Azure Web Application Firewall vs Fastly comparison

Azure Web Application Firewall

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Fastly and Azure Web Application Firewall are competing in the web security space, with Fastly's agile approach often favored for pricing and Azure WAF offering a comprehensive feature set for larger enterprises.

Features: Fastly offers real-time logging, edge cloud computing, and flexible APIs for dynamic protection. Azure WAF integrates with Azure services, providing robust threat intelligence and automated scalability. Its extensive security options make it attractive to enterprises within the Azure environment.

Room for Improvement: Fastly could enhance zero-trust features, user interface customization, and detailed reporting. Azure WAF may improve initial setup processes, offer more competitive pricing models, and expand third-party integration capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fastly provides straightforward deployment with a user-friendly API and quick customer service. Azure WAF leverages Microsoft's resources for detailed deployments, with extensive documentation and support for complex needs.

Pricing and ROI: Fastly's competitive pay-as-you-go pricing is cost-effective for smaller organizations. Azure WAF, despite its higher price, offers substantial ROI through deep integration with Azure’s suite, appealing to enterprises seeking comprehensive cloud service use.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Fastly Report (Updated: August 2026).

Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Fastly

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Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

3.9

Azure Web Application Firewall offers cost-efficiency through reduced administration, AI enhancements, and competitive pricing compared to leading competitors.

Sentiment score

6.0

Fastly boosts return on investment with improved performance, reduced latency, and cuts infrastructure costs by 40-60%.

Recently, they have been under serious attack with major exploits, such as Log4j, affecting Fortinet and Palo Alto, and even Cisco and VMware.

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

AI-based recommendations save on time and money.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

Realizing a 30 to 50% reduction in latency and page load time, ensuring users experience a seamless workflow.

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

I have seen a return on investment, particularly in time savings, especially regarding the changes.

For more quotes and insights, download the Fastly report

Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Microsoft support is generally satisfactory, with users preferring higher-tier options for faster response and clearer communication.

Sentiment score

6.3

Fastly's customer care is efficient with multi-channel support, but has inconsistencies in response times and transparency across time zones.

They are good at troubleshooting and configuring things.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

I am very satisfied with the response from Microsoft dedicated architects if it happens that I have to call for their support.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

I reached out to their support, and they helped me resolve the issue effectively.

Adolfo Albanell

Owner at ICAL S.A.

demonstrating the team's technical expertise in CDN and Edge architecture

For more quotes and insights, download the Fastly report

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

We have SLAs defined because we opted for enterprise support pricing.

reviewer2161107

Staff Engineer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

We are not getting quick responses from Fastly technical support engineers.

Patel Parth

Technical support engineer at Adobe

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.6

Azure Web Application Firewall offers flexible, highly-rated scalability, easily adapting to traffic changes and various workload needs across subscriptions.

Sentiment score

6.4

Fastly is praised for scalability, ease of growth support, cloud flexibility, excellent support, and successful global integrations.

Some Azure applications, like the web application firewall, require a certain level of SKU for hosting setup.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

For our company, Azure Web Application Firewall works effectively for scalability.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

Seamlessly handling massive traffic without requiring backend changes due to its globally distributed Edge network and stateless API-driven design.

For more quotes and insights, download the Fastly report

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Azure Web Application Firewall is highly stable, with minimal connectivity or performance issues and consistently earns high reliability ratings.

Sentiment score

7.3

Fastly is stable and reliable with high uptime, no technical issues, and strong performance in enterprise applications.

Very rarely do I see any latency issues.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

Highly reliable for enterprise-scale applications with high uptime guarantees.

For more quotes and insights, download the Fastly report

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

Room For Improvement

Azure Web Application Firewall needs better reporting, integration, cost plans, and process streamlining for enhanced management and support.

Fastly requires improvements in China presence, configuration complexity, pricing, customer support, security features, documentation, and bot detection.

