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Barracuda Load Balancer ADC vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) comparison

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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

Barracuda Load Balancer ADC
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of Barracuda Load Balancer ADC is 3.4%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is 11.9%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)11.9%
Barracuda Load Balancer ADC3.4%
Other84.7%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

Moges Bekru - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Engineer at Malam Engineering PLC
Balances loads efficiently and saves costs but could improve initial setup
The typical use case for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC involves managing and distributing network traffic efficiently to maintain system performance. Clients use Barracuda Load Balancer ADC for its ability to handle and balance loads across servers I have seen improvements in Barracuda Load…
edshyaa - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at Stryker
Load balancing has improved traffic distribution and currently supports high availability upgrades
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) offers effective load balancing methods that help distribute traffic across our servers, whether we have two or several. This load balancing feature stands out as it is the fundamental work we do with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). While I recognize there are many features, such as iRules, which I have not explored yet, we primarily work on VIPs, pool members, and traffic distribution. The load balancing algorithms' flexibility makes them very useful for our team, enabling us to choose different servers and manage load effectively. We use various methods based on user or application requirements, making the algorithms set up by F5 in the backend quite helpful. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) positively impacts our organization primarily through its load balancing capabilities. We avoid traffic overload on individual servers by placing backend servers behind F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) VIP. This load balancing helps us manage traffic effectively. Since the configuration of the I-series, we have had smooth performance, and with the recent migration to the R-series, it is working faster than before, providing positive outcomes for our operations. Since moving to the R-series, I notice improved performance; it is user-friendly and handles traffic efficiently. The upgrading process is different as we create tenants and a main host. R-series has better CPU and memory, leading to higher throughput with minimal downtime, making it a significant improvement over the I-series.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The price is very good, and it's not very expensive."
"The initial setup was straightforward and deployment took one day."
"The Barracuda solution has improved the way we function by consolidating threat management and network optimization in one standalone appliance."
"Barracuda's technical support is good - whenever we have an issue, they immediately connect and resolve it."
"I would rate the stability of Barracuda Load Balancer as a ten out of ten; it has high stability."
"The most useful features in Barracuda Load Balancer are its security capabilities, load balancing efficiency, and scalability."
"The solution is simple and powerful. I find the Barracuda Load Balancer ADC's load balancing function most valuable. It balances the traffic well. The security features, like the Web Application Firewall, are also very helpful."
"The setup is pretty easy."
"There is a lot of documentation available."
"F5 was a virgin solution to a point problem and quickly grew to a central position in the management of our enterprise infrastructure and digital tier by demonstrating quickly a value contribution made to our live service offering."
"We have only opened up two support tickets with the support and on both occasions, they provided a good service."
"The combination of ADC and WAN is good."
"We always use technical support and the team helps us very well. They're able to effectively find and fix issues and they respond very quickly."
"The iRule feature is very useful for inspecting HTTP. Sometimes, we use it for modifying the headers of the HTTP."
"F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) improves the resilience and quality of the application itself, the speed and the user experience for the application. The data that the users need from the application is actually acquired faster. So, it provides faster data acquisition."
 

Cons

"There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic."
"We find with WAN optimization it’s a bit unstable but we don't use it for that."
"Load Balancer ADC is competitively priced, but it's not feature-rich, and its technology is not that advanced."
"The quality of the solution's performance could be improved."
"The Barracuda Load Balancer ADC could be improved with more customization features. For example, F5 uses iRules for custom configurations. I haven't found something similar in Barracuda yet. The load balancer and WAF's basic and common features are enough, but we need more customization options."
"It would also be great if the solution was less expensive."
"The solution is scalable."
"The SharePoint SSO part has some room for improvement. Opening documents and spreadsheets on local applications in on our specific situation is not possible."
"The pricing could be improved."
"It requires a particular skill or training before being able to manage it."
"Reporting could be improved and configuration made easier."
"With the new pricing model, ROI was low, hence we switched."
"I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment. Security will then be a major concern when we migrate our own whole infrastructure to the public cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"Load Balancer ADC is cost-effective and is about half the price of F5."
"Though functionality is high, its cost can be considered slightly higher than its competitors​."
"There are additional costs depending on what modules or what functionality is required."
"This solution comes with a standard license, and there are also extra licenses that can be obtained. The licenses are purchasable for durations of one, two, three, and five years. The hardware is something to consider when purchasing"
"The price is little bit on higher side compared to the cost of NGINX."
"The price is high."
"Purchasing through the AWS Marketplace was good. We chose to go through the AWS Marketplace because everything that we needed was a soft appliance. We needed something to work in Amazon, and this product was available there."
"Security should be involved in any base license. When you bring on F5, you only have default license. Then, the ASM product license has to be purchased. It would be great if F5 could include the ASM in the base license."
"Take a look at the modules that you are going to use. Look into the best bundles for them."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Media Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise86
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?
Pricing for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC can be a consideration. However, it offers good value with its cost-saving benefits and efficient operation, balancing the initial financial outlay.
What needs improvement with Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?
There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic. Also, more could be done to enhance the initial setup, as it can be c...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?
The typical use case for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC involves managing and distributing network traffic efficiently to maintain system performance. Clients use Barracuda Load Balancer ADC for its a...
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) could improve file upload speeds when opening cases and attaching files; sometimes, downloading files like QKView takes time, depending on size. I expect faste...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?
My main use case for F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is placing our applications on F5 and the backend servers on the pool. We also regularly renew SSL certificates before they expire, usuall...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Load Balancer
F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Fenwal Blood Technologies
Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Load Balancer ADC vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,394 professionals have used our research since 2012.