CyberArk Identity vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) comparison

CyberArk Identity vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

July 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

4.8

CyberArk Identity offers time and cost savings, enhancing protection and enabling strategic focus, though financial impact opinions vary.

Sentiment score

8.0

Organizations experience significant ROI from F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager through cost savings, security improvements, and critical access availability.

I have seen over 30% return on investment due to the improvement in operational efficiencies through automation, which enhances productivity.

JosephAndiwo

Private Wealth Advisor at Arima Fund Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the CyberArk Identity report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

CyberArk Identity's support is praised for expertise and quick resolution, despite some concerns about response times and product knowledge.

Sentiment score

7.8

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager support is professional and helpful, but users suggest improved response times and communication.

They resolved the problem immediately after I reported it, on the same day, within one hour.

For more quotes and insights, download the CyberArk Identity report

Access Management Analyst at Telefónica

They respond immediately when requests are raised, and they are always available for priority one tickets.

VishalPawar

Lead Identity Engineer at Simeio Solutions

They charge reasonable money for the features they provide.

S Azeem

Senior Technology Manager at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 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.

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.2

CyberArk Identity offers scalable and adaptable solutions, but some users face challenges with extensive architectural scaling and performance when scaled.

Sentiment score

7.8

F5 BIG-IP APM offers high scalability and usability for enterprises, with straightforward scaling and valuable traffic analysis tools.

We can use it on different phones and computers, demonstrating its scalability.

WalwasaMulutazah Yahaya

Program Officer at Imagine Her

CyberArk Identity is scalable, especially for organizations that are in a cloud environment or organizations using Okta, which is a similar platform.

Sourabh Patidar

IT Business Manager at a computer software company with 1-10 employees

CyberArk Identity is definitely a scalable solution; it all depends on the money that you have, as with anything else.

RiaanDu Preez

Senior Cyber Security Specialist Architect at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the CyberArk Identity report

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.8

CyberArk Identity is highly reliable, stable, with rare incidents and no downtime, boasting a 99.9% Service Level Agreement.

Sentiment score

8.0

F5 BIG-IP APM is highly rated for stability, enabling reliable remote work despite minor log issues.

We no longer have our data infiltrated by unauthorized persons, and tracking actions within the system has become very easy.

JosephAndiwo

Private Wealth Advisor at Arima Fund Limited

When you have it in the cloud, you have CyberArk every time you need it.

For more quotes and insights, download the CyberArk Identity report

Access Management Analyst at Telefónica

With a stable network, due to the redundant data centers across the globe, it is a lot easier to use as a SaaS solution.

RiaanDu Preez

Senior Cyber Security Specialist Architect at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees

Room For Improvement

CyberArk Identity requires enhancements in integration, scalability, usability, and support, focusing on mobile management, interface, and multifactor authentication.

F5 BIG-IP APM needs improvements in usability, integration, documentation, reporting, and support to enhance cloud integration and competitiveness.

Integration or deployment is extremely difficult for CyberArk Identity.

IsaacHammond

Head of IT at Skutin Solutions

There's a need to enhance network performance.

S Azeem

Senior Technology Manager at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees

For CyberArk Identity, you need knowledge of their scripting language to pull different sets of reports.

VishalPawar

Lead Identity Engineer at Simeio Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the CyberArk Identity report

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

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) does not have a direction for SaaS.

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find CyberArk Identity's pricing expensive but justified by comprehensive features and unmatched service for large organizations.

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager is costly but valued for its reliability; licensing is simplified, though cloud costs vary.

Regarding pricing, it can be quite a lot for small companies.

For more quotes and insights, download the CyberArk Identity report

Access Management Analyst at Telefónica

The pricing is acceptable.

WalwasaMulutazah Yahaya

Program Officer at Imagine Her

If I am not going fully cloud, there are additional resources I will need to purchase, such as spinning more VMs or acquiring an HSM device to encrypt the vault.

IsaacHammond

Head of IT at Skutin Solutions

F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability.

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Business Development Manager at Pylones

Valuable Features

CyberArk Identity enhances security and operational efficiency with SSO, MFA, and privileged access control, favored by enterprises.

F5 BIG-IP APM offers a robust, scalable platform with secure remote access, customization, and easy integration, ideal for corporate environments.

It impacts zero trust security strategies. It prevents lateral movements in the organization.

IsaacHammond

Head of IT at Skutin Solutions

It is the most powerful access management system.

For more quotes and insights, download the CyberArk Identity report

Access Management Analyst at Telefónica

Being able to integrate CyberArk Identity with Microsoft Defender is valuable.

