Comodo vs Kerio vs Lavasoft Personal Firewall

[Silent]

I have two questions concerning these three software firewalls:

1) Which one of these is the lightest on system resources?
2) Which one, in your opinion, is the most effective?

I've seen numerous threads about Comodo and Kerio, but I'm hoping some of you will give some insight to Lavasoft's firewall.

[Pedro]

Comodo initially got cpu usage problem, but afterwards it ran just fine. I don't understand the tecnical issues in whether it IS the best Firewall, but i think like this: it's completly free, the full and only version, and whenever someone detected a flaw/leak, when reported to Comodo, they updated it. So it passes all leaktests, for what is worth:dry:
Others recomend Jettico, i don't know it, but Comodo is fairly simple to set.

[Silent]

I might as well add, preference should not be given to Comodo because it's free.

What I'm looking for is which one offers the best protection and performance regardless of price.

[Stem]

-{ Quote: ".....regardless of price." }-Why restrict to just these 3. Lavasoft firewall is an older version/build of outpost firewall,... why not look at OutPost?

[Silent]

I did look at Outpost Pro, but wan't satisfied with it's interface and configuration options.

If you don't mind I asking Stem, which firewall(s) do you use or recommend?

[farmerlee]

Well comodo is probably the most secure out of the 3, however i prefer to use kerio as its always run well for me and does its job well.

[Silent]

But have you ever tried Comodo? If you have, how does is it different for you than Kerio?

[Jarmo P]

-{ Quote: "But have you ever tried Comodo? If you have, how does is it different for you than Kerio?" }-

For TCP/IP packet filtering kerio 2.1.5 works like dream. Rules can be made on the alert prompt as detailed as you want. All rules can be logged and/or alerted. It is very flexible. (Plus it takes usually less than 5 MB memory and zero cpu on my amd athlon 2400 Mhz, 512 MB system.)
This should be so also in Kerio 4, but cause of bugs etc. in that program, it is not really so. Still it is better than Comodo. Comodo is very clumsy in rule making/logging.

Comodo has many more advanced options other than basic packet filter. So that could be considered if really wanting that kind of advanced control from a firewall. Also I believe Comodo to be more stable to run than Kerio 4.

If not kerio 2.1.5, I would choose Comodo.

[farmerlee]

-{ Quote: "But have you ever tried Comodo? If you have, how does is it different for you than Kerio?" }-
Yes i have used comodo in the past, i haven't used the latest versions but i've just never seemed to like it that much. Its given me a few problems amongst other things. However don't let that stop you from giving it a good try and see for yourself if it suit you or not.

I don't really suggest lavasoft as it is very basic with quite a few problems from what i have read.

[Chris12923]

-{ Quote: "I did look at Outpost Pro, but wan't satisfied with it's interface and configuration options.?" }-
But if your asking about Lavasoft its UI is about the same as Outpost so I guess I don't understand why you like the Lavasoft but not the Outpost UI?
-{ Quote: "If you don't mind I asking Stem, which firewall(s) do you use or recommend?" }-
Not to answer for Stem but it looks like he did recommend you to look at Outpost
-{ Quote: "why not look at OutPost?" }-

Thanks,

Chris

[dallen]

-{ Quote: "I have two questions concerning these three software firewalls:

1) Which one of these is the lightest on system resources?
2) Which one, in your opinion, is the most effective?

I've seen numerous threads about Comodo and Kerio, but I'm hoping some of you will give some insight to Lavasoft's firewall." }-
Sometimes you can tell a lot about software by looking not at the software itself, but rather looking at the company behind the software. You can't go wrong with either Comodo or Kerio, depending upon your application. However, I would caution you about Lavasoft. In my opinion, Lavasoft is sketchy as a company. Their support is less than adequate (putting it politely) and they have long since shifted their attention away from individual users in favor of corporate customers (and they are not even doing a good job at that).

[WSFuser]

-{ Quote: "1) Which one of these is the lightest on system resources?
2) Which one, in your opinion, is the most effective?" }-
id say comodo is the lightest and also most effective.

like others have said, lavasoft's firewall is a just a rebranded, stripped, and older version of Outpost. Outpost's resources depends on how its configured, but like comodo, its very powerful.

