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Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) vs NGINX App Protect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
Azure Kubernetes Service reduces costs with scaling, opinions differ on cost-effectiveness, management ease, and returns based on use cases.
Sentiment score
6.9
Organizations saw positive ROI with NGINX App Protect during COVID-19, improving security and integration, anticipating future benefits.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.1
Azure Kubernetes Service customer support experiences vary, with mixed reviews on response time and issue resolution effectiveness.
Sentiment score
6.3
NGINX App Protect support is praised for promptness and helpfulness but inconsistencies and costs affect user satisfaction.
They are very fast to respond and begin analysis to resolve problems.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
They were quick and efficient when we had issues.
Project Manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) offers scalable, efficient auto-scaling for enterprises, but requires proper design and can be costly.
Sentiment score
6.5
NGINX App Protect is scalable with diverse options but faces deployment, traffic, and configuration centralization challenges noted by users.
AKS offers excellent scalability due to its adaptation from Kubernetes.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a stable, reliable platform praised for self-healing, despite occasional minor issues.
Sentiment score
8.4
NGINX App Protect is praised for stability and integration, outperforming competitors, though minor improvements in HTML5 are needed.
From my usage, I would rate its stability as eight to nine out of ten.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
It's very stable, and the support is satisfactory.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
It is a quality solution, and I would rate its stability as eight out of ten.
IT Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) needs improved support, cost management, easier onboarding, better integration, and enhanced features for user satisfaction.
NGINX App Protect requires improved flexibility, UI, API, automation, network support, pricing, integration, and feature enhancements like security and documentation.
When purchasing support directly from RHEL, the price is significantly high.
Senior System Specialist at General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA)
The costs are rising rapidly, and we have not seen any cost reductions by moving to Azure.
Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
There was more information from F5 regarding hardware requirements and specifications to deploy the service.
IT Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Azure Kubernetes Service is costly yet valued for scalability and manageability, with flexible pricing but higher than some alternatives.
NGINX App Protect costs $3,000-$400,000 annually, considered expensive but competitive, with no hidden fees and strategic cost management possible.
The solution is very expensive in my opinion.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
Transitioning to Azure did not bring cost reductions; in fact, costs are rising rapidly.
Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
The pricing for Azure Kubernetes Service seems to be around the average, which I would rate as a five out of ten.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
 

Valuable Features

Azure Kubernetes Service offers security, integration, automation, and robust CI/CD with features for scalability and application management efficiency.
NGINX App Protect provides comprehensive security features including automation, containerization, and flexible API connectivity for robust application protection.
EKS is the best because there are many features to use for scaling and to control the environments.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
The most valuable features of Azure Kubernetes Service are its integration with Kubernetes, offering similar features for a seamless experience.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
Since pricing is not a major concern, we chose the best fit for our application, which was specifically designed for this particular platform.
Senior System Specialist at General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA)
The most valuable feature is the ability to operate in a DevOps environment and to be configured through API and pipeline by the developers themselves.
IT Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Detecting bots and blocking IPs have proven effective for securing applications.
Project Manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Ranking in Container Security
20th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NGINX App Protect
Ranking in Container Security
27th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (15th), API Security (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX App Protect is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)0.9%
NGINX App Protect0.4%
Other98.7%
Container Security
 

Featured Reviews

Daniel Wichinescki - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
Has supported production deployments and simplified permission management though could reduce monitoring costs
For Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), we only used it to orchestrate the Kubernetes pods. We didn't use the other features. We only used the environment to start our application. I utilized the automatic scaling capabilities. The integration with Azure Active Directory helped with the security of our applications. I think Amazon EKS is better. EKS is the best because there are many features to use for scaling and to control the environments.
JP
Project Manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Blocking IPs and detecting bots enhances security for medical websites
I was researching products like NGINX App Protect and F5 Advanced WAF for long-term options. I have some use for such a solution, but probably not before next year Detecting bots and blocking IPs have proven effective for securing applications. We were able to block groups of IP addresses that…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
The platform's high scalability is one of its biggest advantages.
What needs improvement with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
I am not sure about areas that could be improved.
What is your primary use case for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
I use the product for the environments in the company, specifically for the environments in production, QA, and development. I used it in the finance industry at a bank. Now I have moved to another...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NGINX App Protect?
I don't know the pricing yet because in my other project, I was not part of the buying side and I was just starting to look at options.
What needs improvement with NGINX App Protect?
It would be better if it were easier to implement and if there was more information from F5 regarding hardware requirements and specifications to deploy the service, to avoid disruptions after impl...
 

Also Known As

No data available
NGINX WAF, NGINX Web Application Firewall
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) vs. NGINX App Protect and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.