Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

FreeRadius VS PacketFence

Compare FreeRadius VS PacketFence and see what are their differences

FreeRadius logo FreeRadius

FreeRADIUS is responsible for authenticating one third of all users on the Internet.

PacketFence logo PacketFence

PacketFence is a Free and Open Source network access control (NAC) system.
  • FreeRadius Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-21
  • PacketFence Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-07

FreeRadius features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

PacketFence features and specs

  • Open Source
    PacketFence is open-source, which means it is free to use and allows users to customize and extend its features according to their needs.
  • Comprehensive NAC Features
    Provides a complete set of network access control (NAC) features including authentication, authorization, and compliance enforcement.
  • VLAN Management
    Supports dynamic VLAN assignment, which helps in managing network segments based on role, user, or device type.
  • Multi-factor Authentication
    Supports different authentication methods, including multi-factor authentication, enhancing network security.
  • BYOD Support
    Enables easy Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) implementation, allowing employees to connect their personal devices securely.
  • Scalability
    Scales well from small to large networks, accommodating a wide variety of deployment scenarios.
  • Community Support
    Has a strong community of users and contributors that provide support and regularly update the software.

Possible disadvantages of PacketFence

  • Complex Setup
    Can be complex to set up and configure, especially for users unfamiliar with network access control systems.
  • Limited Official Support
    While community support is strong, official support may not be as robust or available as with commercial solutions.
  • Resource Intensive
    Can be resource-intensive, requiring significant computational resources for optimal performance.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Users may face a steep learning curve due to the complexity and breadth of features offered by PacketFence.
  • Documentation
    Documentation may not always be comprehensive or up-to-date, making it harder for new users to find specific guidance.

FreeRadius videos

Radius Server - FreeRadius and Clients - Ubuntu Server 19.04

More videos:

  • Review - Radius Server - FreeRadius and Clients - CentOS 8

PacketFence videos

packetfence basic configuration

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to FreeRadius and PacketFence)
Identity Provider
45 45%
55% 55
Identity And Access Management
SSO
46 46%
54% 54
User Management And Authentication

User comments

Share your experience with using FreeRadius and PacketFence. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FreeRadius should be more popular than PacketFence. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

FreeRadius mentions (7)

  • Network discovery tool options for unknown devices
    It needs to be supported at your edge switching. Most vendors support it. You usually just need some kind of RADIUS server. FreeRADIUS is one of the better options. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Managing passwords for 100+ network equipment
    You can link it back to your Windows AD account with Windows NPS, or you can use some free Radius or TACACS software package like FreeRadius, https://freeradius.org/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Methods to Secure Amazon AppStream and Amazon WorkSpaces
    In WorkSpaces, the only way to enable MFA is through a Radius server integrated either with an on-premises AD or an AWS Managed AD. This approach will allow you to use authentication apps like Google Authenticator to first authenticate the username and password against your Active Directory and the Radius Server will be responsible to authenticate the One-Time Password (OTP) generated by Google Authenticator. One... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Radius solution that can easily integrate with LDAP (for wifi)
    I wonder why your sys admins didn't try FreeRADIUS. It ships with detailed config examples also for using LDAP for authentication. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Radius solution that can easily integrate with LDAP (for wifi)
    We use https://freeradius.org/ as an open source solution and it integrates with our LDAP just fine. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

PacketFence mentions (1)

  • SSL Cert Expired?
    Getting this when trying to access packetfence.org uh oh. Source: about 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing FreeRadius and PacketFence, you can also consider the following products

Keycloak - Open Source Identity and Access Management for modern Applications and Services.

Auth0 - Auth0 is a program for people to get authentication and authorization services for their own business use.

SOCIFI - Marketing & Monetization Solution For Sponsored Mobile Data

FusionAuth - FusionAuth is a CIAM platform that is 100% free for unlimited users.

Portnox CORE - Portnox CORE offers next-gen on-premise security for all network access layers, including wireless, VPN, wired, virtual & cloud. Find out how Portnox is cutting to the CORE of network security.

Okta - Enterprise-grade identity management for all your apps, users & devices