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F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform 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
6.9
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (2nd)
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (4th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), Application Control (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (1st), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (2nd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (11th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (10th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform 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 15.4%, down 15.8% compared to last year.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform, on the other hand, focuses on ZTNA as a Service, holds 18.0% mindshare, down 24.6% since last year.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
ZTNA as a Service
 

Featured Reviews

Mahmoud-Yassin - PeerSpot reviewer
You can fully automate disaster recovery
LTM's cloud capabilities could be improved. Cloud providers all offer load balancing, but you can't get the same level of security. F5's cloud service is still not on par with its on-prem service. F5 acquired multiple companies a few years ago, but they still haven't integrated those solutions. For example, F5 acquired Shape Security, which had an excellent solution for detecting bots and automated login attacks, but F5 offers the solution in an inflexible way. It is only available as a cloud-based solution. It isn't zone-based. Some companies are restricted from sending financial data outside the country because of GDPR in Europe or other national regulations. Here in the UAE, we can't send host data out.
Sumit Bhanwala - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud-based platform simplifies device and data center management
I find it to be good. The solution is cloud-based with the latest inspection engines, which I find to be amazing. We are less dependent on data centers and device management, which reduces our efforts significantly. It improves our device management, data center management, and updating devices. We need fewer engineers for this management, and it reduces time and efforts for data center management, device upgrades, and IT support.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of F5 BIG-IP LTM is it helps our delivery team to make policies and rules for application."
"We enjoy its overall ease of use."
"I have found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) to be stable."
"The product is quite flexible."
"The value and impact of using F5 BIG-IP LTM for application delivery control in our organization are significant."
"The most valuable features are DNS, APM, and ASM. Additionally, it is easy to use and you have a lot of flexibility to use the solution within a network."
"F5 BIG-IP is used with good applications and functions as an application firewall with additional features. We will not use any feature or any service unless there is a business case and there is a need for implementation."
"The solution's stability is pretty good."
"The most valuable features are the File Type Control and SSL bypass policies. We"
"Its impressive scalability allows the combination of multiple dictionaries and using them as one engine, resulting in narrower data loss gaps."
"The product's most valuable features are cloud-based services and secure internet access. We don't have to set up any physical appliances."
"The best feature is the ability to establish the connection between your public network and automatically connect to the intranet connection."
"The most valuable features of Zscaler Private Access are reliability, scalability, and availability."
"The most valuable feature is its seamless integration capabilities, streamlining the process by eliminating the need for extensive installations."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the CASB solutions, which is protecting their Office 365."
"The policies are very easy to implement."
 

Cons

"I would like F5 to incorporate the ability to create your own custom roles and customised permissions within the product set. I have seen many customers wanting to give a certain level of access for the purposes of out-of-hours servicing to out-of-hours staff or teams that fulfill an operations type role."
"Bugs are the part of program and they are fixed with every release, as with any vendor."
"It reaches a point where scaling is no longer possible."
"My only point of contention would be that it is a little pricey."
"I would like to see F-5 implement a regular routing like in other Linux-based devices. When we try and integrate in some complex networks, we have to use some additional routing scenarios from a Layer 3 perspective, then we have some problems. It would be great if this were fixed somehow."
"It would possibly help to get more training, even better in local languages."
"The user interface of F5 BIG-IP LTM is old and could improve."
"It is a hardware load balancer, and its installation procedure is more complex than a software load balancer. There are pros and cons of using hardware load balancing. You have to have specific hardware deployed in your data center to activate this load balancer. They never came up with any software-based load balancing solution. It is all hardware-based."
"The pricing for Private Access seems to be on the expensive side, and I believe they should consider making it more competitive with other solutions."
"Sometimes, support takes time since the solution has some bugs that need fixing."
"The connectivity monitoring part should be included in the core license without any extra charges."
"Zscaler CASB breaks down at times."
"We faced certain migration and implementation challenges in executing the tasks, so I would suggest improvement related to the stability of the solution."
"Sometimes, support takes time since the solution has some bugs that need fixing."
"Zscaler Private Access's reporting is poor. We should have more insight into the reports regarding what is blocked and allowed."
"The area that requires improvement is their support. The current support is lacking."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You can buy it on a yearly basis, or you can go for a subscription. For on-premise boxes, it is just the RMA."
"The solution is quite expensive if we compare it with the competition."
"Purchasing through the AWS Marketplace was good. We chose to go through the AWS Marketplace because everything that we needed was a soft appliance. We needed something to work in Amazon, and this product was available there."
"The licensing strategy for F5 is good."
"The cost is high for this product, so it's not suitable for small customers, e.g. those with small environments."
"Security should be involved in any base license. When you bring on F5, you only have default license. Then, the ASM product license has to be purchased. It would be great if F5 could include the ASM in the base license."
"The only area that has room for improvement would be pricing, so its competitors do not have a say."
"I use a yearly subscription, which is the most expensive one now compared to its competitors."
"Zscaler CASB is an expensive solution."
"The solution has increased prices this year."
"The price is competitive."
"The licensing model for Zscaler Cloud DLP allows you to only buy what you need. You don't need to buy it as a whole, so it's good."
"The product has reasonable pricing."
"It's expensive currently. But when purchasing for a large number of users, there's room to negotiate. It's really up to the procurement team."
"There is definitely an ROI."
"Zscaler Private Access is extremely expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?
There are no specific areas for improvement as it is already well-resolved and doesn't require further enhancements.
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?
The primary use case includes load balancing to serve application servers and basic web application firewall solutions. Our customers use it for that purpose.
What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?
We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a cloud-deliver...
What do you like most about Zscaler SASE?
The most valuable features of Zscaler Private Access are reliability, scalability, and availability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler SASE?
Zscaler SASE is quite expensive compared to other solutions. The price is not fixed and it does not include all of the features, so my advice for organizations would be to evaluate their specific n...
 

Also Known As

F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
Zscaler SASE, Zscaler DLP, Zscaler CASB, Zscaler CSPM, Zscaler Browser Isolation, Zscaler Posture Control
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
Siemens, AutoNation, GE, NOV
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