


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.
My experience with the pricing or licensing of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is that many features can be accessed for free, so the pricing is definitely reasonable.
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service has positively impacted our organization by reducing cyber threats like ransomware and phishing by ninety-five percent.
For us, the biggest value comes from improved security and the reduced workload on the team, which makes the investment feel justified.
From an ROI and impact perspective, there is a 20 to 35% reduction in day-to-day administrative effort.
I observed around 35 to 45% reduction in malicious application layer traffic reaching the origin, which helped protect the backend systems and reduce risk exposure.
One measurable benefit was a reduction in manual effort required for managing and tuning web application protection policies because the managed rule capabilities and centralized visibility simplified the day-to-day operations.
I did see a return on my investment with F5 Rules for AWS WAF because I was able to detect attacks earlier, and because of this, my resources were not scaling continuously, thus saving costs on resources.
I would rate the technical support with Cloudflare as excellent every time I've had to contact them.
The technical support of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall rates between five and seven at maximum.
We had an incident requiring direct support, and the representatives were really helpful, resolving our query within forty-five minutes.
The engineers were helpful and knowledgeable, and we were able to get the guidance we needed.
I would rate Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service customer support as a nine on a scale of one to ten.
They clearly explained what the best options are based on my use case, which helped us shortlist what is required.
The support team generally demonstrates strong technical knowledge around application security and traffic management, along with the AWS integrations.
For critical issues, the response time is quite good, and the support teams are knowledgeable in handling rule tuning, false positives, and other security-related incidents.
The scalability of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall rates between 8 to 9, as it depends upon the use cases and what exactly the client needs.
Scalability is good for Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service; we can scale up or down based on our needs.
As our needs have grown and we have added more applications, it has handled this expansion without creating extra management overhead.
In my experience, F5 Rules for AWS WAF handles traffic spikes and high request volumes efficiently, including during attack scenarios such as bot surges or application layer attacks.
Easily handling traffic spikes and high-volume attacks without any manual intervention.
It supports scaling without significantly affecting application performance even during high traffic periods or sudden spikes in requests.
The stability of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall deserves a perfect 10 out of 10.
We have not faced any downtime, crashes, or lag.
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is extremely accurate in detection and reporting, and I find very few false positives.
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service has been stable in our experience, and we have not faced any major downtime or service-impacting issues.
F5 Rules for AWS WAF is consistently updated and applied without impacting application availability, and it handles high traffic volumes effectively, even during attack scenarios.
Especially in terms of policy enforcement, traffic inspection, and integration with AWS environments.
Providing comprehensive managed rules coverage and reducing operational overhead compared to the AWS native managed rules.
The product can improve by having more multitenancy capability, which is currently not available.
I think they're doing a good job with DNS and as support for any domains that I create or that my clients create, it's mandatory for me to ensure they have Cloudflare as their DNS provider.
And maybe something similar to Pushpin that Fastly has, which is an option where you can push messages that then can be scaled globally over the network.
The ROI they have given us is tremendous, and they are doing really well in terms of product, scalability, and service.
Modernizing the UI further, simplifying packaging and licensing clarity, enhancing the executive reporting and risk dashboard, and expanding broader cloud-native integration would be beneficial improvements.
There is one issue regarding local data storage, as they do not have that capability, and we are storing the data in another foreign country, which is against the law.
To stay safer from a security perspective, continuous improvisation in these security rules is required to ensure we are always up to date with new attacks.
The most useful change for F5 Rules for AWS WAF would be rule-level allow listing and exception management.
Fine-tuning it to match specific application behavior can sometimes be complex and time-consuming, especially for teams without deep WAF expertise.
This system allows us to pay only for what we use, saving a lot of money, so I give it a ten out of ten as it is both a money and time saver for the organization.
Barracuda service is customizable but external references note that licensing and cost planning can become complex.
While it may not be the cheapest solution available, we believe the security, ease of management, and operational benefits provide good value for the investment.
It has competitive pricing.
There is no significant setup cost involved, as it is a managed service that can be quickly integrated into the existing AWS WAF configuration without additional infrastructure.
F5 Rules for AWS WAF is not very costly and is reasonable, with enterprises being able to afford the cost.
