Simplewall 3.9 pre-release arrives, polishing a decade-old WFP firewall
Henry++ drops a feature-focused update with rule limit bumps, loopback fixes, and profile path improvements. The project clocks in at 8,600 stars.
Simplewall 3.9 landed on GitHub on July 21, 2026. Henry++ pushed a pre-release build marked by a features release rather than the usual maintenance crawl. The project, which started way back in 2016, now sits at approximately 8,600 stars and 635 forks. It's easily one of the most-starred C++ networking tools on the platform, and this update keeps that momentum going.
The rule editor finally gets some breathing room. Rule expression limits jump to 1,024 symbols. If you've spent time building complex CIDR ranges or multi-IP deny lists, you know this was a real friction point. Issue #809 marks the change as resolved. Next, there's work on loopback filters. The developer improved how localhost traffic is handled. You'll see fewer false blocks on databases and local dev servers.
Portability gets a nod too. Profile paths now save with environment variables like %APPDATA% or %USERPROFILE%. Roaming profiles and multi-PC setups just got easier. Keep in mind that "Resolve network addresses" is now enabled by default. Users with dynamic IPs or cloud services should find this helpful out of the box.
Dark theme polish continues. The UI is more consistent across surfaces. Memory usage got trimmed. The crash when loading the notification dialog on Windows 11 24H2 is gone. Contributor @jekesx patched a profile saving bug where read-only attributes caused failures, and fixed a log subscription issue that returned access denied intermittently.
Community signals
The release caught 21 reactions. Maintenance builds like v3.8.7 typically pull in around 88. The pre-release status likely explains the low engagement. Users often wait for the final tag before engaging. This update also shuts down lingering concerns about the project's health. Issue #1956 opened in April 2025 asked if Simplewall was still alive. Forty-six people weighed in. It's hard to argue with a feature release more than a year later.
The Rust shadow
A Rust reimplementation called amwall exists in parallel. Issue #2086, opened April 29, 2026, confirmed the fork shipped an installer. It doesn't mean Simplewall is dying. It just means the project inspired a rewrite. The original C++ codebase might hit limits that a modern language avoids. If you're watching the ecosystem, this is a pattern worth noting. Long-lived open-source projects often spawn variants as maintainers explore new stacks.
Simplewall still holds its niche. Default-deny by design. Less than 1 MB. Works on Windows 7 SP1 through Windows 11, including ARM64. It doesn't replace Windows Defender Firewall. You'll run both. The WFP callouts sit alongside the OS firewall. Filters persist even if you kill the process, which is by design.
Grab the pre-release from the GitHub releases page. Verify the GPG signature against henrypp's key. It's not a final tag yet. If you rely on this firewall for daily work, you might want to wait for the stable push. Install with admin rights.
