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Safing Portmaster is a free next-generation firewalls tool by Safing. Intego NetBarrier is a commercial next-generation firewalls tool by Intego. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best next-generation firewalls fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, company size fit, deployment model, here is our conclusion:
Startups and individual security practitioners who need granular per-application network control without licensing friction should use Safing Portmaster; it's free, open-source, and runs locally so you own the ruleset and logs. The tool covers NIST DE.CM continuous monitoring of network anomalies and PR.IR infrastructure resilience through application-level firewall rules, kill switch, and encrypted DNS, giving you visibility most OS firewalls skip. Skip this if your team expects vendor support, cloud-native orchestration, or centralized policy management across dozens of endpoints; Portmaster is single-machine focused and backed by a two-person team in Austria.
Mac-first IT teams and security-conscious SMBs need Intego NetBarrier because it's the only two-way firewall built for macOS that actually blocks outbound connections without requiring constant rule tuning. The tool covers NIST PR.IR for infrastructure resilience through location-aware firewall enforcement, meaning your policies travel with the device. Skip this if your organization runs primarily Windows or needs cross-platform endpoint detection; NetBarrier is firewall-only and won't replace your EDR.
An open-source application firewall that monitors network traffic with custom rules
Two-way firewall for Mac providing inbound and outbound network protection.
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Common questions about comparing Safing Portmaster vs Intego NetBarrier for your next-generation firewalls needs.
Safing Portmaster: An open-source application firewall that monitors network traffic with custom rules. built by Safing. headquartered in Austria. Core capabilities include Firewall, Privacy Network, Content Filtering..
Intego NetBarrier: Two-way firewall for Mac providing inbound and outbound network protection. built by Intego. headquartered in United States. Core capabilities include Two-way firewall protection (inbound and outbound), Location-aware automatic firewall settings, Custom rules and settings configuration..
Both serve the Next-Generation Firewalls market but differ in approach, feature depth, and target audience.
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