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F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition vs HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) 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 Virtual Edition
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (9th)
HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP)
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Managed Cloud Services (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition and HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is designed for Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and holds a mindshare of 0.7%.
HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP), on the other hand, focuses on Managed Cloud Services, holds 5.2% mindshare, up 1.0% since last year.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition0.7%
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)14.9%
NetScaler13.0%
Other71.4%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
Managed Cloud Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP)5.2%
HPE GreenLake20.0%
Pure Storage Evergreen One19.1%
Other55.7%
Managed Cloud Services
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2800392 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Architect at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Cloud deployment has simplified traffic distribution and now supports flexible multi-zone DR
Regarding F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition's improvement areas, the current dashboard is very useful, but I believe the registration process should be simplified in the virtual edition. Especially in the Azure environment, many features are not currently aligned and working with Azure. We need to make efforts to ensure it is well integrated with Azure. Currently, if we want to integrate route tables with the virtual F5 edition, we need to deploy scripting inside the virtual F5 instances, and then that script performs the virtual IP route table changes in the Azure environment. This feature should be auto-configured, and efforts are needed to ensure the virtual edition is very much aligned with the Azure environment. I am expecting this improvement in the next edition. The failover capability is also not as good as it should be. We have tested the failover functionality, and sometimes we have observed that failover fails. F5 does not successfully fail over to other instances perfectly, so that also needs to be improved. Security should also be enhanced, as in the past I have seen some security loopholes. Tightening of security should be included in the new software. These improvements should be present in near future editions.
reviewer2784489 - PeerSpot reviewer
operations Manager at a university with 10,001+ employees
Unified dashboards have streamlined device management and support has resolved issues faster
The best features HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) offers are probably the ease of usability, the observability, and the transparency. When I mention observability and transparency, those features help me in my work by keeping everything in my view; I don't need to juggle between different platforms, as everything serves as a one unified solution. About transparency, things are crystal clear and laid out openly, making it much easier for consumers like us who manage tons of devices all in one unified platform. HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) has positively impacted my organization by making the whole problem-solving process easier, as if there are any ticket issues, things get resolved more easily compared to our previous services. Issues get resolved much more quickly now, with most of these solutions being almost readily available, and if escalated to a support team, we get a quicker response time, as opposed to the previous solution which involved a lot of back and forth and consumed a lot more time.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Compared to our physical environment, with F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition we have saved approximately one hundred thousand dollars, reduced our team from five people to two, and achieved an overall cost reduction of twenty-five to thirty percent, with some areas reaching forty percent."
"Organizations, if you are using or if you want an enterprise-level solution, you definitely have to go with F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition."
"It has DoS layer 7 protection, which not many vendors have."
"F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition has positively impacted my organization in all three aspects: saving time, improving security posture, and complementing our appliances on our F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition."
"The tool's investment is less than a physical device."
"Overall, the application stability and performance are all at par."
"The integration capabilities of the product are easy to use, and there is no complexity involved in it."
"I would advise others considering F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition that it is the best instrument for load balancing."
"The tool's documentation is excellent. It's well-organized, easy to use, simple, and easily readable. I can usually find answers to my questions quickly in the docs."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"The solution's most valuable feature is infrastructure as code (IaC)."
"I appreciate the consistency that HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) offers because I can create an environment once, add variables, and deploy them to multiple environments in a short span of time."
 

Cons

"As per my understanding, there is a need to improve support. Sometimes it is very critical to get support for that."
"In terms of improvements for F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition, I encountered issues with load management when multiple modules such as AFM, APM, LTM, and GTM are handled together."
"The failover capability is also not as good as it should be. We have tested the failover functionality, and sometimes we have observed that failover fails."
"From a pricing perspective, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is somewhat high compared to others, and the licensing is provided as annual-based licenses rather than perpetual licenses."
"I feel that F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition could be improved because overall, it is a pretty good product, but the licensing is rather costly."
"I have a specific issue with the network interface connector, the NIC. We're limited to a maximum of two NICs in a virtualized environment. It's a limitation of the tool."
"F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition could be improved by enhancing the GUI, as I think it should be more user-friendly."
"On-the-go upgrades are an option that the tool currently lacks, making it an area where improvements are required."
"From an improvement perspective, there is a need to ensure some bug fixes."
"It would be good if college or university students could explore HashiCorp Cloud Platform to a certain extent as an open-source solution."
"You need knowledge and experience to use Terraform, Vault, and other HashiCorp tools."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company's customers need to make payments for the licensing charges attached to the product. It is an expensive product."
"I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"The pricing is standard."
"F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is an expensive solution, but it's worth the price."
"The solution's pricing is moderate according to industry standard prices."
"For my side, the tool is not expensive. It is a very flexible product that you can utilize. I think the tool is a little bit expensive for smaller companies, especially startups."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Media Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition?
The integration capabilities of the product are easy to use, and there is no complexity involved in it.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition?
I believe F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition could be improved in terms of pricing and licensing transparency. However, customers who purchase through authorized partners may receive better pricing and lice...
What advice do you have for others considering F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition?
I would rate F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition 9/10 overall. Advice: Plan the sizing and licensing properly, deploy it in HA (Active/Standby) for high availability, and monitor license validity (especially...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP)?
I was not part of the team that handled the pricing, setup cost, and licensing, so I don't handle that.
What needs improvement with HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP)?
I am not entirely sure about how HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) could improve, as I don't have anything on top of my head at the moment.
What is your primary use case for HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP)?
My main use case for HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) is that we've been using Azure, and we recently switched to HashiCorp because of the service and ease of ticketing systems. A specific example of...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition vs. HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.