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F5 Advanced WAF vs NetScaler Web Application Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 Advanced WAF
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetScaler Web Application F...
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
18th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of F5 Advanced WAF is 11.8%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler Web Application Firewall is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
 

Featured Reviews

AE
Apr 5, 2024
Offers features of DDoS protection, bot blocking and HTTP header verifications
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 corporations that are clients of our company are unwilling to let go of applications that have been developed. The aforementioned clients believe that as some of the new websites do not use these technologies, it wouldn't be ideal to replace the existing applications; for example, a bank with millions of dollars connected to a software wouldn't be willing to replace it instantly. It often takes years for enterprise-level businesses to replace applications. The vendor of F5 Advanced WAF needs to consider that even if legacy protocols are not necessarily used for new projects, existing or prior applications projects rely heavily on them, and such protocols need to be protected until they are completely phased out of the market. The vendor needs to provide complete support for the legacy protocols, just like the latest protocols in the market, until they are assured that none of the customers are using them. I would like to witness the expansion of the supported protocols set by the solution. The tool should be promoted as an advanced protection solution that supports all types of protocols. In future versions, some protocols offered by the solution need to be more specialized. All public-facing protocols should be added to F5 Advanced WAF.
YA
May 15, 2024
Affordable, provides advanced features, and protects applications
The solution is used for application security. We had many applications that external users accessed. We used it in the production environment. We have suspended it due to support issues. We used multi-layer security The product protected us from SQL injection. Citrix is good for application…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"F5 Advanced WAF has very good stability and scalability. Its initial setup was straightforward."
"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."
"The product has valuable features for load balancing, monitoring tools, and HPXpress services."
"F5 technical support is excellent. They are experts who always provide the right solution, and they understand the problem. Their response and resolution times are good."
"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."
"My favorite feature of F5 is the ability to play around with the ciphers. I also like the ability to have an immediate display of the support IDs when a real blockage occurs. The protection offered is great."
"Customers find the load balancer feature as the most valuable."
"Provides good protection from attacks."
"The stability is good. If there is a problem, the load will be shifted to other sites automatically, which has been a good experience for us."
"The solution can be configured very granularly and has good control over security."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"The advantage of Citrix Web App and API Protection is just its graphic user interface for beginners. The solution is nothing special, but we have to use it for the corporation. Another advantage of Citrix Web App and API Protection is that we have our copy to test things and get the know-how of it."
"We have good customer support."
"I prefer this solution because of its user-friendly interface. I find it simple and close to what I am currently using, which is Citrix Fortiva Access for Multi-Factor Authentication. I appreciate the familiar user interface and troubleshooting tools it offers."
"I like the solution's simplicity compared to Citrix's on-prem solutions."
"The web application firewall which protects our services on the internet, and then of course services like our ability to provide high availability for the services we are offering are the most valuable features."
 

Cons

"I would like to see a better interface and better documentation compatibility with other products. It's more complicated with OWASP."
"Most customers encounter stability issues with the product's Big-IP logs."
"The delay times on firmware patches and software updates could be better and improved."
"More legacy protocols should be added to the solution."
"You have to buy another module with an extra license, to have the authentication feature."
"The solution is tedious. It takes a lot of discrete settings so one needs to get detailed and granular when they use the solution. It takes you a whole lot of energy and concentration to configure. It needs to be much more straight-forward, like other web solutions."
"The BNS module needs improvement."
"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 reporting is not so good. They don't have an application to connect the logs."
"The solution's pricing is a big concern and should be improved."
"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."
"The user interface could be more friendly. Some wizards and other documentation for administrators, as well as some use cases, helps us to understand the solution."
"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."
"Their upgrades are not very backward compatible, and sometimes they mess up."
"The configuration for its web application firewall is complicated."
"The setup was not simple."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The way we deployed it, I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing."
"It's more expensive than other solutions and depending on the modules, there can be additional fees."
"The solution is very expensive so should only be used in the right environment."
"The price of F5 Advanced WAF could improve it is expensive."
"It is expensive. Its price should be better. Its licensing is on a yearly basis. Its licensing is also based on the model. There are no additional costs."
"A yearly license for F5 Advanced WAF is expensive."
"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 pricing is too high."
"The pricing for Citrix Web App and API Protection is unreasonable. I don't know the exact price, but I heard it's tens of thousands and it's a bit too much for the small country I live in."
"We have all the features and functions of Citrix because we have a premium license."
"For partners, NetScaler is not as expensive price-wise versus F5."
"Citrix Web App and API Protection are in the middle when we talk about pricing and licensing"
"The tool is cheap."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight or nine out of ten."
"I rate the pricing an eight out of ten since it is expensive."
"The solution is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
61%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
4%
 

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 Web App and API Protection?
I prefer this solution because of its user-friendly interface. I find it simple and close to what I am currently using, which is Citrix Fortiva Access for Multi-Factor Authentication. I appreciate ...
What needs improvement with Citrix Web App and API Protection?
The solution's pricing is very high compared to its competitors. This is the only challenge I faced when I tried to sell the solution for VPN, L7 firewall, or GSLB solution. I would like to enhance...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Citrix Web App and API Protection, Citrix Web App Firewall
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MAXIMUS, Vivo, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office, City Bank
NSS Labs, ICSA Labs
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 Advanced WAF vs. NetScaler Web Application Firewall and other solutions. Updated: September 2024.
801,394 professionals have used our research since 2012.