Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

F5 Advanced WAF vs NetScaler comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 Advanced WAF
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetScaler
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st), Network Management Applications (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

YUSUF  TAIWO - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 26, 2023
Ensures a robust and unified security approach for our clients
My clients often seek a comprehensive security solution for their hybrid environments, with both cloud and on-premise web applications. To address this, I recommend combining F5 Advanced WAF for web application security with Fortinet solutions, including FortiGate, FortiSign, and FortiAnalyzer, for…
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

"F5 helped to meet compliance and regulatory requirements."
"The anti-bot protection is the solution's most valuable feature. Safe-guard or credential staffing are also useful features."
"It can scale."
"One of the most valuable features is the Local Traffic Manager."
"The most valuable feature of F5 Advanced WAF is its ability to have a pool of resources that can distribute your traffic, and that is a plus for me. My company tried to look into a competitor, Imperva, but it was lacking that capability, so F5 Advanced WAF outperforms Imperva."
"Identification, ease of use, and ease of modifying it to most of our needs are valuable."
"I definitely recommend this solution because of the time you save on analysis."
"The solution's most valuable features include application DDoS protection, bot blocking, and HTTP header verifications."
"The analytics are a great feature."
"Global load balancing between data centers."
"It is a very stable solution."
"We use the product for load balancing and as a reverse proxy solution."
"The best feature of Citrix is its track record of stability in its features."
"It has helped us to increase the resiliency of the application and the performance."
"I can turn on features without actually owning a license. I can test them out, I can use them for a while, and then I can be licensed up. That's awesome. I don't have to have a license immediately before I can start to deploy things rapidly, rapid deployment is a plus."
"We have good customer support."
 

Cons

"The pricing could be more flexible."
"F5 Advanced WAF could improve the precision of the scanning. There are many false positives. They should improve their threat database."
"They should work on the virtualization of NGINX."
"I would like to see additional controls."
"The contextual-based component needs a lot of help to catch up with the next-gen products."
"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."
"The accuracy of the automatic learning feature needs improvement."
"The overall price of F5 Advanced WAF could improve."
"The only thing customers told me that could be improved is that they would like to be able to purchase and receive the products in one box, rather than two boxes. This is something related to marketing, though."
"The interface could be improved, some customers struggle with that."
"Does not include security. A web application firewall would be a nice addition."
"The solution can improve their support and send tickets directly to a Citrix ADC engineer in order to avoid having to escalate each support call."
"This is an expensive solution."
"Citrix NetScaler has been recently acquired by another company and the support has been negatively impacted, the solution is at its end of life. The support for the solution could improve. The sales team needs to be improved."
"There are certain features that are very useful and Citrix makes you pay a bit more for them."
"In every release - and it doesn't matter if it's a minor release or a major release - they keep moving things around and they keep changing the mechanism. So certain things can work in one version one way, and everything works really well, then when you upgrade it to the next version, it breaks everything because they have a new way of doing it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is very expensive so should only be used in the right environment."
"There are different licenses available to use F5 Advanced WAF, such as BT, ASM, and LPM."
"There is an annual subscription for this solution."
"F5 Advanced WAF is not a cost-effective solution. Although they are attempting to reduce prices with their VE and cloud options, they are more expensive than other solutions. The solution is more expensive on average."
"The cost is slightly above average."
"The price of F5 Advanced WAF could improve it is expensive."
"Licensing fees for this solution are paid on a yearly basis."
"It's more expensive than other solutions and depending on the modules, there can be additional fees."
"Its licensing cost is much higher than other products, but it is acceptable because it is a one-time investment, and we are getting our requirements fulfilled when we buy this product. So, there is no issue with the pricing."
"I give the price of the solution a seven out of ten."
"The solution is undoubtedly very good, but it is expensive."
"We have all the features and functions of Citrix because we have a premium license."
"Citrix ADC could improve the price and make it less expensive, other competitors have a better prices. This would allow Citrix ADC to keep dominating the market."
"NetScaler does the same thing as an F5 and it's cheaper."
"Citrix NetScaler VPX is not the cheapest solution out there, but you get what you pay for."
"The license for Citrix NetScaler is on an annual basis and it is reasonably priced."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Web Application Firewall (WAF) solutions are best for your needs.
813,161 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
 

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 would rate the pricing as seven out of ten. Sometimes, for specific models, additional licenses over the standard one need to be purchased. F5 Advanced WAF doesn't offer a single license that fit...
What needs improvement with F5 Advanced WAF?
More legacy protocols should be added to the solution. The aforementioned protocols are generally less used and might have been phased out from multiple solutions. But some of the large corporation...
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

No data available
Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MAXIMUS, Vivo, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office, City Bank
ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 Advanced WAF vs. NetScaler and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
813,161 professionals have used our research since 2012.