Azure Front Door vs Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service comparison

Microsoft and Fortinet are both solutions in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category. Microsoft is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.8, while Fortinet is ranked #23 with an average rating of 9.0. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure Front Door and Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Web Application Firewall (WAF) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Front Door vs. Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Front Door vs. Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

December 2025

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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

Cloudflare

Featured Reviews

Herb Angle

Owner at Hga consulting

Has helped manage client domains with streamlined access control and threat visibility

I don't know what areas could be improved with Cloudflare WAF; Cloudflare is constantly improving and adding features to their feature set. They're doing a good job, and as far as DNS and support for any domains that I create or my clients create, it's mandatory for me to make sure that they have Cloudflare as their DNS provider. The Cloudflare load balancing capability hasn't really helped in enhancing my website's uptime and resiliency because we don't really get that much traffic; it's mostly remote users, and web hosting is done by a web hosting service. It doesn't pay to try to host your own website.

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reviewer2226693

Architect at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees

Optimizing global application performance with robust security measures and advanced traffic management

DDoS capabilities in Azure Front Door could certainly be improved. Although Microsoft states it comes with basic DDoS protections out of the box, I find it often ineffectual in mitigating thousands of requests from a single source in a short span of time. User then have to rely on the WAF module where users must configure rate-limiting rules, as it does not automatically sense malicious spikes in traffic. I believe Front Door should have an out-of-the-box premium DDoS protection that can automatically detect and block malicious traffic. I would appreciate improvements in the turnaround time for support, especially since issues with Azure Front Door are usually critical for businesses. If there is an issue, it often results in downtime for line of business applications. I have faced this situation multiple times as one of the largest financial institutions in India is hosted there, adhering to strict SLAs that require prompt responses.

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RahulArora

Global Head - DevOps and AIOps Startegist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Cloud security has reduced web attack incidents and protects our public applications and APIs

The best features Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service offers include managed WAF rules, OWASP protection, bot mitigation, and Fortinet threat intelligence. In day-to-day work, I use all of the features: managed WAF rules, OWASP protection, bot mitigation, and Fortinet threat intelligence. This provides a strong baseline security without requiring deep WAF expertise internally. The integration with the broader Fortinet security system is a plus regarding the features. In terms of its impact on our organization, Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service has been positively protecting us from security threats and automated attacks. With this layered protection against common web and API attacks, we have noticed that the incidents and risks have been reduced to a greater extent.

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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

"New and innovative way to protect the client's data."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is external DNS. It is also very secure. They have their own main server and once you configure it, the product takes care of everything. There are no issues in resolving IPs and low latency is also present."

"Many websites require an SSL certificate because they sell stuff and want SSL. Cloudflare comes with an SSL certificate built in. It's automatic. You sign yourself up for Cloudflare, and an SSL certificate automatically protects your website. You don't necessarily need a certificate if you have a connection between your website and your host, the server, Cloudflare, and the host."

"I get a lot of value from Cloudflare's API because it enables you to build a separate environment inside the solution. You can create a domain for performing test requests before you move to the production environment and connect various domains."

"Even when there is a high load on our servers, Cloudflare is able to cache the data and serve it to users, ensuring they can still access the website."

"The most valuable feature is its usability."

"The technical support is good."

"The most valuable feature of Cloudflare is that it has a free version. They give us the free version with the anti-DDoS features and also the load balancing solution."

More Cloudflare pros

"Has a great application firewall and we like the security."

"The price is one of the most important aspects of the product. It's quite affordable."

"Azure Front Door provides DDoS protection and features related to WAF."

"The most valuable feature is that I can have CDN and load-balancing capabilities in a single service instead of managing two separate tools."

"The most valuable feature is that you can implement resources globally. It does not depend on location and ability or something like that. This is to connect clients around the world."

"I am impressed with the tool's integrations."

"The web application firewall is a great feature."

"Rules Engine is a valuable feature."

More Azure Front Door pros

"The company provides technical support, and they are mostly available 24/7."

"I rate the overall solution ten out of ten."

"Fortinet FortiWeb offers a variety of protections, including machine learning that helps protect web applications."

