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F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs Radware DDoS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

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
6.4
F5 BIG-IP AFM offers cost-effective returns with F5 bundles, though standalone returns are moderate, providing practical daily value.
Sentiment score
5.3
Radware DDoS offers a 20-30% return, effectively saving resources, optimizing costs, and preventing financial and reputational damage.
Radware DDoS has reduced my need for additional infrastructure investments due to DDoS threats.
Senior Cyber Security Specialist Architect at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
The hybrid approach optimized infrastructure costs and personnel resources.
CIO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Because of Radware DDoS, many attacks can be mitigated effectively.
Technical Specialist at HCLSoftware
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
F5 BIG-IP AFM support is responsive and praised, though expertise varies; customer service is excellent, communication needs improvement.
Sentiment score
7.0
Radware DDoS support earns mixed reviews for responsiveness and expertise, with some noting improvement needed in local and first-level support.
The responses are generally fast and effective.
System Advisor at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The customer service is excellent, and I rate it ten out of ten.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
I rate the technical support by F5 a ten from one to ten.
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
Providing assistance almost instantly when needed.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Ensuring less than one second mitigation for L3/L4 and less than ten seconds for L7.
CIO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Sometimes I do not even get a response for days.
3rd Line Security Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager is scalable and flexible, supporting diverse environments and thousands of users daily.
Sentiment score
7.2
Radware DDoS excels in scalability, adapting to diverse needs, with cloud-based flexibility highly praised despite some configuration challenges.
The solution is highly scalable, allowing me to add or remove nodes and manage traffic without interruption, which is essential for meeting application demands.
System Advisor at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
In terms of scalability, Radware DDoS excels.
Associate Manager for Network and Cybersecurity at TP Northern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPNODL)
In terms of scalability, Radware DDoS is easy to use.
Technical Specialist at HCLSoftware
Radware DDoS's scalability is good; scaling up or down is easy without performance issues.
Senior Security Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
F5 BIG-IP AFM is highly rated for stability, reliability, and efficient logging, with no major bugs or issues reported.
Sentiment score
8.1
Radware DDoS is generally stable and efficient, with some users reporting occasional performance issues and network timeouts.
In my opinion, there is no downtime experienced with Radware DDoS Protection Service due to external network redundancy.
Sr IT Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
DefensePro is the technology that is in front of the traffic and protects against DDoS attacks.
Professional Consultor Digital Services at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Radware DDoS is stable in my experience, with no downtime or reliability issues.
Senior Security Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

F5 BIG-IP AFM needs better GUI, cloud integration, pricing, support, reporting, and zero-day prevention to enhance user experience.
Radware DDoS needs better customization, integration, support, and scalability with improvements in automation, documentation, and AI capabilities.
Having advanced technology similar to other vendors like Palo Alto for zero-day attack prevention would be valuable.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
The appliance and features could be enhanced further, especially in terms of security.
System Advisor at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would assess the importance of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s integration with cloud services as significant.
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
We suggest that clear visibility within a management console could significantly enhance Radware DDoS's usability.
Associate Manager for Network and Cybersecurity at TP Northern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPNODL)
Every time, it is not possible to set policies for particular customers, especially with VPN users having customized ports that automatically drop legitimate traffic.
Cybersecurity Manager at Yotta Infrastructure Solutions LLP
There should be improved bot management integration that mitigates bot-based DDoS attacks completely.
Information Security Manager at Dalmia Bharat Ltd
 

Setup Cost

F5 BIG-IP AFM is costly yet valued for its stability, functionality, and perceived value for money despite high pricing.
Radware DDoS pricing is high yet offers strong protection and flexibility, with discounts for long-term contracts and robust features.
The standard license is reasonably priced, but additional features like the WAF can be more expensive.
System Advisor at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
If considering a one-stop solution that provides load balancing, DNS security, AAA authentication, and firewalling on the same hardware, the cost is reasonable.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
Radware pricing is on the high end, suitable more for larger organizations.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
I didn't check pricing of other providers in depth but verified with two, and found Radware to be significantly cheaper compared to F5.
Sr IT Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We have a premium cost setup to align with a tier four uptime certified data center, storing and protecting critical infrastructure.
CIO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

