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Amazon Elastic Load Balancing vs NetScaler comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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

Amazon Elastic Load Balancing
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetScaler
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (5th), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of Amazon Elastic Load Balancing is 1.5%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 14.6%, down from 16.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

Mohd Farhan - PeerSpot reviewer
Manage complex traffic routing with ease and ensure system availability
The ELB would benefit from allowing deployment in a single availability zone for test servers to avoid unnecessary costs. Additionally, the ability to directly block specific IP addresses without additional service integration would be beneficial. Furthermore, sometimes ALB has a delay in recognizing the need to scale the system based on CloudWatch metrics, which could use improvement.
DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Amazon Elastic Load Balancing transfers the data securely from servers to users and splits the traffic based on peak times."
"The tool integrates well with Amazon native services. Its valuable feature is integrations."
"The network load balancer is really fast."
"I find it valuable that you can provide rule prioritization and set priorities for path-based routing."
"The Elastic Load Balancer facilitates the distribution of incoming application traffic, which directs requests to various servers, preventing overload on a single instance."
"We use the solution for internet-exposed websites and internal load-balancing purposes."
"The most valuable feature of Amazon Elastic Load Balancing is scaling."
"The solution is known for its scalability and stability."
"I like the monitoring ability as it enables me to identify when an internal (load-balanced) resource is having issues before it becomes a problem in production."
"We appreciate that this solution facilitates our access to Citrix internet."
"We have good customer support."
"For desktop application management, I recommend the NetScaler edition. This product is like a Swiss army knife. Citrix NetScaler ADC supports the education front-end."
"The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment."
"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."
"The maintenance of the solution is not complex."
"The most valuable feature of Citrix ADC is its ease of use."
 

Cons

"Clients sometimes face issues with Amazon Elastic Load Balancing, and it can take a long time to detect these issues."
"Improvement is needed in the integration with Terraform, especially in writing scripts for creating load balancers and target groups."
"We faced some issues with the health check."
"The ELB would benefit from allowing deployment in a single availability zone for test servers to avoid unnecessary costs."
"One issue that we faced with ALB was that leaf-level certificate validation was not happening. It is not that user-friendly in that aspect."
"The solution needs to guarantee stability because multiple loads behind a load balancer can cause service unavailability."
"Improvements could involve making Amazon Elastic Load Balancing a global service, as currently, it is region-specific."
"The product should be made as an alternative to Amazon services. It would be easier for us if you got one service that is available everywhere."
"The interface could be improved, some customers struggle with that."
"It can be difficult to setup."
"The user interface could be more friendly. Some wizards and other documentation for administrators, as well as some use cases, helps us to understand the solution."
"The only thing customers told me that could be improved is that they would like to be able to purchase and receive the products in one box, rather than two boxes. This is something related to marketing, though."
"Integration with other third party providers and third party applications could be better because it can be a bit complex at present."
"Currently, it is not easy to use the configuration capabilities of the product."
"It does not have a sandbox cloud service and antivirus. It should have on-prem or cloud sandboxing and antivirus."
"It was challenging explaining to customers that it's no longer NetScaler but ADC, and now it's not just ADC but also the rebranding from NetScaler."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing fees are based on the number of connections one uses. It is a free tool for a certain amount of connections, which runs into thousands, and after that, there is a certain amount to be paid to Amazon."
"There is a yearly license."
"The product is not cheap."
"The solution's pricing is $30 per month."
"I have no issues with the tool's pricing."
"The solution's pricing is low and I rate it a nine out of ten."
"The solution is expensive."
"The cost for using the application load balancer is approximately $18 to $21 per month."
"Citrix NetScaler's pricing is slightly above average but not overly expensive. I would consider F5 BIG IP to be the most expensive, Citrix NetScaler to be the second most expensive, and then Kemp Load Balancer to be the third."
"The solution's pricing is very high compared to its competitors."
"You get the value for your money. There aren't any hidden fees."
"The licenses for this product are payable as a yearly subscription, and carry a high price-point. The subscription scheme is quite complicated, and costs will increase with each additional feature that is required, outside of the basic setup."
"Its price is comparable to others and affordable."
"It all depends on the features that will be used and the number of accesses."
"Citrix NetScaler VPX is not the cheapest solution out there, but you get what you pay for."
"For partners, NetScaler is not as expensive price-wise versus F5."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
27%
Educational Organization
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Elastic Load Balancing?
Amazon Elastic Load Balancing transfers the data securely from servers to users and splits the traffic based on peak times.
What needs improvement with Amazon Elastic Load Balancing?
Although I haven't faced any issues, improvements could involve making Amazon Elastic Load Balancing a global service, as currently, it is region-specific. Simplifying components required for load ...
What is your primary use case for Amazon Elastic Load Balancing?
Amazon Elastic Load Balancing ( /products/amazon-elastic-load-balancing-reviews ) helps me efficiently distribute incoming application or network traffic across multiple targets, such as Amazon EC2...
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 enters our environment.
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 expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?
Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Elastic Load Balancing vs. NetScaler and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
862,499 professionals have used our research since 2012.