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Check Point Harmony Browse vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 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
6.3
Check Point Harmony Browse significantly boosts ROI and security with reduced incidents and downtime, enhancing data protection.
Sentiment score
6.8
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager offers cost savings, quick ROI, and enhances security by ensuring crucial access and reducing costs.
Our company successfully blocked a targeted phishing attack that could have compromised employee credentials and led to a costly data breach.
Operations Engineer at a media company with 51-200 employees
We have seen a return on investment with Check Point Harmony Browse, reporting a strong return where users have highlighted that the solution's security features, such as blocking phishing attacks and preventing malware downloads, have significantly reduced the number of security incidents, leading to a decrease in IT support costs and less downtime.
Engineer Cyber Security at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.2
Check Point Harmony Browse's customer service is praised for professionalism but experiences varied response times.
Sentiment score
6.8
F5 BIG-IP APM customer service receives mixed reviews, with some praising responsiveness and others citing delays and communication issues.
The phone and email support provide efficient results with direct reachability to support engineers.
Security Operation Consultant at SecurView
Typically, I do not need to reach out to Check Point support because the solutions work well after installation.
Security Solution Architect at TD SYNNEX
The responses were timely, professional, and knowledgeable.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Even if they respond, they don't update me with the process or what's going on.
Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Most of the technical support is managed in-house due to our extensive experience with F5 products.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
F5 technical support is responsive and helpful.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Check Point Harmony Browse excels in scalability, integrating smoothly with third parties, and efficiently managing organizations of all sizes.
Sentiment score
7.3
F5 BIG-IP APM scales for diverse deployments, offering flexibility and effective tools, though hardware limitations might challenge scalability.
Supporting thousands of endpoints without compromising performance.
Engineer Cyber Security at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
It is scalable as we monitor and manage endpoints and overall users across the system.
Security Operation Consultant at SecurView
Check Point Harmony Browse is virtually infinite in terms of scalability, and I've seen install bases of up to 5,000 users.
Security Solution Architect at TD SYNNEX
The product's flexibility and company culture contribute to resolving these challenges.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
I would rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) between seven and eight.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Check Point Harmony Browse is praised for stability and reliability, maintaining high ratings with no significant downtime issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
F5 BIG-IP APM is praised for reliability, performance, and minimal bugs, with minor suggestions for log clarity improvement.
In terms of stability, our experience with Check Point Harmony Browse has been positive with no major downtime so far, and the browser runs smoothly with regular updates.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Check Point Harmony Browse is very stable with no communication or other issues encountered on my end.
Security Solution Architect at TD SYNNEX
On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
Sometimes, the logs are not quite informational or easy to understand.
Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Check Point Harmony Browse needs improvements in customization, integration, security, support, and user experience to meet diverse user needs.
F5 BIG-IP APM requires improvements in pricing, cloud integration, user interface, documentation, support, and additional features for enhanced performance.
The user interface can be better, and selecting the action for monitored or watch-listed IOCs can be more refined.
Security Operation Consultant at SecurView
Another area of improvement is extension compatibility since it currently works best with Chrome and Edge, but having wider browser support for Firefox and Safari would be beneficial for mixed environments.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
Integrating with Fortinet, Palo Alto, or third-party SIEM products such as Splunk would be a seamless advantage.
Information security professional at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great.
Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees
The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
The ability to run the Anycast feature would be valuable, as the current solution only operates on-premises.
Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem
 

Setup Cost

Check Point Harmony Browse is flexible, scalable, and valued for easy setup, beneficial pricing, and effective security for organizations.
F5 BIG-IP APM is costly but valued for high performance, with unpredictable cloud pricing and additional fees for features.
Smaller projects tend to be more expensive due to fewer licenses, while larger projects of 500 to 2,000 users benefit from better pricing and discounts.
Security Solution Architect at TD SYNNEX
There were no significant upfront hardware or infrastructure costs since it's delivered as a native cloud service.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
It is not too high compared to what we expected, but it is not too cheap either, which is why I rate it five.
Information security professional at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
 

