Firewalls and traffic tools for Windows: control which programs may connect, see where they connect, and limit the ones that take too much.
SimpleWall is a free, open-source outbound firewall built on the Windows Filtering Platform, Comodo Firewall Free adds HIPS and sandboxing, GlassWire shows traffic per application in its free tier, and NetLimiter (shareware) caps bandwidth per program.
Guide: Free firewall software for Windows
GlassWire shows which applications use your connection and where they connect, with a clear traffic graph and history. The free tier covers monitoring; firewall control and longer history belong to the paid editions. There is no separate “Lite” edition any more — the free tier of GlassWire is what replaces it.
Comodo Firewall Free gives you what most firewalls take away: the ability to decide. Not just accept defaults. Not just rely on reputation databases. If a binary starts reaching out to a new IP — you see it. And if you don’t like it, you block it.
NetLimiter shows which applications are using your connection and lets you cap them: per-app speed limits, priorities, quotas and connection blocking. It is shareware (conditionally free) and runs on Windows only.
SimpleWall is what Windows Firewall should’ve been from the beginning: user-facing, predictable, and actually usable. It doesn’t try to be flashy, but it does exactly what most admins need — stop unknown traffic cold and let you decide what goes out.