[Stem]

-{ Quote: "Not to answer for Stem but it looks like he did recommend you to look at Outpost" }-I just thought if "Silent" was looking at "Lavasoft firewall", then why not Outpost. (I do have a current license for OP,.. but then again, I have current license for many firewalls (and yes, I personally pay for them all)

-{ Quote: "If you don't mind I asking Stem, which firewall(s) do you use" }-I currently have Injoy installed,... but this changes often (I like to play with firewalls, as I am here to help with firewalls (where I can) I try to keep up on all the latest builds, new releases etc, so install/run many).
-{ Quote: ".......or recommend?" }-
For me to recommend a specific firewall for a member,...... this is a minefield for me for various reasons,......

[ccsito]

-{ Quote: "

For me to recommend a specific firewall for a member,...... this is a minefield for me for various reasons,......" }-

I understand that position. You may be regarded as a "genius" or "idiot" depending on your personal opinion of a particular product. :wacko:

[Stem]

-{ Quote: "I understand that position. You may be regarded as a "genius" or "idiot" depending on your personal opinion of a particular product. " }-I was not asked for my opinion,.... I was asked to recommend.

[Silent]

-{ Quote: "But if your asking about Lavasoft its UI is about the same as Outpost so I guess I don't understand why you like the Lavasoft but not the Outpost UI?" }-

No, not in my opinion. Lavasoft's interface appear to be more streamlined and easier to navigate through.

-{ Quote: "Not to answer for Stem but it looks like he did recommend you to look at Outpost" }-

See below:
-{ Quote: "I just thought if "Silent" was looking at "Lavasoft firewall", then why not Outpost. (I do have a current license for OP,.. but then again, I have current license for many firewalls (and yes, I personally pay for them all)" }-

For the second time, I've looked at Outpost and wasn't impressed.

Why not provide some useful, relevant comments instead of just quoting our posts?

[Silent]

-{ Quote: "Sometimes you can tell a lot about software by looking not at the software itself, but rather looking at the company behind the software. You can't go wrong with either Comodo or Kerio, depending upon your application. However, I would caution you about Lavasoft. In my opinion, Lavasoft is sketchy as a company. Their support is less than adequate (putting it politely) and they have long since shifted their attention away from individual users in favor of corporate customers (and they are not even doing a good job at that)." }-

Surprised by your statement. I've always thought Lavasoft to be a very reputable company, supportive of their home consumers. I've only recently heard about the Comodo Group and didn't think they would gain such a good reputation so fast. As for Kerio, it's developer Sunbelt is well known for their popular antispyware solution, CounterSpy, so I guess their support should be good.

[TOMxEU]

As for Lavasoft, their AdAware is getting down, they just rely on their name to sell it. http://www.wilderssecurity.com/images/smilies/dry.gif

As for the Comodo Group, I have to admit, that their approach is quiet fast. I tried their firewall only because thei reputation, they are selling security certificates, who could I trust more than such a company, especially since they refuse donations to their software development. http://www.wilderssecurity.com/images/smilies/blink.gif http://www.wilderssecurity.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[dallen]

-{ Quote: "As for Lavasoft, their AdAware is getting down, they just rely on their name to sell it." }-
You hit the nail on the head. I would even go a step further and accuse Lavasoft of using their home customers to finance their target, which are corporate clients. They release horribly inadequate and underdeveloped software to home users fully intending not to provide support and knowingly creating barriers between themselves that the very customers that they seek to exploit.
-{ Quote: "Surprised by your statement. I've always thought Lavasoft to be a very reputable company, supportive of their home consumers. " }-I was equally surprised when Lavasoft decided to alienate their customers and effectively spit in the faces of all those who generously volunteered in supporting their product via forum. However, upon inquiry into the Lavasoft’s leadership it quickly became apparent that Lavasoft is mismanaged. The lack of respect for home customers starts at the top and trickles down from there. In my opinion, Lavasoft’s time has passed. Nothing short of a complete overhaul of the company’s management will give them a chance at surviving in the long run.

[Aragorn7]

Regarding the question of system resources, Kerio uses 7 MB of resource memory, while Comodo uses 21 MB. At least, that's what shows up in my respective process lists on each of my PCs.

