Top F5 Alternatives for WAF in 2025
March 13, 2025
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F5 Cloud WAF combines signature and behaviour-based threat detection mechanisms to protect applications, regardless of the deployment location.
It protects against injection attacks, session hijacking, cross-site scripting, man-in-the-middle attacks, and numerous other vulnerabilities, with continuously updated policies to shield against emerging threats.
Most Important Benefits of F5 WAF
Hybrid Deployment
With the evolving landscape of application deployment, whether in public or private clouds, on-premises, collocated, or at the edge, each application comes with its own unique security requirements.
F5 allows the security teams to select the most suitable deployment option that aligns with their application’s requirements.
Automatic API Discovery
SecOps teams often have a limited understanding of APIs, and managing various versions of API specifications or identifying unknown APIs presents significant difficulties.
Like AppTrana, F5 WAF extends beyond traditional API security solutions that permit the import of Swagger/OpenAPI definitions. In cases where API specifications are unavailable, such as with Shadow APIs, this solution can actively discover the API specifications from real-time traffic.
Automatically importing an API schema creates a positive security model based on the existing OpenAPI specification (OAS).
Importantly, these key features are only available in advanced WAF, whereas, in AppTrana, these functionalities are bundled in all plans.
CI/CD Integration
Modern security strategy isn’t complete without the integration of DevSecOps practices. Embedding security across the entire software delivery process is essential to ensure secure applications’ rapid and high-quality delivery.
F5 is renowned for its seamless integration with prominent DevOps tools such as Ansible, ServiceNow, and GitLab, making it an excellent choice for software and product development companies operating within agile development cycles.
BIG-IP Load Balancer
For any application or website deployed, load balancing is essential for managing high traffic volumes and providing failover capabilities if the primary infrastructure experiences disruptions.
F5’s BIG-IP load balancer is well-regarded as a leading product in the industry, and it is bundled with the F5 WAAP solution.
F5 Cloud WAAP is a recent addition to the market compared to recognized competitors. Here’s an in-depth analysis of the top 17 WAAP providers in the market.
Reasons Why You Might Want To Look For F5 Alternatives
Technical Support
Continuous support for maintaining application security policies and guidance in sticking to best practices for WAF management is essential. F5’s product support is renowned for its excellence, much like AppTrana’s.
However, it’s important to note that within the F5’s framework, technical support is only available for F5 products covered by active support contracts. Subscribers looking for enhanced levels of support need to upgrade to either Premium Support or Premium Plus Support.
Payload Inspection Size
F5’s inspection capacity extends to payloads of 30MB or beyond. However, it’s important to note that the default configuration limits the inspection to 20MB, which needs to be expanded through configuration adjustments.
False Positive Monitoring
When building and securing applications, you often encounter false positives. Separating false positives from valid violations is a challenging task.
The absence of false positive monitoring often leads application owners switch their WAF to log-only mode, but this isn’t ideal. AppTrana offers a better solution.
Their managed team keeps an eye on false alarms for you, so you can keep your WAF in block mode without worrying about false positives.
The 30-Second Decision Guide: Which Operating Model Fits Your Team?
Choosing an alternative to F5 WAF is not just about replacing one tool with another.
It is about deciding who should own the work of keeping your web applications, APIs, and traffic protected as threats evolve and applications change.
F5 WAF is traditionally deployed in enterprise environments with on-premise or hybrid models. Many teams evaluate alternatives when they need more automation, lower operational burden, or tighter integration of WAF, DDoS, API security, and bot protection.
Use this decision guide to identify which operating model aligns with your team before reviewing specific alternatives.
1. The “Zero-Ops” Defender (Outcome and Accuracy Focused)
Who you are:
You want strong protection across WAF, DDoS mitigation, API security, and bot management without owning the ongoing operational work. You operate in an enterprise environment where security operations overhead is already high, and managing WAF, DDoS, API, and bot protections internally is becoming increasingly complex.
