shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

Should I use CacheGuard?

Simple Internet Security for SME - cacheguard.com

Depends. Buy if you're an SME or startup with a hands-on network admin who wants bundled proxy, web filter, WAF, and VPN on your own hardware or VM. Skip it if you have no in-house networking skill — a managed UTM or your existing firewall's built-in tools fit better.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources; most review snippets truncated or dated, limiting depth.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo review evidence on support
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Community

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
CommercialQuote-based
AWS PAYGHourly

Best for

  • SMEs with an in-house network admin
  • Startups wanting free UTM on their own VM
  • AWS shops wanting an hourly-billed gateway
  • Home networks needing web filtering

Not for

  • Teams with no sysadmin — you install and run the OS yourself
  • Buyers wanting plug-and-play managed cloud security
  • Enterprises needing big-vendor support and certifications
  • Anyone unwilling to operate a proxy/UTM appliance

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

No public pricing; commercial editions need a quote — budget surprise risk

medium

AWS editions licensed per user count (10/250); oversizing inflates cost

medium

Guess: free open-source edition likely means community-only support; vendor support probably paid

medium

Small French vendor (SAS/Ltd); verify long-term support commitments before committing

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free open-source OS turns any x86 machine or VM into a security gateway
  • Bundles proxy, web filtering, WAF, VPN, and caching in one appliance
  • Pay-as-you-go deployment available through AWS Marketplace
  • Reviewers praise its strong protection

Cons

  • Public CVE: CSRF flaw in CacheGuard-OS v5.7.7 (2014)
  • Pricing opaque; commercial editions require a quote request
  • Sparse, mostly dated user reviews in public sources
  • Self-managed hardware or VM, not a managed cloud service

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/30/2026 - 14 sources - One CVE — CSRF in CacheGuard-OS v5.7.7 from 2014; no newer findings in sources reviewed.

official x5review x5security x2news x2
  • CVE-2014-4865 — CSRF in CacheGuard-OS v5.7.7, Cross-site request forgery vulnerability tracked as CERT VU#241508; disclosed September 2014. No more recent CVEs surfaced in sources.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Free open-source core; pay-as-you-go AWS option
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Marketed simple; support forum shows setup hand-holding
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Proxy, WAF, web filter, VPN, load balancing bundled
  • Support quality. No review evidence on support
  • Security posture: 3/5. One 2014 CSRF CVE; no recent disclosed issues
  • ~4.3/5 G2 rating CacheGuard Web Gateway
  • Yes Free edition Open source since v2.4.1
  • 10–250 users Appliance sizing AWS Marketplace editions
  • 1 Known CVEs CSRF, 2014 (CVE-2014-4865)

Pricing

Community

Free

  • Open-source CacheGuard-OS
  • Self-hosted on x86/VM

Commercial

Quote-based

  • Priced by subscription and user count
  • Quote via website

AWS PAYG

Hourly

  • 10- and 250-user editions
  • Pay by the hour

Security

One CVE — CSRF in CacheGuard-OS v5.7.7 from 2014; no newer findings in sources reviewed.

  • CVE-2014-4865 — CSRF in CacheGuard-OS v5.7.7Cross-site request forgery vulnerability tracked as CERT VU#241508; disclosed September 2014. No more recent CVEs surfaced in sources.11

What users say

user feedback is sparse and dated; available snippets praise protection strength, with sysadmins weighing it against DIY proxies.

“So, I did some digging and found CacheGuard.”
Reddit, r/sysadmin
Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources; most review snippets truncated or dated, limiting depth.

Free open-source UTM appliance for SMEs with a sysadmin; overkill for teams wanting plug-and-play security.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources; most review snippets truncated or dated, limiting depth.

Sources

  1. CacheGuard-OS on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  2. CacheGuard official sitecacheguard.com
    official
  3. Purchase CacheGuardcacheguard.com
    official
  4. CacheGuard Quote pagecacheguard.com
    official
  5. CacheGuard Gateway 250 Users PAYG — AWS Marketplaceaws.amazon.com
    official
  6. CacheGuard-OS Reviews — G2g2.com
    review
  7. CacheGuard Gateway Reviews — SourceForgesourceforge.net
    review
  8. CacheGuard-OS Reviews — SoftwareSuggestsoftwaresuggest.com
    review
  9. CacheGuard Web Filter feedback — Spiceworkscommunity.spiceworks.com
    review
  10. Any advice on web proxies? — Reddit r/sysadminreddit.com
    review
  11. CVE-2014-4865cve.org
    security
  12. VU#241508 — CacheGuard OS CSRFkb.cert.org
    security
  13. CacheGuard Web Gateway market share — 6sense6sense.com
    news
  14. CacheGuard Technologies SAS — LinkedInfr.linkedin.com
    news

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.