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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 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
8.0
Organizations experience significant ROI from F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager through cost savings, security improvements, and critical access availability.
Sentiment score
7.2
Okta Workforce Identity offers 20%-30% ROI by enhancing efficiency, security, and reliability despite customization issues for some users.
We have our dashboard to log in via Okta Workforce Identity.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager support is professional and helpful, but users suggest improved response times and communication.
Sentiment score
7.2
Okta Workforce Identity's customer service is highly rated for responsiveness, expertise, and efficiency, despite occasional inconsistency.
Most of the technical support is managed in-house due to our extensive experience with F5 products.
If there is a solution, they don't always communicate it.
F5 technical support is responsive and helpful.
They are very supportive; they just open a ticket, and they support us very professionally.
We had an issue with the Okta Workforce Identity dashboard once in 2023 when we had an outage, but it recovered in a few minutes.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
F5 BIG-IP APM offers high scalability and usability for enterprises, with straightforward scaling and valuable traffic analysis tools.
Sentiment score
7.5
Okta Workforce Identity offers excellent scalability, supporting thousands of users and diverse infrastructures in cloud and on-premise environments.
The product's flexibility and company culture contribute to resolving these challenges.
I would rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) between seven and eight.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
F5 BIG-IP APM is highly rated for stability, enabling reliable remote work despite minor log issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
Okta Workforce Identity is highly stable and reliable, with minimal issues, earning top ratings and few disruptions.
On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten.
Sometimes, the logs are not quite informational or easy to understand.
Okta Workforce Identity is a stable product.
 

Room For Improvement

F5 BIG-IP APM needs improvements in usability, integration, documentation, reporting, and support to enhance cloud integration and competitiveness.
Okta Workforce Identity needs better integration, improved reporting, enhanced MFA, user-friendly interface, and competitive pricing alongside other improvements.
If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great.
The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5.
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) does not have a direction for SaaS.
If there was a fingerprint option, then only the person who has already added their fingerprint on their mobile phone could access it.
It could improve in the governance part, particularly regarding better role management and workflow, as I feel it is tedious on Okta.
I believe that if we integrate the workflows section into the main Okta Workforce Identity dashboard, it can be very useful.
 

Setup Cost

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager is costly but valued for its reliability; licensing is simplified, though cloud costs vary.
Okta Workforce Identity offers competitive pricing, but costs can be high for large organizations and smaller companies might find it expensive.
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability.
 

Valuable Features

F5 BIG-IP APM offers a robust, scalable platform with secure remote access, customization, and easy integration, ideal for corporate environments.
Okta Workforce Identity enhances efficiency with centralized management, Single Sign-On, and Multi-Factor Authentication, ensuring security and flexibility.
APM is quite flexible for customers to use, providing secure remote access through various host-checking conditions for both machines and users.
It provides robust security and offers integration with multi-factor authentication systems, which is crucial for an organization's security policy.
A lot of features are useful to me, including mostly the authentication, SAML, or SSO, with no sign-on.
For the end user, it is beneficial as they do not have to remember a password or keep the password on a post-it for different applications; they just authenticate once to access several services and service providers.
Multi-factor authentication in Okta Workforce Identity is very useful so people who do not have access or are trying to access using just a user ID and password will be completely blocked because of this two-factor authentication.
You can only log in if you have the access, which protects the applications by avoiding cross-site scripting.
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in Access Management
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (16th), Network Access Control (NAC) (7th), SSL VPN (5th), Remote Access (10th)
Okta Workforce Identity
Ranking in Access Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), Authentication Systems (6th), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (6th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 2.1%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Okta Workforce Identity is 9.0%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Access Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Okta Workforce Identity9.0%
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)2.1%
Other88.9%
Access Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ashish Kumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
SumitMundik - PeerSpot reviewer
Authentication process improves security with quick and intuitive user interface
The best feature is the speed and execution of Okta Workforce Identity. The moment you click on single sign-on, you immediately get the notification on your mobile phone, then you do the authentication and within a second you get authenticated. The entire customer experience is very good. The user interface is pretty simple, straightforward, and really good. Multi-factor authentication in Okta Workforce Identity is very useful so people who do not have access or are trying to access using just a user ID and password will be completely blocked because of this two-factor authentication. You will get the code, and as your device is authorized in the system, only that device can be used for the authentication purpose. A third person trying to access or hack your data will not be able to do that anymore. Additionally, you don't have to remember your passwords going forward. Previously, every 60 days or 90 days, passwords kept changing. With the two-factor authentication or single sign-on option in Okta Workforce Identity, you don't have to remember it anymore or write down passwords in plain text. If something goes wrong, we have the IAM team which can unlock your account immediately if you have issues.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise32
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about Okta Workforce Identity?
Okta has introduced the Universal Directory. It has custom attribute capability and user permissions to read/write on their profiles or hide them. Profile sources and identity profile sourcing are ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Okta Workforce Identity?
Pricing for Okta is reasonably not that much, however, I don't have access to the commercial aspect.
What needs improvement with Okta Workforce Identity?
Currently, in Okta Workforce Identity we get the two-digit authentication code. Instead of getting the two-digit authentication code, if we had an option to do fingerprint verification, that would ...
 

Also Known As

F5 Access Policy Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
FedEx, Zoom, Takeda, Lululemon Athletica, GrunHub, jetBlue, McKensson, Bain & Company, Engie, Peloton, Sonos, T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard, MGM Resorts, Ally Financial, Priceline, Albertsons, Itercom, Classy, FICO, Kensho, Live Nation, Drata, Rotary, and others.
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Okta Workforce Identity and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.