We compared AWS WAF and F5 Advanced WAF based on our user's reviews in several parameters.
Users have praised AWS WAF for its effective protection against web application attacks, customizable rule sets, and affordable pricing. On the other hand, F5 Advanced WAF stands out for its robust security measures, advanced threat intelligence, and user-friendly interface. However, AWS WAF users appreciate the responsive customer support, while F5 Advanced WAF users value its seamless integration with existing systems. Both products have areas that need improvement, with AWS WAF users looking for better documentation and customization options, and F5 Advanced WAF users desiring a more intuitive interface and comprehensive support for troubleshooting.
Features: AWS WAF offers effective protection against web application attacks, easy setup and configuration, flexibility in setting rules, and integration with other AWS services. F5 Advanced WAF provides robust security measures, advanced threat intelligence, efficient traffic management, and customizable policies.
Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for AWS WAF is minimal, with a smooth and straightforward process. Users find the licensing flexible and customizable. On the other hand, F5 Advanced WAF also has a minimal setup cost, making installation hassle-free. Users appreciate the straightforward and easy-to-manage licensing., AWS WAF's ROI is reflected in increased security, reduced risks, and improved web threat protection. It also offers cost savings and efficient management. On the other hand, F5 Advanced WAF's ROI is seen in improved security, enhanced visibility, and reduced cyber threats. It effectively protects web applications for a safe user experience. Overall, both products deliver valuable and beneficial ROI.
Room for Improvement: AWS WAF users have requested better documentation and detailed instructions for users with limited technical expertise. They also want a more user-friendly interface, enhanced customization options, and greater flexibility in configuring rule sets. F5 Advanced WAF users have expressed concerns about a lack of user-friendly interface, complexity in configuration, and a need for improved documentation and better support for troubleshooting and resolving issues. Overall, they desire a more streamlined and intuitive experience.
Deployment and customer support: Based on user feedback, it is necessary to consider the duration required for different phases of implementing a new tech solution. For AWS WAF, users mentioned distinct timeframes for deployment and setup, while for F5 Advanced WAF, users mentioned similar timeframes for deployment and setup., AWS WAF's customer service is consistently praised for being excellent and highly responsive. Users appreciate the knowledgeable support team who go above and beyond. On the other hand, F5 Advanced WAF's support has received positive feedback for their prompt and helpful assistance.
The summary above is based on 56 interviews we conducted recently with AWS WAF and F5 Advanced WAF users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"The tool’s stability is very good."
"If hackers try to insert bugs, the tool blocks it."
"The most valuable feature of AWS WAF is the extra layer of security that I have when connecting to my web applications."
"The interface is good."
"The ability to take multiple data sets and match those data sets together is the solution's most valuable feature. The data lake that comes with it is very useful because that allows us to match data sets with different configurations that we wouldn't normally be able to match."
"The product's initial setup phase was very simple."
"Their technical support has been quite good."
"We preferred the product based on its cost. AWS WAF is an out-of-the-box solution and integrates with the AWS services that we use. It's natively integrated with AWS."
"I definitely recommend this solution because of the time you save on analysis."
"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."
"The solution is easily accessible on mobile and laptop devices."
"With F5 Advanced WAF, it was protection for online publications and for our customers that caused us to choose the platform."
"Customers find the load balancer feature as the most valuable."
"F5 Advanced WAF is a stable solution, we are satisfied. It is more stable than ForiWeb."
"It's flexible and powerful, and the users can input their own rules to the system."
"I like them because I like the security solution. They get extra marks compared to other solutions or competitors. There are more features than any other product I can think of. They're always monitoring, and the security features offer more than other, lesser products."
"They have to do more to improve, to innovate more features. They need to increase the security. It has to be more active in detecting threats."
"The area of reporting in the product needs to have a proper format."
"I would like to be able to view a graphical deployment map in the user interface that will give me an overview of the configuration and help to determine whether I have missed any steps."
"It is sometimes a lot of work going through the rules and making sure you have everything covered for a use case. It is just the way rules are set and maintained in this solution. Some UI changes will probably be helpful. It is not easy to find the documentation of new features. Documentation not being updated is a common problem with all services, including this one. You have different versions of the console, and the options shown in the documentation are not there. For a new feature, there is probably an announcement about being released, but when it comes out, there is no actual documentation about how to use it. This makes you either go to technical support or community, which probably doesn't have an idea either. The documentation on the cloud should be the latest one. Finding information about a specific event can be a bit challenging. For this solution, not much documentation is available in the community. It could be because it is a new tool. Whenever there is an issue, it is just not that simple to resolve, especially if you don't have premium support. You have pretty much nowhere to look around, and you just need to poke around to try and make it work right."
"The solution should identify why it blocks particular websites."
"In a future release of this solution, I would like to see additional management features to make things simpler."
"One area that could be improved is the DDoS protection."
"For uniformity, AWS has a well-accepted framework. However, it'll be better for us if we could have some more documented guidelines on how the specific business should be structured and the roles that the cloud recommends."
"The solution should include protection against web page attacks like what is available in FortiWeb."
"The accuracy of the automatic learning feature needs improvement."
"F5 Advanced WAF could improve resource usage, it is CPU intensive. Additionally, adding automated remediation would be a benefit. For example, an easy button alerts us of the events that are occurring, and what we want to do at the time. An automated approach where somebody could be alerted very quickly. Instead of going and reconfiguring everything, an automated approach is what I'm looking at."
"The reporting portion of F5 Advance WAF is not great. They need to work out something better, as it is very basic. You only see the top IPs, I think there is more they can offer."
"We usually use a third-party tool for logging and reporting. It would be nice if we could do that right on this solution. They have one, but it's not very stable. Logging and reporting effectively would be a big enhancement."
"Most customers encounter stability issues with the product's Big-IP logs."
"They could provide better pricing."
"Nevertheless, F5 products are generally considered to be hard to deploy."
AWS WAF is ranked 1st in Web Application Firewall (WAF) with 52 reviews while F5 Advanced WAF is ranked 2nd in Web Application Firewall (WAF) with 55 reviews. AWS WAF is rated 8.0, while F5 Advanced WAF is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of AWS WAF writes "A highly stable solution that helps mitigate different kinds of bot attacks and SQL injection attacks". On the other hand, the top reviewer of F5 Advanced WAF writes "Flexible configuration, reliable, and highly professional support". AWS WAF is most compared with Azure Web Application Firewall, Microsoft Azure Application Gateway, Imperva Web Application Firewall, Fortinet FortiWeb and Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, whereas F5 Advanced WAF is most compared with Fortinet FortiWeb, Microsoft Azure Application Gateway, Imperva Web Application Firewall, F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. See our AWS WAF vs. F5 Advanced WAF report.
See our list of best Web Application Firewall (WAF) vendors.
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