The Recommendation:
AppTrana (Fully Managed WAAP)
Why:
AppTrana delivers WAF, DDoS, API, and bot protection as a fully managed service. It also includes continuous tuning and SOC support to keep protections accurate as your applications evolve. Unlike traditional F5 deployments, which often require significant internal expertise and manual rule updates, AppTrana reduces internal operational burden.
How it works:
Automated scanning identifies exploitable weaknesses across applications and APIs. A managed SOC team validates threats and deploys virtual patches at the WAF layer, ensuring protection remains accurate while developers fix root causes at their own pace.
Key Benefit:
Security outcomes are delivered with minimal ongoing operational work from your team.
2. The “Self-Operated, Cloud-Agnostic” Model
Who you are:
You want to keep direct control over your security stack but do not want to be tightly coupled to a specific enterprise appliance or vendor ecosystem. You value flexibility and want to simplify deployment and scaling without migrating away from your primary infrastructure.
The Recommendation:
Cloudflare WAF
Why:
Cloudflare provides an edge-delivered, cloud-agnostic WAF that can protect applications hosted in any environment. It combines WAF rules, DDoS mitigation, and bot protection in a unified platform that your team manages. This option fits teams that want self-operated control but with simplified deployment and scaling.
Reality Check:
In this model, your team remains responsible for:
- Rule tuning and false positive handling
- API policy configuration and schema updates
- Customized bot policies
Cloudflare simplifies many operational aspects but does not remove the need for internal tuning.
3. The “Complex Enterprise” (Legacy, Scale, and Hybrid)
Who you are:
You operate across cloud, on-premise, and legacy environments and need centralized governance, discovery, and unified policy enforcement. You want deep visibility, discovery capabilities, and consistency across diverse infrastructure.
The Recommendation:
Imperva or AppTrana
Why:
These platforms are built for environments with high complexity.
Imperva offers flexible deployment options including on-prem and hybrid coverage with strong policy controls.
AppTrana provides hybrid managed coverage across WAF, DDoS, API, and bot layers while reducing internal operational load.
This operating model fits teams requiring broad visibility and uniform enforcement across a heterogeneous security landscape.
4. The “Engineer-Driven” (Programmable and Custom)
Who you are:
Your team prefers security as code and detailed control over how traffic is inspected, blocked, and logged. You want granular control over inspection logic for unique use cases.
The Recommendation:
Fastly (Programmable WAF)
Why:
Programmable WAF platforms allow engineers to write custom logic for inspection and enforcement to meet specific application needs.
Operational Trade-Off:
All rule writing, tuning, testing, and maintenance remain with your team, increasing engineering effort over time.
Fifteen F5 Alternatives to Consider
- AI powered AppTrana
- Cloudflare
- Imperva
- Akamai
- AWS WAF
- Barracuda
- Palo Alto
- Fortiweb
- Fastly
- Radware
- Azure WAF
- ThreatX
- Sucuri
- Google Cloud Armor
- ModSecurity(Open Source)
A Quick Snapshot Comparison of the Top F5 Competitors
| WAF Feature | F5 | AppTrana | Cloudflare | Imperva | Akamai | AWS WAF |
| Gartner Peer Insights Rating | – | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| Gartner Peer Insights Customer Recommendation Rating | – | 100% | 93% | 92% | 88% | 90% |
| DDoS Monitoring | Available | Available | Enterprise Only | Add-On | Add-On | $3000 per month |
| Virtual Patching | Self Managed | Starts at $99 | Enterprise Only | Add-On | Add-On | – |
| Payload Inspection Size | 20MB (option to increase to 30MB+) | 134MB | 128KB | Unknown | Starts: 8KB
Max: 128KB |
64KB |
| NTLM Support | No | Yes | No | Unknown | No | No |
| Bot Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not available in essentials
Add-on in Professional Bundled in Enterprise Plan |
Add-On | Basic |
| Response Timeout | Default: 300 seconds
Max: Unknown |
Default: 300 seconds
Max: 300 seconds |
Default: 100 seconds Enterprise: 6000 seconds |
Default: 360 seconds
Max: Unknown |
Default: 120 seconds
Max: 599 seconds |
Default: 30 seconds
Max: 300 seconds |
| Managed Services/ 24*7 SOC | Only in Enterprise Plan | Available | Enterprise only | Add-On | Add-On | Only through SI partnerships |
| DAST Scanner | Not Available | Bundled in all plans | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| Malware Scanner | Not Available | Available | Available | Not Available | Available | Not Available |
