F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
117
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st)
Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (3rd), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (4th), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is 13.1%, down from 16.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is 0.1%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
10.2%
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
23.6%
 

Featured Reviews

KO
Jun 20, 2022
Reasonably priced, performs well, with responsive, and helpful technical support
It depends on the use case. However, if you are not interested in the application side, F5 would be useful. If you just want a load balancer that balances multiple servers, that's all you need. Not basic, but basic to intermediate material. F5 takes first place with no one even close to matching it. However, if you want to go deeper and more advanced, you should look into NGINX or any other vendor that has more options or more features. As a network engineer, I am totally happy with the product. I would rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) a nine out of ten.
AM
Feb 17, 2023
I like the solution's usability and control because you can do many functions from a single dashboard
Prisma integrates well with Cortex XDR and Cortex Data Lake. My company has been also using Prisma Access in-house for nearly a year, and it integrates seamlessly. Another aspect I like about Prisma is its usability and control. You can do many functions from a single dashboard. It has more features than Zscaler. The look and feel are better. Prisma is a one-stop shop that does many tasks, like logging and monitoring. Having a cloud-based platform is essential because we're pushing all our customers to the cloud. Most of our customers will be using Prisma in the future. Prisma Access provides traffic analysis, threat prevention, URL filtering, and web filtering, which are critical features that our customers request. You don't need a separate administrator for each task. One admin with a little training can handle all of them on Prisma Access. The rest depends on how much you can play with the product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It provides first-tier firewalling, for you application. And it provides server load-balancing, it provides optimization, and it provides a proxy feature, where your users cannot directly access your server. It acts as a fully proxy architecture. It has client-side and server-side connections, both, and they're separate."
"It helps us recognize sessions from certain IPs that are authorized to manage the application. This is a function we haven't found anywhere else."
"The solution is easy to install. It's a straightforward process."
"Routing and load balancing are its most valuable features."
"LTM's most valuable features include application security, data collection, and parameter-level rules."
"It integrates with AWS WAF, which makes it easy to deploy without changes to your infrastructure."
"There is a lot of documentation available."
"It makes the publishing of applications to the Internet safer."
"The users can securely access any cloud data centers or cloud platforms. In terms of the features, it has all the features that Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewall has. It is also very stable and scalable."
"Overall, the cost savings, ease of deployment, and better VPN user experience and performance are valuable."
"The most valuable feature of Prisma Cloud-native, in my opinion, is that it assists in identifying, analyzing, and remediating vulnerabilities."
"The product's initial setup phase is simple."
"The most valuable features of the solution are in the areas of the secure remote access it provides while also being user-friendly."
"A feature I've found very helpful is run time security because most of the products on the market will look at security during the build time, and they don't really look at what happens once you're going into production."
"You have the ability to create your own expressions for your data. Palo Alto understands that DLP is not the same for all consumers. You might have a particular need to fulfill, and they give you the opportunity to create a custom expression to match the specific format that you have. For a confidential file property that you have in your files, you can add a metadata field. It gives you that opportunity to create that."
"Panorama provides centralized management capabilities for all our firewalls and locations so that we can manage different data centers through a single device, a very valuable feature. We don't have to log into various devices to oversee them individually."
 

