Azure Firewall Manager vs Azure Web Application Firewall comparison

Azure Firewall Manager and Azure Web Application Firewall are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Azure Firewall Manager is ranked #26 with an average rating of 9.3, while Azure Web Application Firewall is ranked #20 with an average rating of 8.3. Azure Firewall Manager holds a 0.8% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Azure Web Application Firewall’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Azure Firewall Manager users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Azure Web Application Firewall users who would recommend it.

Azure Firewall Manager

Read 9 Azure Firewall Manager reviews

956 Views
392 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Azure Web Application Firewall

Read 16 Azure Web Application Firewall reviews

3,065 Views
797 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Azure Firewall Manager

Azure Web Application Firewall

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure Firewall Manager and Azure Web Application Firewall based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Microsoft Security Suite solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Firewall Manager vs. Azure Web Application Firewall Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager vs. Azure Web Application Firewall

February 2026

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Helped 885,311 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

Azure Firewall Manager

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

26th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewall Security Management (10th)

Azure Web Application Firewall

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

20th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Web Application Firewall (WAF) (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Firewall Manager is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Web Application Firewall is 2.0%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Azure Web Application Firewall	2.0%
Azure Firewall Manager	0.8%
Other	97.2%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Sikkander Batcha

DevOps Engineer at CloudIQ

Has managed traffic effectively but lacks visibility and advanced control features

Azure Firewall is typically behind other vendor firewalls because we don't see what kind of traffic is traveling through it. That is one drawback. The main drawback is that we need log support from Azure Firewall, which can be quite costly. There is no login feature in Azure Firewall because only the IAM feature is available in the Azure site; we manage it only through the Azure portal, not through any other portal. Other vendors, such as Palo Alto, provide GUI or CLI interfaces to manage their firewalls, whereas we only manage Azure Firewall through the Azure portal. In the future, I would like to see additional features in Azure Firewall Manager to make it more competitive, such as technologies like App-ID and User-ID that Palo Alto has. Azure Firewall currently only allows traffic based on layer four and sometimes layer seven, so they need to improve in those areas compared to other vendors.

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Kevin Rua Jefwa

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

Offers robust analytics and seamless cloud integration with minor room for user interface improvement

The Microsoft support and the analytics are what I appreciate about Azure Web Application Firewall. It integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot. It helps when looking for threats. It reduces issues significantly because the filtering capabilities are high. Given that it's a cloud solution, we have very minimal downtime, especially because we have Microsoft support. On a scale of one to 10, I would give it an eight.

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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

"The tool's support is good."

"The solution has improved our organization with its firewall."

"The best feature of Azure Firewall Manager is that it is easy to maintain and configure."

"I would definitely recommend the solution to my clients, especially if one is using Azure Cloud."

"We are utilizing Azure Entra ID for group labeling, so Active Directory, or now it is Entra ID, securing our application for everyone who accesses it, and Azure Firewall Manager is definitely securing our projects and all its features are fine."

"Azure Firewall Manager centralizes network security management with a hub and spoke architecture."

"It has helped us in multiple ways; for example, we don't require different spaces to manage it, we can do a lot of automation integrations into the code, we could integrate it into the DevOps pipeline, and it has helped us with our time-to-market for a very specific product when we are actually deploying or upgrading."

"From a traffic management perspective, it's a good firewall because it's automatically scalable based on the traffic availability."

More Azure Firewall Manager pros

"The solution has good dashboards."

"We already have some of our workloads published outside of Azure, and this allows them to connect to the database."

"It is almost impossible to access these assets from outside, requiring a very skilled attacker to obtain asset tokens of a customer using Azure."

"The Microsoft support and the analytics are what I appreciate about Azure Web Application Firewall; it integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot."

"It's great for protecting against DDoS attacks."

"We're Microsoft partners and I'd recommend the solution as it is easy to understand and easy to integrate, it is very stable and we trust it as a recognized Microsoft product."

"We have found the most valuable features to be the web application, minimal skills required for management, control through policies, and automation."

"It's quite a stable product and works well with Microsoft products."

More Azure Web Application Firewall pros

Cons

"The price is okay. This said, the solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."

"The configuration and settings require substantial time for learning, particularly for new users."

"For Azure Firewall Manager, the learning curve for new people is a bit challenging, but the integration should be more straightforward for configuring a centralized system."

"The cost is a significant concern because we are in a region where the dollar is not our default currency, and converting to dollars makes it very expensive."

"The tool's security features need to improve. It needs also to include a monitoring system for logs. It is also complicated to find a query on the Azure firewall."

"Microsoft was unable to fully solve the problem with email phishing and spamming."

"The solution can improve the integration with open-source tools."

"There should be a simple one-click deployment for a firewall, rather than a set of setup instructions that include steps such as the DNS configuration, et cetera."

More Azure Firewall Manager cons

"In Brazil, we have some problems with the phone service that affect our connection with the cloud. However, it isn't common."

"The support for proxy forwarding could improve."

"There is a need to be able to configure the solution more."

"The documentation needs to be improved."

"From a reporting perspective, they could do more there."

"The management can be improved."

"I encountered difficulties with certificates for a Linux server when implementing protection."

More Azure Web Application Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."

"The price of the solution is reasonable but it is reasonable for the features."

"We have an enterprise agreement with Microsoft and the pricing is good."

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."

"The price is reasonable. It is approximately $2,000 US per month."

"The price of the solution depends on your architecture and how you manage it. You can control the cost in Azure quite well. The costs do not directly correlate to expenses in the features we are using."

"Azure WAF has price advantages over other WAF solutions. The pricing model is flexible because you pay on a scale based on the level of protection you need."

"The price is for this solution is fair and there is a license needed."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Construction Company

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	12

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Firewall Manager?

The pricing for Azure Firewall Manager is expensive. In our project, we have used both Palo Alto Firewall and Azure Firewall. Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling dep...

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What needs improvement with Azure Firewall Manager?

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What is your primary use case for Azure Firewall Manager?

My customers are using Azure Firewall Manager, so I'm learning from both documentation and practical knowledge. I usually recommend Azure Firewall Manager for projects such as an animal hospital pr...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Web Application Firewall?

I would place Azure Web Application Firewall at an eight on a scale from one to 10, with one being cheap and 10 being expensive.

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What needs improvement with Azure Web Application Firewall?

The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced. I've worked with Fortinet and Cisco, and I think the UI is a litt...

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What is your primary use case for Azure Web Application Firewall?

Because we mostly operate in the cloud and because we're a Microsoft environment, it was the best option in the scenario. The options were limited in terms of wanting to be an only Microsoft enviro...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager

March 2026

Download Azure Firewall Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Azure Web Application Firewall

March 2026

Download Azure Web Application Firewall product report

Overview

Azure Firewall Manager is a security management service that provides central security policy and route management for cloud-based security perimeters.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) provides centralized protection of your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities. Web applications are increasingly targeted by malicious attacks that exploit commonly known vulnerabilities. SQL injection and cross-site scripting are among the most common attacks.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager vs. Azure Web Application Firewall

February 2026

Free Report: Azure Firewall Manager vs. Azure Web Application Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall Manager vs. Azure Web Application Firewall and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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