One thing I really like about Kerio is the ability to block personal information, credit card numbers etc. from being sent out. It is also has boot time protection. During startups and shutdowns, no inbound traffic is permitted, thus protected the host PC. Comodo does not offer either of these features. However, Comodo has somehow prevented the ability of Crackers from shutting it down and then accessing your computer. To my knowledge the same cannot be said for Kerio. Obviously, Kerio has also failed a few leak tests.

Another nice feature Comodo has is that when it is installed it can search your computer for programs against it's own database of accepted programs and minimize to a very large extent the popups you get asked for your permission or denial of a particular app's access. This is really a nice feature during initial setup. Of course, once the initial phase of permissions/denials is over that feature ceases to be of any real further use.

I've had no problems with the latest version of Comodo or Kerio. I'm using XP sp2 on both of my systems and have had no problem at all installing and uninstalling the firewalls. Comodo in an earlier version was a nightmare, but they fixed that by employing their own proprietary installer. It is no longer an issue.

If your system resources is your sole criteria, by all means go with Kerio. That said, both have tremendous features. Both, imho, are user friendly - not as much as Windows Firewall, but then WF is not doing that much. I'd recommend that you check them both out and see which one meets most of your preferences. Everyone's is different.

BTW, I used Agnitum's Outpost Pro 3.5 for just over a year and really liked it, but the new version 4.0 is a resource hog and routinely used up to 26% of my cpu cycles. It would not co-exist with Webroot's SpySweeper and tends to slow down your browsing experience. In fact, it disliked SS so much, it actually gave me a BSOD. I haven't had one of those in years. It offers great protection, but imo it simply is not worth the hassle and decreased browsing performance. Other users with different configurations may love it. I just couldn't put up with it on my laptop.

I had renewed my Outpost 3.5 subscription for two years, just before 4.0's release. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling 4.0 and emailing tech support, and finally decided it just wasn't worth the effort and completely uninstalled it from my laptop. It uses a Pentium M 1.7GHz with 1 GB of RAM and a 60GB 7200 rpm drive; so having enough computer should not have been the problem. All I can say is that it sure runs better under Kerio. I'm out the 2 year subscription money, but I'm a whole lot happier.

Hope my slant on things helps. ;)

[QBgreen]

Answering your queries, if you're referring to KPF 2.15, it unquestionably runs the lightest. By far!
Comodo is the most effective. It ranks among the top of the heap in all modern testing categories.
Lavasoft's firewall is a branded (and non-recent) version of Outpost Pro minus some plug-ins. If you want Outpost, get Outpost, not some rebranded hoo-hah.

[stevem5000]

I realize this is moving away from the posters original question...

But how about Sygate???...yes, Norton bought it and has, from what I can tell, discontinued it...maybe they thought it was too good and they would loose market share???...but you can still find the free version on various download sites...it might be a little "dated" no compared to Kerio etc, but I think it is a very effective firewall, easy to use etc...

No, there are no updates for it, but a firewall blocks ports or it doesn't...not much to upgrade...

You experts have any thoughts on Sygate???

[redpower]

I personally think that Comodo is OKAY. There is no part of the firewall where you can change settings for application behavior. By that, i mean a tab in the firewall where you can change the settings per application. Comodo doesn't detect my MSN Messenger connect either. As i said, it's okay, but i'd rather use Kerio 2.15 :)

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "I realize this is moving away from the posters original question" }- Let's stay on the topic of the thread, Comodo vs Kerio vs Lavasoft Personal Firewall.

[Paranoid2000]

-{ Quote: "One thing I really like about Kerio is the ability to block personal information, credit card numbers etc. from being sent out." }-Don't rely too much on this - firewalls can only detect and block such information when it is sent in the clear. Most malware now encrypt their traffic so the contents of their data transfers cannot be identified.-{ Quote: "BTW, I used Agnitum's Outpost Pro 3.5 for just over a year and really liked it, but the new version 4.0 is a resource hog and routinely used up to 26% of my cpu cycles. It would not co-exist with Webroot's SpySweeper and tends to slow down your browsing experience." }-The current Outpost 4.0 build (971) is a lot lighter CPU-wise in my experience and has addressed a number of conflicts. If you have the time, it may be worth another visit.