| Asset Monitoring | Not Available | Bundled in all plans | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| Penetration Testing | Not Available | Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| API discovery | Available | Available | Available | Available as an Add-On | Available | Not Available |
| API Security | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available | Basic capabilities through API Gateway |
| API Scanning | Not Available | Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| API Pen Testing | Not Available | Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| Workflow-based bot mitigation | Available | Available | Enterprise only | Add-On | Add-On | Only through SI partnerships |
| Origin Protection | Not Available | Bundled in all plans | Basic | Not Available | Add-on | Available |
| SwyftComply | Not Available | Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available |
| Client-side Protection | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available | Not Available |
| DNSSEC | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Custom Error Page | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available | Available |
The Top Five Alternatives to F5 WAF: In-depth Comparison
1. AI powered AppTrana WAAP
AppTrana distinguishes itself by potentially being the only WAAP in the market that promises a ZERO false positive guarantee.
Their integrated managed services team serves as an extended SOC team, partnering with application teams to ensure that the rules are customized to align seamlessly with the requirements of each organization adopting AppTrana.
Here are important features of AppTrana:
Embedded DAST Scanner and Pen Testing
AppTrana’s approach is unique because it is founded on the “Risk-Based” application security principle. Integrating DAST scanners streamlines the identification of vulnerabilities and the enforcement of security policies.
This exceptional feature facilitates almost instant mitigation of vulnerability assessment results, allowing for virtual patching of critical vulnerabilities in less than 24 hours rather than the typical weeks or months it might take.
Furthermore, the premium plan offers the option for manual penetration testing, which includes one revalidation session.
Autonomous Patching with SwyftComply
Following scanning and penetration testing, a comprehensive vulnerability report is generated. AppTrana users have the option to utilize SwyftComply to implement virtual patches (using custom or core rules) at the WAF level.
This autonomous remediation addresses vulnerabilities and delivers a Clean, Zero-Vulnerability Report within 72 hours, streamlining compliance and simplifying the patching process.
Automated API Discovery & Positive Security Model
AppTrana’s holistic approach covers API discovery, ongoing vulnerability scanning, manual penetration testing, and the establishment of positive security policies within the WAAP ecosystem.
An outstanding advantage is its accessibility to teams that may not have API documentation in formats like Swagger and Postman. With the API discovery feature, obtaining the Swagger file becomes an effortless automated process. Moreover, the managed services team is crucial in developing Postman files for critical open APIs.
Bundled Managed Service
If you’re looking for DDoS monitoring, virtual patching, or assistance with false positive testing, AppTrana’s security research team is consistently available to provide support. Their expertise enhanced by LLM-driven insights includes precise scanning, accurate validation, risk-based prioritization, and delivering clean, actionable reports free from false positives.
For those searching for F5 WAF alternatives primarily for managed WAF services, AppTrana can be an ideal selection. It’s worth noting that even customers on the $99 plan can count on AppTrana for continuous phone, email, and chat support in the event of an attack.
Here are some limitations of AppTrana:
Legacy APIs
AppTrana’s API security does not support older API formats, such as SOAP. It prioritizes addressing contemporary API security requirements and does not include compatibility with outdated protocols.
Threat Intelligence
AppTrana prioritizes utilizing third-party threat intelligence feeds as a crucial aspect of its security approach. Despite its internal threat intelligence might not be as robust as some larger competitors, integrating third-party feeds effectively protects a wide array of potential threats.
See AI-powered AppTrana WAAP in action:
2. Cloudflare WAF
Cloudflare is a renowned global provider of web infrastructure and cybersecurity services. Widely recognized for its proficiency in CDN and DDoS mitigation, Cloudflare is a reliable choice for accelerating and securing many websites, APIs, SaaS services, and other internet assets.
