the right protection or that I blocked websites that I need from opening.
- Complete Protection: The firewall needs to have powerful security that blocks all types of intrusions, prevents malicious websites from opening, and secures my data but doesn’t slow down my operating system.
- Real Time Alerts: I tried too many firewalls that didn’t notifiy me of any issues unless I checked the dashboard. I want to get alerts when someone is attacking my network so that I can take the proper action
- Run by Itself: Once I customize my firewall settings, I don’t want to open the software again, except for rare occasions when I have to grant a website or app permission to run. A program that requires frequent changes or updates is too high-maintenance for me.
- Free: The only reason to switch from a powerful firewall that works well is to save a few dollars. If the software isn’t free, I may as well stay with GlassWire.
3 Best Free GlassWire Alternatives with Similar Features
1. pfSense: Open-Source Software with Multi-WAN Capability
- Visual graphics for displaying bandwidth usage
- Compatible with plugins to extend capabilities
- Built-in VPN for an added layer of security
- GeoIP Blocking can restrict web traffic from specific countries
pfSense is easy to set up on a PC, and it’s compatible with most computers. The default settings allow all outgoing traffic from IPv4 and IPv6 sites, and it restricts all incoming traffic. You can adjust the rules and create rules by enabling the options in the settings menu.
It also comes with preconfigured rules for NAT (Network Address Translation) built specifically for local networks. However, if you’re running a web server from your network, you will need to open the Port Forwarding tab and change the settings.
pfSense has a good anti-spoofing feature. It can recognize and block packets that have fake IP addresses, thereby increasing your security. GeoIP Blocking is a useful feature if you run a website and you don’t want to waste bandwidth on traffic from regions where you don’t offer service.
One feature that I like about GlassWire that I don’t see with pfSense are customizable IoT rules. You can’t easily monitor which devices connect to your network, limit the bandwidth, or block specific devices from accessing the internet.
As an open-source platform, pfSense is highly secure since anyone can inspect and adjust the source code. This makes it nearly impossible to hide malicious code that can create a vulnerability for hackers to penetrate your network.
2. ZoneAlarm: Protecting from Inbound and Outbound Attacks
- Customize protection level from Auto Learn to Max Security
- Hide your personal data from hackers
- Prevents identity theft and alerts you to changes in your credit report
- Comes with 5GB of free cloud backup
When you set up ZoneAlarm, you can choose between the Auto Learn and Max Security settings. The Auto Learn option is the default setting, and it’s recommended that you use it for the first three weeks after installing the firewall. It uses this time to learn which programs you use and marks them as safe.
Once ZoneAlarm learns about your preferences, a notification will appear asking if you want to increase the protection to Max Security. It will increase the protection, although the downside is that you’ll receive a lot more alerts, many of which aren’t dangerous or relevant.
Some of the other features included with ZoneAlarm are an automatic file lock, which prevents any malicious or unauthorized changes. You can also turn on Game Mode to automate notifications so you can focus on your gaming. ZoneAlarm can password protect your computer privacy and security settings, preventing anyone else from making any changes.
GlassWire is much easier to set up and manage than ZoneAlarms, although both firewalls have similar features.
3. TinyWall: Create Exceptions to Auto Learn Rules
- Scans applications to create a safe list
- See all active connections in the dashboard
- Blocks known viruses, Trojans, and malware
The lightweight TinyWall firewall provides reliable protection for your network. When you first install it on your computer, it runs a comprehensive scan of your device so you can add all your programs to a safe list. There is also the option to manually add programs, processes, files, and applications to this list. You can customize this list to allow the programs to have permanent access or be restricted to specific hours or days.
It has an Auto Learn mode, where it learns which programs you use, so you won’t have to worry about them being blocked. After a few days, you can switch to the regular protection mode, which provides a higher level of protection. One nice thing about TinyWall is that even with the stricter protections, there aren’t too many distracting notifications.
If you notice your bandwidth is being used up quickly or your internet speeds are not as fast as it usually is, check the Connection monitor. This gives you a list of all the connected devices, and you can immediately terminate their connections if it’s a device you don’t recognize. TinyWall gives you the option to send any connected device straight to VirusTotal to instantly scan it and make sure it isn’t a virus.
GlassWire excels at protecting the network from exploit attacks, a feature that, unfortunately, TinyWall is lacking. However, it does protect from known viruses but you will need to create exceptions for some web-enabled programs, which get annoying after a while.