[cprtech]

-{ Quote: "The current Outpost 4.0 build (971) is a lot lighter CPU-wise in my experience and has addressed a number of conflicts. If you have the time, it may be worth another visit." }-

Agreed! Agnitum developers have developed 4.0 in to an extraordinary product with this release. BTW, P2K's word is as close to "gospel" as you will get ;) (My humble opinion).

[einsteinstheorium]

Avast asks me to uninstall comodo. I dont know why though.

[EASTER.2010]

-{ Quote: "Avast asks me to uninstall comodo. I dont know why though." }-

So does KIS6 and now i understand why ;D

I was offered a work-around to that removal demand by another member.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=944036&postcount=8

[vhick]

my vote goes to kerio (if this is version 2.1.5) because i like application per port basis. light on resources.

for a little heavy on resource but easy to use firewall. comodo is the choice (score high on leaktest).

[666]

If you can trust everyone on your computer: Comodo 2.x.

If you can not trust everyone on your computer: Kerio.

Comodo 2.x is an excellent firewall with a major flaw: you can't lock it down with a password, so your kids, wife, girlfriend, mother in law, cat, dog, etc. can change its configuration, shut it down, uninstall it...

[Mrkvonic]

-{ Quote: "I realize this is moving away from the posters original question...

But how about Sygate???...yes, Norton bought it and has, from what I can tell, discontinued it...maybe they thought it was too good and they would loose market share???...but you can still find the free version on various download sites...it might be a little "dated" no compared to Kerio etc, but I think it is a very effective firewall, easy to use etc...

No, there are no updates for it, but a firewall blocks ports or it doesn't...not much to upgrade...

You experts have any thoughts on Sygate???" }-

Hello,

Not an expert, but my opinion is this: Sygate was and is the best pure firewall for Windows ever made.

On topic, both Kerio and Comodo are fair and quite simple to configure.
Personally, I prefer Kerio - it fits more tightly into my box of thinking, has a simple GUI, and works quite well. Comodo is a bit flashy and noisy even at low level of prompts.

Nevertheless, both are adequate for all purposes of a home user, be it inbound and outbound protection, LAN and whatnot. I must admit I have not tried either as gaming firewalls or subjected them to heavy P2P, so I cannot comment on these two issues.

Mrk

[ErikAlbert]

Nevertheless, security expert "Paranoid2000" said once, there is something wrong with Sygate, but I don't remember what it was. It was something technical, which I usually don't understand and therefore not remember either.

[EASTER.2010]

I don't know of anyone who would be so naive as to suggest Lavasoft firewall, for pity sakes man, they can't even climb back onto the ladder of the AS product market without someone taking a swing at them.

For all intensive purposes anything Lavasoft anymore is long since gone the way of the dinasaur AFAIK.

[Pedro]

-{ Quote: "
Nevertheless, both are adequate for all purposes of a home user, be it inbound and outbound protection, LAN and whatnot. I must admit I have not tried either as gaming firewalls or subjected them to heavy P2P, so I cannot comment on these two issues.
" }-
Never tried Kerio with P2P, but Comodo handles it very well. Believe me, i P2P A LOT.
-{ Quote: "Nevertheless, security expert "Paranoid2000" said once, there is something wrong with Sygate, but I don't remember what it was. It was something technical, which I usually don't understand and therefore not remember either." }-
It's probably about the local proxy issue. If you don't have one, it should be fine, i've read. I'm not sure how that fits with Avast!, i read somewhere that i needed to do something. It's the last FW i need to look (ich that needs scratching;D ), but i don't know what to do regarding Avast!.

[AJohn]

I voted for Comodo Personal Firewall, because the other two options do not in my mind even come close to it. If Outpost were in the polls, there would be more equally distributed votes, although Comodo would still be my pick due to the current direction of CPF.

