So when I chose to go with OpnSense for my home network I didn't realize there would be plugins. So as someone fairly new to OpnSense I am curious as to if there would be any plugins recommended to improving security, logging, or usability?
I would say none of them. Plug-ins represent parts of OPNsense functionality that doesn't apply to all use cases. All the recommended code is already in the base.
I advise you explore the functions and only look at plug-ins if you have a requirement that is not met.
Bart...
* One of the load balancers: nginx or HAProxy if you have Webservers behind your firewall
* backup api gives just an api endpoint to download the config.xml
* nextcloud backup if you have a nextcloud
* FTP proxy plug in if you need ftp
The others are for specific use cases.