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iptables vs Gufw: catalog facts
iptables	Gufw
Free Free and open source, maintained by the netfilter project.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence.
Linux, Command line	Linux
Ships with or is packaged for nearly every Linux distribution Very large body of existing guides and rule sets	Manages ufw rules without the command line Uses PolicyKit for privileged actions
Linux only Rule syntax is terse and easy to get wrong	Linux only and depends on ufw being installed Small project with infrequent visible activity
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: GPL-3.0
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.