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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
8.1
The ROI from Azure Kubernetes Service depends on specific use cases, duration of use, and challenges with cost-effectiveness.
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
6.0
AKS support ranges from excellent to inadequate, with mixed reviews on response times and issue resolution efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.3
NGINX App Protect support is praised for promptness and helpfulness but inconsistencies and costs affect user satisfaction.
They were quick and efficient when we had issues.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Azure Kubernetes Service offers high scalability and ease of expansion but can be costly for extensive scaling needs.
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.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Azure Kubernetes Service is stable, self-healing, with occasional sync issues, and concerns typically arise from external factors.
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.
It is a quality solution, and I would rate its stability as eight out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

AKS requires faster alerts, better support, improved cost-efficiency, enhanced UI, streamlined integration, security, monitoring, and simplified deployment.
NGINX App Protect requires improved flexibility, UI, API, automation, network support, pricing, integration, and feature enhancements like security and documentation.
The costs are rising rapidly, and we have not seen any cost reductions by moving to Azure.
It is costly compared to other solutions such as Canonical.
There was more information from F5 regarding hardware requirements and specifications to deploy the service.
 

Setup Cost

Azure Kubernetes Service is costly, with potential $10,000 monthly fees, but offers flexible pricing and valued platform flexibility.
NGINX App Protect costs $3,000-$400,000 annually, considered expensive but competitive, with no hidden fees and strategic cost management possible.
Transitioning to Azure did not bring cost reductions; in fact, costs are rising rapidly.
The pricing for Azure Kubernetes Service seems to be around the average, which I would rate as a five out of ten.
 

Valuable Features

Azure Kubernetes Service excels in integration, scalability, ease of use, security, cost management, and operational efficiency.
NGINX App Protect provides comprehensive security features including automation, containerization, and flexible API connectivity for robust application protection.
Since pricing is not a major concern, we chose the best fit for our application, which was specifically designed for this particular platform.
The most valuable features of Azure Kubernetes Service are its integration with Kubernetes, offering similar features for a seamless experience.
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.
Detecting bots and blocking IPs have proven effective for securing applications.
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Ranking in Container Security
17th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NGINX App Protect
Ranking in Container Security
21st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (15th), API Security (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is 0.7%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX App Protect is 0.2%, down from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Security
 

Featured Reviews

Shaijith KB - PeerSpot reviewer
Professional services boost confidence but pricing and user-friendliness need attention
We have multiple solutions such as SimpliVity, Nutanix, and DXRail, which are all part of our Ansible-based system. It gives us more confidence and we can control our groups effectively. The solution is not particularly user-friendly for novice administrators, making it challenging to understand certain aspects. Templates are not readily available, requiring users to build their own worksheets and everything from scratch. This is a main decentralization we observe compared to VMware. We have tested various solutions including Rancher, RHEL, Canonical from SUSE, and the bare metal version from RHEL direct. Since pricing is not a major concern, we chose the best fit for our application, which was specifically designed for this particular platform.
Tomaz Sobczak - PeerSpot reviewer
Signature-based detection, DOS protection, and bot protection
NGINX App Protect is easier to automate and configure, or manage from an API. This is good for securing applications. However, it's not suitable for more complex tasks. NGINX App Protect positively impacted performance changes. There's a cache or it works like a proxy, so it can speed up applications. It can also offload some functions from servers, which NGINX can handle faster.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Container Security solutions are best for your needs.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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)?
Could you please tell what areas of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) you think could be improved or enhanced? It doesn't necessarily have to be something advanced. Perhaps there are some minor things...
What is your primary use case for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
Could you please describe your customers' usual use cases for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
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: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.