Cons

"Internet and cloud support could be improved."
"If we decide to migrate to the cloud, I don't think that BIG-IP is a good solution and we probably won't use it."
"The user interface could be improved in F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager."
"An expensive solution for the minimal features we use."
"There is a need for a more modular version to concentrate on the current monolithic structure of both the virtual and hardware versions."
"Right now, there are a lot of products within F5's portfolio. They acquired a couple of companies like NGINX and Volterra. Some features and technologies overlapped when this acquisition occurred. They need to refine it and come up with a single, proper solution. F5 should focus more on zero trust network access (ZTNA).They should be more focused on that framework because the industry is moving towards that. Everyone is talking about SASE and zero trust."
"The price for F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is very high. This aspect could be improved."
"The solution's hardware quality needs improvement."
"The solution needs to be more compatible with other solutions. This is specifically a problem for us when it comes to healthcare applications. They have proprietary connection types and things of that nature that make compatibility a challenge sometimes."
"The documentation is generally good, but they could provide a more detailed description of all the configuration steps. I have to search for information or call support. Palo Alto could add more knowledge base articles about configuration with screenshots and walkthroughs. That would be helpful. When configuring a product, you want to see examples of how it is done."
"Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks should consolidate the portals into a single portal. It is slow and takes more than ten seconds to load a page."
"The licensing model isn't flexible enough. It's an all-or-nothing model. Other providers in the market allow you to buy modules or add-ons separately. With Prisma Access, you have to purchase the same module for all users."
"Their next release should provide solutions for the mobile environment."
"The BGP filtering options on Prisma Access should be improved."
"One thing that would help is if we could get a guide. With Cisco, for example, you can just type the problem regarding your Cisco product and you will easily get your solution. In Palo Alto, however, it's not easy to find the solutions."
"The Cloud Management application has room for improvement. There are a lot of things on the roadmap for that application; things are going to happen soon."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"F5 is expensive."
"The price is little bit on higher side compared to the cost of NGINX."
"It's not a cheap product, but there are no other replacements for what we do with it."
"Take a look at the modules that you are going to use. Look into the best bundles for them."
"The price is high."
"Security should be involved in any base license. When you bring on F5, you only have default license. Then, the ASM product license has to be purchased. It would be great if F5 could include the ASM in the base license."
"LTM is a good product, but it's expensive. They should make it more competitive because cloud providers offer free load balancing. Cloud providers can't cover all the security aspects of F5, but you get a decent amount of security. Cloud environments are becoming the norm across the IT industry. Many of the larger companies that previously used on-prem infrastructure are switching to the cloud, so companies like Fortinet and Palo Alto are reducing their prices. Otherwise, they can't compete in the cloud."
"Try to negotiate all the software features that you require upfront."
"It is a little expensive. Because it is one of the best in the market, it is a little bit more expensive than other vendors."
"I would advise choosing your options according to your company's needs. Just go for what you want and do not pay for anything extra in terms of licensing. You need to determine how much bandwidth is required in your company network, and according to that, you should pay for the license. The mobile user license is based on the number of users who are going to use the VPN solution. You need to determine how many mobile users you are going to have in your network, and you should pay according to that. There are no other costs in addition to licensing, but if you go for the consultant services of Palo Alto networks to deliver the solution for you, then you need to pay something extra. That is not a part of licensing."
"Compared to other products, the price is slightly high."
"Prisma is in the middle of the road. It's not the most expensive, but it's not the cheapest. There aren't any additional costs, to my knowledge. I know they have some extra modules, but we didn't use them."
"Palo Alto is the Cadillac solution, so their products are pretty expensive. That's just the way it is. Their solution surpasses anything else. Cisco AnyConnect, Zscaler, and all of the other products don't compare. Palo Alto is the market leader with the most features. It saves you work, and you don't have to worry about it."
"The solution is expensive."
"I'm still comparing, but the solution is quite expensive."
"In terms of pricing, considering that it is a two or three years old solution, they should apply big discounts for the next two or three years. This approach will be better for them to capture the market."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) solutions are best for your needs.
787,779 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP?
The support from F5 BIG-IP LTM is good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP?
There are a few licensing options available for F5 BIG-IP LTM. You can have a perpetual license which is a lifetime license. You then only need to renew the support, if you choose to open a ticket ...
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?
The pricing must be more flexible. We get billed for firewalls based on the usage. It will be helpful if the solution provides such flexibility.
What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?
We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a cloud-deliver...
What do you like most about Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
The most valuable features of the solution are in the areas of the secure remote access it provides while also being user-friendly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
Palo Alto products are expensive, but they offer efficient features. We have to pay additional costs for maintenance and support services.
 

Also Known As

F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and other solutions. Updated: March 2020.
787,779 professionals have used our research since 2012.