LittleSnitch vs LULU vs Radio Silence for BASIC outgoing app blocking?

[kofman13]

Looking for a firewall app with basic functionality that lets me block certain apps from outgoing connections. Little snitch seems to be very popular but i feel it probably has wayyyyy more features than i need plus the price is offputting for what i need. But what about the other two?
would Lulu be good enough if all i need is to block an app from any incoming/outgoing connections?

P.S. And anyone afraid that installing these apps in the first place could be dangerous because they themselves could snoop on your network activity and phone home themselves? what makes me feel better is that LULU is open source so people would already know if it was nefarious

 

[Slartibart]

Lulu has you covered. No need to become paranoid. 😃

 

[Isamilis]

I tried all of them. Now, I am using Radio Silence for the same reason: basic and simple outgoing app blocker.
I found LittleSnitch is too advanced. Lulu is required to override 1-1 to make it work as expected (plus it has issues in Catalina). Radio Silence simply does the job for my simple needs, setup once and forget.

 

[Cham2000]

For a new mini with Ventura, I was thinking about installing Lulu (free and open source):

Objective-See: LuLu

objective-see.org

Or maybe Radio Silence (9$):

Radio Silence | Network monitor and firewall for Mac

Radio Silence is a user-friendly firewall that blocks internet access from individual apps on your Mac

radiosilenceapp.com

So which one is the best alternative for Ventura? Which one is powerfull enough to block all outgoing calls and still be trustable? Some guy here appears to have some problems with Lulu and I don't want to get a nightmare to uninstall the app if I don't like it:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-do-i-delete-an-app-lulu-that-has-bricked-my-macpro.2369805/

 

[Ben J.]

I've used littlesnitch, lulu and radiosilence. Radio Silence has been solid for me the last few years. IMO the easiest, most solid option of the three. No problem on Ventura. Worth the price. Just works.

 

[Corefile]

Only Lulu is free while the others cost money.

 

[Cham2000]

Only Lulu is free while the others cost money.

Yes, but what do you think of it, compared to Radio Silence? Which one is better and most reliable/trustable under Ventura? I'm not interested in Little Snitch, which cost way too much and is much more complicated than Lulu and Radio Silence.

 

[Corefile]

Yes, but what do you think of it, compared to Radio Silence? Which one is better and most reliable/trustable under Ventura? I'm not interested in Little Snitch, which cost way too much and is much more complicated than Lulu and Radio Silence.

I never tried RS as it costs money.

 

[bogdanw]

Quote from Little Snitch:
"Without a license key, Little Snitch runs in demo mode, which provides the same protection and functionality as the full version. The demo runs for three hours, and it can be restarted as often as you like."
https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/download.html

Similar apps
Murus & Vallum https://www.murusfirewall.com/
Intego NetBarrier https://www.intego.com/business/network-protection

 

[bogdanw]

We missed the news about Little Snitch Mini by Objective Development
March 14, 2023 Little Snitch Mini – A new member in the family of macOS-Firewall products of Objective Development
https://obdev.at/press/pr/2023-03-14-Objective-Development-Releases-Little-Snitch-Mini.html

Little Snitch Mini https://obdev.at/products/littlesnitch-mini/index.html
"FREE VERSION
The basic network traffic monitoring functionality, including a real-time connection list, traffic diagrams and the animated map view of worldwide network connections can be used for free.
PREMIUM VERSION
The full feature set, including blocking of connections, extended traffic history time ranges, advanced display and filtering options and more is available as an in-app purchase."
https://apps.apple.com/app/little-snitch-mini/id1629008763
"In-App Purchases
Yearly Subscription $13.49
Monthly Subscription $1.49"

 

[Apple_Robert]

We missed the news about Little Snitch Mini by Objective Development
March 14, 2023 Little Snitch Mini – A new member in the family of macOS-Firewall products of Objective Development
https://obdev.at/press/pr/2023-03-14-Objective-Development-Releases-Little-Snitch-Mini.html

Little Snitch Mini https://obdev.at/products/littlesnitch-mini/index.html
"FREE VERSION
The basic network traffic monitoring functionality, including a real-time connection list, traffic diagrams and the animated map view of worldwide network connections can be used for free.
PREMIUM VERSION
The full feature set, including blocking of connections, extended traffic history time ranges, advanced display and filtering options and more is available as an in-app purchase."
https://apps.apple.com/app/little-snitch-mini/id1629008763
"In-App Purchases
Yearly Subscription $13.49
Monthly Subscription $1.49"

It looks like they had a price increase for the full version $69; it used to be $45.

 

[bogdanw]

It looks like they had a price increase for the full version $69; it used to be $45.

Those interested should probably wait for another bundlehunt offer
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/little-snitch-worth-it.2338607/

 

[Corefile]

Will my Little Snitch license I bought back in 2015 still work?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Will my Little Snitch license I bought back in 2015 still work?

Yes. If you want to upgrade to the latest version, you will need to pay a small price for the upgrade to version 5.

 

[bogdanw]

Little Snitch 3 to 5 - $57

 

[Cham2000]

Little Snitch 3 to 5 - $57

View attachment 2178021

What a rip-off!

 

[barracuda156]

Been using Little Snitch for years, it is reliable. Get a license when they run a promo though.

P. S. There is one more similar app, Hands Off!.

 

[gilby101]

What a rip-off!

If you don't need the features of Little Snitch, don't buy it. Maybe Lulu does all you need.