Azure Web Application Firewall vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud comparison

Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud

January 2025

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Helped 838,713 peers since 2012

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

6.0

Azure WAF cuts costs, eliminates third-party needs, improves ROI, meets security requirements, and offers reliable, favorable protection.

Sentiment score

7.2

Microsoft Defender for Cloud enhances security, reduces costs, and improves efficiency, offering proactive vulnerability identification and significant benefits.

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

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

Defender proactively indexes and analyzes documents, identifying potential threats even when inactive, enhancing preventative security.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Defender for Cloud report

Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees

Identifying potential vulnerabilities has helped us avoid costly data losses.

SaulPatino

Manager at CBTS

The biggest return on investment is the rapid improvement of security posture.

Martin Welen

Cloud architect at Atea

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Azure Web Application Firewall support varies; premium plans offer better service, while others find self-reliance sufficient.

Sentiment score

6.6

Microsoft Defender for Cloud support varies in quality; enterprise users report better experiences, while others face inconsistencies and delays.

They are good at troubleshooting and configuring things.

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

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

Since security is critical, we prefer a quicker response time.

SaulPatino

Manager at CBTS

The support team was very responsive to queries.

reviewer2564271

Programme Manager- Cyber Fusion- Group CISO at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

They understand their product, but much like us, they struggle with the finer details, especially with new features.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Defender for Cloud report

Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.6

Azure Web Application Firewall offers flexible scaling options, dependent on subscription, with high ratings for managing large deployments.

Sentiment score

7.8

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is scalable and flexible, integrates easily, but may have scalability and cost concerns at large scales.

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

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

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

We are using infrastructure as a code, so we do not have any scalability issues with Microsoft Defender for Cloud implementation because our cloud automatically does it.

Vibhor Goel

Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse

Defender won't replace our endpoint XDR, but it will likely adapt and support any growth in the Microsoft Cloud space.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Defender for Cloud report

Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees

There might be scalability issues as you scale up to large enterprises.

Antonio Andres

Manager, Microsoft Technology Alliance at Silverfort

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.0

Azure Web Application Firewall is stable and reliable, with rare performance issues, mainly solved by system restart.

Sentiment score

7.7

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is reliable with minor downtime and occasional portal or connectivity issues, praised for overall performance.

Very rarely do I see any latency issues.

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

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

Defender's stability has been flawless for us.

reviewer2595948

Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is very stable.

Martin Welen

Cloud architect at Atea

Microsoft sometimes changes settings or configurations without transparency.

Vibhor Goel

Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Defender for Cloud report

Room For Improvement

Azure WAF needs improvements in management, deployment simplicity, affordability, IP support, and comprehensive documentation for better user experience.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud users seek enhanced customization, better integration, improved dashboards, automation, and clearer pricing and documentation.

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

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

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

Microsoft, in general, could significantly improve its communication and support.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Defender for Cloud report

Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees

The artificial intelligence features could be expanded to allow the system to autonomously manage security issues without needing intervention from admins.

Javier_Rodriguez

Cloud Consultant at i-Community AG

I've heard there might be issues with scalability for larger enterprises.

Antonio Andres

Manager, Microsoft Technology Alliance at Silverfort

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find Azure Web Application Firewall cost-effective and straightforward compared to AWS and GCP, especially in Brazil.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides customizable pricing options, with debated cost-effectiveness, especially for extensive or regional deployments.

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.

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

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

Every time we consider expanding usage, we carefully evaluate the necessity due to cost concerns.

reviewer2564271

Programme Manager- Cyber Fusion- Group CISO at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

We appreciate the licensing approach based on employee count rather than a big enterprise license.

Antonio Andres

Manager, Microsoft Technology Alliance at Silverfort

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is pricey, especially for Kubernetes clusters.

reviewer2595279

Project Cloud Center of Excellence Leader at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Defender for Cloud report

Valuable Features

Azure Web Application Firewall offers scalable, easy-to-configure protection with flexible pricing, enhancing security against DDoS and unauthorized access.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides enhanced security, AI-driven insights, multi-cloud support, and integrates with Sentinel for proactive threat management.