"Fortinet has created a holistic product that integrates features including AI and API protection, with straightforward automation and articulate reporting that even less experienced engineers can use easily."

"With this layered protection against common web and API attacks, we have noticed that the incidents and risks have been reduced to a greater extent."

"The stability of the solution is excellent."

"It is user-friendly and easy to work with."

"It is a secure tool."

More Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service pros

Cons

"I think the APIs are a little bit hard for us to work with. The APIs could be more open so that we could integrate better with our SolarWinds or our monitoring solution."

"It would be beneficial for us if Cloudflare could offer a scrubbing solution. This would involve taking a snapshot of my website and keeping it live during a DDoS attack, ensuring uninterrupted service for our users. DDoS attacks are typically short in duration, and having Cloudflare maintain the site's availability from its secure network would enhance the overall user experience. I would appreciate it if Cloudflare could consider implementing this feature. Many organizations already utilize similar capabilities in their CDN platforms, where a static snapshot of the web page is displayed during DDoS attacks. In terms of features, Cloudflare needs to enhance its resilience and stay more focused on adopting new technologies. For instance, solutions like F5 XC Box, Access Solution, and Distributed Cloud Solution have impressive features, and Cloudflare should strive to match and exceed those capabilities. There's a need for improvement in areas like AI-based DDoS attacks and Layer 7 WAF features. Cloudflare should prioritize enhancements in areas such as behavioral DDoS and protection against SQL injection attacks, considering the prevalent trend of public exposure to the internet for business reasons. Overall, Cloudflare needs to invest more in advancing its feature set."

"We're facing challenges due to an upgrade in the machine learning model. The problem arises from some users abusing the APIs, resulting in an influx of suspicious traffic. Cloudflare's learning model mistakenly identifies this traffic as human. Consequently, it assigns it a higher trust score, akin to legitimate human traffic, causing complications in our architecture. Previously, such traffic would have been categorized as suspicious, enabling us to apply appropriate blocking rules. However, we encounter difficulties distinguishing between genuine and suspicious traffic with the new categorization. Despite these challenges, overall, Cloudflare remains the preferred solution compared to Azure, AWS CloudFront, and Google Cloud Armor."

"Cloudflare does not have an on-premise solution. If they had different approaches they could be better suited to accommodate more customers, such as on-premise and hybrid deployments. For example, hybrid deployments would be useful where you could move the traffic from the enterprise to the cloud."

"We have noticed multiple instances where Cloudflare falsely indicates that our servers are down, even when there is no actual load on them. This makes it challenging for us to identify the exact issue."

"Cloudflare doesn't have a reverse lookup. We can only do a DNS lookup to get the IP address from the hostname. It doesn't work if you want to look up the hostname from an IPA address."

"Areas like how assessment, discovery, and payload are dealt with and how it all comes into your organization can be considered when trying to make suggestions to Cloudflare for improvements."

"Although I think it's quite good, it doesn't provide me with all the features I would expect to have if I were using Imperva."

More Cloudflare cons

"My suggestion for improvement would be to enhance the Data Export feature to include specific tables, particularly the Azure Diagnostics table."

"The user interface needs improvement as it is difficult to create the mapping to link the problem with your private address sources."

"The product needs to improve its latency."

"I dislike the URL set parameters."

"This is a relatively expensive solution."

"I'm responsible for the governance and cost control of Azure. I'm not a specialist in any products and therefore I couldn't really speak effectively to features that are lacking or missing."

"There's a limitation on the amount of global rules we can add."

"There could be improvements regarding its pricing for large-scale projects."

More Azure Front Door cons

"The usability of the interface could be improved as it is not user-friendly."

"Better visibility and more intuitive reporting would be helpful for Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service."

"I do not have any notes on improvement."

"The only thing I encountered was related to integration, mostly concerning translation."

"Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service could be improved with better logging capabilities, as many come with less spacing, necessitating a FortiSIM for enhanced functionality."

"The usability of the interface could be improved as it is not user-friendly."

"The utilization of AI in Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service still needs to be upgraded and improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost primarily depends on the size of the organization."

"The product's pricing is cheap."

