Choosing the right hardware for OPNsense is one of the most important steps when building a reliable firewall or router. The hardware you run OPNsense on affects performance, power consumption, noise, expandability, and long-term stability.
This guide focuses specifically on OPNsense hardware recommendations, covering the most common and practical options available today. That includes mini PCs, DIY builds using older computers, official OPNsense appliances, and virtualized setups. Each option has trade-offs depending on your internet speed, feature requirements, and budget.
I’ve been running OPNsense on dedicated hardware for several years and have tested multiple setups in real-world home and small office environments. In this post, I’ll break down what works well, what to avoid, and how to choose the best OPNsense hardware for your needs without overbuying.
Hardware Recommendations
In this post, I’m focusing specifically on hardware recommendations for OPNsense, whether you’re building your own setup or buying ready-made solutions.
Minimum Requirements
First lets start with what are the minimum requirements as provided by OPNsense when choosing hardware, which is listed on their website here:
| Minimum | Reasonable | Recommended | |
| CPU | 1 GHz dual-core CPU | 1 GHz dual-core CPU | 1.5 GHz multi-core CPU |
| RAM | 3 GB | 3 GB | 8 GB |
| Disk Space | 4 GB (see notes on OPNsense website) | 40 GB SSD, a minimum of 3 GB memory is needed for the installer to run. | 120 GB SSD |
Mini Computer Options
My preference and what I built was using a mini computer. I like it because its a low power dedicated device that has 2 to 5 Ethernet ports. You want to make sure to get a powerful enough CPU that can handle your throughput, but not something that is high power consumption at idle. The other main think to keep an eye out for is making sure the ethernet cards are compatible with OPNsense. Here are a few recommendations available from amazon, mostly in order of preference.
Other options:
- Protectli Vault FW4B
- Older model to the V1410-4
- Mini PC Quad Core N150, DDR5 8GB RAM 128GB NVMe SSD)
- No Name, but has decent reviews on Amazon
- MINISFORUM MS-01-S1260 Mini PC Barebone with Intel Core i5-12600H
- No RAM or SSD, so don’t forget those!
- Qotom Router Q750G5 Intel Celeron J4125 (my current setup)
- No longer available as of 2025 (vs 2023 when I bought it)
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. No additional cost to you.
Old computer with Dual/Quad NIC
Another option is if you have an older desktop or server lying around, it can make a great OPNsense firewall usually with just adding a dual or quad network interface card (NIC). This will allow you to multiple network interfaces for separating LAN and WAN at a minimum and optional VLANS or DMZ networks.
While these systems can be less power-efficient than mini computer option, they offer an affordable way to experiment, learn, and try out different configurations. This is a great option by providing reliable performance for home or small office networks without the need to buy new or specialized hardware.
Amazon typically has renewed computers that you can pick up pretty cheap.
- Dell Optiplex 7070 Desktop Computer, Intel i7-9700, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD
- This one is newer and high performance, but they have older that are most cost effective.
- Amazon Renewed Store
Official OPNsense Store
If you are looking for a turnkey solution, highly recommend checking out the Official OPNsense Store which offers a range of firewalls, from compact desktop units to full rackmount systems. All of the hardware is designed, built, and shipped from Europe. While these devices are great quality, one thing to note is these typically come at a higher cost, example is at the time of this post (Dec 2025), the cheapest device was €549,00 or approx $650 USD.
Virtualized Hardware
If you have a dedicated device that you virtualize other services on already, you might want to virtualize OPNsense. Assuming you have the hardware already, this is the cheapest option. You can virtualize on platforms like Proxmox or ESXi which would allow for easy backups and the ability to manage multiple services on a single host.
Conclusion
Choosing the right hardware is a key step in building a reliable OPNsense setup. Whether you go with a DIY build, a single-board computer, old computer, or hardware from the official store, the options listed here cover a range of performance needs and budgets. Use this guide as a starting point, and tailor your setup to match your network demands. With the right hardware, OPNsense can provide a powerful, stable, and flexible firewall for years to come.
Additional OPNsense content
OPNsense vs pfSense : Full Comparison of Features, UI, and Hardware
DIY OPNSense Router/Firewall build
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