In this work we investigate the potential of tetragonal L1$_0$ ordered FeNi as candidate phase for rare earth free permanent magnets taking into account anisotropy values from recently synthesized, partially ordered FeNi thin films. In particular, we estimate the maximum energy product ($BH$)$_mathrm{max}$ of L1$_0$-FeNi nanostructures using micromagnetic simulations. The maximum energy product is limited due to the small coercive field of partially ordered L1$_0$-FeNi. Nano-structured magnets consisting of 128 equi-axed, platelet-like and columnar-shaped grains show a theoretical maximum energy product of 228 kJ/m$^3$, 208 kJ/m$^3$, 252 kJ/m$^3$, respectively.