Cloudflare Access vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) comparison

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Cloudflare Logo
1,493 views|1,285 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
F5 Logo
1,356 views|1,117 comparisons
85% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cloudflare Access and F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Access Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Cloudflare Access vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Report (Updated: March 2024).
767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Leandro Soares Costa
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Enables me to work from two locations.""For Cloudflare Access, I am using the free plan...The most valuable feature is their protection.""The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good.""It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it.""Cloudflare, in my opinion, was easy to implement."

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"This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use.""The portal access was very good.""The performance of the solution is valuable.""The solution is stable and reliable.""The load balancing features are valuable.""The most valuable feature is the virtual IP creation. It's our most frequently used feature.""In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.""The product allows us to create customized portals for your users."

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Cons
"For the topic of improvement, providing some training material is one of my suggestions.""They don't have a person to provide support for customers using the solution under their free plan.""The pricing is an area that can be improved. Pricing, as far as I recall, was the source of our problems.""When there are any dynamic changes in complex applications, the tool takes a lot of time, making its analytics-related area a major matter of concern where improvements are needed."

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"I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal.""The technical support’s response time must be improved.""The solution’s GUI looks very old.""In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side.""F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products.""The initial setup was complex.""The price of this product can be improved.""F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The prices are slightly expensive."
  • "The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
  • "My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."
  • More Cloudflare Access Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Recently, they have simplified the licensing"
  • "The product is very expensive."
  • "The tool is a little bit expensive."
  • More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good.
    Top Answer:The price of Cloudflare Access is the same as compared to Akamai, but I get better performance from Cloudflare. My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the… more »
    Top Answer:My company has many complex applications. When there are any dynamic changes in complex applications, the tool takes a lot of time, making its analytics-related area a major matter of concern where… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature is the virtual IP creation. It's our most frequently used feature.
    Top Answer:The tool is a little bit expensive. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.
    Top Answer:In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side. Feature-wise, sometimes when I log in to the GUI and want to see the… more »
    Ranking
    7th
    out of 37 in Access Management
    Views
    1,493
    Comparisons
    1,285
    Reviews
    5
    Average Words per Review
    406
    Rating
    8.8
    9th
    out of 37 in Access Management
    Views
    1,356
    Comparisons
    1,117
    Reviews
    9
    Average Words per Review
    348
    Rating
    8.1
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    F5 Access Policy Manager
    Learn More
    Overview

    Cloudflare Access is a powerful identity and access management solution that provides secure and seamless access to internal resources. It eliminates the need for traditional VPNs and allows organizations to enforce granular access controls based on user identity and device posture. With Cloudflare Access, users can authenticate using their existing identity providers, such as Google or Okta, and access resources without exposing them to the public internet. This ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive data and applications. 

    Additionally, Cloudflare Access provides a unified dashboard for managing access policies, making it easy to enforce security policies across the organization. With its zero-trust approach, Cloudflare Access helps organizations protect their resources from unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access. 

    BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

    BIG-IP APM Benefits:

    • Ease of use
    • Flexibility
    • Ability to integrate with other systems
    • Security features
    • Granular access control
    • Responsive and helpful support team

    BIG-IP APM Features:

    • Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
    • Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
    • Integration with third-party MFA solutions
    • DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
    • SAML 2.0 identity federation support
    • Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
    • SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
    • AAA server authentication and high-availability
    • Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
    • BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
    • Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

    Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

    Clyde LivingstonSenior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

    Chris LamSenior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

    Sample Customers
    23andMe
    City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider27%
    Media Company18%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise56%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business46%
    Large Enterprise54%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise69%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cloudflare Access vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cloudflare Access vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cloudflare Access is ranked 7th in Access Management with 5 reviews while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is ranked 9th in Access Management with 13 reviews. Cloudflare Access is rated 8.8, while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cloudflare Access writes "Replaces traditional VPN and enables endpoint exposition ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) writes " Facilitates packet inspection, modification, and offloading and offers visibility and troubleshooting capabilities, allowing for pre-production server testing". Cloudflare Access is most compared with Twingate, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, Auth0 and Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy, whereas F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is most compared with Citrix Gateway, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine), Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and Ivanti Connect Secure. See our Cloudflare Access vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report.

    See our list of best Access Management vendors.

    We monitor all Access Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.