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A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs Radware Alteon comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

A10 Networks Thunder ADC
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Radware Alteon
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of A10 Networks Thunder ADC is 5.0%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Radware Alteon is 4.6%, up from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Radware Alteon4.6%
A10 Networks Thunder ADC5.0%
Other90.4%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

RonaldoDE Melo - PeerSpot reviewer
Protects connection and servers from direct access with control access feature
The initial setup is very simple. The issue is that it achieves high output across all its features, specifically the output ports. This affects the customer's solution because sometimes, the customer is even aware of the user's activity on certain servers. If you have all the necessary information, we can quickly deploy the solution within two to three days. The size of the Thunder ADC depends on its configuration. For example, the cache converter typically includes more than two rack units, often requiring at least three rack units for adequate space. I rate it a ten out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
Ayesha Lata - PeerSpot reviewer
Automated threat detection and blocking helps us manage our security with limited resources
The best thing about Alteon is its automated threat detection and blocking. The university has resource limitations. I am the only one working for the security section, looking after seven products, including Alteon. The automatic blocking of threats and detections is crucial for us. Because there are a lot of things going on, we sometimes miss or do not see the detections on time. So, the most useful thing for us is to have a WAF that automatically blocks anything unusual or suspicious. It is efficient and low maintenance. Once you set it up, you do not have to go back and look into it. It gives us peace of mind that if something comes up, it will block that.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We have two appliances and I'm able to move my application from one appliance to another. I don't have to move my whole A10 to be active on the other side or to be passive on the other side. If an application is having a problem, I can just move it using a command."
"Compared to F5, which I used about six years ago, the A10 is much easier when routing. You don't have to use the wildcard bits to route it between the different segments. It's much less troublesome to configure."
"It is very useful to have a simple dashboard where you can login and look into what your traffic patterns are, then look and see what times of day you're experiencing the heaviest traffic. You can quickly identify if you are possibly having a security issue or security breach. It makes it very easy to use the box."
"We can control access based on the specific application. If other devices are attempting to directly access the servers, you can block them. Additionally, you can balance the load among servers to optimize performance. For example, utilizing caching can make the application run faster."
"We do have the option of creating virtual chassis, so that gives it a bit more security. If we find an application which is not going to play well in the main pool, we can easily create a virtual chassis and have that application in that virtual chassis. With the virtual chassis we can also create system partitions and have a test system for test applications, and have the others elsewhere."
"The Deterministic CGNAT feature is valuable for us."
"The solution is flexible."
"It's a very friendly solution, easy to configure and it's very flexible."
"I find the best features to be the flexibility and ease of use. The configuration is very straightforward."
"It saves us a lot of work in terms of management since it has tasks already defined automatically. That enables us to better administer our services. It is very dynamic and easy to administer."
"The most valuable feature is the support from the engineering team."
"I like the web GUI. It's very intuitive and easy to use."
"SSL offloading feature is one of the most important features. Traffic distribution is also done very well by Radware."
"The most valuable feature is the load-balancing reverse proxy."
"Provides good performance and scalability."
"The best features are the security through the web application firewall, the functionality that the solution offers, being a load balancer with the security functionality on top of it, and the ease of administration."
 

