GlassWire Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 4 Free
GlassWire alternatives: Portmaster, simplewall, TinyWall, OpenSnitch and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•2 min read•Passwords, Privacy & Identity
Verdict:GlassWire's free plan keeps one day of bandwidth history, 24 hours of network history and one remote connection, and leaves out firewall features; Personal is $2.99 a month billed annually. Leave it if you want the firewall without paying, or if you do not like the history limits. Portmaster is the closest open-source match on Windows and Linux, with per-app control, filter lists and encrypted DNS, though its network history is part of the paid Plus plan at 40 EUR a year. Simplewall and TinyWall give free firewall control on Windows. Simplewall is for advanced users and TinyWall is simpler; TinyWall's license could not be confirmed. OpenSnitch is the Linux pick. NetLimiter is the option when you need to cap bandwidth per app, and its prices did not load for us. The trade-off is visibility. GlassWire's graphs show who used bandwidth and when, which is why people install it, and the free firewalls focus on blocking rather than reporting. Stay on the free GlassWire plan if you only want a current-day view. Switch if you want rules and filtering more than charts.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portmaster | Free (Free forever plan); paid from EUR 40 per year (Plus) | Windows, Linux | Free per-app firewall with DNS filtering | Docs only |
| simplewall | Free (free, open source) | Windows | Advanced users who want a small firewall | Docs only |
| TinyWall | Free (completely free, no ads or telemetry) | Windows | Hardening Windows without cost | Docs only |
| OpenSnitch | Free (free, open source) | Linux | Linux users who want per-app prompts | Docs only |
| NetLimiter | See pricing page | Windows | Per-app bandwidth limits on Windows | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free firewall with filter lists on Windows (Portmaster is the pick)
- You are an advanced user who likes small tools (simplewall is the pick)
- You want a simple free Windows firewall (TinyWall is the pick)
- You use Linux (OpenSnitch is the pick)
- You need per-app bandwidth limits (NetLimiter is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on GlassWire features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
GlassWire today: Free (Free plan: 1 day of bandwidth history, 24 hours of network history, 1 remote connection, no firewall features); paid from $2.99 per month, billed annually (Personal) (GlassWire pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for GlassWire alternatives
GlassWire's free plan keeps only one day of bandwidth history, 24 hours of network history and the current day's alert logs, and allows one remote connection. It has no firewall features. Premium is listed at $2.99 per month billed annually for a single license, and the pricing page offers license packs of up to 20 computers, so every extra PC adds to the bill.
Portmaster
Compared with GlassWire: GPL-3.0 application firewall for Windows and Linux with per-app settings, filter lists and DNS over TLS or HTTPS. Free forever; Plus is 40 EUR a year and adds network history and bandwidth visibility.
Price: Free (Free forever plan); paid from EUR 40 per year (Plus) (Portmaster pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, Linux. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 14k GitHub stars · latest release v2.2.3 (Aug 14, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Free per-app firewall with DNS filtering.
Worth knowing: Pro is 8 EUR per month or 80 EUR per year; paid tiers add network history and bandwidth visibility.
simplewall
Compared with GlassWire: GPL-3.0 tool that configures the Windows Filtering Platform. Free and light, but described as for advanced users, with none of GlassWire's graphs.
Price: Free (free, open source) (simplewall pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 9.2k GitHub stars · latest release v.3.8.7 (Aug 8, 2025) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Advanced users who want a small firewall.
Worth knowing: Configures Windows Filtering Platform; described as for advanced users.
TinyWall
Compared with GlassWire: Completely free Windows firewall with no ads, upgrades or telemetry, per its site. The license and source were not confirmed on the page, and it has no usage graphs.
Price: Free (completely free, no ads or telemetry) (TinyWall pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows. Not stated.
Best for: Hardening Windows without cost.
OpenSnitch
Compared with GlassWire: GPL-3.0 interactive outbound firewall for GNU/Linux only, with a GUI and nftables rules. Not an option on Windows, but it is the nearest to GlassWire's per-app prompts.
Price: Free (free, open source) (OpenSnitch pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Linux. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 14.2k GitHub stars · latest release v1.8.0 (Dec 15, 2025) · last commit Jul 26, 2026
Best for: Linux users who want per-app prompts.
Worth knowing: Interactive outbound firewall inspired by Little Snitch; GNU/Linux only.
NetLimiter
Compared with GlassWire: Paid, licensed per computer for one or two years, with prices that did not load on the page. Offers per-app bandwidth limits and monitoring that GlassWire's free plan lacks.
Price: See pricing page (NetLimiter pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows. Proprietary.
Best for: Per-app bandwidth limits on Windows.
Which one to pick
- You want a free firewall with filter lists on Windows: Portmaster
- You are an advanced user who likes small tools: simplewall
- You want a simple free Windows firewall: TinyWall
- You use Linux: OpenSnitch
- You need per-app bandwidth limits: NetLimiter
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Portmaster, simplewall, TinyWall, OpenSnitch, NetLimiter: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from GlassWire. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
Related guides
Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: GlassWire, Portmaster, simplewall, TinyWall, OpenSnitch, NetLimiter. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.