What are the best software firewalls

Firewall software platforms come in all shapes and sizes depending on how many desktops you want to protect and the specific use cases. Here are five must-haves to check for:. Apart from this, it is helpful to have bundled-in capabilities so that you can manage your entire desktop security processes from a single platform.

While not a must-have, this is an approach that several industry leaders like Avast, Comodo, and McAfee have opted for — to deliver a stronger value proposition. Also Read: What Is a Firewall? Definition, Key Components, and Best Practices. Internet-based cyber risks are rising, with web-based attacks growing by 8x times between the first half of and the same period in So, even if your desktop comes with a built-in firewall solution, it is a good idea to add dedicated firewall software for extra protection.

Here are our top 10 recommendations for firewall platforms in , arranged in alphabetical order. This list includes software-only products that can be used as standalone solutions without deploying a hardware appliance. Disclaimer: This listing is based on publicly available information and includes information from vendor websites that sell to mid-to-large enterprises.

Readers are advised to conduct their own final research to ensure the best fit for their unique organizational needs. Overview : Avast needs no introduction in the cybersecurity world. The company is known for its surprisingly strong free antivirus and its premium offering packs in an effective desktop firewall software.

Key features : Avast Premium Security has the following core functionalities:. In addition to a robust firewall, it also offers antivirus, anti-malware, secure VPN, and privacy capabilities for an end-to-end superior browsing experience.

Editorial comments: For power users relying on their home offices and personal device ecosystems, Avast Premium Security could be your go-to solution. Its application-specific firewall settings give you complete control over app usage while staying compliant with security policies. Pricing : Avast Premium Security is differently priced based on location. In the U. Overview : Comodo Internet Security rings business-grade security measures — like zero-trust device access and threat sandboxing — to your desktop.

It is a competitively priced firewall software with a host of additional security capabilities, designed for end-to-end protection from internet-based attacks. Key features : You can expect the following features with Comodo Internet Security:. Not only is the firewall feature fully configurable, but it also sandboxes threats immediately if at all they are let in. Editorial comments: Comodo offers protection from the most common attack tactics prevalent today, including spyware, rootkits, remotely installed bots, malware , and zero-day threats.

These, together with its firewall module, make it a one-stop solution for those who need to protect desktops. Overview : Founded in , GlassWire is a relatively young company, but its firewall has become quite popular. It protects up to 10 desktops in a single license and gives you all the necessary tools to manage and secure your network activity.

USP: Unlike most other firewall software for desktops, GlassWire does not come with a pre-bundled antivirus. This is a good thing, as it allows the company to focus squarely on firewall capabilities — for instance, evil twin detection in case new Wi-Fi hardware appears nearby with the same network name. Editorial comments: GlassWire is an excellent on-device firewall software for small businesses with desktops in a single environment.

Overview : McAfee is another cybersecurity veteran that is globally recognized for its desktop offerings. You can set up basic automations to respond to security events, or you could simply view a firewall alert and take action.

You can even get down to a granular level and customize which security vulnerabilities your firewall should report. Overview : Smoothwall is commonly known for maintaining the SmoothWall opensource project, a Linux-based firewall software.

It also has a packaged firewall software solution for organizations that can be deployed in conjunction with its web-filtering tool, Smoothwall Filter. USP: Smoothwall combines network bandwidth management, firewall-based protection, and gateway anti-malware to create an end-to-end desktop security solution.

The software can also prevent and detect intrusion while integrating with services like Microsoft Active Directory for identity-based access privileges. Editorial comments: Smoothwall targets U. Pricing: Smoothwall Firewall follows custom pricing based on the number of devices you want to cover.

Overview : Sophos Home Premium is the desktop firewall software from the world-leading cybersecurity provider, Sophos. Besides the firewall, it protects you from malware , privacy invasions, ransomware, virus, and other threats. Sophos Home Premium is powered by AI to detect zero-day attacks accurately.

Key features : Sophos Home Premium offers the following:. It evaluates all files before they can run on your desktop, adding another layer of protection against risks that might have bypassed your firewall system. Editorial comments: Sophos Home Premium is a reliable choice, doubling up for both work and personal device protection. Its AI-based threat management capabilities are among the best in its segment.

You could also consider Sophos XG home use firewall, an all-in-one software package that needs to reside in its own hardware shell with at least 6GB of RAM. It is a lightweight firewall software that gets the job done. USP : TinyWall is very lightweight and functions as a firewall — and a firewall only. Antivirus software and desktop-based cybersecurity solutions are known for being bulky and resource-intensive, slowing down your system.

TinyWall is a great alternative, ensuring that all your essential firewall features are present in a neat package. It does not install drivers or kernel components to modify your desktop configurations in any way, making the user experience seamless.

Overview : Untangle targets independent power users and small businesses, offering various essential cybersecurity products that defend against internet threats. The company has a command center for managing organizational networks, a software-defined router offering, and a comprehensive firewall solution. They only have the basic settings. But that is not the case with Windows Firewall. It is a very competent program. However, if you want something with a more user-friendly interface then you need to look at the third-party firewall software.

