This is a list of router and firewall distributions, which are operating systems designed for use as routers and/or firewalls.
Name Status Type Architecture Min hardware requirements License Cost Description Alpine Linux Linux distribution x86, x86-64, ARM Open source Runs from RAM drive. Original target was small appliances like routers, VPN gateways, or embedded x86 devices. Supports hosting other Linux guest OSes, under LXC control. Uses Busybox and musl. ClearOS Red Hat Enterprise Linux derivative x86, x86-64 GPL and others Free or paid registration Router and firewall for SMBs with network, gateway and server modules accessed via WebConfig. Paid registration for extra online services available, but unneeded to operate product. Cumulus Linux Debian derivative Free with registration, or paid subscription. Open source networking operating system for bare metal switches. DD-WRT Linux distribution MIPS, x86, ARM Free or paid registration for x86 Is embedded firmware, available for variety of wireless routers. Endian Firewall Linux distribution x86-64 Free (PC) or hardware version UTM distribution with routing, firewall, anti-spam and anti-virus for web, FTP and e-mail, OpenVPN, IPsec, captive portal functions, and captive portal (missing in community version). Endian Firewall Community (EFW) is a complete version for x86. The anti-virus for EFW is Sophos or ClamAV. The intrusion protection is Snort. fli4l Linux distribution x86, x86-64 GPL (Free software) Router project supporting a large set of layer-1 technologies (e.g., Ethernet LAN, Wireless LAN, ISDN, DSL, UMTS), layer-3 protocols and functions (IPv4, IPv6, stateful packet filter), and various network-related functions (e.g., Bridging, Bonding, VLANs; DNS, DHCPv4, DHCPv6, IPv6 RA; PPP (client+server), PPTP (client+server), Multilink PPP, OpenVPN, 6in4 tunneling; support for various DynDNS clients, NTP time synchronization). Easily extendable via many added packages. floppyfw Linux distribution x86 Single-floppy router with advanced Linux firewall abilities. FRRouting GPL2 Free Range Routing or FRRouting or FRR is a network routing software suite running on Unix-like platforms, particularly Linux, Solaris, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and NetBSD. Gargoyle Linux distribution MIPS, x86-64 Free OpenWrt-based, for a range of Broadcom and Atheros chipset based wireless routers. Global Technology Associates, Inc. FreeBSD derivative x86 Free (limited functions) or paid GB-OS firewall and UTM appliance. IPFire Linux distribution x86, x86-64, ARM RAM : 1 GBStorage : 4 GB GPLv3 Hardened, open source, mainly performs as router and firewall; a standalone firewall system with a web-based management console for configuring. Kerio Control Linux x86-64 Proprietary Paid hardware or virtual appliance For router, firewall. LEAF Project Linux distribution x86 GPLv2, MIT linux Embedded Appliance Framework; a customizable embedded Linux network appliance used as an Internet gateway, router, firewall, and wireless access point.LibreCMC Linux-libreMIPSGPLv2 Linux-libre distribution for computers with minimal resources, such as the Ben NanoNote, ath9k-based Wi-Fi routers, and other hardware with emphasis on free software. Based on OpenWrt, the project's goal is to aim for compliance with the GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines (GNU FSDG) and ensure that the project continues to meet these requirements set forth by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). LibreCMC does not support ac (Wi-Fi 5) or ax (Wi-Fi 6) due to a lack of free chipsets. m0n0wall FreeBSD derivative x86 Development ended 2015-02-15. Small web-administrative router/firewall/VPN (IPsec/PPTP only; no OpenVPN) distribution. m0n0wall was forked to smallwall.org shortly after Manuel Kasper announced end of development for m0n0wall. Openwall Linux x86, x86-64 GNU/*/Linux (or Owl for short) is a small security-enhanced Linux distribution for servers, appliances, and virtual appliances. Effectively at end of life. OpenWrt Linux x86, x86-64, MIPS, ARM, PowerPC, AVR32, CRIS, m68k, SPARC, SuperH, Ubicom32, etc. GPL V2 Linux distribution with a focus on CPE-routers and similar embedded devices. Its comprehensive build system is based on a heavily modified uClibc#Buildroot and suitable for embedded systems in general. OPNsense FreeBSD derivative, fork of pfSense x86-64 FreeBSD License Free or paid Forward caching proxy, traffic shaping, intrusion detection, two-factor authentication, IPsec and OpenVPN pfSense FreeBSD derivative, fork of m0n0wall x86-64, ARM Closed & Open source licenses Free as PfSense CE or paid on Netgate Devices as PfSense Plus Customized distribution tailored for use as a firewall, router, DHCP server, gateway, OpenVPN, IPsec, proxy and anti-virus (Snort). Smoothwall Linux distribution x86 Closed & Open source licenses Free or paid Router/firewall distribution with a web interface and light terminal. Sophos Linux derivative x86-64 Free, Paid or hardware/virtual appliance UTM - offers free home use for up to 50 clients. Provides HTTP/S web filtering, spam filtering, antivirus (web and email), VPN (PPTP and a HTML5 agentless VPN) and Point-to-point links between UTM and other devices via IPSec and SSL-VPN. Formerly Astaro Security Gateway. Tomato Firmware Linux distribution Broadcom only: MIPS, ARM GPL V3 Free HyperWRT-based, Linux core firmware distribution for many Broadcom-based wireless routers, originally Linksys WRT54G. Ported to ARM-based consumer routers. Now active under the FreshTomato Fork Vyatta Linux distribution x86, x86-64 Paid Enterprise-class router, firewall, VPN, intrusion protection and more delivered as a complete network operating system that runs on x86 hardware or in XenServer, VMware or Hyper-V to provide vFirewall, vRouter network virtualizing functions. VyOS Linux distribution x86, x86-64 RAM : 512MBStorage : 2GB(recommended) GPL v2 Free "snapshot" builds or self-compiled. Stable builds require subscription Based on Vyatta. After Brocade ended development of Vyatta CE (free edition) in favor of the subscription edition, this project aims to keep open source development going. But has changed to paid subscription model too. Windows RRAS Windows add-in feature x86, x86-64 Requires prerequisite Windows OS license Windows Routing and Remote Access Service is a feature that can be installed on Windows (mainly server) operating systems, and can perform routing functions, NAT, and implement firewall rules. Zentyal (formerly eBox Platform) Ubuntu derivative x86, x86-64 Open source Free with paid services available An open-source router, firewall, and small business server. Zeroshell Linux distribution x86, ARM GPL V2 Free (contribution required for some graphing functions) Web-administrative router/firewall live CD with QoS features. Can be Wi-Fi access point with advanced features such as the multiple SSID and 802.1x RADIUS authentication; supports VLAN trunking (802.1q), bridging, WAN load balancing, and fail-over features.
See also List of open-source routing platforms List of router firmware projects Comparison of router software projects
References