F5 BIG-IP AFM provides robust security and performance with features like DDoS protection and AI-driven traffic analysis.
Radware DDoS provides effective auto mitigation, real-time attack response, and comprehensive protection with intuitive interface and rapid detection.
The solution provides behavioral analysis via AI to detect malicious traffic.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
The most valuable features for me are stability, availability, and security, along with the ability to manage multiple features to secure my applications.
System Advisor at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I think the DDoS features are valuable in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM), and I recommend it usually for certain types of companies.
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
The support from Radware is also exceptional, as they are always willing to jump on a call to help solve issues and improve our network design.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
This solution is a significant win compared to other vendors because it tries to understand the traffic and the behavior of the traffic, and it utilizes intelligence or machine learning to mitigate false positives, which is highly customized for different types of customers.
Professional Consultor Digital Services at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The average time for Radware DDoS to detect an incident is only milliseconds, as even a delay of ten seconds is significant in networking.
Technical Specialist at HCLSoftware
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall...
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Radware DDoS
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is 1.9%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Radware DDoS is 6.4%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Radware DDoS6.4%
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)1.9%
Other91.7%
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
 

Featured Reviews

Nawapol Boonlerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
Comprehensive network protection has mitigated DDoS risks and supports secure on-prem operations
Currently, there are no weaknesses or disadvantages in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) that I have identified. It is a little bit expensive, and I think about additional features they could have in the future to make it even better. For example, I have thoughts about the price. Currently, it does not integrate, and I would assess the importance of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s integration with cloud services as significant. Currently, I use only one site, and I cannot tell you about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) centralized security policies. I have not used F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s Threat Intelligence capabilities. I have not used their dynamic traffic shaping feature. So far, the only thing that could be improved is the pricing of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM).
reviewer2663061 - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Advanced protection has optimized web and API performance while reducing infrastructure costs
From the features perspective and functionality-wise, there are areas of Radware DDoS that I would like to see improved or enhanced in the future. Version upgrades are being provided, but they should communicate with clients about these new features being available so clients can test them and deploy them on the disaster recovery system before moving to the live segment. There should be a test report that will provide confidence that the version is stable and everything will work properly. Last time we faced an issue with a version upgrade, and we faced extensive troubleshooting with littile bit more time in the troubleshooting process. It turned out to be a small issue that was resolved by the engineering team. I would like to see improved support from Radware DDoS. Sometimes in support, we have to log the call with their support partners rather than Radware. After ten years of experience, we know exactly what the issue is, and we understand that it cannot be handled by their support channel or partner level. Radware team always asks us to go through the partners, but sometimes we have found that the issue cannot be handled by the partners. After the partners fail to resolve the issue, it goes to the Radware team. At that time, one to two days of required timeline gets increased by one to two days. If Radware came into immediate action and resolved the issue rather than relying on their service partners, it would be better. After ten years, we have the knowledge of troubleshooting, and we understand that the issues we are facing with Radware can only be resolved by their team. However, due to their policy, they insist we move through the partner first, and only after the partner fails do they escalate to Radware. During that troubleshooting period of twenty-four to forty-eight hours, we remain in an unresolved state with the reported issue.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Engineering Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise25
 

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?
Currently, there are no weaknesses or disadvantages in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) that I have identified. It is a little bit expensive, and I think about additional features they cou...
What is your primary use case for F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
I am starting to learn and working with F5 team to conduct a proof of concept, and I do have experience with F5 Rules for AWS WAF. I have experience with BIG-IP, not BIG-IQ, and I may have experien...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service?
For Radware Cloud DDoS Protection, the pricing model can vary based on a number of factors such as the scale of the business, the specific level of protection required, the geographical regions cov...
What needs improvement with Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service?
The time it takes to upload a site to the cloud is critical when under attack. If a site is down, a quick response to migrate the site to the cloud is essential. It currently takes about 15 to 20 m...
What is your primary use case for Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service?
We use Radware's Cloud DDoS Protection Service to safeguard Cloud Graph with Layer Seven protection. To mitigate Layer Seven DDoS attacks on our servers, we implemented Radware Cloud DDoS Protectio...
 

Also Known As

F5 AFM, F5 Advanced Firewall Manager
Radware DDoS Protection Service, Radware DefensePro, Radware DefenseFlow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Myntex, APAC retailers
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs. Radware DDoS and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.