F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Rapid7 AppSpider comparison

The compared F5 and Rapid7 solutions aren't in the same category. F5 is ranked #2 in ADC , with an average rating of 8.7, and holds a 15.7% mindshare in the category. Rapid7 is ranked #30 in SAST , and holds a 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of F5 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Rapid7 users who would recommend it.

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Read 122 F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) reviews

6,915 Views
5,117 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Rapid7 AppSpider

Read 14 Rapid7 AppSpider reviews

1,363 Views
736 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Rapid7 AppSpider

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Rapid7 AppSpider based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about NetScaler, F5, HAProxy and others in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC).

To learn more, read our detailed Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

November 2025

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Helped 873,085 peers since 2012

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

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

122

Ranking in other categories

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (2nd)

Rapid7 AppSpider

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (30th)

Mindshare comparison

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Rapid7 AppSpider aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is designed for Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and holds a mindshare of 15.7%, up 15.0% compared to last year.
Rapid7 AppSpider, on the other hand, focuses on Static Application Security Testing (SAST), holds 0.6% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)	15.7%
NetScaler	14.1%
HAProxy	10.8%
Other	59.400000000000006%

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Rapid7 AppSpider	0.6%
SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube)	20.8%
Checkmarx One	10.3%
Other	68.3%

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Featured Reviews

Bonieber Orofeo

IT Manager at Chong Hua Hospital

Identifying compromised traffic and securing data has been a significant advantage

One of the most beneficial features of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is its ability to identify compromised traffic and its capabilities in authentication. Additionally, the security aspect of it provides a significant advantage as it helps us secure our data, which is a major investment and benefit for us. Before using this system, we had difficulties in storing our data and managing the traffic that comes in and out.

Read full review

Rizwan-Alam

Head Information Security at Akhtar Fuiou Technologies

Easy automated web app scanning, but gives many false positives and isn't always stable

One of the challenges I have with AppSpider is that it gives you a lot of false positives, especially when compared to other solutions. This is the main aspect that I hope to see Rapid7 improve on. Beyond reducing false positives, I would also like to see them implement better reporting features, particularly in the executive summary type of reports which need to be user-friendly and easily understood by non-technical people. The recommendations and solutions on these reports could always be improved to make them more relevant, too. Lastly, the stability isn't that great, and sometimes it becomes non-responsive. I feel like the stability of the application is very average and currently needs more work.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the F5 LTM (Local Traffic Manager). This is the part of the product most organisations will be using most. It provides the core functionality to be able to load balance services and the means and the intelligence to be able to load balance based on advanced logic, e.g., TCL scripting."

"We're able to do load balancing and global load balancing. When you marry those two products together, you can do a lot more. We're able to deliver our applications more securely and faster. It has improved our deliverability where we have more service across the shared data centers. We can intelligently reach all of those client connections across all of the servers and do it fairly quickly. It has helped improve our application delivery and performance."

"Load balancing generally brings high availability and a bigger ability to scale out. In some cases, it brings security, depending on how it is configured."

"The detail that you have available when setting up iRules."

"The combination of ADC and WAN is the most valuable feature."

"Features such as SSL offloading, various balancing methods, and the ability to work with HTTP, HTTPS, or TCP protocols are beneficial."

"In my team, we work in a very agile environment and the solutions from BIG-IP, including BIG-IP WAF, suit us well when developing and serving our applications."

"BIG-IP LTM is completely stable, and its performance is good."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) pros

"It scans all the components developed within a web application."

"The most valuable feature is the reporting, which is compliant with international standards."

"The entire solution is interactive and has a point-and-click user experience, which makes it easy to find items or drill down on information. You don't need specialized skills to use the product."

"Rapid7 AppSpider is good at managing different applications. It uses applets and generates reports to cover the PCA/GDPR compliance requirements."

"The initial deployment is very straightforward and simple. The product is stable if configured properly."

"What I like most about AppSpider is that it's easy to use and its automated scan gives me all the details I need to know when it comes to vulnerabilities and their solutions."

"AppSpider's most valuable feature is reporting - everything is stored in the local database so it can be sent to other machines."

"I like the ability the product has to detect vulnerabilities quickly, when it has been released in our environment, then displaying them to us."

More Rapid7 AppSpider pros

Cons

"I would like them to expand load balancing, being able to go across multiple regions to on-premise and into the cloud. This could use improvement, as it is sometimes a little cumbersome."

"The SharePoint SSO part has some room for improvement."

"There are not very many areas for improvement, but the price is high."

"An area for improvement in F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is that it's a high-priced product."

"My only point of contention would be that it is a little pricey."

"F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is sometimes a bit cumbersome to deal with some builds, although that's gotten significantly better over the years."

