I’m pretty sure when I contacted them, they said I needed at least (what is now) TAC Pro. When I bought OPN Business (3 years) it was close to what I was quoted for a single year of pf. Things may have changed, maybe it was mis-represented, maybe just a mistake. Don’t really care anyone as I’ve made the move and not likely to go back. Look back through the history of shenanigans between pf and OPN, that kind of made me move in the first palce.
I don’t think anyone is disagreeing with you here Tom on this point, def not me 
, but would only apply here if Deciso BV went under after Netgate’s demise
Deciso is not coasting and leaching off all the other BSD contributors, they will be fine as long as BSD is still going. You should worry more about core BSD than either of these two companies, both have had to make local fixes while waiting for them to be introduced back into BSD. This impression that Deciso does not contribute and is not capable of keeping their project alive is in error. Would it be harder? Yes. Many hands make light work and when a bunch of hands leave, everyone left has to work harder. Netgate != all of BSD development, they may be fastest to submit a fix, but they are not the only ones capable of making BSD continue.
You dont seem to understand that Netgate is the main contributor to the network/firewall component of freebsd. That is what opnsense relies on. The fact that freebsd continues to exist means absolutely nothing if the network/firewall component is outdated and no longer developed.
No one said that. Opnsense team contributes code that Netgate is using. They may have their differences, but in reality, they exchange code and have mutual benefits.
Can you give examples?
Sorry if this turns into a opensense vs. pfsense comparison.
I don’t think it’s just external forces that make it hard for me to consider opensense hardware. Looking at their website, even their most expensive product at EUR 6.948,00 / USD 8,062 (DEC4280) comes with a yearly software subscription. Even the cheapest Netgate hardware has pfsense+ inlcuded for the lifetime of the hardware.
They have never tried to compete on price, nothing wrong with that as long as your not extorting your base with silly prices and are actively improving your product equally whether or not your using the free or paid version, but above all not looking down at your free users, in the true spirit of open source
No open source product can really survive without a side revenue stream, but it doesn’t have to be 100% hard nosed business focused, if that’s what you want don’t go into a product with its roots in open source
So what’s the added value of Opensense?
That’s understandable. I don’t think the problem is necessarily that Netgate wants to monetize its products—ongoing development obviously has costs. The bigger issue is whether the new pricing still makes sense when you consider the hardware cost, performance, and available alternatives.
For users who already have the knowledge to manage something like VyOS, switching can make a lot of sense. If VyOS provides the routing and firewall features you need without the additional recurring cost, it becomes difficult to justify paying more simply to stay within the Netgate ecosystem.
In the end, competition is a good thing. If enough users make similar decisions, it gives vendors a reason to reconsider pricing and make sure the value matches what they are charging.
Do you know how to use google? Last I checked, it’s all still out there.
And if you don’t like OPN, you are certainly free to buy what you want. You seem overly combative in your defense of pf. I’ve used both, I like OPN, and part of that was driven by the price at the time I made the switch, things may be different now and I don’t care to go back.
I’m reading this thread with high interest. So far I have been happy with my use of pfsense but am always more than happy to learn about alternatives that would be better suited for my needs. Maybe my scrutiny that I apply to convince myself of a new tool is perceived as combative.