F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform comparison

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform

March 2026

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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

6.8

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager offers cost savings, quick ROI, and enhances security by ensuring crucial access and reducing costs.

Sentiment score

6.5

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform reduces costs and risks while increasing revenue and improving IT efficiency and confidence.

No quotes available

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

If something were to happen without ThreatLocker, the cost would be huge, and thus, having it is definitely worth it.

Devin Loyo

Tier 1 IT Engineer at a retailer with 11-50 employees

Based on what we use ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform for with the same functionalities and packaging, it was around 13 or 14 hours.

Santo Joy

Head Of Cyber Security at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees

We have the MDR package as well, and just knowing someone is watching those endpoints at 3:00 a.m. is a lifesaver that you cannot put a dollar figure on.

Matthew Keyes

System Administrator at Gwynedd Mercy University

For more quotes and insights, download the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.8

F5 BIG-IP APM customer service receives mixed reviews, with some praising responsiveness and others citing delays and communication issues.

Sentiment score

8.0

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform's customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, often resolving issues efficiently and professionally.

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

They have been very responsive, helpful, and knowledgeable.

reviewer2665902

Systems Security Analyst & Deputy Security Officer at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees

I would rate their customer support a ten out of ten.

Ryan-Heath

Director, Managed Services at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Their support is world-class.

Charles Loveland

Supervisor, Client Security at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.3

F5 BIG-IP APM scales for diverse deployments, offering flexibility and effective tools, though hardware limitations might challenge scalability.

Sentiment score

7.8

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform scales seamlessly, enabling easy expansion and flexible integration for diverse organizations without significant deployment issues.

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

I started off with just the servers, and within a month and a half, I set up the entire company with ThreatLocker.

Johnathan Bodily

Technical Engineer at Cloud 1 Solutions

It seems to primarily operate on the endpoints rather than at a central location pushing out policies.

reviewer2665902

Systems Security Analyst & Deputy Security Officer at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform scales very smoothly with our growing needs.

Dennis Patino

CEO at Mostro

For more quotes and insights, download the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.9

F5 BIG-IP APM is praised for reliability, performance, and minimal bugs, with minor suggestions for log clarity improvement.

Sentiment score

7.7

Users find ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform stable and reliable, with rare issues and responsive support for effective endpoint protection.

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

For five years, we have not had a problem.

Charles Loveland

Supervisor, Client Security at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Once deployed, it downloads the policies locally, so even if the computer doesn't have internet, it doesn't matter.

Roderick Neuhoff

Information Cybersecurity Technology Specialist at Freez.it

It has been very stable, reliable, and accessible.

Joshua Aaronson

COO at Panda Technology

For more quotes and insights, download the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform report

Room For Improvement

F5 BIG-IP APM requires improvements in pricing, cloud integration, user interface, documentation, support, and additional features for enhanced performance.

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform could improve compatibility, usability, reporting, response time, and add features like antivirus and better patch management.

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.

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

Business Development Manager at Pylones

The ability to run the Anycast feature would be valuable, as the current solution only operates on-premises.

SalihUcpinar

Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem

Controlling the cloud environment, not just endpoints, is crucial.

Joshua Aaronson

COO at Panda Technology

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform could improve by being a little more hands-off, perhaps by having a team inside ThreatLocker that does all the vetting of patches; having one person hired by ThreatLocker to check out patches means that a million other industries using ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform do not have to vet the same patch, ultimately saving time and money around the world.

Thomas Morris

Technical Support Engineer at CMIT Solutions of Central Orlando

This feedback would help us understand what is learned in real-time, especially during a one-hour learning mode setup, ensuring we remain aware of potentially unnecessary learned items.

Alexander Jones

Server Administrator at Clay County Sheriff's Office

For more quotes and insights, download the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform report

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Setup Cost

F5 BIG-IP APM is costly but valued for high performance, with unpredictable cloud pricing and additional fees for features.

Enterprise users value ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform for its competitive pricing, comprehensive features, and enhanced scalability, enabling strategic budget allocation.

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

After conversations with other partners, it became clear we underpriced it initially, which caused most of our issues.

Ryan-Heath

Director, Managed Services at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

We are moving towards the Unified solution, where they basically bundle everything together, providing us better stability with the ability to bring in new product offerings without having to go back to the customer and say, 'This is going to cost you.'

Charles Loveland

Supervisor, Client Security at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Money is saved because it is not costly, and I would suggest it for other companies.

Feroz Sheikh

Helpdesk Engineer at Computer Network Infrastructure (CNI) Consultants

For more quotes and insights, download the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform report

Valuable Features

F5 BIG-IP APM offers secure remote access with SSL VPN, multi-factor authentication, and comprehensive integration and security features.

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform enhances security and efficiency with application control, ringfencing, admin access management, and unified auditing.

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

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform's ability to block access to unauthorized applications has been excellent.

Zubair Khan

Cyber Security Specialist at Bremmar Consulting

It protects our customers.