WalwasaMulutazah Yahaya

Program Officer at Imagine Her

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.

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees

Categories and Ranking

CyberArk Identity

Ranking in Access Management

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Authentication Systems (10th), Identity Management (IM) (9th), Authorization Software (3rd), Enterprise Password Managers (8th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (9th), Active Directory Management (6th), Cloud Resource Access Management (3rd), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (6th)

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...

Ranking in Access Management

9th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (16th), Network Access Control (NAC) (7th), SSL VPN (5th), Remote Access (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of CyberArk Identity is 3.6%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 2.1%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Access Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
CyberArk Identity	3.6%
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)	2.1%
Other	94.3%

Access Management

Featured Reviews

Access management system provides strong security and effortless user authentication

Access Management Analyst at Telefónica

The solution can be deployed on cloud or on-premises. CyberArk is more on the cloud than on local hardware. The deployment is initially quite difficult. That said, when you are doing the implementation of CyberArk, there are so many tutorials that make the learning process very easy. The only complaint could be the language barrier. It's difficult if you don't have a very good level of English. Otherwise, it is very easy. You can have it set up within three months without much difficulty. It's hard to get started, however, once you get going, it gets easier. A full deployment takes half a year or less. There is some maintenance necessary. A company is constantly hiring and letting go of employees. The access is always changing, so access must always be adjusted. Or, if we need another law of filter, we would need to add those, or even take them away. That's another aspect of maintenance.

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Ashish Kumar Rai

Associate Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Offers remote access control, good GUI and easy to configure

I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM interface itself, they could add direct hyperlinks to relevant online documentation. This would provide easy access to admin guides and other resources when working within the GUI.

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867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	9

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	8

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about CyberArk Identity?

The integration capabilities, ability to integrate CyberArk into the overall IBB strategy of our current clients.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Identity?

I am not certain about CyberArk Identity's exact pricing model. For comparison, Okta was around five dollars per user. CyberArk Identity offers good discounts to some clients, which influences thei...

What needs improvement with CyberArk Identity?

The reporting functionality is somewhat complicated. While I would rate CyberArk Identity and Okta on the same level, Okta's reporting is crisper and clearer. For CyberArk Identity, you need knowle...

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.

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 ( /categories/application-performance-monitoring-apm-and-observability )) does not have a direction for SaaS. Most solutions focus more on remote access and acc...

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CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs CyberArk Identity

Compared 7% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs CyberArk Identity

Compared 5% of the time

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Fortinet FortiProxy vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Compared 6% of the time

IBM Security Verify Access vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Download CyberArk Identity product report

CyberArk Identity

September 2025

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

September 2025

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Download F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) product report

Also Known As

Idaptive

F5 Access Policy Manager

Overview

CyberArk Identity is a versatile identity management solution suitable for a wide range of enterprises. It is designed to enhance enterprise security and improve user experience. Its focus on security, compliance, and operational efficiency, combined with positive user feedback, makes it a strong contender in the identity management space.

CyberArk Identity offers a robust suite of features to manage user identities and access privileges. It focuses on securing access to resources across various environments, including cloud and on-premises applications. Its capabilities include single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), lifecycle management, and privileged access management. These features are engineered to streamline access control, enhance security, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.

Single Sign-On (SSO) simplifies user access by providing a single authentication point for multiple applications.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security by requiring additional verification methods.
Lifecycle Management automates user account provisioning and deprovisioning, aligning with HR processes and compliance requirements.
Privileged Access Management secures and monitors access to critical systems and data by privileged users.

According to our user interviews, CyberArk Identity is praised for its reliability and user-friendly interface. IT professionals highlight the ease of integration with existing systems, while business executives appreciate the visibility it provides into access and identity management across the organization. Users also commend the responsive customer support, which is crucial for enterprise-level solutions.

IT Professionals found that CyberArk Identity's focus on multi-layered security significantly reduced the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access. With a centralized dashboard and automation features, you can streamline identity and access management tasks, saving time and reducing complexity. Finally, it helps meet various compliance requirements.

CyberArk

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access.

BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

BIG-IP APM Benefits:

Ease of use
Flexibility
Ability to integrate with other systems
Security features
Granular access control
Responsive and helpful support team

BIG-IP APM Features:

Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
Integration with third-party MFA solutions
DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
SAML 2.0 identity federation support
Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
AAA server authentication and high-availability
Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

Clyde Livingston, Senior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

Chris Lam, Senior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

Sample Customers

MLB, Citi, Pfizer, SulAmerica, GE Capital, Shiseido

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office