HAProxy vs NetScaler comparison

HAProxy and NetScaler are both solutions in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category. HAProxy is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.6, while NetScaler is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. HAProxy holds a 12.5% mindshare in ADC, compared to NetScaler’s 14.8% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of HAProxy users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of NetScaler users who would recommend it.

HAProxy

Read 42 HAProxy reviews

7,000 Views
4,440 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

NetScaler

Read 107 NetScaler reviews

7,505 Views
5,440 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

HAProxy

NetScaler

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

NetScaler and HAProxy are both high-performance load balancers in the application delivery category. NetScaler appears to have the upper hand for enterprises needing advanced features and extensive support.

Features: NetScaler is favored for strong security and integration options, including SSL offload and comprehensive management capabilities, which benefit enterprises in complex environments. It excels with its flexible deployment model and advanced settings, allowing extensive traffic management and application delivery solutions. HAProxy is praised for reliability and low-level control, offering versatile load-balancing algorithms and customization due to its open-source nature.

Room for Improvement: NetScaler users note the need for upgrading the user interface and simplifying configurations, as well as addressing issues with frequent updates and inconsistent support. HAProxy could enhance GUI features and allow dynamic configurations without service interruption, in addition to improving documentation and monitoring tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetScaler is versatile with deployment options ranging from on-premises to hybrid cloud environments and offers robust technical support with varying feedback on effectiveness. HAProxy, being open-source, is easy to deploy in on-premises setups with simpler licensing, but customer service is less extensive compared to paid enterprise options like NetScaler.

Pricing and ROI: NetScaler is expensive with significant upfront costs due to licensing, making it a premium solution for larger enterprises seeking advanced functionalities. It offers positive ROI through stability and comprehensive management. HAProxy appeals to cost-conscious businesses with no license fees and low TCO, offering excellent value for money. Although its basic version is free, enterprises might opt for paid versions for enhanced support.

To learn more, read our detailed HAProxy vs. NetScaler Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HAProxy vs. NetScaler

March 2025

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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

HAProxy

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Service Mesh (3rd)

NetScaler

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (3rd), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of HAProxy is 12.5%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 14.8%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Featured Reviews

Mehdi El Filahi

Co-Founder at tenekit

Useful for for small and quick load-balancing tasks

What I like best about the product is its simplicity and speed. When you need to set up a load balancer quickly, HAProxy offers options like sticky sessions and round-robin. It's also fast to configure, including adding SSL for security. While it may have fewer options than other solutions like F5, HAProxy gets the job done for basic load-balancing tasks. The reliability features of HAProxy were particularly useful in a scenario where I needed to test load balancing between two Tomcats. Since these domains were inaccessible, I set up a third Docker with HAProxy, which had access to the Tomcat domains. I then configured HAProxy to handle the load balancing. This setup allowed the client to interact with HAProxy. The solution's integration with other elements is easy.

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DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU

Cloud Consultant at Migros Ticaret A.Ş.

A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking

Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The anti-DDOS PacketShield filtering solution (embedded in the physical appliances) as well as the BGP route injection are great features and heavily used."

"It has allowed us to evenly distribute the load across a number of servers, and check their health and automatically react to errors."

"Tech support is super-quick to respond, and always on target with answers specific to the current issue."

"The ease of use of the configuration, and great documentation, are the most valuable features for us."

"The most valuable thing for me is TCP/IP Layer 4 stuff you can do with HAProxy. You can go down to the protocol level and make decisions on something."

"I estimate that this product has saved our company hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in possible downtime from previous load balancers. We make a lot of our money from online sales, so it is critical to have 99.9% uptime."

"The VRRP redundancy is also a mission-critical feature that works seamlessly. I can bring down a server live with minimal downtime because of this."

"We use the solution for load balancing."

More HAProxy pros

"Easy, user-friendly setup with content switching and integrated caching features."

"The program is easy to install and to set up."

"It is a complete solution for those looking for an all-in-one."

"Provides resiliency for applications that reside on servers, as well as connectivity to remote applications."

"What I like most about Citrix NetScaler is its stability, and I didn't see a lot of issues with it."

"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."

"The maintenance of the solution is not complex."

"We appreciate that this solution facilitates our access to Citrix internet."

More NetScaler pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the pricing model. It could be cheaper."

"Sometimes it's challenging to get through the log, and you need a log to understand what is going on. It isn't easy to map the logging with the documentation, and every time I read the log, I have to pull out the documentation to understand what I'm reading."

"If nbproc = 2, you will have two processes of HAProxy running. However, the stats of HAProxy will not be aggregated, meaning you don't really know the collective status in a single point of view."

"We need to handle new connections by dropping, or queuing them while the HAProxy restarts, and because HAProxy does not handle split config files."

"The visibility could be improved."

"The solution's dashboards and reports could be improved."

"HAProxy could improve by making the dashboards easier to use, and better reports and administration tickets."

"The product does not have any new technologies."

More HAProxy cons

"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."

"Mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity."

"I would like to see support for scripting, like "iRule", which gives you the option to implement any configuration which is not available out of the box."

"The GUI should be improved."

"The technical support could be better. Whenever I contacted support, I rarely got the solution that we needed. And most of the time, I finished fixing the problem by looking on the internet or by finding documents about the problem on Google."

"I would like to see multifactor authentication added to this solution to improve the security."

"The vendor provides frequent patches, however, the security of the website has room for improvement."

"Getting to use some of the advanced tools, even with the assistance of Citrix support, can be challenging."

More NetScaler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I use the open-source version of the product. I don't have experience with the licensed version of the solution."

"The price is well worth it. HAProxy Enterprise Edition paid for itself within months, simply due to the resiliency it brings. It was a bit more expensive than we were originally interested in paying, but we are thankful we chose to go with HAProxy."