The custom rules and the geo-redundant geographical rule feature, which allows me to implement geographical rules for customers, add significant value.
The best features of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall are multiple, including the WAF, rate limiter, and bot attack protection.
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall's advanced reporting and analytics tools add a layer that we're able to visualize and see before it actually hits the local firewall.
The centralized dashboard is helping us streamline visibility across our admin panels and provides site-to-site visibility deployed directly to our AWS environment, securing VPC traffic and ensuring the firewall is in place.
One of the strongest points is the speed of deployment, which features a three-step deployment wizard, pre-built templates, and quick onboarding, making it suitable for teams that want protection fast without complex infrastructure setup.
I particularly appreciate its ability to automatically detect and block common web attacks such as SQL injection, XSS, and bot-based threats without requiring manual intervention.
Now, looking at these rule sets, they ensure that our origin or our application content and code, as well as the application itself or its API, are secure enough, always.
F5 Rules for AWS WAF rule sets are highly effective in detecting and mitigating OWASP Top 10 attacks such as SQL injection, XSS, and command injection, which significantly strengthens application security.
Using F5 Rules for AWS WAF has positively impacted my organization by making our AI-integrated application more secure from bot attacks, restricted size bodies, automated rate blocking for DDoS, and managed rules, especially as security has become a common concern across the industry.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare Web Application Firewall | 4.0% |
| F5 Rules for AWS WAF | 0.4% |
| Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service | 0.9% |
| Other | 94.7% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 16 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 6 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 13 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 6 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 4 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 6 |
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall integrates DDoS protection, load balancing, and firewall capabilities. Its ease of use, configurability, and robust security measures make it a versatile choice for protecting web applications.
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall provides a comprehensive defense against threats with advanced reporting and robust security measures. It includes DNS integration, rate limiting, and extensive rule sets, all within a SaaS model that allows API configurability. Users value its caching, scalability, and pricing, although enhancements are needed in rate-limiting and third-party integration. Improvements in customer support, especially in India, real-time controls, and user documentation are also desired. Users seek a more intuitive dashboard, better log management, and improved alert systems, along with multitenancy capabilities and enhanced reporting.
What are the key features of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?Cloudflare Web Application Firewall finds application in industries like banking and retail by acting as a comprehensive security gateway, managing authentication and authorization while protecting web applications from malicious Layer 7 traffic. It also implements load balancing, CDN, and zero-trust policies, supported by advanced reporting, analytics tools, and threat scoring to meet specific industry needs.
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service streamlines cloud security with features like automatic updates, real-time detection, and bot protection. It enhances AWS environments with simplified management and threat intelligence.
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service provides robust application security, leveraging automatic security updates and real-time attack detection to defend against threats. Its centralized dashboard offers an intuitive management experience, complemented by automated policies. Real-time threat intelligence, application control, and VPN support contribute to its security efficacy. Its capabilities to detect and prevent DDoS, application, and unknown OS attacks ensure comprehensive protection. Although licensing complexity, high costs, stability concerns, and regional compliance issues pose challenges, it effectively secures websites and email systems against malware, phishing, and ransomware, and simplifies cloud migration.
What are the key features of Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service?In industries like e-commerce and finance, Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is implemented for its effectiveness in securing cloud-based applications while reducing the need for on-premises equipment. Its strength in protecting both websites and email systems makes it a preferred choice for businesses migrating to cloud solutions.
F5 Rules for AWS WAF provides advanced web application protection tailored to secure applications hosted on AWS, offering dynamic defenses against evolving threats.
This solution offers a robust set of rules designed to enhance AWS WAF capabilities, delivering specialized protections against complex web threats. F5 Rules dynamically guard against emerging vulnerabilities, ensuring comprehensive threat mitigation. It's crafted to integrate seamlessly with AWS environments, making it fast and easy to deploy, manage, and scale as compared with legacy alternatives, providing users a manageable and comprehensive security layer for their applications.
What are the key features of F5 Rules for AWS WAF?In industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail, F5 Rules have been implemented to protect sensitive data and online transactions. This helps ensure compliance with industry regulations while maintaining performance and uptime for web applications.
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