Valuable Features

Check Point Harmony Browse offers robust browser protection against phishing and threats, ensuring secure browsing without impacting performance.
F5 BIG-IP APM offers secure remote access with SSL VPN, multi-factor authentication, and comprehensive integration and security features.
Everything is handled directly within the browser using a lightweight extension, delivering real-time threat prevention, including protection against zero-day phishing and malicious downloads without impacting user productivity.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
The isolated environment in Check Point Harmony Browse is the best feature we provide, giving a separate, isolated environment for the production applications and company applications, which is really valuable.
Information security professional at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The real-time Threat Intelligence feature powered by Check Point's ThreatCloud is impressive because ThreatCloud integrates and correlates all malicious data from Check Point installations globally, collecting and analyzing this data with AI and machine learning to help prevent zero-day attacks effectively.
Security Solution Architect at TD SYNNEX
APM is quite flexible for customers to use, providing secure remote access through various host-checking conditions for both machines and users.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
It provides robust security and offers integration with multi-factor authentication systems, which is crucial for an organization's security policy.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
A lot of features are useful to me, including mostly the authentication, SAML, or SSO, with no sign-on.
Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point Harmony Browse
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
9th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Browsers (3rd)
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
18th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (11th), SSL VPN (7th), Remote Access (18th), Access Management (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Check Point Harmony Browse is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 1.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Check Point Harmony Browse0.9%
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)1.4%
Other97.7%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2751468 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Phishing prevention and advanced threat protection have improved security for remote workers
Some of the best features that Check Point Harmony Browse offers include real-time phishing and malware protection, which inspects website links in real time and blocks phishing attempts and malicious downloads before they reach the user. Zero-day threat prevention, including built-in zero-day prevention, is a significant differentiator. It provides a seamless user experience since it runs directly inside the browser without slowing down browsing or requiring a VPN. This allows employees to securely access web and SaaS resources without realizing there's an extra layer of security. These features make a big difference for our team and company, such as in a particular situation where it helped us. We received a fake O365 page that posed a sophisticated phishing threat, and instead of relying solely on user awareness, Check Point Harmony Browse blocked the site in real time. This action prevented credential compromise and saved our security team from a potential incident response. Another crucial feature is the smooth integration with SaaS applications such as Teams, Zoom, or Google, which does not interfere with their operation. Users don't even notice there is any security tool running; it feels like security without friction.
Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem
Has provided reliable policy controls and secure web access for large enterprises
I consider Cloudflare when evaluating centralized access control features; Cloudflare utilizes multi-factor authentication and full API support, while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) needs to enhance its API support. I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) for large companies such as Tüpraş and Ford. Tüpraş is one of the biggest companies in Turkey, along with other customers such as Tofaş, Euroko, Koç Holding, and more. For on-premises deployment, I would rate it a 10. For cloud deployment, I would rate it a seven. I primarily use it on-premises. I rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) eight out of ten.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
14%
Construction Company
12%
Security Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Check Point Harmony Browse?
The browsing speed of Check Point Harmony Browse can be improved. The user interface and compatibility are good, but improving the speed of search and browsing would be greatly beneficial.
What is your primary use case for Check Point Harmony Browse?
Check Point Harmony Browse serves as our primary browser. Since browsers are the first point of contact for any issues, we use Check Point Harmony Browse as a secure browsing option.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point Harmony Browse?
The pricing and setup cost of Check Point Harmony Browse are affordable for my organization.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability, akin to purchasing a Bentley as opposed to an Audi.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is not user-friendly and operates slowly. Additional features for architecture such as Anycast would be beneficial. The ability to run the Anycast feature woul...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
I am using F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) along with Bot Management, API Gateway, API Security, and F5 Cloud. I am using F5 Advanced WAF, but I switch between ZTNA solutions such as FortiSAS...
 

Also Known As

No data available
F5 Access Policy Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony Browse vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.