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F5 Advanced WAF vs Fortinet FortiWeb comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 Advanced WAF
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiWeb
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of F5 Advanced WAF is 12.0%, up from 10.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiWeb is 8.4%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
 

Featured Reviews

YUSUF  TAIWO - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures a robust and unified security approach for our clients
One area for improvement in the product is its SSO integration, which posed challenges and required significant effort to resolve. The complexity of SSO deployment, coupled with high associated costs, could be addressed to enhance usability. Streamlining the SSO process and revisiting cost considerations would contribute to an improved user experience.
Kacem CHAMMALI - PeerSpot reviewer
Even if an attacker detects the IP address, they can't connect directly to the server due to FortiWeb
The xFF, or X-Forwarded-For feature, IP reputation, and protected hostname. We can block access using the IP address, so no one can connect to our web server or website using the real IP. They need to use the FQDN instead. Even if an attacker detects the IP address, they can't connect directly to the server due to FortiWeb and the option to protect the hostname. All traffic passes through FortiWeb. Machine learning capabilities in FortiWeb: I don't use machine learning all the time. In the initial phase of FortiWeb deployment, we use the learning process to detect the traffic passing through FortiGate to our website.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The valuable features vary from customers to customers. Some customers are okay with the basic features of the WAF, and some customers use advanced WAF with a few other features."
"There is no need to worry about updating signatures because WAF will automatically update the signatures for you."
"The web application firewall itself is most valuable. It provides positive security and negative security. In negative security, it blocks a task such as cross-site scripting, code injection, etc. In positive security, it lets you specify and enforce things, such as the parameters allowed in username and password fields and the number of characters allowed in a field."
"It protects and mitigates damage in the network."
"Feature-wise, they are always cutting edge and up-to-date. Many features aren't available via competitors. There's always a lot of enhanced critical features that just aren't available through anyone else, or, if they are, are too lightweight."
"F5 Advanced WAF is a stable solution, we are satisfied. It is more stable than ForiWeb."
"The solution's most valuable features include application DDoS protection, bot blocking, and HTTP header verifications."
"With F5 Advanced WAF, it was protection for online publications and for our customers that caused us to choose the platform."
"We can block access using the IP address so no one can connect to our web server or website using the real IP."
"We find that it is quite stable and reliable."
"All the features that FortiGate contains are very suitable for our business. We work with other products in Fortinet, FortiWeb, FortiSandbox, FortiMail, and FortiCache. We use all UTM features like self-encryption, encryption, all UTM features."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiWeb is the reports and the AI-based features."
"FortiGate is a stable product."
"SSL Offloading simplifies the public certificate handling and brings additional protection features."
"It is easy to install and to maintain."
"The most valuable feature is ease of use."
 

Cons

"People who want to work with the device have to be pro in Linux"
"There is a learning curve that extends the time of implementation."
"F5 Advanced WAF could improve the reporting. It's a bit difficult to populate, them. If you're not so familiar with the functions, such as where to find the logs and other settings."
"F5 Advanced WAF could improve on its funding for WAF features. There is a need to be more advanced WAF features."
"We usually use a third-party tool for logging and reporting. It would be nice if we could do that right on this solution. They have one, but it's not very stable. Logging and reporting effectively would be a big enhancement."
"The tool needs to improve its pricing."
"The interface is old-looking, it's not modern, which is why it's not always comfortable to use."
"Its price should be better. It is expensive."
"Fortinet FortiWeb could improve in reference architecture for different deployment scenarios."
"It would also be helpful if they could introduce easier reporting. It's good to have those reports that go to C-level management, and Fortinet does provide some graphs, but if they went into some more detail, that would be great."
"We would like the interface to be easier to use and more user-friendly. The interface needs to be enhanced."
"Lacks functionalities that are available in other solutions."
"Lacks a VM demo to enable testing prior to purchase."
"Fortinet's technical support is pretty slow."
"The solution could have more customization."
"It is not entirely user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable when compared with other products, such as FortiWeb. I am very satisfied with the price."
"It's more expensive than other solutions and depending on the modules, there can be additional fees."
"Its price is fair. We have done a couple of deals where they were able to give some kind of discount to the customers. The price was initially high for the customers, but after a couple of negotiations, it came within their budget. They were happy with that."
"There are different licenses available to use F5 Advanced WAF, such as BT, ASM, and LPM."
"The cost is slightly above average."
"There is a perpetual license that comes with your hardware. There is also an additional fee for support."
"The solution is very expensive so should only be used in the right environment."
"As far as the pricing of F5 Advanced WAF I would rate it a four out of five depending on what features I am looking for. Imperva is more expensive."
"It's an expensive solution, although there are no additional costs."
"The solution is a bit expensive when compared to other products."
"The cost isn't expensive."
"It is an expensive suite and it is an expensive solution, but it is a manageable one for an enterprise."
"The price is competitive."
"FortiWeb offers these services at a price that SME customers can afford, but it's also suitable for large enterprises. Still, they need to put in more work to gain a greater share of enterprise business because they face stiff competition in this segment from F5, Cloudflare, and some others."
"Its subscription prices are cheaper, and it is not very expensive. From a price perspective, Fortinet is a very well-known security vendor. Subscriptions are very simple. They have a couple of licenses on an appliance, and that's it. The cost is not that big. One license is 40K, which they give with all the products. Another one includes the subscriptions for threat prevention, IPS, sandboxing, etc, which is more than enough."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the tool an eight."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
42%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 Advanced WAF?
It's a fairly easy-to-use and user-friendly tool. My administrators and team also like its ability to customize the rules per the requirements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 Advanced WAF?
I don't have direct knowledge of the pricing. From what I know, it is not too expensive compared to other solutions.
What needs improvement with F5 Advanced WAF?
The product could be more user-friendly for administrators. The user interface could be easier.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiWeb?
The WAF profiles has been effective at mitigating web-based threats.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWeb?
It's better. Yeah, it's really good. It's one of the main points why we offer it. Since we are partners with them, sometimes we offer our customers a lower price.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWeb?
Fortinet's technical support is pretty slow, especially when you have quick questions. The support kind of delays itself and sometimes takes more time. That's the only thing that I can think of at ...
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MAXIMUS, Vivo, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office, City Bank
Lush, Barnabas Health, Options, Riverside Healthcare, Hillsbourough County Schools, Columbia Public Schools, Schiller AG
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 Advanced WAF vs. Fortinet FortiWeb and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,816 professionals have used our research since 2012.