Comodo Free Firewall is known for providing a strong multi-layer protection for Windows PCs against all kinds of threats. Even if you are happy with Windows Firewall, you can use Comodo only for the additional tools that it provides along with the main firewall component such as Sandbox, HIPS, File Rating, etc. Another nice feature is the password protection that protects Comodo and its settings from malicious programs that try to disable the security software installed the computer.

Four themes are available that you can use to customize Comodo. It does include some third-party services in its installer that make changes to the default configurations of your web browsers. Make sure you clear those checkboxes while installing Comodo. ZoneAlarm Free Firewall is the oldest, the most popular, and the most downloaded free firewall software available for Windows. ZoneAlarm protects your computer against threats by using their technologies in the following three sections — Firewall, Application Control, and Identity and Data.

The Firewall section handles the inbound protection of your computer or the traffic coming from the Internet to your computer. It filters the traffic automatically to protect your computer from system invasions and hacker attacks.

The Application Control section handles the outbound protection of your computer or the connections made from programs on your computer to the Internet.

ZoneAlarm automatically manages this section. However, you can create your own rules and policies as well. ZoneAlarm uses their two technologies called Network firewall and DefenseNet to make feature this work.

Another feature called Trusted Sites lets you manually add websites that you consider safe, and do not want ZoneAlarm to block.

During installation, it tries to set Yahoo as the default search, homepage, and new tab page of your web browsers. Occasionally, you see ads of their paid products. Evorim Free Firewall is a lightweight and full-featured firewall software that can also work alongside the Windows Defender Firewall to provide you with a much better protection from harmful programs and malicious websites.

Evorim imports all of the installed processes and services on your computer, and then categories them into various groups such as Active and Inactive. The Windows system unlike Mac is heavily prone to continuous online threats. Although the Windows systems come with an in-built firewall, yet when it comes to dealing with the constant online cyber attacks by viruses, Trojans, hackers, and a dozen other malware threats , the in-built Windows firewall is not sufficient to guard the system for long.

Making up your mind to pick the best firewall software can be a painstaking task. Hence we have thoroughly researched and come up with some truly effective firewall software in this blog for personal use. But let us first know what a firewall program is and how is it different from an antivirus solution? The best firewall software can be imagined like a physical fire barrier protecting a private network from unauthorized access.

The internet is a hub of malicious programs. As soon as a Windows machine gets connected to the internet or LAN, it immediately becomes vulnerable to millions of malicious programs and cyber exploiters lurking in the cyber space just in a matter of a few seconds or minutes. When a firewall system checks a data and finds it to be in compliance with the rules of data packets, only then it approves those data packets to travel through, otherwise it rejects them.

These are used primarily by bigger organizations, businesses, enterprises, government facilities, etc. It is the software form of firewall installed on a device for information traffic monitoring of that particular device. These are meant for home-based use at a personal level.

Now let us understand how each of the below-mentioned client-based firewall software for Windows function and what are their distinctive attributes.

GlassWire is the best firewall software that has several features to give it a unique shape. How much bandwidth is being used every minute is clearly visible with this free firewall app. Visual network monitoring feature monitors your network like no other. You can always check upon the apps when they accessed your internet, so that you can keep an eye on it.

ZoneAlarm is an absolutely free firewall software and is essential for safeguarding the identity of your personal computer and even your own identity.

This tool is capable of protecting you from every sort of virus, spyware, Trojan horses, worms, robotic invasions and also other malicious threats. Internet attacks could be frequent and often might serve your purpose of risk free browsing through smart features.

With SolarWinds you can continuously monitor the system to keep a track of your firewall activities. Intrusion activities like port scans can be prevented using this app. This best free Windows firewall software is laden with plenty of useful features like real-time event-correlation feature to track and trace suspicious activities and much more. Comodo Firewall is a good replacement of the Windows in-built firewall system and has a very modern interface and is quite navigation friendly.

This is not just an effective firewall software for Windows 10 but much more than that because it includes a host of features like a virtual kiosk, custom DNS servers, ad blocker, and so on. Well, here is the best firewall software recommended for Windows 10 users. This will protect your device from the different types of threats available online. It helps block your ports from hackers by putting them on the stealth mode and prevents the infectious agents from transferring your data through the internet.

It also offers Wi-Fi protection, providing you alerts in real-time if the tool senses something has gone wrong in the system. LAN is completely under the control of TinyWall and your files are completely protected all the time by this tool.

Net Defender is another free firewall program that has again a huge number of features that make the software user friendly. The settings options are simple to use and the tool is perfect for newcomers into this cyber world.

Pop ups are annoying and they can be rendered non- functional with the use of this app. It blocks FTP connections and port scanners. It can prevent spoofing by ARP and other methods of manipulation used for connecting devices. Open DNS is a strong and free Windows 10 firewall. There are quite a lot of features that make Open DNS distinctive from the others.

The interface is extremely simple and straightforward.