Azure Web Application Firewall vs Microsoft Purview eDiscovery comparison

Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

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:

ROI

Sentiment score

3.9

Azure Web Application Firewall offers cost-efficiency through reduced administration, AI enhancements, and competitive pricing compared to leading competitors.

Sentiment score

7.7

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery boosts ROI by improving data efficiency, compliance, risk management, and reducing legal and IT workloads.

Recently, they have been under serious attack with major exploits, such as Log4j, affecting Fortinet and Palo Alto, and even Cisco and VMware.

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

AI-based recommendations save on time and money.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

We have seen a 100% return on investment.

Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The ease of accessing necessary information promptly is the biggest return on investment.

John Alvis

Manager, Information Technology Operations & Security at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees

It's hard to quantify the ROI in a dollar amount, but we realize value by doing more tasks in less time than we did before.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Purview eDiscovery report

Director, IT Infrastructure & Cloud Technology at a legal firm with 501-1,000 employees

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Microsoft support is generally satisfactory, with users preferring higher-tier options for faster response and clearer communication.

Sentiment score

7.6

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is praised for responsive support, despite some mixed experiences with wait times and outcomes.

They are good at troubleshooting and configuring things.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

I am very satisfied with the response from Microsoft dedicated architects if it happens that I have to call for their support.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

I reached out to their support, and they helped me resolve the issue effectively.

Adolfo Albanell

Owner at ICAL S.A.

I would rate Microsoft Purview eDiscovery's customer service and technical support a ten.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Purview eDiscovery report

Is admin at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.6

Azure Web Application Firewall offers flexible, highly-rated scalability, easily adapting to traffic changes and various workload needs across subscriptions.

Sentiment score

7.9

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is scalable and efficient, seamlessly integrating with cloud infrastructures but lacks some search functions.

Some Azure applications, like the web application firewall, require a certain level of SKU for hosting setup.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

For our company, Azure Web Application Firewall works effectively for scalability.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

It scales with us seamlessly.

Director, IT Infrastructure & Cloud Technology at a legal firm with 501-1,000 employees

With the E3 licensing, I would rate the scalability of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery as a six because it lacks certain critical search functionalities.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Purview eDiscovery report

Is admin at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Azure Web Application Firewall is highly stable, with minimal connectivity or performance issues and consistently earns high reliability ratings.

Sentiment score

8.6

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is generally stable, with minor slowdowns, but users seek more transparency on performance issues.

Very rarely do I see any latency issues.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

For us, it has been one hundred percent reliable.

John Alvis

Manager, Information Technology Operations & Security at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is highly reliable.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Purview eDiscovery report

Director, IT Infrastructure & Cloud Technology at a legal firm with 501-1,000 employees

Room For Improvement

Azure Web Application Firewall needs better reporting, integration, cost plans, and process streamlining for enhanced management and support.

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery needs faster, more efficient features, better integration, NLP for queries, and affordable pricing for users.

Upgrading the platform regularly is necessary for security, however, frequent updates every six months or year from Azure can be a maintenance overhead.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

Adding more features, as Microsoft continues to expand their cloud offerings, would be beneficial.

Director, IT Infrastructure & Cloud Technology at a legal firm with 501-1,000 employees

Defining what constitutes a credit card because that is where I get the most false positives.

Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees

We find that many critical functions are available only to E5 license holders.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Purview eDiscovery report

Is admin at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Setup Cost

Azure Web Application Firewall offers scalable pricing, valued functionality, and favorable terms, appealing compared to AWS and GCP.

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery pricing is complex, with E5 costly yet beneficial, while E3 is cheaper but limited.

It is even a lower cost compared to AWS and GCP.

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

Sometimes, when opting for a higher SKU, it's not the WAF itself that's costly but the additional requirements.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

With CSP or MCE-style agreements with Microsoft, the process is streamlined since we have reps from both Microsoft and CDW working together.

Director, IT Infrastructure & Cloud Technology at a legal firm with 501-1,000 employees

As an M3, I find the Purview pricing of 1250 per user worthwhile.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Purview eDiscovery report

Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The pricing and licensing with Microsoft can be complex, and licensing is known to be a challenge because it changes frequently.

reviewer2596452

Enterprise Content Mamagement Lead Developer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Valuable Features

Azure Web Application Firewall offers robust security, seamless Azure integration, automatic rule management, and scalable, user-friendly deployment with minimal downtime.

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery ensures efficient data retrieval with multi-platform integration, automation, compliance visibility, and adherence to global data privacy laws.

With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan.

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

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

Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Web Application Firewall report

Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is its ability to search across various platforms, including Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive.

Director, IT Infrastructure & Cloud Technology at a legal firm with 501-1,000 employees

Purview can connect to iOS, Mac, Android, and SaaS apps, which is critical for capturing SMS and MMS text message data.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Purview eDiscovery report

Is admin at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Purview's inclusion of global regulations is critical because we're heavily regulated by FERC, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the SEC.

reviewer2596452

Enterprise Content Mamagement Lead Developer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Categories and Ranking

Azure Web Application Firewall

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

21st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Web Application Firewall (WAF) (12th)

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

22nd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

eDiscovery (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Web Application Firewall is 2.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is 1.5%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure Web Application Firewall	2.0%
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery	1.5%
Other	96.5%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Comprehensive suite simplifies configuration while frequent updates require management

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

Mainly, it comes with the complete suite of Microsoft services. I can use it in conjunction with the best options and other features that come with it. Configuration is much easier than using different platforms. For example, if I have hosted the application in AWS and am using the Application Firewall from Azure, there are certain additional steps to follow when configuring them. With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan. Azure continually upgrades platforms and sends us messages to upgrade to the next version, simplifying the process. Later, it's much easier if I want to upgrade the software platform, scale it, or move it to a different application host as the whole suite comes together. The return on investment is good. If I am doing applications for clients, I can invoice them for better costs. Most applications that I run and use have a better return on investment.

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Has made it significantly easier to handle rare litigation requests

Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The speed of it is valuable. I am able to search even 10,000 mailboxes for specific content. It helps search and accommodate the often limited information provided by users regarding what they need. It provides a solid starting point, and then we are able to refine the data from there. That has been very helpful because we do not always get enough information from our users to know what to look for. For example, a user is missing an email from x date but does not know anything else. In such a case, I give them a list of emails to look at so that they can tell me what they are missing. It is not a lack of the tool. It is more of a lack of the user providing info.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	12

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

Questions from the Community

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.

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...

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...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview eDiscovery?

The setup process was very straightforward. We acquired pricing through our reseller in NASDAQ, eliminating the need to search for prices ourselves.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery?

The query language can be time-consuming to figure out if you don't know it initially. While there are options with dropdowns to select criteria, having a natural language feature would be benefici...

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview eDiscovery?

I sometimes use it for legal holds or to find lost items, and to determine what is going on. However, most of the time, my use case is legal-related.

AWS WAF vs Azure Web Application Firewall

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Akamai App and API Protector vs Azure Web Application Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

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Varonis Platform vs Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Compared 7% of the time

Exterro vs Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Purview Audit vs Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Azure Web Application Firewall

January 2026

Download Azure Web Application Firewall product report

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery

January 2026

Download Microsoft Purview eDiscovery product report

Overview

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

Efficiently respond to legal matters or internal investigations with intelligent capabilities that reduce data to only what’s relevant. Discover data where it lives. Discover and collect data in place, within your Microsoft Purview boundary. Manage workflows efficiently. Streamline your eDiscovery process with an end-to-end workflow from one platform. Accelerate your process. Get insights quickly with built-in capabilities, reducing review time and costs.

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

Microsoft