VyOS
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 8 router firmware by recommenders
Recommended as free, open source router software with good hardware support that acts like Cisco or Juniper gear. Main caveat: it sold off and is partly paywalled.
Recommended as free, open source router software with good hardware support that acts like Cisco or Juniper gear. Main caveat: it sold off and is partly paywalled.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 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
Free, no license costs
“OPNsense (or other bog-standard-PC FOSS alternatives like VyOS) can be competitive even in TCO”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “OpenWrt One – Open Hardware Router” “open source JunOS with zero license headache”
Comment from 19 Jul 2026 in “HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router” Easy setup and simple updates
“I found it to be relatively easy to achieve exactly what I wanted, but went back to a GUI as it turned out I wanted a pet”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “How to Turn Anything into a Router” “the update procedure which was very simple”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “UniFi 5G” Behaves like enterprise Juniper or Cisco
“It acts quite similarly to routers from the likes of Arista/Cisco/Juniper.”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “What changes when you turn a Linux box into a router” “open source JunOS with zero license headache”
Comment from 19 Jul 2026 in “HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Sold off and partly paywalled
“Shame it sold off and kinda got pay walled.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “UniFi 5G” “after their repeated hostility towards non paying users”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “HomeLab #1: MikroTik as a Home Router”
Other router firmware people recommend
The four most recommended other router firmware, 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.
See all 8 router firmware, rankedWhat people said
12 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I have been running fine with it.”
“after their repeated hostility towards non paying users”
“open source JunOS with zero license headache”
“OPNsense (or other bog-standard-PC FOSS alternatives like VyOS) can be competitive even in TCO”
“It acts quite similarly to routers from the likes of Arista/Cisco/Juniper.”
“It has better performance and hardware compatibility than *BSD-based software routers”
“I was able to solve it by shaping the traffic to the 1G devices”
“I found it to be relatively easy to achieve exactly what I wanted, but went back to a GUI as it turned out I wanted a pet”
“perhaps this will be VyOS's time to shine”
“Shame it sold off and kinda got pay walled.”
“the update procedure which was very simple”
“I have a wireless backup using Vyos and a 5G router provided for free”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.