"In terms of licensing costs, we don't pay for licensing for Cloudflare. We only establish communication, then for peering, Cloudflare takes care of the cross-connection in different data centers."

"When you compare Cloudflare DNS to other solutions, such as Akamai, the price is reasonable."

"The pricing depends on the usage, but the cheapest would be around 5,000 USD a month."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"Cloudflare's pricing is not much higher and is good for middle-level organizations."

"The product's pricing is minimal compared to other products."

More Cloudflare pricing and cost advice

"The product is expensive."

"The solution is a bit expensive."

"It is on a pay-as-you-go basis."

"The transition to the premium tier has led to increased costs, making it more expensive than the classic tier."

"Considering the standard licensing of the tool, even though we have not checked the billing as of now, it might not be very costly."

"The pricing of the solution is good."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Energy/Utilities Company

12%

Hospitality Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	25

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	9

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

Cloudflare. We are moving from Akamai prolexic to Cloudflare. Cloudflare anycast network outperforms Akamai static GR...

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Which would you choose - Cloudflare DNS or Quad9?

Cloudflare DNS is a very fast, very reliable public DNS resolver. It is an enterprise-grade authoritative DNS service...

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What do you like most about Cloudflare?

Cloudflare offers CDN and DDoS protection. We have the front end, API, and database in how you structure applications.

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What's the difference between Azure Front Door and Application Gateway?

We found Azure Front Door to be easily scaled and very stable. The implementation is very fast and Microsoft provides...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Front Door?

I am not sure about the pricing but believe Azure Front Door might require a higher cost due to its entry point nature.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Front Door?

DDoS capabilities in Azure Front Door could certainly be improved. Although Microsoft states it comes with basic DDoS...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service?

My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service is good, and i...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service?

Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service could be improved with better logging capabilities, as many come with less s...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service?

Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service protects our customers' websites, including e-commerce sites, normal website...

See all answers

Comparisons

Quad9 vs Cloudflare

Compared 50% of the time

Akamai vs Cloudflare

Compared 4% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Cloudflare

Compared 3% of the time

Myra Security DDoS Protection vs Cloudflare

Compared 2% of the time

Radware DDoS vs Cloudflare

Compared 1% of the time

More Cloudflare Competitors

Amazon CloudFront vs Azure Front Door

Compared 14% of the time

Akamai vs Azure Front Door

Compared 10% of the time

AWS Global Accelerator vs Azure Front Door

Compared 8% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Azure Front Door

Compared 5% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Azure Front Door

Compared 4% of the time

More Azure Front Door Competitors

Fortinet FortiWeb vs Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

Compared 43% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

Compared 15% of the time

Azure Web Application Firewall vs Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

Compared 12% of the time

NetScaler vs Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

Compared 10% of the time

Atomic ModSecurity Rules vs Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

Compared 10% of the time

More Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare

January 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Azure Front Door

January 2026

Download Azure Front Door product report

Buyer's Guide

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

January 2026

Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service report

Download Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service product report

Also Known As

Cloudflare DNS

Azure Front-Door

No data available

Overview

Cloudflare enhances web performance and security with features like CDN caching and DDoS mitigation while providing easy DNS management and intuitive setup through its user-friendly dashboard.

Cloudflare is recognized for its comprehensive web security and performance solutions. Speed improvements are achieved through caching mechanisms and DDoS protection, combining ease of DNS management with flexible page rules. The robust analytics and threat insight tools provide valuable data, assisted by a user-friendly dashboard allowing quick setup and configuration. An API offers dynamic DNS settings ensuring low latency and high performance across the globe.

What are Cloudflare's key features?

CDN Caching: Enhances website speed through content delivery network caching.
Web Application Firewall: Protects websites from online threats.
DDoS Mitigation: Shields against distributed denial-of-service attacks.
DNS Management: Offers easy-to-use and flexible domain management.
SSL Certificates: Ensures secure connections between users and servers.
Analytics: Provides insights with robust analytics tools.

What benefits and ROI should users evaluate?

Enhanced Security: Strengthening web security with DDoS and firewall protection.
Speed Improvement: Faster content delivery with CDN caching.
Operational Simplicity: Simplifies website optimization through a user-friendly interface.
Scalable Solutions: Scales with global reach, lowering latency for improved performance.
Cost Efficiency: Offers layers of valuable functionality with pricing options.

