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Barracuda Load Balancer ADC vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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

Barracuda Load Balancer ADC
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
122
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of Barracuda Load Balancer ADC is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is 16.1%, up from 15.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)16.1%
Barracuda Load Balancer ADC1.6%
Other82.3%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

Roni Wijaya - PeerSpot reviewer
A simple and powerful solution with WAF feature
The solution is simple and powerful. I find the Barracuda Load Balancer ADC's load balancing function most valuable. It balances the traffic well. The security features, like the Web Application Firewall, are also very helpful. I use the SSL offloading feature too. It's very helpful because it prevents overload. Our application runs on HTTP, but we upload HTTPS on the load balancer. This means there are no performance issues. I think it's very helpful.
Bonieber  Orofeo - PeerSpot reviewer
Identifying compromised traffic and securing data has been a significant advantage
One of the most beneficial features of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is its ability to identify compromised traffic and its capabilities in authentication. Additionally, the security aspect of it provides a significant advantage as it helps us secure our data, which is a major investment and benefit for us. Before using this system, we had difficulties in storing our data and managing the traffic that comes in and out.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The price is very good, and it's not very expensive."
"The solution is simple and powerful. I find the Barracuda Load Balancer ADC's load balancing function most valuable. It balances the traffic well. The security features, like the Web Application Firewall, are also very helpful."
"I would rate the stability of Barracuda Load Balancer as a ten out of ten; it has high stability."
"Barracuda's technical support is good - whenever we have an issue, they immediately connect and resolve it."
"The most useful features in Barracuda Load Balancer are its security capabilities, load balancing efficiency, and scalability."
"The most valuable feature is the F5 LTM (Local Traffic Manager). This is the part of the product most organisations will be using most. It provides the core functionality to be able to load balance services and the means and the intelligence to be able to load balance based on advanced logic, e.g., TCL scripting."
"The scalability of the solution depends on the sizing of the network. Generally, the scalability is quite good."
"ASM for WAF."
"It offers features Kemp doesn't provide. For example, there are predefined templates for handling Office 365. You can download them for automatic configuration."
"If I were to choose one key feature in particular, perhaps it would be the iRule feature. It’s a really versatile tool."
"It integrates with AWS WAF, which makes it easy to deploy without changes to your infrastructure."
"BIG-IP can do anything. It's like a Swiss Army knife."
"The value and impact of using F5 BIG-IP LTM for application delivery control in our organization are significant."
 

Cons

"There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic."
"The quality of the solution's performance could be improved."
"Load Balancer ADC is competitively priced, but it's not feature-rich, and its technology is not that advanced."
"The Barracuda Load Balancer ADC could be improved with more customization features. For example, F5 uses iRules for custom configurations. I haven't found something similar in Barracuda yet. The load balancer and WAF's basic and common features are enough, but we need more customization options."
"There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic."
"I think the logging could be improved."
"We would like to have integration into encryption and PKI integration with SafeNet. That is probably the key component in using External PKIs, letting people bring their PKIs with them."
"F5 could improve the rule-setting capabilities in the GUI, and they need to simplify web management. For example, the menus in the Citrix GUI are easier to navigate, with a clean structure and layout."
"They need to improve the interface and some of the functionalities."
"The GUI needs improvement."
"Not everything is intuitive."
"Technical support is somewhat slow and could be improved."
"The analytics should provide insight into latency across various traffic routes and virtual servers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Load Balancer ADC is cost-effective and is about half the price of F5."
"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"In my view, the cost is somewhat on the higher side. There are discounts available, but I wouldn't say it's overpriced. It's not cheap either, and the value for money is a bit higher from that perspective."
"The price is little bit on higher side compared to the cost of NGINX."
"You can buy it on a yearly basis, or you can go for a subscription. For on-premise boxes, it is just the RMA."
"I am a fan of using AWS natively. It is much cheaper."
"BIG-IP LTM is considered a premium product, so it's quite expensive and isn't affordable for all customers."
"Take a look at the modules that you are going to use. Look into the best bundles for them."
"I use a yearly subscription, which is the most expensive one now compared to its competitors."
"The price should be reduced because it is expensive when compared to the competition."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Retailer
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise84
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?
Pricing for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC can be a consideration. However, it offers good value with its cost-saving benefits and efficient operation, balancing the initial financial outlay.
What needs improvement with Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?
There are areas of Barracuda Load Balancer's security that have room for improvement, particularly concerning handling traffic. Also, more could be done to enhance the initial setup, as it can be c...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC?
The typical use case for Barracuda Load Balancer ADC involves managing and distributing network traffic efficiently to maintain system performance. Clients use Barracuda Load Balancer ADC for its a...
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?
The GUI of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) could be improved. It's not something regarding how it processes or blocks, as that's perfect. However, it still feels a bit legacy regarding the GU...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is a perfect product for load balancing and WAF, and I would recommend it far more than any other product. The load balancing capabilities of F5 BIG-IP Local T...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Load Balancer
F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Fenwal Blood Technologies
Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Load Balancer ADC vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
870,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.