A10 Networks Lightning ADC vs Kemp LoadMaster vs NetScaler comparison

A10 Networks Lightning ADC

Read 107 NetScaler reviews

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6,066 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Kemp LoadMaster

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between A10 Networks Lightning ADC, Kemp LoadMaster, and NetScaler based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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

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

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

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Helped 866,088 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:

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of A10 Networks Lightning ADC is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kemp LoadMaster is 7.3%, up from 7.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 14.4%, down from 16.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
NetScaler	14.4%
Kemp LoadMaster	7.3%
A10 Networks Lightning ADC	0.5%
Other	77.8%

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Featured Reviews

RONALDO DE MELO

Sales Account Executive at l8

Efficient application security while optimizing connections

The initial setup is simple; it is not complex. The configuration itself is simple and can be done in a couple of hours. However, the migration of the system to A10 Networks takes longer due to critical applications. Clients prefer to move them one by one, which is why it takes a significant amount of time. The configuration itself is simple, especially for this application.

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IshtiaqKhalil

Information Security Engineer at BOK

Displays flexible, user-friendly interface with minor licensing challenges

The product could be improved with a more intuitive interface for complex configurations and more advanced analytics. Additionally, enhanced security features, like a more robust Web Application Firewall, and stronger APIs for better automation would be beneficial. Overall, the main areas for improvement are in strengthening the advanced features to better meet the demands of large-scale enterprise environments. key features for the next release should focus on three areas. First, an enhanced, next-generation security suite with a more powerful Web Application Firewall (WAF) and integrated bot protection. Second, more advanced and customizable analytics dashboards to provide deeper insights into application performance. Finally, greater support for modern, cloud-native environments, including better APIs for automation and seamless hybrid-cloud traffic management

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DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU

Cloud Consultant at Migros Ticaret A.Ş.

A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking

Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our clients appreciate that this is a security enabled solution."

"What I like about Lightning ADC, is that instead of having a big appliance sitting in front of the Kubernetes cluster, Lightning can pretty much go inside of Kubernetes."

"It allows you to secure the application while balancing the connections for many other customers, reducing CPU usage and server load."

"When the templates are used, there is not much left to configure and they just work!"

"The old process of manually having to redirect Outlook Web Access traffic and Email traffic to a second server is a thing of the past."

"The most valuable features are synchronizing email with mobile devices and synchronizing with Outlook."

"The pricing of the solution is valuable."

"Great web balancing and remote access balancing."

"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten...The initial setup of Kemp LoadMaster is very simple."

"The feature I find most valuable is load balancing with different algorithms."

"Edge Security Pack is valuable because of the way it separates between critical infrastructure and the public internet."

More Kemp LoadMaster pros

"SSL Offload"

"Enables a Web service that offers persistent client-server connections, IP restriction, URL rewrite (such as remove "/assets/" path from client-side URL path), and cache for CSS or JS files... You can easily use the GUI to set up all these requirements on the same network device within 20-30 minutes. (If you do the same steps on CLI, it might take less time.)"

"The most valuable feature of Citrix ADC is its ease of use."

"The feature that I have found most valuable is its load balancing."

"Citrix Director has been great. It gives us one pane of glass to be able to monitor what's going on with the user sessions as well as to keep on top of the virtual desktops, any servers that may be offline or behaving suspiciously, or any troublesome spots like disconnections. We also use Citrix Studio for maintaining the actual servers that are hosting these applications. We use it for delivery groups in case we need to modify delivery groups in regards to which groups have access to which applications. It has been very helpful."

"If you need PCI-compliance and have high security requirements, WAF is the most valuable feature. If you need to monitor your load-balancing services with complex types of monitoring, make sure everything is alright, and load balancing is important, Content Switching and Monitoring features are the keys to your needs. If you want to provide a lot of static images or data, the Caching feature works best for you."

"Helped us a lot with load balancing."

"The stability is good. If there is a problem, the load will be shifted to other sites automatically, which has been a good experience for us."

More NetScaler pros

Cons

"The support from A10 should be improved."

"We would like to see some improvement in the rapidity with which we can customize security facts within the solution."

"A10 documentation is not as open and accessible as AWS and Azure documentation is."

"It has all types of logs and they are very detailed, but it's a little bit hard to search for a single event."

"There are some challenges with updates on certain models that don't have a few features."

"It would be nice if the historical metrics were easily exportable from the interface."

"Although Kemp is very user-friendly, it lacks a more custom configuration."

"In the web interface, there are a lot of settings in the different menus and it would be helpful if there were an interactive help system or tooltips to help the administrators find and configure the right settings."

"We have experienced at least one problem with stability, although it was fixed with an upgrade."

"Some of the support documentation seems to make assumptions that the person installing or configuring is experienced with the product or concepts."

"I think there should be more visual instructions on how to configure advanced features."

More Kemp LoadMaster cons

"Native integration needs to be improved. You cannot build ISE codes natively. For DevOps, integration would be very helpful because it would be a lot simpler from an operational standpoint."

"Its GUI should be improved. Its CLI is powerful, but GUI needs more features."

"Integration with other third party providers and third party applications could be better because it can be a bit complex at present."

"We face challenges with the solution's firmware upgrades frequently."

