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Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs NetScaler comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Cloudflare Web Application ...
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetScaler
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st), Network Management Applications (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

SachidDoshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 9, 2024
Offers a huge signature repository and is superiorly effective in mitigating DDoS attacks
The solution's learning curve can still be further reduced, which presently stands at two or three months. The product has a custom rule set that users can modify and manifest as needed. The vendor can probably shorten the learning curve using cutting-edge technologies like AI. The solution provider can also work around the web applications and identify the toolset that needs to be implemented to deploy the solution in less time. The vendor has launched a SASE product that can function with Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, but many improvements are needed in terms of features, such as the web filtering feature, and CASB has not yet been added.
DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 7, 2024
A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking
Citrix ADM provides centralized management for various internal programs, including inventory and sales tracking, communication tools, and office programs such as Teams and Azure We wouldn't have comprehensive insights into our system without Citrix ADM. It provides us with essential information.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support has a very fast response time and they are helpful."
"Someone with a basic understanding of networking and security will be able to implement the firewall's basic features within 15 minutes."
"We extensively use the solution every day. The solution is very stable; we haven’t seen any glitches."
"There is a huge signature repository"
"Does a good job preventing web application attacks."
"The product has improved our security posture by blocking bad actors."
"The Cloudflare Web Application Firewall's most valuable feature is its ease of configuration."
"It is a SaaS solution unlike much of the competition."
"The solution is extremely stable."
"It's very easy to configure."
"I would say the rewriting and redirection functions are must-have's for us."
"The solution can scale."
"I found that the GUI was very easy to to navigate. If you were looking for something, it was fairly easy to find. There's a lot of third-party documentation and information available online as well."
"The most valuable feature of Citrix NetScaler was the seamless integration. Additionally, the UI is good."
"SSL Offload"
"Content Redirection and SSO integration with Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop. The GUI was wonderful."
 

Cons

"A key challenge arises when dealing with numerous integrations with HVAC systems. Depending on the specifics, there might be some configuration mismatches, which necessitate specific support."
"It would be ideal if the solution offered better log integration and more integration with different platforms."
"The accuracy of the Cloudflare Web Application Firewall could be improved by reducing the number of false-negative alerts."
"Support can be challenging at times."
"I have experienced some difficulties with Cloudflare's support as a customer based in India."
"The notification part could be improved. It's very much connected to Web Application Firewall, rate-limiting, and DDoS protection."
"The solution's learning curve can still be further reduced"
"The dashboard could be more user-friendly."
"Maybe creating policies with simple regular expressions."
"We face challenges with the solution's firmware upgrades frequently."
"I am not an expert in this solution, but simplicity and user-friendly interfaces are crucial for me. I would appreciate advice from Citrix, particularly in the form of an interactive guide for API protection. It would be helpful if they could provide specific points and recommendations for cybersecurity, indicating areas that need attention or improvement. I find such interactive guidance valuable."
"Security could be improved because then I can get rid of my Cisco firewalls. If they improve the security then I could run my security, my proxy, my firewalling and my SDN solution on one device instead of having to have multiple devices."
"An area for improvement in Citrix Web App and API Protection is for it to give real-time notifications and alerts. It would be practical if the solution warns you if there's an attack or if the load or traffic volume increases or decreases. An additional feature I'd like to see in Citrix Web App and API Protection is a prediction or artificial intelligence on what is happening, for example, attacks."
"It does not have a sandbox cloud service and antivirus. It should have on-prem or cloud sandboxing and antivirus."
"The main areas for improvement would be around documentation and support. If a feature can be used in two or three ways, show that feature being used in all of those ways. Documentation seems to only cover the primary use case and leaves you to either run through trial and error or consult the user community. In terms of support, I have never actually had them solve any of my issues. I have always solved them myself and then provided the resolution to support."
"Citrix is more expensive than Horizon."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The annual licensing fee is $10,000 USD."
"It is not too pricey."
"The solution is expensive."
"The pricing model is very straightforward compared to the competition. You just pay per month for the product and usage."
"Cloudflare offers different types of subscriptions for businesses, enterprises, and personal users, and the pricing is negotiable."
"It starts at $20 and can easily go up to $200 monthly"
"Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is more affordable than other solutions."
"What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? I believe the pricing is not the best, but it's reasonable and acceptable. We also use the McAfee system in parallel. In terms of pricing, its okay - not great, but not bad either. It falls in the middle, which is acceptable. In terms of support licensing, last time, we were searching for a solution, and we considered products from resellers rather than directly from the cloud provider. However, the pricing we encountered was exceptionally high. As a result, we are inclined to select support from the reseller."
"Citrix NetScaler's pricing is slightly above average but not overly expensive. I would consider F5 BIG IP to be the most expensive, Citrix NetScaler to be the second most expensive, and then Kemp Load Balancer to be the third."
"Ninety day free trial makes it easy to try out this solution."
"After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive."
"The tool is cheap."
"Costly product and complicated licensing."
"In Turkey, everything is good, but it seems expensive for us due to the currency exchange. I don't have a specific rating scale, but if I had to rate the price, I would say it's around a six out of ten."
"F5 BIG-IP is much more expensive than Citrix ADC. For example, If we choose two platforms, Citrix ADC, 3000 version, and we choose F5, F4200 version. F5 BIG-IP has connections, timers, and throughput similar to Citrix ADC, but the price is very expensive."
"It's an expensive product but it works well."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Educational Organization
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?
The product has a valuable security control functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?
From my perspective, the price of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is quite affordable, rating around an eight or nine.
What needs improvement with Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?
The dashboard could be more user-friendly, and a console approach like Cloudflare CLI could enhance its usability.
What do you like most about Citrix ADC?
The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?
After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?
Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...
 

Also Known As

Cloudflare WAF
Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

crunchbase, udacity, marketo, okcupid, zendesk
ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk
Find out what your peers are saying about Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs. NetScaler and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.