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Government · head to head

Bonfire vs WireGuard

Bonfire logo

Bonfire

Government

Public sector sourcing and bid evaluation software with scored, auditable award decisions

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
WireGuard logo

WireGuard

Cybersecurity

Modern, minimal-complexity VPN protocol with state-of-the-art cryptography

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only WireGuard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Bonfire it is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.; WireGuard manual key management required; WireGuard does not provide automated peer discovery or key distribution mechanisms
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonfire and WireGuard actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonfire and WireGuard differ
AttributeBonfireWireGuard
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bonfire

  • Solicitation posting
  • Sealed submission intake
  • Scored evaluation workspace
  • Audit trail
  • Supplier portal
  • Requirement matrices

Only in WireGuard

Nothing recorded that Bonfire does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bonfire

  • An agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation recordnot WireGuard
  • A procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and emailnot WireGuard
  • A university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement systemnot WireGuard
  • An agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing listnot WireGuard

WireGuard

  • Site-to-site VPN connectivity for datacentres and branch officesnot Bonfire
  • High-performance VPN applications requiring minimal latency and CPU overheadnot Bonfire
  • Embedded systems and IoT devices with strict memory and storage constraintsnot Bonfire
  • WireGuard-based managed services (Tailscale, Mullvad VPN) providing abstraction over raw protocolnot Bonfire
  • Kernel module for Linux-based VPN appliances and firewallsnot Bonfire
  • Research and development in cryptographic protocol designnot Bonfire

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bonfire

  • It is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.
  • Since the acquisition path from GTY to GI Partners to Euna Solutions, Bonfire sits in a portfolio alongside products it once competed with, which narrows a shortlist that appears independent.
  • Suppliers must register on the portal to bid, and small local vendors reliably complain about the extra account, which can reduce responses on low value solicitations.
  • Pricing is quoted rather than published and scales with solicitation volume, so an agency with a few very large procurements pays a model designed around throughput.
  • Contract management after award is thin compared with dedicated contract lifecycle products, so agencies often buy a second system for the obligations the award created.

WireGuard

  • Manual key management required; WireGuard does not provide automated peer discovery or key distribution mechanisms
  • No built-in support for address allocation or DHCP; all IP assignments must be manually configured
  • Limited to UDP; TCP encapsulation requires wrapper tools, making it unsuitable for environments blocking UDP
  • Stateless protocol design means lost packets trigger peer disconnection rather than transparent reconnection
  • Requires operational expertise to securely configure and deploy; not suitable for non-technical users without wrapper tools (Tailscale, Mullvad)

Pricing, plan by plan

Bonfire

On request
  • Bonfire$undefined/year
    • Quoted by agency size and annual solicitation volume
    • Supplier side registration is free, which is how the vendor network grows
    • Implementation and training quoted separately from subscription

WireGuard

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the WireGuard review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Bonfire if

  • You need solicitation posting.
  • You also want sealed submission intake.
Bonfire review

Choose WireGuard if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD.
WireGuard review

Questions people ask

Is Bonfire or WireGuard better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonfire starts at On request and WireGuard at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonfire or WireGuard?
WireGuard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Bonfire and Free for WireGuard.
Does Bonfire or WireGuard run on more platforms?
Bonfire runs on Web. WireGuard runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD.
Can I use WireGuard for free?
Yes. WireGuard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Bonfire starts at On request.
What is Bonfire best used for?
Bonfire is most often used for an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record, a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email, a university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement system, an agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing list. Of those, an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record and a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email are not what WireGuard is typically brought in for.
What can Bonfire do that WireGuard cannot?
Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, Sealed submission intake, Scored evaluation workspace, Audit trail.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bonfire: Who owns Bonfire?

Euna Solutions. Bonfire was acquired by GTY Technology in 2019, GTY was taken private by GI Partners in 2022, and the portfolio was rebranded Euna Solutions in 2023.

WireGuard: Is WireGuard free?

Yes, WireGuard is free and open-source software. The Linux kernel module is licensed under GPLv2; implementations for other platforms use MIT or Apache 2.0 licences. There are no licensing fees.

Source
Bonfire: Is it full procure to pay?

No. It covers sourcing and evaluation through award. Purchase orders and invoicing remain in the finance system.

WireGuard: How does WireGuard differ from IPsec and OpenVPN?

WireGuard replaces complex negotiation protocols and state machines with simple public-key cryptography. Its code is roughly 100 times smaller than IPsec, making it faster to audit, deploy, and maintain. It uses modern cryptographic primitives rather than legacy algorithms.

Source
Bonfire: What is the real value?

A defensible, time stamped evaluation record when an award is protested, which is the expensive failure mode in public procurement.

WireGuard: Can I use WireGuard for a commercial VPN service?

Yes. Several commercial VPN services (Mullvad, IVPN, ProtonVPN) use WireGuard as their underlying protocol. You must implement peer management, key distribution, and endpoint selection on top of the WireGuard protocol.

Source
Bonfire: Can we see what other agencies pay?

Yes. These contracts are public records. Read several comparable awards before negotiating.

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