


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.
Time savings in daily operations come from the automatic learning and signature update reducing the need for constant manual rule management, allowing the security and network teams to spend significantly less time handling false positive application-related escalations.
Subscription models offer clearer ROI due to a more competitive pricing scheme.
The amount of attacks it protects against is immense, more than F5 Advanced WAF itself costs.
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.
Both response time and availability need to be improved.
While they resolve issues well, the time taken for responses to non-critical issues should be shorter.
If there is a bug, the support is usually understanding and resolves issues.
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.
If you need to scale up, such as moving from a lower model to a higher one, the configuration from the lower model can be migrated easily without issues.
I can run it in HA mode or even divide the traffic volume to the number of instances that I have based on their resource sizing.
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.
F5 Advanced WAF has been very reliable and consistent for us; in our on-premise enterprise setup, it has been stable and predictable in day-to-day operations without any unexpected crashes or WAF-related downtime in production.
F5 Advanced WAF is stable, and there is no doubt it is one of the best WAFs in the market.
F5 Advanced WAF is pretty stable.
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.
Deployment training for F5 Advanced WAF is lacking and restricts growth by being inaccessible and costly for partners.
Overall, these are not blockers, merely enhancement opportunities, and once tuned, F5 Advanced WAF is very stable and reliable; improving usability, reporting, and onboarding would make it even more effective for larger environments.
Another improvement could be refining the bot detection to minimize false positives; it should be able to verify more granularly between legitimate and non-legitimate clients.
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.
Licensing is capacity-driven, so you need careful planning based on traffic volume and use cases, and adding features such as Bot Protection impacts costs; once licensing is clear and sized correctly, there are no surprises.
Subscription models have competitive pricing, while perpetual licenses involve an upfront higher cost.
The price is affordable and satisfactory.
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 Advanced Attack Signature database is very strong and regularly updated, effectively blocking SQL injections, cross-site scripting, command injections, and file inclusion attacks while allowing selective enabling or disabling of signatures to avoid blocking genuine traffic.
The perpetual license, despite an initial higher cost, lacks transparency regarding support expiration.
It contains the logic of both negative and positive security combined.
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 (%) |
|---|---|
| F5 Advanced WAF | 4.1% |
| Cloudflare Web Application Firewall | 4.0% |
| F5 Rules for AWS WAF | 0.4% |
| Other | 91.5% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 16 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 6 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 27 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 16 |
| Large Enterprise | 31 |
| 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.
F5 Advanced WAF delivers robust web security with features like signature-based threat protection and behavior analysis, ensuring app stability and security.
F5 Advanced WAF integrates advanced security with functionalities such as SQL injection defense and real-time threat intelligence. It enhances security for applications with load balancing, bot detection, and DDoS protection alongside comprehensive attack monitoring capabilities. Popular among diverse sectors, its usability and easy integration make it a practical choice by providing a stable security infrastructure across both on-premises and cloud environments.
What are the key features?Particularly relevant in banking and financial services, F5 Advanced WAF safeguards applications from threats like SQL injections and DDoS attacks, ensuring compliance and API security. Its capabilities are leveraged for both load balancing and application defense, offering a versatile deployment model suited for protecting critical infrastructure in competitive and demanding industries.
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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