"HAProxy is free open-source software."

"We use NGINX as well. However, because the health checks are a paid feature, I like to avoid it whenever possible."

"The product is open source."

"The tool is open-source."

"The licensing fee for the solution is $690 per unit annually."

"The only cost is for the image manager, who is responsible for uploading the image, and that is trivial."

More HAProxy pricing and cost advice

"You can do CapEx and then a yearly monthly fee, or you can do a subscription model, whether that's one month, month-to-month, or three-year subscription model."

"The license for Citrix NetScaler is on an annual basis and it is reasonably priced."

"The client pays for the Citrix NetScaler license annually."

"The solution is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"Our licensing fees including technical support are approximately $3,500 USD."

"Price-wise, I feel that the solution is a little bit expensive."

"When compared to other solutions, the cost is high."

"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

15%

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend HAProxy?

I do recommend HAProxy for more simple applications or for companies with a low budget, since HAProxy is a free, open-source product. HAProxy is also a good choice for someone looking for a stable ...

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What do you like most about HAProxy?

The solution is effective in managing our traffic.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HAProxy?

HAProxy is an open-source solution.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs HAProxy

Compared 15% of the time

Istio vs HAProxy

Compared 12% of the time

NGINX Plus vs HAProxy

Compared 12% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs HAProxy

Compared 9% of the time

Kemp LoadMaster vs HAProxy

Compared 9% of the time

More HAProxy Competitors

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs NetScaler

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiADC vs NetScaler

Compared 9% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs NetScaler

Compared 8% of the time

VMWare Avi Load Balancer vs NetScaler

Compared 8% of the time

NGINX Plus vs NetScaler

Compared 7% of the time

More NetScaler Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HAProxy

March 2025

Download HAProxy product report

Buyer's Guide

NetScaler

March 2025

Download NetScaler product report

Also Known As

HAProxy Community Edition, HAProxy Enterprise Edition, HAPEE

Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall

Overview

HAProxy is considered by many in the industry to be one of the fastest and most popular and trusted software load balancer products in the marketplace today. Organizations are able to immediately deploy HAProxy solutions to enable websites and applications to optimize performance, security, and observability. HAProxy solutions are available to scale to any environment.

HAProxy is an open-source product and has a robust, active, reliable community. The solutions are continually tested and improved on by the community. HAProxy offers a dynamic design to support the most modern architectures, microservices, and deployment environments (appliances, containers, virtual, and cloud).

HAProxy utilizes a cloud-native protocol, which makes it a complete solution for cloud services such as Red Hat OpenShift, OVH, Rackspace, Digital Ocean, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and more. It also can be used as the reference load balancer in OpenStack.

HAProxy Products

HAProxy One: This is a next-gen end-to-end application delivery platform created to secure and streamline modern application architectures. It offers a complete suite of solutions, such as application delivery software, turnkey, and appliance services observed and administered through a central control plane. The product supplies application acceleration, CDN, DDoS, bot management, WAF capabilities, and load balancing.

HAProxy Fusion Control Plane: This product enables organizations to streamline workflows, arrange traffic routing and security protocols, enhance the speed of delivery, and scale out of the organization’s applications. HAProxy Fusion Control Plane offers an intuitive user interface to observe and control the complete product lineup and API for administering numerous fleets of HAProxy Enterprise servers, either in the cloud or on premises.

HAProxy Edge: This product offering is an application delivery network (ADN) that provides a broad array of turnkey application services with amazing scale and complete visibility. Services include application and content acceleration, advanced security, and load balancing.

HAProxy ALOHA Hardware or Virtual Load Balancer: This product is a virtual load balancer or plug-and-play hardware constructed upon HAProxy Enterprise that is designed to support proxying at Layer 4 and Layer 7. It has a user-friendly GUI, simple deployment, and no limit on backend servers, making it a complete product for organizations desiring a reliable system to provide high-end load distribution for critical services.

HAProxy Enterprise Kubernetes Ingress Controller: This product is designed to facilitate smooth traffic flow into a Kubernetes cluster. It is able to automatically discover anomalies and changes in an organization's Kubernetes infrastructure and provide precise distribution of traffic to healthy pods, with no downtime caused by poor pod health or scaling changes. The product comes with an embedded WAF to optimize the security of an organization’s applications running in Kubernetes.

HAProxy Enterprise: This product is the enterprise-class edition of HAProxy offering a dynamic and sturdy code base with next-generation features, an enterprise suite of add-ons, professional services, and trusted support.
- Cluster-wide tracking and rate limiting
- Advanced DDoS and bot management
- Web application firewall
- Reliable expert support
- High performance modules
- Device detection and geolocation
- Real-time dashboard

Reviews from Real Users

“Having the right load balancing solution – which is what HAProxy is – and protection in place gives organizations peace of mind.” - Nathanel S., Platform Architect at SES

“I use HAProxy for individuals who can not buy low balancers. I built NFV in a box and send individuals a pathway into an HAProxy VM. The setup was not difficult; it usually takes a day to complete for a VPC. When it comes to pricing, HAProxy is free.” - Nasir O., Network & Cloud Architect at Koala Compute Inc.

HAProxy

One platform for a consistent application delivery and security experience because nobody has time to learn multiple systems to manage ADC deployments. NetScaler is built with a single code base using a software-based architecture, so no matter which ADC form factor you choose — hardware, virtual machine, bare metal, or container — the behavior will be the same.

NetScaler

Sample Customers

Booking.com, GitHub, Reddit, StackOverflow, Tumblr, Vimeo, Yelp

ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk

Buyer's Guide

HAProxy vs. NetScaler

March 2025

Free Report: HAProxy vs. NetScaler

Find out what your peers are saying about HAProxy vs. NetScaler and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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