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Check Point DDoS Protector vs F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 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

Check Point DDoS Protector
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall...
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of Check Point DDoS Protector is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is 1.9%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)1.9%
Check Point DDoS Protector1.1%
Other97.0%
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2753559 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Ensures service availability and handles attacks effectively though initial setup needs expertise
The best features that Check Point DDoS Protector offers, which stand out to me the most, are real-time detection and mitigation of application-layer DDoS attacks, easy integration with the existing Check Point security infrastructure, and low latency protection that does not disrupt legitimate traffic. The centralized console makes it easy to manage policy across devices, and the integration is straightforward since it works seamlessly with Check Point firewall and management and other security products. Check Point DDoS Protector has positively impacted my organization by improving uptime, reducing incidents, and providing cost savings. It will reduce the incidents up to 30%.
Nawapol Boonlerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
Comprehensive network protection has mitigated DDoS risks and supports secure on-prem operations
Currently, there are no weaknesses or disadvantages in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) that I have identified. It is a little bit expensive, and I think about additional features they could have in the future to make it even better. For example, I have thoughts about the price. Currently, it does not integrate, and I would assess the importance of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s integration with cloud services as significant. Currently, I use only one site, and I cannot tell you about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) centralized security policies. I have not used F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s Threat Intelligence capabilities. I have not used their dynamic traffic shaping feature. So far, the only thing that could be improved is the pricing of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM).

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This product uses auto-learning and behavioral analysis to establish baselines for legitimate traffic, and automatically detects and blocks traffic behavior that does not conform."
"One of its most outstanding functions is the zero-day DDOS."
"The is a really low level of the false-positive alerts (when the clean traffic is marked as DDoS) due to some advanced techniques used by Check Point under the hood."
"The initial setup takes two hours."
"We found that Check Point was able to provide us superior capabilities and features on the basis we were evaluating."
"Check Point DDoS Protector has positively impacted my organization by improving uptime, reducing incidents, and providing cost savings."
"This solution has improved our internet security and external security; Check Point is a good product that has improved a lot of security rules, resulting in fewer security incidents and fewer viruses while improving our operations and overall security."
"Now, all the ISP lines are protected and we can switch the users back and forth between them with the same level of security."
"The solution is very straightforward, and the usability is great."
"The decryption is great."
"The most valuable feature of F5 BIG-IP AFM is all of my workers enjoy using it."
"This product excells in every aspect from installation and the interface to providing superior network security."
"I would say it's a good, stable solution; we haven't had a major issue with the AFM."
"F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager's most valuable feature is load balance. It is readily available and uncomplicated."
"The most valuable feature of F5 BIG-IP AFM is the iRules where I can customize the configuration."
"For our requirements, we have seen an ROI."
 

Cons

"Check Point DDoS Protector can be improved in that initial fine-tuning of policies can be complex and may require expertise."
"For a long time, there was no software version of R80.10 available for the Check Point DDoS Protector software appliances, and we had to stay on the quite outdated R77.30 version."
"The solution should greatly improve its interface."
"Monitoring and reporting are the things that can be introduced in the future."
"Currently, two of the things that I would like would be applications for Android and IOS where we can follow the events, and, if necessary, make changes."
"Check Point should develop a DDoS solution because they don't have one and we need to use another solution, in our case, Imperva. This is a problem because we need to have two firewalls. We would like to only have one solution because it would improve the management, we would have fewer incidents, and we wouldn't need to talk to more than one person for support."
"The mitigation part could be improved."
"Check Point DDoS Protector does not provide the ability to upload data for the blacklist/whitelist in bulk, which is one of the big points that need to be improved to facilitate configurations."
"The pricing of the solution could be a little bit better."
"The web gateway feature could improve in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)."
"F5 BIG-IP AFM can improve the reporting interface in relation to advanced troubleshooting depending on CLI. They should have enhanced troubleshooting with the use of GUI."
"It is a little bit expensive, and I think about additional features they could have in the future to make it even better."
"It doesn't compare to next generation firewalls"
"The solution's UI could be improved."
"F5 should increase its capability to prevent zero-day attacks. Having advanced technology similar to other vendors like Palo Alto for zero-day attack prevention would be valuable."
"There should be simplified and better integration with BIG-IQ."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's an expensive solution. It's one of the most expensive solutions in the world. It's cheaper than Palo Alto and Cisco but these are expensive solutions. Fortinet is cheaper."
"The appliance comes with a loaded hardware license, and additional options such as SSL can be purchased and enabled."
"I don't deal with the pricing, but it seems that you need to get basic support in order to upgrade the DDoS database for new attacks and so on."
"F5 BIG-IP AFM is an affordable solution. There were not any additional fees other than the standard licensing."
"We need to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"It's very expensive, and you pay extra for the models."
"It is somewhat on the expensive side although it is worth the additional cost."
"The product is expensive."
"F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager is not an expensive solution."
"We have purchased a five-year licensing package for the product."
"The price of F5 BIG-IP AFM is a little more expensive than other firewalls on the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
34%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Educational Organization
5%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Engineering Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point DDoS Protector?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is straightforward with no challenges.
What needs improvement with Check Point DDoS Protector?
Check Point DDoS Protector can be improved in that initial fine-tuning of policies can be complex and may require expertise. Additionally, reporting and analytics could be more detailed and customi...
What is your primary use case for Check Point DDoS Protector?
My main use case for Check Point DDoS Protector is to protect our network perimeter against DDoS attacks, ensuring service availability and application layer attack in real time. I can give you a s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
The standard license is reasonably priced, but additional features like the WAF can be more expensive. There are plenty of technical documents and a supportive community available, which helps mana...
What needs improvement with F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
Currently, there are no weaknesses or disadvantages in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) that I have identified. It is a little bit expensive, and I think about additional features they cou...
What is your primary use case for F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
I am starting to learn and working with F5 team to conduct a proof of concept, and I do have experience with F5 Rules for AWS WAF. I have experience with BIG-IP, not BIG-IQ, and I may have experien...
 

Also Known As

No data available
F5 AFM, F5 Advanced Firewall Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Boston Properties
City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point DDoS Protector vs. F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.