Also, -{ Quote: "...One thing I really like about Kerio is the ability to block personal information, credit card numbers etc. from being sent out. It is also has boot time protection. During startups and shutdowns, no inbound traffic is permitted, thus protected the host PC. Comodo does not offer either of these features....." }-

Comodo offers this boot-time protection, and keep in mind as Paranoid stated, the personal information protection is not full-proof and shouldn't really be relied on. I have contacted Agnitum asking for simple improvements on this feature and have had a hard time getting a response from them due to me not being a paying customer. Either way the personal information protection feature could never be full-proof without having a complete Host Intrustion Prevention System built into it and this doesn't even take encryption into account.

Here is a screenshot from CPF which can be found under Security/Advanced/Advanced Attact Detection and Prevention:

[toasale]

Comodo :thumb:

[cthorpe]

Of those three, I would recommend Comodo. I don't use it myself, but it seems to be powerful and secure.

[EASTER.2010]

I've used COMODO for a brief time and it is a good firewall but i always return to the single-most best firewall i have ever discovered. Plus it's now considered a relic from day past although it firmly holds it's own against all others on my units.

KERIO 2.15 And none other. :thumb:

[swifty7]

I would have liked Comodo if it didn't reduce my broadband speed to that of 56k modem.

[acronac]

I like Comodo quite a bit. The only problems with it are that occasionally the cmdagent process will spike in CPU and the intermittent crashes. When it does crash you need to reboot the machine to restart Comodo.

It looks like Kerio has been updated recently and Comdo hasn't. Maybe I'll try Kerio again the week.

[djohn]

I like comodo but it kept asking to allow or deny of a rule that I had applied already was very annoying .I have no problems with something asking permission until it settles but not over and over on the same applications.Has any one else experienced this.I am now trying kerio and no pop ups runs perfect so far.

[Mr2cents]

I've been running commodo firewall for about 6 months. However, I'm going back to kerio. I have a router, the only thing I need a firewall for is to monitor outgoing programs. I'm also getting rid of all commodo products including boclean.

I've been experiencing some very high cpu usage lately. When I disable commodo and boclean. The cpu runs around 1 to 3%. When I have them enabled I'm getting cpu spikes up to 80%. Both are disabled now. I just haven't uninstalled them yet.

I very seldom change firewalls. Here are my favorites.

#1 Kerio 2.1.5

#2 Jetico

#3 Sygate

[the Tester]

Of those choices I would use Comodo.
Kerio 2.15 is lighter,but Comodo covers more than a conventional firewall and they did listen to feedback and lowered resource usage.

[mercurie]

1. Comodo better protection

2. Kerio lighter and as someone else said if you trust others that use your machine or you are the only one.

Never any Lavasoft products. I don't like them or the company. :thumbd:

[showtime33]

another vote for kerio 2.1.5 I really like some of comodo's abilities...but I just think it takes up to much of my system.
For the resources to ability ratio...kerio is very very light....always at under 5mb of ram....!!
:)

[Woody777]

I think Sygate has a Proxy Problem. If you give a proxy permission to run as a server it can do anything anytime. There is no control left. If you are gong to use Sygate keep the permission at ask. If I am wrong on this someone please correct me. Otherwise Sygate was a good firewall. But hard to set up. I see why everyone likes Kerio 2.1.5. Very light & simple. But it also could have a proxy problem. I never liked the newer versions of Kerio. Comodo was a great firewall but it started to interfere with Acronis & FDISR. It had to go. Theres a ton of Firewalls out there all do the same thing. Control traffic. some better than others.. I finally settled on Zone Alarm.. It works fine & is doing the job. Just find one you like & keep it going as long as you can.

[AaLF]

Comodo v Kerio. I think they are too far apart to compare. 2 diffrent types of FWs. I vote for Comodo. I'm using it & I'm impressed. Kerio is a 'legend' but life's short and not everyone can come to grips with rule-based FWs in one life-time.

[EASTER]

Kerio 2.15

For an abandoned product it holds up extremely well under pressure and is outlasted most as a popular choice that is bug-free and rules driven. Someone already mentioned it's feather-lightness on any system, a real bonus in an age of stuffed overbloated firewalls that easily choke either under pressure or under their own bloat.

[ErikAlbert]

When I was still a member at Malware Forum SWI, quite alot of qualified helpers used still Kerio 2.1.5.