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Cybersecurity · head to head

McAfee Total Protection vs OPNsense

McAfee Total Protection logo

McAfee Total Protection

Cybersecurity

Award-winning antivirus trusted by millions

From
$29.99/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OPNsense logo

OPNsense

Networking

FreeBSD-based firewall and routing platform with weekly updates and a full configuration API

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only OPNsense has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: McAfee Total Protection significant renewal price increase after first year (from $29.99 to $84.99/year); OPNsense throughput depends entirely on hardware you selected yourself, and intrusion prevention at multi-gigabit rates will saturate a machine that handled plain firewalling fine, with no vendor sizing commitment to fall back on.
  • They diverge on capability: McAfee Total Protection covers Real-time antivirus, OPNsense covers Stateful firewall on pf.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which McAfee Total Protection and OPNsense actually diverge.

Attributes where McAfee Total Protection and OPNsense differ
AttributeMcAfee Total ProtectionOPNsense
Starting price$29.99/yearFree
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, macOS, iOS, Androidx86-64 appliances, Virtual machines, Deciso hardware
CategoryCybersecurityNetworking
Founded1987Unknown

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 McAfee Total Protection

  • Real-time antivirus
  • Firewall
  • Safe browsing
  • Password manager
  • Secure VPN
  • Identity monitoring
  • Protection Score
  • Parental controls

Only in OPNsense

  • Stateful firewall on pf
  • VPN suite
  • Suricata IDS and IPS
  • Full configuration API
  • High availability
  • Weekly update cadence

What people use each for

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

McAfee Total Protection

  • Antivirusnot OPNsense
  • Internet Securitynot OPNsense
  • Identity Protectionnot OPNsense

OPNsense

  • Replacing a small business firewall appliance whose renewal quote exceeded the cost of the hardwarenot McAfee Total Protection
  • Branch offices where the firewall configuration must be produced by Ansible rather than by handnot McAfee Total Protection
  • Sites that need WireGuard and intrusion prevention on the same box without separate feature licencesnot McAfee Total Protection
  • A homelab or lab network needing VLAN routing, multi-WAN and DNS filtering on one machinenot McAfee Total Protection

Where each one falls short

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

McAfee Total Protection

  • Significant renewal price increase after first year (from $29.99 to $84.99/year)
  • Customer support responsiveness issues reported as reason for switching
  • Renewal billing can be aggressive with auto-renewal defaults

OPNsense

  • Throughput depends entirely on hardware you selected yourself, and intrusion prevention at multi-gigabit rates will saturate a machine that handled plain firewalling fine, with no vendor sizing commitment to fall back on.
  • The weekly update cadence is good for security but means more change events than a team used to annual appliance firmware, and occasional regressions reach production installations.
  • FreeBSD underneath limits driver support compared with Linux, so recent network cards and some virtualisation drivers can be unsupported or slow.
  • The plugin ecosystem is uneven in quality; some plugins are maintained by a single contributor and can lag a major release, breaking a function you depended on.
  • Community support is a forum, so an outage at two in the morning on the free edition is your problem alone unless you bought the business subscription in advance.

Pricing, plan by plan

McAfee Total Protection

$29.99/year
  • Basic$29.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • 1 device
  • Plus$39.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • 5 devices
  • Premium$49.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • VPN
  • Advanced$74.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • VPN

OPNsense

Free
  • OPNsense Community EditionFree
    • MIT licence with no feature restrictions
    • All VPN, IDS and HA features included
    • Weekly updates and two major releases a year
  • OPNsense Business Edition$undefined/year
    • Stabilised update track lagging community releases
    • Commercial support from Deciso
    • Additional enterprise plugins and configuration backup

Which should you pick?

Choose McAfee Total Protection if

  • You need real-time antivirus.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
  • You also want firewall.
McAfee Total Protection review

Choose OPNsense if

  • You need stateful firewall on pf.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on x86-64 appliances, Virtual machines, Deciso hardware.
  • You also want vpn suite.
OPNsense review

Questions people ask

Is McAfee Total Protection or OPNsense better?
Neither clearly leads. McAfee Total Protection starts at $29.99/year and OPNsense at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, McAfee Total Protection or OPNsense?
OPNsense has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.99/year for McAfee Total Protection and Free for OPNsense.
Does McAfee Total Protection or OPNsense run on more platforms?
McAfee Total Protection runs on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. OPNsense runs on x86-64 appliances, Virtual machines, Deciso hardware.
Can I use OPNsense for free?
Yes. OPNsense has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. McAfee Total Protection starts at $29.99/year.
What is McAfee Total Protection best used for?
McAfee Total Protection is most often used for antivirus, internet security, identity protection. Of those, antivirus and internet security are not what OPNsense is typically brought in for.
What can McAfee Total Protection do that OPNsense cannot?
McAfee Total Protection covers Real-time antivirus, Firewall, Safe browsing, Password manager. OPNsense covers Stateful firewall on pf, VPN suite, Suricata IDS and IPS, Full configuration API.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

McAfee Total Protection: How much does McAfee Total Protection cost?

McAfee Total Protection introductory pricing ranges from $29.99/year (Basic) to $74.99/year (Advanced), but renewal costs jump to $84.99/year after the first year.

Source
OPNsense: How is it different from pfSense?

It is a 2015 fork with an MIT licence, a fixed weekly release cadence, a complete configuration API and a different interface. Feature coverage is comparable; the release process and API are the real differences.

McAfee Total Protection: What is the trial period for McAfee Total Protection?

McAfee offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to try the service risk-free for two months.

Source
OPNsense: Do I need the Business Edition?

Only if you want commercial support or a slower, stabilised update stream. No features are withheld from the community edition.

McAfee Total Protection: How many devices can I protect with one McAfee Total Protection subscription?

Device coverage varies by plan: Basic covers 1 device, while other plans protect 5 to unlimited devices depending on the tier selected.

Source
OPNsense: Can it handle a gigabit internet connection?

Plain firewalling on modest current hardware, comfortably. With Suricata inspection enabled, expect to need a considerably stronger CPU.

McAfee Total Protection: Does McAfee Total Protection include VPN?

VPN is included in higher-tier McAfee plans if you opt for auto-renewal.

Source
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