UFW
Ranked 5 of 8 firewalls by recommenders
Simple way to open ports and firewall a Linux server with one command. Common caveat: rules files get hard to maintain and it can clash with Docker.
Simple way to open ports and firewall a Linux server with one command. Common caveat: rules files get hard to maintain and it can clash with Docker.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 15
- approval share
- 44%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Recommended security setup
“Use the Digital Ocean guide on setting up a Linux box securely and the UFW firewall.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “I run multiple $10K MRR companies on a $20/month tech stack” “Follow all the best practices for your firewall with ufw.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “We cut our Mongo DB costs by 90% by moving to Hetzner” “a proper UFW setup keeps the weather clear for me”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “99% of My Website Traffic Is Bots” - Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero”
People keep using it
“I can guarantee I have no plans to change from it.”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero” “ufw firewall enabled within my VPS's”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero” “I use UFW, and this config”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Should I Run Plain Docker Compose in Production in 2026?” Handles nftables and modern setups
“at least ufw handles it nicely nowadays”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “IPv6 just turned 30 and still hasn't taken over the world” “And ufw supports nftables btw.”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero” Simple commands for opening ports
“On ufw systems, I know what to do: if a port I need open is blocked, I run 'ufw allow'. It's dead simple”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero” “With ufw gui you need a single checkbox - block incoming connections.”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Rules get brittle and unmaintainable
“UFW rules can grow unmaintainable, brittle pile of sticks”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero” “the brittle pile of sticks that is the ufw rules files”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero” “brittle pile of sticks that is the ufw rules files”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero” - Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “I got hacked: My Hetzner server started mining Monero”
Not a real firewall
“UFW doesn't do what it promises. It claims to be a firewall but only manages a few specific chains.”
Comment from 31 May 2026 in “Codex just found a "workaround" of not having sudo on my PC” “don't rely on fake firewalls like ufw if you're concerned about this”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Codex just found a "workaround" of not having sudo on my PC” “I don't see the point of using ufw at all”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “We cut our Mongo DB costs by 90% by moving to Hetzner”
Other firewalls people recommend
The four most recommended other firewalls, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pf (OpenBSD Packet Filter) | 53 | 7 | 88% | 11 | — | Approved |
| nftables | 29 | 10 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| LuLu firewall | 27 | 3 | 90% | 9 | — | Approved |
| iptables | 15 | 22 | 41% | 7 | — | — |
| UFWThis page | 12 | 15 | 44% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
22 of the 29 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It broke something essential and I had to switch it off again.”
“a proper UFW setup keeps the weather clear for me”
“showed degradation around 65,000 rules”
“don't rely on fake firewalls like ufw if you're concerned about this”
“UFW doesn't do what it promises. It claims to be a firewall but only manages a few specific chains.”
“I use UFW, and this config”
“Use the Digital Ocean guide on setting up a Linux box securely and the UFW firewall.”
“at least ufw handles it nicely nowadays”
“ufw firewall enabled within my VPS's”
“With ufw gui you need a single checkbox - block incoming connections.”
“I can guarantee I have no plans to change from it.”
“On ufw systems, I know what to do: if a port I need open is blocked, I run 'ufw allow'. It's dead simple”
“ufw doesn't work well with docker”
“And ufw supports nftables btw.”
“UFW rules can grow unmaintainable, brittle pile of sticks”
“will not grow unmaintainable the way UFW rules can”
“Only lesson seems to be use ufw! (or equivalent)”
“the brittle pile of sticks that is the ufw rules files”
“brittle pile of sticks that is the ufw rules files”
“if nft is too complicated”
“I don't see the point of using ufw at all”
“Follow all the best practices for your firewall with ufw.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.