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F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs Fortinet FortiDDoS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall...
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiDDoS
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is 1.3%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiDDoS is 2.8%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
 

Featured Reviews

Pawel Augustyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides outstanding resource management and application security across multiple geographies
The most valuable features for me are stability, availability, and security, along with the ability to manage multiple features to secure my applications. The solution also monitors and blocks unconventional requests and maintains security efficiently. The scalability feature also allows me to manage and allocate resources dynamically without disrupting production traffic.
Yazan Omar - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-use tool with great GUI
The product's initial setup phase was really easy. There is a lot of time involved in the testing phase and other processes related to the area of deployment, so it may take up to two weeks to deploy the solution. The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. One person is enough to take care of the deployment phase of the product. The person involved in the deployment phase needs to better understand topologies when dealing with Fortinet.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It excels in preventing downtime and maintaining application performance, which is crucial for our clients' security and operational continuity."
"The product helps us provide security validation by protecting various applications from getting hacked."
"F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager's most valuable feature is load balance. It is readily available and uncomplicated."
"The most valuable feature of F5 BIG-IP AFM is all of my workers enjoy using it."
"The solution provides behavioral analysis via AI to detect malicious traffic."
"I find the signature base is very helpful to see traffic"
"The web application firewall has been very helpful. We purchased F5 when we were migrating our applications to the cloud."
"CGNAT is one of its strong areas."
"It is a user-friendly product in terms of monitoring and updating policies."
"The equipment works very well, and I have not encountered any issues with it. It is a good solution for my company."
"Among its key features: Detects and mitigates DDoS attacks at L3 to L7; negligible to zero false-positives; Generates and sends reports without the need for an expensive third-party solution."
"It allows me to see all the traffic on my network."
"The solution already has security profiles and it can protect from DDoS attacks and other kinds of attacks."
"We have researched them all, and it's a good solution all around."
"The product allows the users to adjust the thresholds."
"Packet inspection has been effective for mitigating DDoS attacks."
 

Cons

"F5 should increase its capability to prevent zero-day attacks."
"There should be simplified and better integration with BIG-IQ."
"The initial setup of F5 BIG-IP AFM in a complex environment was simple. However, the full deployment took us approximately one year."
"For configuring the firewall, every single vendor on the planet has pretty much the same logic when it comes to firewalls, and F5 has a completely different approach and completely different behavior."
"We would have preferred to have support when we first started"
"F5 BIG-IP AFM can improve the reporting interface in relation to advanced troubleshooting depending on CLI. They should have enhanced troubleshooting with the use of GUI."
"Deployment times vary according to the customer. It needs to be heavily configured. You need to look and you need to observe the behavior of the traffic before you can start configuring everything. It can take time."
"The product is expensive."
"The main improvement would be to change the firewall model, however, currently, everything is fixed and working well."
"The tool needs to focus more on the area of application traffic management, where it currently has some shortcomings."
"There aren't really any aspects of the solution we are unhappy with. It's been a positive experience overall."
"The primary area for improvement is the on-premises capacity limit, currently fixed at 10 GB."
"I find that there have been issues in the past year with the solution hanging. It freezes often."
"I would like to see analytics, big data."
"The challenge lies within the customer environment, particularly in Brazil, where companies have stringent security requirements for implementing solutions."
"All the thresholds that need to be configured should be included in the default so that user will not forget or misconfigure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is an expensive solution. They are one of the best in the market, but the price could be cheaper."
"We need to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"It's very expensive, and you pay extra for the models."
"The solution is slightly on the higher priced side."
"F5 BIG-IP AFM is an affordable solution. There were not any additional fees other than the standard licensing."
"We have purchased a five-year licensing package for the product."
"The product is expensive."
"It is somewhat on the expensive side although it is worth the additional cost."
"The solution is reasonably priced."
"The product’s pricing needs improvement."
"It's quite pricey."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
9%
Performing Arts
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
The standard license is reasonably priced, but additional features like the WAF can be more expensive. There are plenty of technical documents and a supportive community available, which helps mana...
What needs improvement with F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
The appliance and features could be enhanced further, especially in terms of security. Some features like the WAF ( /categories/web-application-firewall-waf ) firewall may seem expensive compared t...
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiDDoS?
The product's initial setup phase was really easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiDDoS?
Fortinet FortiDDoS offers lower costs compared to other solutions. The licensing costs are annually renewed.
 

Also Known As

F5 AFM, F5 Advanced Firewall Manager
Fortinet DDoS, FortiDDos
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.