"There are issues with F5 BIG-IP but they are minor issues not affecting production and services. Sometimes the operations and the facility systems fail. However, there is an alert action from the windows. An ordeal for the manager."

"They need to improve the interface and some of the functionalities."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) cons

"Support response times are slow and can be improved."

"The dashboard and interface are crucial and they need some improvement."

"Implementing Rapid7 AppSpider requires scanning and self-identification mechanisms. You can add different types of authentication to each scan."

"The enterprise interface is too simple. It should be more customizable."

"Integration could be better."

"AppSpider has some problems with the RAM needed while scanning."

"This price of this solution is a little bit expensive."

"One of the challenges I have with AppSpider is that it gives you a lot of false positives, especially when compared to other solutions."

More Rapid7 AppSpider cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"BIG-IP LTM isn't a cheap solution - I'd rate its pricing as three out of five."

"Try to negotiate all the software features that you require upfront."

"Unless the price difference is large, this is not the primary concern for the product. The performance and product-related issues (secure for VPN, multi-function for network device, etc.) are the keys."

"It is sort of a commodity product. A load balancer is a load balancer. What will be, at the end of the day, the cheapest option or have the best performance, that is what it will come down to."

"It is quite expensive as a product. Because it is very stable, it is also expensive."

"This is a high-priced tool. We pay for its license yearly."

"I am not aware of the exact cost of the product. However, it is expensive."

"F5 is more expensive than other solutions, so you have to be sure F5 is the best solution to fit the requirements."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) pricing and cost advice

"AppSpider is closed-source software and you need to acquire a license in order to use it."

"The price is pretty fair."

"It is expensive if you want to buy the Enterprise version that is able to scan multiple applications at once."

"The price of Rapid7 AppSpider cost 9,000 annually but there is limited usage. Large companies are able to negotiate a better price or a better deal for the usage with the vendor."

"The licensing cost depends on the number of users."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	62
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	84

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?

The GUI of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) could be improved. It's not something regarding how it processes or blocks, as that's perfect. However, it still feels a bit legacy regarding the GU...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is a perfect product for load balancing and WAF, and I would recommend it far more than any other product. The load balancing capabilities of F5 BIG-IP Local T...

See all answers

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)?

The solution is robust and reliable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 AppSpider?

The price is not high, but for Japanese customers, localization may incur additional costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rapid7 AppSpider?

For Japanese customers, localization is needed. The product should offer a GUI in Japanese and provide Japanese reports for end-users.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Rapid7 AppSpider?

Our clients use AppSpider to address security concerns for their websites. It is particularly used by customers who require security assessments.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiADC vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 18% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 8% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

VMWare Avi Load Balancer vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 7% of the time

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Competitors

Rapid7 InsightAppSec vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 29% of the time

SonarQube vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 12% of the time

PortSwigger Burp Suite Professional vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 10% of the time

Acunetix vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 9% of the time

Checkmarx One vs Rapid7 AppSpider

Compared 6% of the time

More Rapid7 AppSpider Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

November 2025

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) report

Download F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) product report

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 AppSpider

October 2025

Download Rapid7 AppSpider product report

Also Known As

F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP

AppSpider

Overview

F5 BIG-IP LTM optimizes the speed and reliability of your apps via both network and application layers. Using real-time protocol and traffic management decisions based on app and server and connection management conditions, and TCP and content offloading, BIG-IP LTM dramatically improves application and infrastructure responsiveness. BIG-IP LTM's architecture includes protocol awareness to control traffic for the most important applications. BIG-IP LTM tracks the dynamic performance levels of servers and delivers SSL performance and visibility for inbound and outbound traffic, to protect the user experience by encrypting everything from the client to the server.

BIG-IP LTM provides enterprise-class Application Delivery Controller (ADC). You get granular layer 7 control, SSL offloading and acceleration capabilities, and advanced scaling technologies that deliver performance and reliability on-demand. The highly optimized TCP/IP stack combines TCP/IP techniques and improvements in the latest RFCs with extensions to minimize the effect of congestion and packet loss and recovery. Independent testing tools and customer experiences show LTM's TCP stack delivers up to a 2x performance gain for users and a 4x increase in bandwidth efficiency.

SPAs, APIs, mobile—the evolution of application technology is measured in months, not years. Is your web application security testing tool designed to keep up? AppSpider lets you collect all the information needed to test all the apps so that you aren’t left with gaping application risks.

Our dynamic application security testing (DAST) solution crawls to the deepest, darkest corners of even the most modern and complex apps to effectively test for risk and get you the insight you need to remediate faster. With AppSpider on your side (or, rather, all of your sides), you’ll be able to scan all the apps today and always be ready for whatever comes next.

Rapid7

Sample Customers

Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.

Microsoft

Buyer's Guide

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

November 2025

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