NetMuteSide-by-side comparisons
Mac Firewall Comparisons
Which Mac firewall fits your needs? We compare NetMute with other options: features, functionality, and when to pick which tool.
The six tools, side by side
Every row is a thing people actually pick a firewall for. Checked against each vendor's own documentation and our own testing in August 2026. Verify current details with the vendor before you buy.
| The six tools, side by side | NetMute | Little Snitch | LuLu | Radio Silence | TripMode | macOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks outgoing connections | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Per session | No |
| How you decide | Blocklist + per-app switch, or a batched backlog | Prompt per connection | Prompt per connection | Manual deny list | Session allow list | Inbound only |
| Built-in tracker blocklist | 1,100+ domains | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Live traffic monitor | Yes | Yes | No | No | Data usage per app | No |
| Per-app data limits | Yes | No | No | No | Usage tracking only | No |
| Rules switch with the network | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| What it costs | Free, Pro one-time | Paid licence, free demo | Free, open source | One-time purchase | One-time purchase | Included in macOS |
GlassWire is missing from this table on purpose: it runs on Windows and Android only, and has no native macOS version, which is the whole answer to the comparison people search for.
Which one is for you
You want the trackers gone without deciding anything. NetMute. Tracker Shield ships a curated list of 1,100+ tracker domains and blocks them in one switch, so the default state is quiet rather than a queue of questions.
You want a prompt for every connection. Little Snitch or LuLu. Both stop an app the first time it reaches out and ask you to decide. Expect a day or two of answering dialogs while the ruleset builds.
You are on a hotspot and paying by the gigabyte. TripMode is built for exactly that session, NetMute covers it with per-app data limits plus network profiles that switch rules when you join the hotspot.
You want to pay nothing and read the source. LuLu, from Objective-See. No blocklists, no traffic history: an outbound firewall and nothing else.
You only need to keep other machines out. The firewall already in macOS does that. It does not look at what your own apps send, which is where tracking happens.
This table reflects our own testing and each vendor's publicly available documentation as of August 2026, and is provided in good faith. Features, pricing and availability change, so please verify current details on each vendor's official website. All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification and comparison only.