Cloudflare finds utility across industries for DNS management and defense mechanisms. Its content delivery network assures fast content distribution and fortified security. Businesses integrate features like web application firewalls, load balancing, end-to-end SSL, and zero trust to protect websites from cyber threats while ensuring resilience and reliable performance.

Cloudflare

Azure Front Door enhances web application performance and security by leveraging traffic inspection, SSL offloading, and a web application firewall. It enables intelligent routing, load balancing, and global resource deployment while providing essential features for online application security.

Azure Front Door integrates GitOps for seamless deployment, offering significant capabilities in giant networks like CDN functionalities and DDoS protection. Its advanced configurations include traffic analytics and transit layer security. Despite its affordability and scalability, users see room for improvement in global load balancing and private IP address support, citing integration challenges with other cloud vendors. The interface may appear complex, and some users desire more transparent pricing, better DDoS defenses, and enhanced monitoring. This platform is especially beneficial for securing external traffic and optimizing content delivery, providing DNS integration and disaster recovery mechanisms.

What are the key features of Azure Front Door?

Traffic Inspection: Enhances security with comprehensive traffic analysis at the network level.
SSL Offloading: Streamlines SSL certificate management and encryption processes.
Web Application Firewall: Offers protection against web vulnerabilities and threats.
Global Resource Implementation: Facilitates deployment across multiple regions.
Intelligent Routing and Load Balancing: Optimizes traffic distribution for efficient performance.
Bot and DDoS Protection: Shields applications from malicious traffic and attacks.
CDN Capabilities: Accelerates content delivery with local caching and optimized routing.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Affordability: Provides robust features at competitive pricing.
Scalability: Adapts easily to growing traffic demands and business needs.
Security: Delivers comprehensive defenses against cyber threats.
Performance Optimization: Enhances application responsiveness and delivery speed.
Global Reach: Supports globally distributed applications with ease.

In industries focusing on online presence and global user engagement, Azure Front Door is invaluable for optimizing web application performance. E-commerce platforms deploy it to secure transactions and enhance load times. Media companies leverage its CDN and security features to ensure seamless content delivery. Enterprises with international operations find it crucial for reliable and secure data access across regions.

Microsoft

Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service provides cloud-based web application protection, ensuring businesses secure their web apps against threats without hardware management, offering dynamic scalability and threat intelligence.

Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service offers an advanced security platform that effectively protects web applications from cyber threats by leveraging comprehensive threat intelligence and efficient traffic management. Its cloud-native architecture facilitates seamless integration, allowing for scalable security solutions that adapt to varying demand levels. Known for reducing complexity, it empowers organizations to focus on strategic initiatives without the need for dedicated on-premise resources. The service also provides robust analytics, enabling informed decision-making based on real-time threat landscapes.

What are the key features?

Auto-scaling: Automatically adjusts resources to handle increasing traffic without manual intervention.
Threat Intelligence: Uses comprehensive data to preempt and mitigate potential threats effectively.
Centralized Management: Simplifies monitoring and control of web application security through a single interface.
Robust Analytics: Offers detailed insights into traffic and threat patterns for better decision-making.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces the financial burden of maintaining hardware with a cloud-based approach.
Scalability: Easily adapts to business growth without requiring additional infrastructure investments.
Enhanced Security: Provides up-to-date threat protection, safeguarding critical business data.
Resource Optimization: Frees technical staff to focus on core business objectives by managing security centrally.

In industries such as finance and e-commerce where sensitive data protection is paramount, Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service is extensively implemented to secure web applications against potential vulnerabilities. It ensures compliance with stringent regulatory standards and protects consumer information, thus maintaining trust and brand reputation. Healthcare providers leverage it to protect patient records, a sector that demands the utmost security and confidentiality.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Trusted by over 9,000,000 Internet Applications and APIs, including Nasdaq, Zendesk, Crunchbase, Steve Madden, OkCupid, Cisco, Quizlet, Discord and more.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Azure Front Door vs. Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

December 2025

Free Report: Azure Front Door vs. Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Front Door vs. Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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