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F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Rapid7 AppSpider comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st)
Rapid7 AppSpider
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (30th)
 

Mindshare comparison

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Rapid7 AppSpider aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is designed for Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and holds a mindshare of 13.0%, down 15.4% compared to last year.
Rapid7 AppSpider, on the other hand, focuses on Static Application Security Testing (SAST), holds 0.8% mindshare, up 0.5% since last year.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)13.0%
NetScaler12.1%
HAProxy8.9%
Other66.0%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Rapid7 AppSpider0.8%
SonarQube15.3%
Checkmarx One9.7%
Other74.2%
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
HW
Marketing Expert at J's communication
Clients benefit from broad authentication and effective crawling but need localization improvements
Our clients use AppSpider to address security concerns for their websites. It is particularly used by customers who require security assessments One of the most valuable features of AppSpider is its broad range of authentication identification, which is a key reason for its utilization.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I thought was going to take me two months, I had done in about two weeks."
"F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) positively impacts our organization primarily through its load balancing capabilities, helping us avoid traffic overload on individual servers and manage traffic effectively, and since moving to the R-series, I notice improved performance as it is user-friendly, handles traffic efficiently, and offers better CPU and memory for higher throughput with minimal downtime."
"We are using Application Security Manager (ASM) as a web application firewall, where there is a security signature to avoid a web level breach."
"We have found the consistency of the application always being the way it is supposed to be as its most valuable feature."
"The stability is excellent."
"Be sure of what you will use; F5 isn’t cheap but is worth the price."
"The solution's stability is pretty good."
"iRules are very valuable. In addition to that, the way profiles are depicted by the LTM is also very good."
"I like the ability the product has to detect vulnerabilities quickly, when it has been released in our environment, then displaying them to us."
"It is really accurate and the rate of false positives is very low."
"The initial deployment is very straightforward and simple."
"The solution is highly stable, rated at ten out of ten."
"When it is set up properly, it can do scanning on web apps with multiple engines automatically."
"One of the most valuable features of AppSpider is its broad range of authentication identification, which is a key reason for its utilization."
"What I like most about AppSpider is that it's easy to use and its automated scan gives me all the details I need to know when it comes to vulnerabilities and their solutions."
"AppSpider's most valuable feature is reporting - everything is stored in the local database so it can be sent to other machines."
 

Cons

"The auto logout feature after three minutes is terrible. I wish they would make that longer, since it is not a feature that we can change."
"LTM would be improved with the inclusion of signature-based blocking."
"It would possibly help to get more training, even better in local languages."
"I would like them to have more flexible models."
"The price needs improvement as it is quite costly."
"The GUI needs improvement."
"The pricing of the product is a bit too high."
"Certificate management needs improvement. I would like automated deployment of new certificates without manual intervention to be in the next release of this product."
"One of the challenges I have with AppSpider is that it gives you a lot of false positives, especially when compared to other solutions."
"AppSpider has some problems with the RAM needed while scanning."
"The solution is too slow. It could take a full day to scan. Competitors are much faster."
"This price of this solution is a little bit expensive."
"The documentation about integration with AppSpider is bad news and some integrations are quite difficult to do right now."
"AppSpider has some problems with the RAM needed while scanning."
"The solution is too slow. It could take a full day to scan. Competitors are much faster."
"Implementing Rapid7 AppSpider requires scanning and self-identification mechanisms. You can add different types of authentication to each scan."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have found the pricing and licensing on AWS to be competitive."
"F5 is expensive."
"The price is little bit on higher side compared to the cost of NGINX."
"F5 is more expensive than other solutions, so you have to be sure F5 is the best solution to fit the requirements."
"It was probably a one-time purchase and then you have maintenance, but I don't have the details on that. We bought what they called the Best bundle at the time, which pretty much included all of the modules. There was probably no additional cost afterward."
"The solution is more expensive than one of its competitors."
"It could be priced a little less, especially on the virtual side. It gets a bit expensive, but you get what you pay."
"It is a bit expensive product. Kemp Loadmaster is much cheaper than F5. Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It can be for one year or three years."
"The price is pretty fair."
"The price of Rapid7 AppSpider cost 9,000 annually but there is limited usage. Large companies are able to negotiate a better price or a better deal for the usage with the vendor."
"The licensing cost depends on the number of users."
"AppSpider is closed-source software and you need to acquire a license in order to use it."
"It is expensive if you want to buy the Enterprise version that is able to scan multiple applications at once."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise86
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 AppSpider?
The price is not high, but for Japanese customers, localization may incur additional costs.
What needs improvement with Rapid7 AppSpider?
For Japanese customers, localization is needed. The product should offer a GUI in Japanese and provide Japanese reports for end-users.
What is your primary use case for Rapid7 AppSpider?
Our clients use AppSpider to address security concerns for their websites. It is particularly used by customers who require security assessments.
 

Also Known As

F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
AppSpider
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
Microsoft
Find out what your peers are saying about F5, NetScaler, HAProxy and others in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC). Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.