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CTO of Safing here. I am sorry this has caused confusion. In principle it is very simple: The Portmaster software itself is completely free and there is no ca

by dhaavi 4y ago

CTO of Safing here. I am sorry this has caused confusion. In principle it is very simple: The Portmaster software itself is completely free and there is no catch. The only thing we charge for is access to our VPN-alternative, the SPN. This is our business model in two sentences. So, all local features are free. We are thinking about testing new features with the supporter subscribers in the future, but eventually these features will also become free. However, we will never put previously free features behind a paywall. (The software is open-source, so people will just grab the forks!) > Is Portmaster actually completely free forever? Except for the SPN, yes. (additional privacy features == SPN) > Is it actually just a local firewall? Not counting SPN, yes. > Also, the docs don't mention connection prompts—how did you get them? Set the Default Network Action to "Prompt": https://docs.safing.io/portmaster/settings#filter/defaultAction https://docs.safing.io/portmaster/settings#filter/defaultAct...

LoganDark 4y ago
Okay, thank you! I had a suspicion it was the SPN but didn't know if anything else was paid. It's very unclear that SPN is the only thing you have to pay for. :/ The whole thing raises big alarms of "there's a catch, there's a catch, they're doing the stupid thing where they put positive reassurances everywhere but don't actually explicitly tell you that there is no catch". It feels so untrustworthy. I'll make sure to try it out sometime~
LoganDark 4y ago
Okay, so I've actually installed Portmaster and things seem to be going well! It actually does seem to suspend connections like you described, which is infinitely better than WFC just setting block-by-default. That's awesome. It does have quite a few usability nitpicks, and I don't know if it's appropriate to open GitHub issues over those, but if there's some way I can get them to you other than HN (because this is getting quite off-topic) I'd be glad to send them over. One of my only non-nitpick gripes so far is the fact that I can't allow a connection to pass once without creating a permanent rule. Well, I can if I get a desktop notification (I can just dismiss the notification), but if the notification doesn't get sent to the desktop for whatever reason I cannot control, it shows up in the Portmaster interface itself which doesn't let me allow a connection once without creating a permanent rule. Would love to chat with you more about this~

by dhaavi 4y ago

LoganDark 4y ago

Okay, thank you! I had a suspicion it was the SPN but didn't know if anything else was paid. It's very unclear that SPN is the only thing you have to pay for. :/ The whole thing raises big alarms of "there's a catch, there's a catch, they're doing the stupid thing where they put positive reassurances everywhere but don't actually explicitly tell you that there is no catch". It feels so untrustworthy. I'll make sure to try it out sometime~

LoganDark 4y ago

Okay, so I've actually installed Portmaster and things seem to be going well! It actually does seem to suspend connections like you described, which is infinitely better than WFC just setting block-by-default. That's awesome. It does have quite a few usability nitpicks, and I don't know if it's appropriate to open GitHub issues over those, but if there's some way I can get them to you other than HN (because this is getting quite off-topic) I'd be glad to send them over. One of my only non-nitpick gripes so far is the fact that I can't allow a connection to pass once without creating a permanent rule. Well, I can if I get a desktop notification (I can just dismiss the notification), but if the notification doesn't get sent to the desktop for whatever reason I cannot control, it shows up in the Portmaster interface itself which doesn't let me allow a connection once without creating a permanent rule. Would love to chat with you more about this~