DDoS Mitigation
Cloudflare operates an expansive global Anycast network with an extraordinary capacity exceeding 197 Tbps, far surpassing the scale of the largest DDoS attacks ever recorded. This immense capability empowers all internet assets hosted on Cloudflare’s network to withstand the most massive modern DDoS attacks effectively.
Like AppTrana WAAP, Cloudflare’s adaptive DDoS protection system intelligently learns and adapts to your unique traffic patterns while maintaining high performance.
When seeking alternatives to F5 for DDoS protection, both Cloudflare and AppTrana emerge as excellent choices. While features like geo-based access limits and origin protection against DDoS attacks are not available with F5, both Cloudflare and AppTrana offer robust solutions.
Check out the top DDoS mitigations providers in the market.
Actionable Threat Intelligence
Cloudflare’s broad array of services encompasses nearly 20% of websites online, supporting millions of Internet properties and customers across more than 270 cities via their extensive global network.
Their exclusive protection of websites worldwide grants them access to substantial global data, enabling them to convert this data into actionable threat intelligence.
Cloudflare for SaaS
Cloudflare for SaaS provides an extensive array of security solutions, including advanced Bot Mitigation, WAF rules, analytics, DDoS mitigation, and more. These solutions empower SaaS providers to deliver fast and highly secure applications.
The Free, Pro, and Business plans offer adaptable pricing structures that particularly favor startups and growing businesses, allowing them to scale up as their business expands easily.
Here are some limitations of Cloudflare WAF:
False Positive Monitoring
While Cloudflare possesses world-class threat intelligence, it grapples with the responsibility of creating generic rules for the multitude of applications on its network, which can result in false positives.
Effectively managing false positives can be challenging, mainly when security is not a full-time role, or you lack a large team of security experts.
In many cases, application owners are compelled to either set the WAF to log-only mode or relax its security measures, which can render the WAF ineffective.
Request Inspection Size
In the free, pro, and business plans, the maximum request size for inspection is limited to 128 KB. However, this limitation may not be sufficient, considering transmitting payloads that exceed this size is relatively easy.
Response Time Out
If your applications have extended response times, it’s important to note that with Cloudflare, responses will time out after 100 seconds. If you require longer timeouts, you will need to consider the enterprise plan.
3. Imperva WAF
Imperva states that over 90% of WAAP deployments are set to operate in block mode. Apart from AppTrana, which claims a 100% block mode deployment rate, Imperva is the only provider highlighting this statistic on their website.
This high adoption of block mode is likely a result of Imperva Research Labs’ rigorous testing efforts to minimize false positives before implementing blocking rules. Additionally, Imperva stands out as one of the few WAAP providers offering RASP capabilities.
Here are the advantages of using Imperva WAF:
RASP
RASP, or Runtime Application Self-Protection, provides applications with the capability to defend against known and unknown attacks, offering a dual advantage.
- RASP leverages LANGSEC, an industry-leading attack detection method, enhancing its ability to detect threats accurately.
- RASP effectively diminishes false positives by seamlessly integrating network, application, and database security insights into a unified and comprehensive report.
Hybrid Deployment
Like F5, Imperva WAF offers multiple flexible deployment options, encompassing on-premises installations and seamless integration with leading cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP. This adaptability ensures the adequate protection of each application while accommodating its service level requirements.
Here are the cons of Imperva WAF
API Discovery is Add-on
This limitation can delay detection and response to security threats or vulnerabilities that specifically target APIs.
The leading WAAP providers, like AppTrana, include API discovery as a standard feature. What sets AppTrana apart is its specialized penetration testing for API endpoints, a unique service that distinguishes it from the rest.
No Bundled VAPT
Combining an integrated vulnerability scanner and penetration testing offers a comprehensive approach to threat detection, providing a high confidence level and potentially reaching 100% accuracy.
On the other hand, opting for Imperva WAF as an F5 alternative means no bundled VAPT is included, necessitating organizations to contract separate VAPT providers for tasks such as DAST scanning and compliance reporting.
