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Akamai App and API Protector vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) comparison

Akamai and F5 are both solutions in the Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection category. Akamai is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.7, while F5 is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.3. Akamai holds a 4.3% mindshare in DDOS, compared to F5’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Akamai users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of F5 users who would recommend it.
Akamai App and API Protector
Read 28 Akamai App and API Protector reviews
  • 2,145 Views
  • 1,559 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall...
Read 22 F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) reviews
  • 771 Views
  • 393 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Akamai App and API Protector and F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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To learn more, read our detailed Akamai App and API Protector vs. F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Report (Updated: October 2024).
Buyer's Guide
Akamai App and API Protector vs. F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
October 2024
Download the complete report
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Categories and Ranking

Akamai App and API Protector
Ranking in Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (8th), Cloud and Data Center Security (10th)
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall...
Ranking in Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection category, the mindshare of Akamai App and API Protector is 4.3%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is 1.5%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection
 

Featured Reviews

Deepesh Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 9, 2024
Bot Manager and different features to manage threats
As a product, it has good capabilities, including professional support. However, it's risky for us to rely on AI for real-time traffic management. We use in-house analytics but avoid automatic actions due to their high impact. For example, I live in a developing country. Everyone has different types of phones, apps, and everything else. So, if someone is using a legacy phone, that is still a use case here. If AI decides that this is an end-of-life phone or end-of-life Android operating system, it starts blocking that traffic. We may potentially lose millions or probably thousands and hundreds of thousands of hits per second. Everything is all about how well we serve payments because we're into payments. So, AI is used for analytics but not for real-time decisions. We can't afford to block traffic based on AI models due to the variety of devices and operating systems our users have.
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Richard Polyak - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 21, 2022
Straightforward setup with very good granularity and performance
Our company uses the solution as a data center firewall.  It is hard to determine all users within our infrastructure. It depends on systems we put behind the solution. Its internal but also a data center firewall. Sometimes, there are hooks from the solution to our external infrastructure or…
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the custom rules feature. This is because many of our customers require a lot of custom rules. Because it's a very customized project for our customers, I think they have the best of everything already."
"Everything will be handled by Akamai's system before it reaches our infrastructure."
"The solution can scale extremely well."
"All the solution's features are very good."
"Adaptive stream delivery and WAF protection are valuable."
"Akamai Web Application Protector is a good solution that provides basic web application protection."
"The solution easily identifies, delays, or allows business traffic."
"I can attest to its benefits in terms of understanding and mitigating threats...The solution's technical support team seems to be pretty responsive."
More Akamai App and API Protector pros
"The protection is very useful."
"The most valuable features of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) are the web gateway, load balancing, services, and applications available."
"The setup and functionality are fairly straightforward."
"Its performance and ease of use are valuable."
"The product helps us provide security validation by protecting various applications from getting hacked."
"F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager's most valuable feature is load balance. It is readily available and uncomplicated."
"It is stable."
"We use three main features. The first one is access control. The second feature we use is called IP intelligence. Finally, we have a DDoS safety feature."
More F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) pros
 