Cons

"Traffic flow issues are very difficult, as there's no means for us to analyze the traffic coming in or out of the appliance without technical support."
"There is room for improvement in the GUI. I just migrated from the 2.7 software train to the 4.1, and there are still people on 2.7. The latter is a very old GUI if you compare it to F5. It's not as easy to use and a lot of things are missing. They've made a lot of improvements in the 4.1 step, but compared to the ease of use of F5, it's still quite difficult. For people who haven't got a lot of experience, the GUI can be quite challenging."
"The tool's load-balancing feature should improve."
"A10 Networks Thunder ADC could improve on the Application Delivery Controller. it's not a fully-fledged web application firewall solution. For example, application data and support need to improve."
"The user interface is not as pretty as it could be."
"The user interface is what people complain about most of the time, particularly if they don't use it very often. Then they complain that it's a bit clunky."
"It scaled well for our numbers, up to 3 million subscribers for our most crowded region but I would like to see the same scalability numbers for the virtualized version as well."
"The interface and integrated custom applications can be a bit difficult."
"Could have more customizations on the dashboard."
"Support is very important because if we get good support, we'll be able to sell and supply more numbers."
"I would like for the load balancing to work with premier and the cloud, a mix of premium and cloud."
"I would like to see future enhancements in security, specifically in threat protection."
"The user interface can be improved."
"It can be improved by combining the web application firewall (WAF) facility."
"The solution could be more open to additional third-party add-ons being integrated into it."
"The GUI needs to be improved. Right now, the solution isn't so user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We just pay for support in addition to our licensing."
"The pricing is a third of the price of the F5 competition."
"There were budgetary constraints that keep us from investing in the single pane of glass traffic management feature. We saw a demo of this feature about a year to a year and a half ago."
"The pricing is fine, considering the features they are providing. If you are an individual user, they'll price the product differently compared to how they price the product that is sold to an organization."
"The price of A10 Networks Thunder ADC depends on capacity and the customer's requirement. They have several offerings. They have different price models and options to choose from. Additionally, you need to subscribe to support for the hardware appliances."
"It is $7000 per unit for the support annually."
"For the hardware and license, we paid $35,000 per box, which was a one-time cost. Then, for the Gold Support on the two boxes, we pay $9400 annually."
"We previously had F5 and switched because of costs."
"Radware LinkProof is neither cheap nor expensive."
"Price-wise, the solution is a reasonable one."
"It is not the priciest and it is not the cheapest. For our solution, it was right in the middle of price performance."
"The Radware team we work with always gives us the best price. As a university, our budget is limited. We need something that is the best solution but with a low or economical pricing. We are getting a better price than competitors. The shift from Barracuda to Alteon was primarily due to cost efficiency. It is very economical, and the price fits our business needs."
"It is the best in the industry. It was better than the competition, and that is what made us go ahead with them."
"The pricing is better than the competition. It is getting more pricey as the years go on, as more people are migrating to it, and as the technology gets better."
"The cost of Radware Alteon is mid-ranged."
"We have three-year contract with Radware. It is beneficial to have a longer-term contract because you can obtain more discounts. It seems to be a much cheaper alternative."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
12%
University
6%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
I would recommend A10 Networks due that it delivers high performance in a small form factor to reduce OPEX with significantly lower power usage, rack space, and cooling requirements compared to oth...
Do you recommend A10 Networks Thunder ADC?
I do recommend A10 Networks Thunder ADC. It's very user-friendly, easy to configure, and flexible. It is a very useful solution - especially now, when a lot of employees are working remotely. I hav...
What do you like most about A10 Networks Thunder ADC?
A10 Networks Thunder ADC is an easy-to-use and flexible solution.
What do you like most about Radware AppWall?
It saves us a lot of work in terms of management since it has tasks already defined automatically. That enables us to better administer our services. It is very dynamic and easy to administer.
What needs improvement with Radware AppWall?
There is room for improvement in reducing the number of false positives I receive. We could benefit from more configuration options to avoid these false positives, which can be overwhelming for a s...
What is your primary use case for Radware AppWall?
We primarily use Radware Alteon for load balancing our servers to ensure there are no bottlenecks and to have resiliency in place.
 

Also Known As

Thunder ADC, AX Series
Alteon, Radware AppWall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

123inkt.nl, Bentley University, Box, Brainshark, Buienradar, Capgemini, CGN/LSN & NAT64, Chengdu Telecom, Club One, Code Ready, CRC Health Group, Cyso, Deutsche Telekom, Earth Class Mail, Excite, FFF Enterprises, Florence County, Framingham State University, From30
Convergys
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