"I feel that Citrix NetScaler's customer support needs to improve."

"The configuration is complex, and only one or two people know how to assist when problems arise."

"When a new version comes out, sometimes, my existing configuration gets wiped out. They should work on this so that my existing configuration doesn't get impacted with an upgrade to a newer version. There could also reduce frequent firmware upgrade activities and have a stable version so that once we upgrade it, we don't have to upgrade it for two to three years."

"The licensing model and technical support of the solution could be improved."

More NetScaler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"They have multiple tiers of licensing and you can upgrade it easily."

"Pricing for the perpetual licensing was fair to us for the features and ease of use we received."

"The pricing is alright and we pay a monthly licensing fee"

"From a cost perspective, Kemp is very competitive and is not hard to justify by any means."

"I have control on the licensing and all the prices since I work for a partner."

"The Kemp LoadMaster is a tremendous value."

"KEMP gives away free trials for 30 days. This can be stretched if you want. During the test, you will have access to KEMP support."

"Less expensive than Citrix."

More Kemp LoadMaster pricing and cost advice

"We have all the features and functions of Citrix because we have a premium license."

"For the specific use case that my customers primarily engage with, I would give the pricing a rating of seven out of ten."

"There isn't much of a difference between the cost of Citrix and that of other similar solutions."

"Citrix NetScaler VPX is not the cheapest solution out there, but you get what you pay for."

"The price for Citrix ADC here in Mexico was good, when you compare it with F5 and Radware."

"It's an expensive product but it works well."

"You get the value for your money. There aren't any hidden fees."

"The firewall license is included by default, with no additional costs."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	45
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	57

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Kemp LoadMaster?

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten...The initial ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kemp LoadMaster?

LoadMaster is cheaper than some other solutions. It has a perpetual license, so it's a one-time cost.

What needs improvement with Kemp LoadMaster?

There are some challenges with updates on certain models that don't have a few features. The support team often takes...

What do you like most about Citrix ADC?

The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic ente...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?

After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more...

What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?

Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexi...

LoadBalancer Enterprise vs A10 Networks Lightning ADC

Comparisons

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Fortinet FortiADC vs A10 Networks Lightning ADC

Compared 29% of the time

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HAProxy vs Kemp LoadMaster

Compared 18% of the time

NGINX Plus vs Kemp LoadMaster

Compared 13% of the time

Fortinet FortiADC vs Kemp LoadMaster

Compared 13% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Kemp LoadMaster

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs Kemp LoadMaster

Compared 8% of the time

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HAProxy vs NetScaler

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs NetScaler

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiADC vs NetScaler

Compared 8% of the time

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

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon Elastic Load Balancing vs NetScaler

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Download A10 Networks Lightning ADC product report

Kemp LoadMaster

Download Kemp LoadMaster product report

Download NetScaler product report

Also Known As

Lightning ADS

LoadMaster Load Balancer

Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall, NetScaler VPX - Customer Licensed

Overview

A cloud-native, software-defined solution that provides integrated advanced load-balancing, performance optimization, application security and per-application analytics to increase operational agility and application performance.

A10 Networks

Kemp LoadMaster is a powerful load balancing solution that also serves as a web application firewall. Its primary use case is load balancing and application load balancing, making it an ideal solution for organizations that must distribute traffic across multiple servers. Kemp's integration with an active directory for ESP usage, hosting/deployment of SSL certificates, and pricing are some of its most valuable features.

Using Kemp has helped organizations mitigate cross-scripting vulnerabilities, cookie-related issues, and content security policy issues. It has also allowed them to handle everything with Kemp instead of working on each application individually.

Progress Software

NetScaler is an advanced application delivery controller providing load balancing, SSL offloading, and enhanced network performance. Users benefit from its robust security features, seamless Citrix integrations, and cost-effective infrastructure.

Designed to optimize and secure application delivery, NetScaler offers high availability and supports data centers with its load balancing and reverse proxy capabilities. It ensures effective traffic management and provides valuable insights into network health while integrating easily with Citrix products. Users appreciate its centralized management via ADM and flexible deployment options tailored to their infrastructure needs. However, there is room for improvement in its management tools, interface, and documentation, alongside a need for security enhancements and better licensing flexibility.

What are the most important features of NetScaler?

Flexible Deployment: Allows adaptation to different environments and needs.
Load Balancing: Efficiently distributes traffic to enhance performance.
SSL Offloading: Offloads encryption to optimize server performance.
Content Switching: Enables tailored content delivery based on user needs.
Robust Security: Includes firewalling and AAA authentication.
Global Server Load Balancing: Distributes load across multiple locations for high availability.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Delivers an efficient infrastructure without high costs.
Reliable Performance: Ensures consistent delivery and resilience.
High Availability: Maintains network uptime and service quality.
Technical Support: Offers responsive assistance for operational issues.

NetScaler is implemented across sectors like healthcare, finance, and education to guarantee secure remote access, enhance application network management, and support virtual desktops. Its application gateways and VPN access capabilities make it ideal for industries needing secure and efficient connectivity solutions.

Sample Customers

Handle Financial

Kent County Council, KEMP, SMA Solar Technology AG, RT Player , Victrix (Quebec, Canada), Texas A&M, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cisco, Austin Bank

ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)