The importance of a firewall cannot be overemphasized. Firewalls are, no doubt, one of the most important components of your computer network. A Firewall can block threats that your Antivirus may miss. It can also prevent hackers from breaking into your computer! The built-in Windows Firewall is great and good enough for the regular home user who wants protection without having to set it up.
You know you need a firewall so your computer (network) isn’t visible on the Internet to bad guys. These bad guys find computer ports and access your computer through one of them. Their tactics keep on changing, and hence, firewall design companies add more and more security to their firewalls – firmware or software.
Leaving the default values for your Windows firewall should suffice, and along with a good antivirus software, give you ample protection for your Windows computer. But if you want an easy UI that will help you configure the Windows Firewall, you could check out Windows Firewall Control and Windows Firewall Notifier.
Free Firewall software for Windows 11
However, if you are looking for a third-party firewall for your computer, there are several free solutions available. Let us check out some free firewall software for your Windows PC.
- Sophos Firewall Home Edition
- Comodo Free Firewall
- ZoneAlarm Free Firewall
- TinyWall
- PrivateFirewall.
- Free Firewall
- A1RunGuard
- Glasswire Firewall
- Fort Firewall.
1] Sophos Firewall Home Edition
Sophos Firewall Home Edition features full protection for your home network, including anti-malware, web security and URL filtering, application control, IPS, traffic shaping, VPN, reporting and monitoring, and much more. It is free for Home users.
2] Comodo Free Firewall
These days, the feature-rich and easy-to-use Comodo Free Firewall has become very popular. It promises to stealth your computer’s ports against hackers and will also block malicious software from transmitting your confidential data over the Internet. The Comodo Free Firewall will monitor all aspects of communications between your computer and the Internet. This prevents common hacking methods such as port scanning. The firewall references a list of over two million known PC-friendly applications. If a file is not on this ‘safe-list’, the Firewall immediately alerts you to the possibility of attacking malware.
3] ZoneAlarm Free Firewall
At one point, ZoneAlarm Free Firewall was the most popular third-party firewall for Windows, but over time some started to feel it had become too bloated. It is nevertheless still the world’s most downloaded firewall software. The firewall is very easy to configure and for an average user, its settings are best left at default. It effectively stops Internet attacks at the front door and even catches thieves on their way out. Its 2-way firewall proactively protects against inbound and outbound attacks while making you invisible to hackers. Many people still swear by it today.
4] TinyWall
There are ways you can configure the Windows firewall using some third-party tool. TinyWall is freeware that further hardens the advanced firewall of Windows. It is a lightweight solution with negligible performance impact, and it lets you work without any pop-ups. It installs no additional drivers or kernel components. TinyWall gives Windows Firewall a secure configuration and a simple interface where you can easily define what has network access and more. It will also allow you to easily prevent other programs from modifying or overwriting your firewall settings. If you want a very basic, simple solution, consider this firewall.
Read: Closed Port vs Stealth Port – Difference discussed.
5] PrivateFirewall
PrivateFirewall is a proactive, multi-layered defense solution for Windows desktops and servers. It detects blocks and quarantines activity characteristic of known malware, hacking, phishing, and other threat types. Its packet inspection, URL filtering, anti-logger, process monitor, and application/system behavior modeling and anomaly detection components stop hackers, spyware, viruses, and other forms of malware before they can cause damage. It is a 3.5MB download.
6] Free Firewall
Free Firewall is a full-featured professional firewall that protects against the threats of the Internet. You can control the internet access of every program on your computer – and the program will notify you when applications want to access the Internet in the background without your knowledge. No software can access the Internet or network without your prior authorization.
7] A1RunGuard
A1RunGuard is a Free Process Firewall for Windows computers. It blocks unwanted programs, adds password-protection for executables, and prevents Ransomware attacks.
8] Glasswire Firewall
Glasswire Firewall is a simple tool for network monitoring with a firewall built-in for allowing/denying Internet access to apps.
9] Fort Firewall
Fort Firewall is a free open source firewall designed for Windows, offering both simplicity and robustness. It uses its own kernel driver based on the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP). WFP is a set of system services and APIs provided by Microsoft that lets developers create network-filtering applications for Windows. It is available on github.com.
BONUS:
- Evorim Free Firewall provides advanced control over background network activity, blocks telemetry and web tracking, and offers granular rule-based filtering with customizable network zones.
- Fort Firewall is an open-source firewall powered by a kernel-level driver, offering advanced process control, bandwidth management, and detailed network traffic statistics.
- Safing Portmaster is an open-source application and network monitor that automatically blocks trackers, secures DNS, and provides transparent traffic logging.
Do you use any third-party firewall on your Windows, and if so, which one? Which firewall would you like to recommend? We’d love to hear this.
Yesterday, we read about the difference between hardware firewalls and software firewalls. In a few days, we will show you ways to test your firewall software, for free, and find out how well it is protecting your computer.
Go here if you are looking for free Internet Security Suite software for your Windows computer.