Upgrading the platform regularly is necessary for security, however, frequent updates every six months or year from Azure can be a maintenance overhead.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

I chose 8 out of 10 because it has excellent performance and low latency delivery, making it suitable for larger applications, with strong Edge Caching and instant purging capabilities.

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

Fastly could improve by improving the documentation and having some code examples.

For more quotes and insights, download the Fastly report

Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Fastly should provide features similar to Cloudflare regarding a block list.

Patel Parth

Technical support engineer at Adobe

Setup Cost

Azure Web Application Firewall offers scalable pricing, valued functionality, and favorable terms, appealing compared to AWS and GCP.

Fastly is competitively priced with usage-based costs and customizable options, but some find it expensive with a learning curve.

It is even a lower cost compared to AWS and GCP.

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

Sometimes, when opting for a higher SKU, it's not the WAF itself that's costly but the additional requirements.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

I would place Azure Web Application Firewall at an eight on a scale from one to 10, with one being cheap and 10 being expensive.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

It operates on a pay-as-you-go structure, but costs scale with traffic, requiring monitoring to avoid unexpected spikes based on data transfers and the number of requests handled.

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

In terms of price, I find it good.

For more quotes and insights, download the Fastly report

Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Valuable Features

Azure Web Application Firewall offers robust security, seamless Azure integration, automatic rule management, and scalable, user-friendly deployment with minimal downtime.

Fastly CDNs integrate with Signal Sciences WAF for efficient content delivery, enhancing performance with global edge locations and code management.

With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

It is almost impossible to access these assets from outside, requiring a very skilled attacker to obtain asset tokens of a customer using Azure.

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

It integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

The best feature that Fastly offers is the Edge location, which reduces latency, making our applications work smoother because we do not have to constantly call the backend.

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

Fastly has a wide number of configuration features that can be performed, and I emphasize that they can be done from code, which makes it much more traceable.

For more quotes and insights, download the Fastly report

Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

In this project, it is working as a reverse proxy for CDN and WAF, web application firewall, additionally image optimization.

Patel Parth

Technical support engineer at Adobe

Categories and Ranking

Azure Web Application Firewall

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

14th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (19th)

Fastly

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

25th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CDN (7th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of Azure Web Application Firewall is 1.7%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fastly is 2.2%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Web Application Firewall (WAF) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Azure Web Application Firewall	1.7%
Fastly	2.2%
Other	96.1%

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Featured Reviews

Offers robust analytics and seamless cloud integration with minor room for user interface improvement

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

The Microsoft support and the analytics are what I appreciate about Azure Web Application Firewall. It integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot. It helps when looking for threats. It reduces issues significantly because the filtering capabilities are high. Given that it's a cloud solution, we have very minimal downtime, especially because we have Microsoft support. On a scale of one to 10, I would give it an eight.

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Edge caching has transformed response times and delivers faster candidate data globally

Senior software engineer at Simplify vms

Fastly can be improved in certain areas such as VCL, which is powerful but has a steep learning curve for normal users. A more user-friendly, UI-based configuration could simplify the experience, alongside better templates for common use cases and dashboard improvements, as the current dashboard feels complex for beginners, and pricing can be hard to predict for smaller companies. I chose 8 out of 10 because it has excellent performance and low latency delivery, making it suitable for larger applications, with strong Edge Caching and instant purging capabilities. However, VCL complexity and pricing predictability, especially for smaller companies, along with a user-friendly dashboard are areas impacting my score.

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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Web Application Firewall (WAF) solutions are best for your needs.

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911,994 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Outsourcing Company

Government

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Web Application Firewall?

I would place Azure Web Application Firewall at an eight on a scale from one to 10, with one being cheap and 10 being expensive.

What needs improvement with Azure Web Application Firewall?

The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced. I've worked with Fortinet and Cisco, and I think the UI is a litt...

What is your primary use case for Azure Web Application Firewall?

Because we mostly operate in the cloud and because we're a Microsoft environment, it was the best option in the scenario. The options were limited in terms of wanting to be an only Microsoft enviro...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fastly?