JinuVarghese

CTO at Zettabytes

The major benefit is fewer breaches overall, as nothing can be run without prior approval. This helps my company protect its data and secure itself effectively.

Devin Loyo

Tier 1 IT Engineer at a retailer with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform report

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...

Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)

8th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (13th), SSL VPN (5th), Remote Access (12th), Access Management (11th)

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Pla...

Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)

4th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (6th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (7th), Application Control (1st), ZTNA (4th), Ransomware Protection (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 1.4%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform is 1.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform	1.4%
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)	1.4%
Other	97.2%

Network Access Control (NAC)

Featured Reviews

SÜ

SalihUcpinar

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.

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Santo Joy

Head Of Cyber Security at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees

Security controls have been strengthened with granular application, ringfencing, and access policies

The features of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that I like the most are the Ringfencing, elevation control, storage control, and application whitelisting functionality. For examples of how these features benefit my company, we were looking for a solution across various vendors to actually implement application whitelisting controls. ThreatLocker's agent, which is very lightweight and does not use much CPU or RAM, helped us achieve that solution. Ringfencing was an add-on that ticked off a lot of Australian framework security controls, which is the reason we chose it. My impression of the allowlisting feature in terms of managing which software, scripts, and libraries run on my devices is that ThreatLocker's community page has a lot of information around this, which is very helpful. Not only that, the Cyber Hero support that ThreatLocker provides gives us insights and best practices, helping us achieve that solution and guiding us to the right platform. The impact of Ringfencing on controlling the behavior of approved applications has been a big winner for us because it is something that many other platforms do not provide as a functionality. Having that allowed us to identify what applications talk to each other, which is something that many other platforms do not do. The network control feature impacts my ability to manage network traffic across my endpoints and servers. We have not used this widely across all our partners, but wherever required, we use it. It has been an easy solution for those customers to get that control implemented. The elevation feature's role in facilitating just-in-time administrative access for approved applications shows that elevation control helps in many use cases involving remote control platforms, door usage, and security system platforms that require local admins. There are many solutions that provide this functionality, but the licensing cost seems to be expensive, and it also adds another solution into the mix. Rather than doing that, we try to use ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform to achieve that control. Regarding the storage control feature, I have used it. The primary function is USB blocking, which is very widely adopted, and also just locking down and allowing certain users to access certain file locations helps us there. When it comes to enforcing policy-driven access over various storage devices, it depends on the business risk adapted by the companies that we support, but generally the use case is USB and external storage devices where companies know that is a risk, but they do not have appropriate solutions. There are EDR platforms that claim to do this, but ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform does it at an advanced level. My assessment of the efficiency of the real-time threat intelligence and category controls employed by Web Control in blocking malicious and non-compliant sites leads me to think that Web Control is another functionality within ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that is an add-on on top of the current set. That is another solution that we use based on what is required for the company, but again, that is not widely adapted yet for our partners.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	51
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	8

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) 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 experience regarding pricing and costs for ThreatLocker Allowlisting?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform is good because it has a nominal price.I would say ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Pr...

What needs improvement with ThreatLocker Allowlisting?

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform can be improved by providing admin rights that allow us to manage it from the server by providing some token IDs or any kind of OTP if someone h...

What is your primary use case for ThreatLocker Allowlisting?

My main use case for ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform is to secure the server.A specific example of how I use ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform to secure my s...

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Product Reports

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

March 2026

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

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

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform

February 2026

Download ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform product report

Also Known As

F5 Access Policy Manager

Protect, Allowlisting, Network Control, Ringfencing

Overview

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.

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform employs a deny-by-default approach to enhance security and operational efficiency, focusing on precise application control and streamlined access management without administrative rights.

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform offers advanced application control, allowlisting, and elevation control, significantly reducing unauthorized software activities. Its granular controls improve security, while ringfencing enhances application monitoring. Elevation requests allow users to gain administrative access without IT intervention. The platform's ease of policy management and real-time threat visibility contribute to reduced help desk tickets and operational costs, ensuring protection against ransomware and unauthorized applications.

What are the key features of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform?

Application Control: Allows detailed allowlisting for specific application use.
Elevation Control: Streamlines administrative access requests without IT involvement.
Ringfencing: Monitors application behavior to prevent unauthorized actions.
Network and Storage Control: Ensures comprehensive endpoint security across networks.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Enhanced Security: Reduces risks through deny-by-default policies and ransomware protection.
Operational Efficiency: Decreases help desk tickets and cuts operational costs.
Compliance Assurance: Maintains compliance by preventing unauthorized software actions.

Organizations often deploy ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform for ensuring endpoint security in industries requiring stringent application control and administrative access management. Its functionalities are critical for managing Shadow IT, creating policies, and overseeing software installation approvals. Common usage spans sectors demanding robust security and compliance, such as finance and healthcare, where maintaining high security and efficiency is crucial.

ThreatLocker

Sample Customers

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

Information Not Available