Smoothwall Alternative: Why CacheGuard Is a Better Choice

If you are looking for a Smoothwall alternative, you are probably facing one of two situations. Either you are using Smoothwall Express — the free, open-source version that has not received a major update since 2014 — and you are looking for something more actively maintained. Or you are evaluating Smoothwall UTM — the commercial subscription product — and the pricing model does not fit your budget or your requirements.

This article explains what Smoothwall offers, its key limitations, and why CacheGuard is worth considering as a Smoothwall alternative for organizations that need a complete, actively maintained, free UTM appliance.

What Is Smoothwall?

Smoothwall has a split identity that is important to understand before making any comparison.

Smoothwall Express is the original free, open-source firewall that launched in 2000. It is a Linux-based firewall distribution with a web-based GUI, designed to run on standard x86 hardware. However Smoothwall Express has not received a major release since version 3.1 in 2014. While the open-source community releases occasional security updates, the product is essentially in maintenance mode — no significant new features have been added in over a decade.

Smoothwall UTM is the commercial product developed by Smoothwall Ltd, a UK-based company now owned by Family Zone Cyber Safety. It is a subscription-based UTM appliance focused heavily on the education market, offering firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, web content filtering, anti-malware, VPN and centralized management. It is well regarded in schools and educational institutions — particularly for its content filtering capabilities — but is priced accordingly and not particularly well suited to general business use.

Why Organizations Look for a Smoothwall Alternative

Smoothwall Express is no longer actively developed. For organizations using the free version, the lack of major updates since 2014 is a significant concern. Network security threats evolve constantly — an appliance OS that has not received substantial development in over a decade is increasingly difficult to recommend as a primary security tool.

Smoothwall Express lacks modern UTM features. The free version provides basic firewall and routing functionality but lacks the integrated web antivirus, WAF, SSL inspection, reverse proxy and load balancer that a modern UTM should include. Building a comparable security stack requires significant additional configuration and third-party components.

Smoothwall UTM is priced for education budgets. The commercial product is primarily designed and sold into the education market. Its pricing model — subscription-based, structured by features, users and contract length — is not always competitive for SMBs and startups that need a general-purpose UTM appliance.

Complex interface. User reviews consistently note that Smoothwall’s web administration interface can be complex and difficult to navigate, with settings that are hard to find and a layout that takes time to learn.

Limited WAF and reverse proxy capabilities. Smoothwall does not include a built-in WAF or reverse proxy — features that are increasingly essential for organizations running web-facing applications.

CacheGuard as a Smoothwall Alternative

CacheGuard delivers a complete, integrated UTM security stack in a single ISO — free to deploy on any hardware, actively maintained since 2002, with no subscription fees and no feature restrictions.

Actively maintained for over 20 years

Unlike Smoothwall Express which has been in maintenance mode since 2014, CacheGuard has been under continuous active development since 2002 — representing over 5,000 man days of research and development. Regular updates keep the security components current and the appliance effective against modern threats.

A completely free Smoothwall alternative

CacheGuard-OS is completely free regardless of the number of users, devices or appliances you deploy. There are no licensing tiers, no subscription fees and no features gated behind a paywall. Everything is included from day one.

Everything included out of the box

Where Smoothwall Express requires significant additional configuration to approach a full UTM feature set, CacheGuard includes everything built in and working together from day one:

• Stateful firewall with fine-grained traffic control rules
• IPsec VPN for secure remote access and site-to-site connectivity
• Gateway-level web antivirus powered by ClamAV
• Filtering web proxy with URL filtering capabilities — with LDAP and Active Directory integration
• SSL inspection — called SSL mediation in CacheGuard — for encrypted traffic scanning and HTTPS caching
• Web Application Firewall powered by ModSecurity and OWASP Core Rule Set
• Reverse proxy and application load balancer with high availability mode
• Multi-WAN support with automatic failover
• QoS and bandwidth management
• Web caching to reduce bandwidth usage
• Centralized management via CacheGuard Manager for multi-site deployments

No plugins, no subscription modules, no additional configuration required.

Fully open source and auditable

CacheGuard-OS is completely open source, with the full source code available on GitHub. Every component can be inspected, audited and verified — critical for a security appliance that sits at the heart of your network. Unlike Smoothwall UTM which is a closed, proprietary product, CacheGuard gives you full transparency into what runs on your infrastructure.

Smoothwall vs CacheGuard: Feature Comparison

Who Should Choose CacheGuard as Their Smoothwall Alternative

CacheGuard is the right Smoothwall alternative for:

Organizations using Smoothwall Express that need a more actively maintained solution with a complete, modern UTM feature set — including SSL inspection, WAF and reverse proxy — without switching to a paid product.

Startups and small businesses that considered Smoothwall UTM but found the subscription pricing model too costly or too education-focused for their needs. CacheGuard delivers an equivalent or superior feature set at zero cost.

Organizations that need WAF and reverse proxy protection for web-facing applications — features that neither version of Smoothwall includes.

IT consultants and MSPs who need a repeatable, cost-effective security solution they can deploy for multiple clients without per-device licensing or subscription management overhead.

Organizations that value open source transparency. CacheGuard’s full source code is publicly auditable on GitHub — something Smoothwall UTM cannot offer as a closed proprietary product.

Who Should Stick With Smoothwall

CacheGuard is not the right choice for every organization. Smoothwall UTM remains a strong option for:

• Educational institutions in the United States that benefit specifically from Smoothwall’s E-Rate eligibility and education-focused content filtering capabilities
• Organizations that need Smoothwall’s intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS) features
• Schools already committed to the Smoothwall ecosystem with existing support contracts

How to Get Started With CacheGuard

Getting started with CacheGuard as your Smoothwall alternative is straightforward:

1. Download CacheGuard for free from cacheguard.com
2. Install on any x86/x64 bare-metal machine or VM with at least two network interfaces
3. Access the web interface and configure your network settings
4. Enable security features progressively — firewall, VPN, antivirus, WAF, URL filtering
5. Your network is protected in under an hour — at zero ongoing cost

The full source code is available on GitHub and the documentation covers every step in detail.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a Smoothwall alternative that is actively maintained, delivers a complete modern UTM feature set out of the box, and costs nothing, CacheGuard is the answer.

Whether you are moving on from Smoothwall Express — which has not had a major release since 2014 — or looking for a cost-effective alternative to Smoothwall UTM’s subscription model, CacheGuard gives you enterprise-grade network security on any hardware, free forever.

Download CacheGuard for free and have your network fully protected in under an hour.

Questions about deploying CacheGuard? Visit the community forum at help.cacheguard.net or browse the full documentation at CacheGuard Documentation.