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

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

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

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

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

The most valuable feature for me is the variety of APIs available.

reviewer2564271

Programme Manager- Cyber Fusion- Group CISO at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

This feature significantly aids in threat detection and enhances the user experience by streamlining security management.

Javier_Rodriguez

Cloud Consultant at i-Community AG

The most valuable feature is the recommendations provided on how to improve security.

Martin Welen

Cloud architect at Atea

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Defender for Cloud report

Categories and Ranking

Azure Web Application Firewall

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

20th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Web Application Firewall (WAF) (13th)

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (7th), Container Management (9th), Container Security (4th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (3rd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (3rd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (3rd), Compliance Management (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Web Application Firewall is 1.8%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 7.1%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Comprehensive suite simplifies configuration while frequent updates require management

Management Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees

Mainly, it comes with the complete suite of Microsoft services. I can use it in conjunction with the best options and other features that come with it. Configuration is much easier than using different platforms. For example, if I have hosted the application in AWS and am using the Application Firewall from Azure, there are certain additional steps to follow when configuring them. With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan. Azure continually upgrades platforms and sends us messages to upgrade to the next version, simplifying the process. Later, it's much easier if I want to upgrade the software platform, scale it, or move it to a different application host as the whole suite comes together. The return on investment is good. If I am doing applications for clients, I can invoice them for better costs. Most applications that I run and use have a better return on investment.

Read full review

Vibhor Goel

Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse

A single tool for complete visibility and addressing security gaps

Currently, issues are structured in Microsoft Defender for Cloud at severity levels of high, critical, or warning, but these severity levels are not always right. For example, Microsoft might consider a port being open as critical, but that might not be the case for our company. Similarly, it might suggest closing some management ports, but you might need them to be able to log in, so the severity levels for certain things can be improved. Even though Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides a way to temporarily disable certain alerts or notifications without affecting our security score, it would be better to have more granularized control over these recommendations. Currently, we cannot even disable certain alerts or notifications. There should be an automated mechanism to design Azure policies based on the recommendations, possibly with AI integration. Instead of an engineer having to write a policy to fix security gaps, which is very time-consuming, there should be an inbuilt capability to auto-remediate everything and have proper control in place. Additionally, enabling Defender for Cloud at the resource group level, rather than only at the subscription level, would be beneficial.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Web Application Firewall?

The integration it has with GitHub is great.

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

The pricing is okay at the moment. Sometimes, when opting for a higher SKU, it's not the WAF itself that's costly but the additional requirements. A higher SKU application hosting platform adds to ...

What needs improvement with Azure Web Application Firewall?

While using it, I identified certain areas where it would have been good to have additional features. Right now, I can't recall any specific instances. Seamless integration is good, yet having mult...

How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?

Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening across your ecosystem. It also has great remote workforce capabilities and supports a...

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

The entire Defender Suite is tightly coupled, integrated, and collaborative.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

The licensing is straightforward but can become expensive if you cover everything. You must balance the cost against the importance of what needs covering.

AWS WAF vs Azure Web Application Firewall

Comparisons

Compared 42% of the time

Fortinet FortiWeb vs Azure Web Application Firewall

Compared 12% of the time

Azure Front Door vs Azure Web Application Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Akamai App and API Protector vs Azure Web Application Firewall

Compared 4% of the time

Fastly vs Azure Web Application Firewall

Compared 2% of the time

More Azure Web Application Firewall Competitors

AWS GuardDuty vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 21% of the time

Cortex Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 12% of the time

Wiz vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

Orca Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Azure Web Application Firewall

February 2025

Download Azure Web Application Firewall product report

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

February 2025

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud product report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Microsoft

Overview

Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) provides centralized protection of your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities. Web applications are increasingly targeted by malicious attacks that exploit commonly known vulnerabilities. SQL injection and cross-site scripting are among the most common attacks.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for cloud workloads. It offers real-time visibility into the security posture of cloud environments, enabling organizations to quickly identify and respond to potential threats. With its advanced machine learning capabilities, Microsoft Defender for Cloud can detect and block sophisticated attacks, including zero-day exploits and fileless malware.

The solution also provides automated remediation capabilities, allowing security teams to quickly and easily respond to security incidents. With Microsoft Defender for Cloud, organizations can ensure the security and compliance of their cloud workloads, while reducing the burden on their security teams.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.