4. Akamai WAF
Akamai, a pioneering solution in the WAF domain, is pivotal in the continually evolving WAAP landscape. As one of the earliest entrants in the CDN space, Akamai retains its dominance in content delivery.
Akamai’s App & API Protector seamlessly integrates a suite of advanced technologies, including a web application firewall, bot mitigation, API security, and DDoS protection, all within an intuitive and unified solution.
Here are the most common benefits of Akamai WAF:
Page Integrity Manager
The most efficient approach to combat in-browser attacks involves detecting suspicious and malicious script activities. Akamai’s Page Integrity Manager accomplishes this by actively monitoring user sessions and analyzing real-time scripts.
Based on real-user behavioural detection, this technology safeguards against JavaScript threats that include web skimming, formjacking, and Magecart attacks, thereby protecting websites effectively.
Managed Service
Akamai’s Managed Security Service is customized to align with your business needs, delivering a holistic solution. It encompasses a wide range of services, supported by Akamai’s industry knowledge and adherence to best practices.
While it comes with a premium price tag for both the product and the managed services, the managed service consistently earns top ratings compared to other Akamai alternatives.
It demonstrates its high effectiveness, particularly for those organizations with the budget to afford Akamai, especially in combination with their managed services.
Let us consider some limitations of using Akamai:
Unmetered DDoS Protection is an Add-on
Although Akamai offers always-on DDoS protection, this aspect may not consistently match the level of comprehensive unmetered DDoS protection provided by other WAAP providers like AppTrana.
Akamai typically offers metered protection, where charges are based on the traffic volume they mitigate. Consequently, during significant DDoS attacks, Akamai may incur cost implications.
Pricing
The platform tends to be positioned as a premium solution in terms of cost. Akamai is renowned for its enterprise-level products and top-tier features, which mirror its exceptional performance and reliability. This underscores the value of investing in Akamai, especially when accompanied by their managed services.
5. AWS WAF
AWS WAF is recognized as one of the most commonly adopted web application firewalls, particularly for teams already established within the AWS ecosystem, simplifying the activation process.
Here are the most common advantages of AWS WAF:
Flexibility in Ruleset
Within the AWS Marketplace, you can access rules crafted by renowned WAF providers, accessible through subscription models and a pay-as-you-go licensing system. This method guarantees that you are only charged for the exact level of usage you need.
Easy Maintenance
When dealing with scenarios such as applications hosted on AWS, opting for AWS WAF streamlines the setup, procurement, access, and payment management procedures.
However, if your applications extend across multi-cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments, it’s recommended to consider a platform-agnostic WAF like AppTrana for a seamless approach to security.
Here are some limitations of AWS WAF:
AWS Shield Advance is Expensive
AWS Shield Advanced offers a highly effective and tailored DDoS protection solution. However, subscribing to AWS Shield Advanced requires a monthly fee of $3,000 per organization and a mandatory one-year subscription commitment.
In contrast, other alternatives to AWS WAF, such as AppTrana WAAP, deliver customized DDoS mitigation that adjusts to changing user behaviour. AppTrana makes this feature accessible to all customers, starting at an affordable price. Here’s a thorough comparison of AWS WAF and AppTrana WAF.
No Managed Service
AWS does not offer managed services specifically for WAF, except for the DDoS protection included in AWS Shield. If you require managed services for tasks like custom rule configuration and false positive monitoring within your WAF, your only viable option is to engage system integrators through extensive contracts. Typically, these contracts involve substantial financial commitments ranging from five to six figures.
Verdict
If you require a managed WAF on a tight budget, AppTrana stands as your primary option.
For those who prioritize top-tier protection, and cost is not a concern, Akamai, especially with managed service offerings, is a solid pick.
On the other hand, if you seek a well-rounded WAAP with minimal costs, Cloudflare is an excellent option. However, as your requirements grow and require comprehensive protection, the pricing becomes relatively comparable compared to larger WAAP providers like Akamai and Imperva.
Starting a trial is the initial step in gaining insight into the functionality of these F5 alternatives within your application.
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