In terms of price, I find it good, and as I mentioned, the implementation cost had some difficulty at the beginning due to the learning curve.

What needs improvement with Fastly?

I think Fastly could improve by improving the documentation and having some code examples so that it is easier for developers, since at the beginning it becomes a bit complicated.

What is your primary use case for Fastly?

My primary use case for Fastly is using it as a CDN to speed up my customers' access to the applications. A specific example of how Fastly has helped improve my customers' access to the application...

AWS WAF vs Azure Web Application Firewall

Comparisons

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Azure DDoS Protection vs Azure Web Application Firewall

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Product Reports

Azure Web Application Firewall

Download Azure Web Application Firewall product report

Download Fastly product report

Overview

Azure Web Application Firewall provides strong protection, easy setup, and smooth integration with Microsoft services. It excels in request filtering, custom rule creation, and protection against OWASP Top 10 attacks, ensuring scalable and reliable performance for businesses.

Azure Web Application Firewall offers flexible, affordable, and efficient protection against critical security threats like DDoS and SQL injection, with seamless integration with Azure tools, analytics, and AI capabilities. Users appreciate its ability to handle web requests through role-based access, automation features, and custom policies, especially valuable in cloud environments and ecommerce. Despite the need to improve reporting, management, proxy forwarding, and documentation, it remains a reliable choice for securing front-facing applications.

What are the most important features of Azure Web Application Firewall?

Request Filtering: Blocks undesirable web traffic.
Custom Rule Creation: Enables granular control.
OWASP Protection: Shields against top 10 security vulnerabilities.
Seamless Azure Integration: Enhances security management.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in Azure Web Application Firewall reviews?

Scalability: Supports business growth.
Affordability: Cost-effective for businesses.
Reduced Deployment Time: Quick and efficient setup.
Enhanced Security: Protects against various threats.

Azure Web Application Firewall is widely used in ecommerce for securing transactions against cyber threats like phishing and SQL injection. It also supports reverse proxy setups, provides detailed log analytics, and offers layer 7 protection, making it suitable for businesses needing robust security for both front-facing and branch connectivity applications.

Microsoft

Fastly is a leading provider of content delivery network services that enhances website performance through efficient caching and real-time architecture capabilities.

Fastly integrates CDN technology with advanced web application firewall for comprehensive security. Its global infrastructure supports performance enhancement, rapid deployment, and rollback capabilities. Utilizing the VCL language allows custom caching solutions. Compute@Edge provides extensive architectural flexibility, aiding in HTML manipulation and script execution. Users benefit from its stability and reliability features for seamless network protection, log management, image optimization, and A/B testing. Challenges include limited support in mainland China, inadequate WebSocket protocol implementation, and complex pricing structures.

What are the key features of Fastly?

CDN Integration: Delivers content quickly across global Points of Presence.
Signal Sciences’ WAF: Manages security threats effectively.
VCL Language: Offers customizable caching solutions.
Compute@Edge: Enables flexible architecture for HTML manipulation.
Image Optimization: Enhances performance with dynamic image delivery.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Performance Enhancement: Boosts website speed and response time.
Rapid Deployment: Allows for swift implementation and rollback.
Real-Time Visibility: Provides insights into cached content management.
Security and Stability: Ensures reliability against DDoS attacks and other threats.
Flexibility: Offers diverse network protection and infrastructure capabilities.

Fastly is widely implemented in industries needing robust content delivery and security capabilities. Companies use it as a reverse proxy for media delivery, ensuring availability and optimized performance. Its rapid deployment and rollback features are particularly beneficial in technology sectors requiring agile responses to demand shifts.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Twitter, Airbnb, Alaska Airlines, Pinterest, Vimeo, The Guardian, The New York Times, Ticketmaster, The Drupal Association, Opera, about.com, imgur, Etsy, Foursquare, GitHub, New Relic, shopify, Shazam, Firebase

Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Fastly