Cons

"Could integrate more features for each security."
"If we talk about application layer attacks, including WAF, CloudFlare is leading. Akamai can focus a bit more on the application layer attacks and how to protect them."
"They are already very flexible, but room for improvement is there. Reports generation could be better and should be improved."
"One thing I asked them is to integrate the API discovery product that they have and push that data into Akamai App and API Protector so that we do not have two types of reviews to identify the type of traffic. We already know the APIs that are frequently getting used, so analysis becomes easier. We can integrate both products and use them."
"The custom rules must be improved."
"It would be better if there weren't any issues with latency. We had latency issues, but I think they are all solved now."
"The pricing could be reduced a bit."
"It would be nice if Akamai Web Application Protector's price is lowered and made cheaper."
More Akamai App and API Protector cons
"The solution doesn't really meet our requirements for an edge firewall."
"We needed to protect the database but the solution didn't offer a certain feature to do so."
"F5 BIG-IP AFM can improve the reporting interface in relation to advanced troubleshooting depending on CLI. They should have enhanced troubleshooting with the use of GUI."
"Firstly, geolocation currently relies on manual updates. It has to move to automatic updates. There are no automatic updates for this feature. If some IPs, countries, or service providers move to another country, now you will be allow IPs that you previously denied. This is because you depend on the database, which doesn't update automatically. This is really a very important area that they need to improve."
"Some spam can go by the firewall."
"There is room for improvement in Advanced Firewall Manager's dashboard statistics, especially during attacks."
"The web gateway feature could improve in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)."
"There should be simplified and better integration with BIG-IQ."
More F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise, I would say Akamai's pricing is competitive."
"The product’s price is high."
"The price they are offering is quite reasonable for premium customers, but it's very expensive if you're a small and medium-sized enterprises."
"One reason not all people use Akamai is that it is a little bit more expensive than some other providers."
"It's more expensive than others, but the ROI is good for large-scale infrastructure."
"Cost depends on the volume of traffic."
"The solution is expensive."
"Based on the billing discussions in the DevOps team, Akamai's cost does not seem to be a major thing. However, LOE is an issue. When it comes to support, we know that even all the competitors do this. For a 30-minute issue, they give us a LOE of one or two hours. That is a basic practice, but that is something we worry about."
More Akamai App and API Protector pricing and cost advice
"It is somewhat on the expensive side although it is worth the additional cost."
"The price of F5 BIG-IP AFM is a little more expensive than other firewalls on the market."
"F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager is not an expensive solution."
"F5 BIG-IP AFM is an affordable solution. There were not any additional fees other than the standard licensing."
"It's very expensive, and you pay extra for the models."
"We have purchased a five-year licensing package for the product."
"F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is an expensive solution. They are one of the best in the market, but the price could be cheaper."
"The product is expensive."
More F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
18%
Insurance Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Akamai Web Application Protector?
The product is user-friendly.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Akamai Web Application Protector?
The price is higher than others. It could be about 80% to 70% more expensive than other tools. So, it’s not just a slight difference.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Akamai Web Application Protector?
It could have better analytics and reporting visibility in the OEM console.
See all answers
What do you like most about F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
CGNAT is one of its strong areas.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
As per pricing, I would not say cheap, but little higher than cheap, but not very expensive. So you can say kind of value for money solutions.
See all answers
What needs improvement with F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
NGINX, which F5 purchased, has room for improvement in its features, particularly its load balancing or application load balancing features.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Akamai App and API Protector Logo
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Akamai App and API Protector
Compared 19% of the time
Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs Akamai App and API Protector Logo
Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs Akamai App and API Protector
Compared 14% of the time
AWS WAF vs Akamai App and API Protector Logo
AWS WAF vs Akamai App and API Protector
Compared 12% of the time
Prolexic vs Akamai App and API Protector Logo
Prolexic vs Akamai App and API Protector
Compared 7% of the time
Arbor DDoS vs Akamai App and API Protector Logo
Arbor DDoS vs Akamai App and API Protector
Compared 7% of the time
More Akamai App and API Protector Competitors
Arbor DDoS vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Logo
Arbor DDoS vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
Compared 66% of the time
AWS Shield vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Logo
AWS Shield vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
Compared 16% of the time
Radware DefensePro vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Logo
Radware DefensePro vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
Compared 10% of the time
Cloudflare vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Logo
Cloudflare vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
Compared 8% of the time
More F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Akamai App and API Protector
November 2024
Akamai App and API Protector reportDownload Akamai App and API Protector product report
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
November 2024
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) reportDownload F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) product report
 

Also Known As

Akamai Web Application Protector, Akamai Kona Site Defender, Akamai Kona DDoS Defender
F5 AFM, F5 Advanced Firewall Manager
 

Learn More

Akamai
F5
 

Overview

Akamai App and API Protector provides website security by preventing DDoS attacks, acting as an application firewall, managing content delivery, and monitoring APIs. It adapts to threat profiles and is used for fast media delivery and identifying malicious activities.

Akamai App and API Protector offers strong protection, adaptable security features, and efficient traffic management. Its WAF blocks IP addresses and country-specific threats while preventing SQL injections. Companies utilize it for scalable CDN services and comprehensive traffic analysis. Known for its cost-effectiveness and user-friendly dashboard, this protector stands out for its customizable rules and technical support. Users also highlight the ease of integration and detailed attack insights available through its advanced dashboard.

What are the key features of Akamai App and API Protector?
  • DDoS Protection: Strong defense against Distributed Denial of Service attacks.
  • Scalable CDN: Manages content delivery efficiently under high traffic loads.
  • WAF Capabilities: Blocks specific IPs and countries, prevents SQL injections.
  • Traffic Filtering: Analyzes and controls incoming requests to maintain security.
  • Adaptive Stream Delivery: Adjusts content delivery to meet bandwidth needs.
What benefits should users expect?
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Provides robust security tools at a competitive price.
  • Enhanced Security: Comprehensive protection against cyber threats.
  • Scalability: Easily handles increasing traffic and data loads.
  • Ease of Integration: Simple integration with existing systems.
  • Insightful Analytics: Offers data-driven insights into traffic and attack patterns.

In media, Akamai App and API Protector ensures smooth streaming by handling high bandwidth demands. E-commerce companies use it to guard against fraud and data breaches. Financial sectors rely on its ability to protect sensitive transactions. Implementations in healthcare focus on safeguarding patient data while maintaining compliance with regulations.

F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is a high-performance, full-proxy network security solution designed to protect networks and data centers against incoming threats that enter the network. Built on F5’s industry-leading BIG-IP hardware and software platforms, BIG-IP AFM provides a scalable platform that delivers the flexible performance and control needed to mitigate aggressive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and protocol attacks before they overwhelm and degrade applications and infrastructure availability.

For service providers, BIG-IP AFM IPS does even more, protecting the network edge and performing traffic inspection and protocol adherence for prevalent service provider protocols such as SS7, Diameter, HTTP/2, GTP, SCTP and SIP traffic coming into the network over UDP, TCP, and SCTP.

 

Sample Customers

Douglas Omaha Technology Commission, ZALORA, PrintPlanet
City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Buyer's Guide
Akamai App and API Protector vs. F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
October 2024
Free Report: Akamai App and API Protector vs. F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai App and API Protector vs. F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
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We monitor all Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.