F5 BIG-IP DNS vs IBM NS1 Connect comparison

F5 and IBM are both solutions in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category. F5 is ranked #7 with an average rating of 9.5, while IBM is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6. F5 holds a 3.5% mindshare in DS, compared to IBM’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of F5 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM users who would recommend it.

F5 BIG-IP DNS

Read 22 F5 BIG-IP DNS reviews

2,291 Views
2,291 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM NS1 Connect

Read 17 IBM NS1 Connect reviews

2,655 Views
1,062 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

F5 BIG-IP DNS

IBM NS1 Connect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between F5 BIG-IP DNS and IBM NS1 Connect based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Domain Name System (DNS) Security solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed F5 BIG-IP DNS vs. IBM NS1 Connect Report (Updated: July 2026).

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP DNS vs. IBM NS1 Connect

July 2026

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Helped 909,725 peers since 2012

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

8.6

F5 BIG-IP DNS provides significant ROI by reducing downtime, increasing availability, and enhancing performance, improving user experience and trust.

Sentiment score

5.4

IBM NS1 Connect automates DNS, optimizing performance and reducing costs, benefiting application uptime and enhancing user experience.

F5 BIG-IP DNS provides a strong return on investment by minimizing downtime, improving application availability, preventing outages, and ensuring reliable service.

Rajeevkumar Rai

Associate Consultant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP DNS report

I have definitely seen a return on investment with IBM NS1 Connect as it has given our organization more control and flexibility in managing DNS at a global scale, which almost was impossible before.

Kidone Morgan

Senior Software Engineer at PwC

I have seen a return on investment with IBM NS1 Connect, as application uptime has improved by 40% to 45%.

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM NS1 Connect report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.5

F5 BIG-IP DNS delivers strong customer support and technical expertise, though response speed and cloud challenges may affect satisfaction.

Sentiment score

8.3

IBM NS1 Connect is praised for responsive, professional support, proactive assistance, efficient issue resolution, and excellent communication.

Regarding technical support from the vendor, I would rate it as good, even above average.

Ahmed El-Sakka

Solutions Architect at Mideast Communication Systems-MCS

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP DNS report

They are very proactive and supportive, available 24/7.

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

The customer support for IBM NS1 Connect is very proactive and responsive twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Kidone Morgan

Senior Software Engineer at PwC

You raise a PR, and then it takes several weeks for them to respond.

Devesh Ojha

Assosiate Director at TIAA

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM NS1 Connect report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

9.1

F5 BIG-IP DNS is praised for scalability and managing vast DNS traffic across various infrastructures, including government use.

Sentiment score

6.5

IBM NS1 Connect provides scalable, flexible, and automated solutions for efficient traffic management and reliability across global infrastructures.

The core idea of F5 BIG-IP DNS is scalability, enabling organizations to handle massive DNS traffic and distribute application requests across multiple infrastructures.

Rajeevkumar Rai

Associate Consultant at HCLSoftware

I find it easy to scale F5 BIG-IP DNS as you can cluster them, so there are no limitations.

Ahmed El-Sakka

Solutions Architect at Mideast Communication Systems-MCS

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP DNS report

It has managed to handle all my organization's growth.

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

When the number of users increases, it can distribute traffic automatically across multiple servers, clouds, or regions.

Alessandro Dasilva

Especialista De Produtos at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM NS1 Connect report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

9.0

F5 BIG-IP DNS is renowned for its stability and reliability, outperforming competitors with no crashes or performance issues.

Sentiment score

8.3

IBM NS1 Connect is highly reliable, offering 99.99% uptime, seamless scalability, and strong resilience against DDoS attacks.

I consider the performance and stability of F5 BIG-IP DNS to be very stable unless there is incorrect sizing.

Ahmed El-Sakka

Solutions Architect at Mideast Communication Systems-MCS

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP DNS report

IBM NS1 Connect is very stable as I have not experienced any lagging or downtime.

Kidone Morgan

Senior Software Engineer at PwC

IBM NS1 Connect is very stable.

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM NS1 Connect report

Room For Improvement

F5 BIG-IP DNS requires interface, pricing, and documentation enhancements, better security, improved integration, and faster support response.

IBM NS1 Connect can enhance navigation, API handling, DNS management, reporting, testing, CI/CD automation, and educational resources.

F5 BIG-IP DNS is not the best for DNS denial of service because they handle it as part of BIG-IP features, mainly used for GSLB, while other vendors provide complete DDI solutions, including DHCP, DNS, and IP address management, along with specialized DNS security, offering much more than just GSLB and basic recursive DNS security.

Ahmed El-Sakka

Solutions Architect at Mideast Communication Systems-MCS

The user interface could be more modern and simplified.

Rajeevkumar Rai

Associate Consultant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP DNS report

Pricing can be more transparent, especially when dealing with tight budgets.

Kidone Morgan

Senior Software Engineer at PwC

DNS timeout issues should be resolved.

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

I think the support for upcoming technical updates in IBM NS1 Connect could be improved as they are not up to the mark, and their development or new enhancements are very slow.

MilindKule

Data Protection Specialist at CompuCom

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM NS1 Connect report

Setup Cost

F5 BIG-IP DNS offers valuable features but is costly, requiring either perpetual or subscription licenses, with mixed user reviews.

IBM NS1 Connect offers cost-effective, reliable DNS solutions with modular pricing, balancing functionality and transparency despite some transparency challenges.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was good.

Rajeevkumar Rai

Associate Consultant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP DNS report

Other competitors have offered a very low price compared to IBM, and that aspect is very tough for us to convince clients.

MilindKule

Data Protection Specialist at CompuCom

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing of IBM NS1 Connect has been that it is one of the most cost-effective tools and very affordable.

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been that I found it a bit expensive and had some difficulty with the language issue, having to use a translator for licensing.

Alessandro Dasilva

Especialista De Produtos at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM NS1 Connect report

Valuable Features

F5 BIG-IP DNS provides security, scalability, and performance enhancements with features like GTM, GSLB, DNS monitoring, and easy integration.

IBM NS1 Connect offers API-driven DNS automation, real-time monitoring, geofencing, and robust security features for enhanced performance and efficiency.

The best feature of F5 BIG-IP DNS is global server load balancing. It intelligently directs user DNS requests to the most optimal data center based on server health and geographical location, and it enhances performance.

Rajeevkumar Rai

Associate Consultant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the F5 BIG-IP DNS report

The intelligence criterion directs the user to the best server based on latency and availability with 100% SLA for DNS resolution, and the API makes automation easier and reduces manual errors, plus it detects failures and redirects users.

Alessandro Dasilva

Especialista De Produtos at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The best features that IBM NS1 Connect offers include routing based on user verification, endpoint switching based on latency, DNS response time, real-time monitoring, intelligent traffic routing capabilities, API-driven functionality, HTTPS redirects, secondary DNS, and API integrations.

Kidone Morgan

Senior Software Engineer at PwC

The intelligent traffic routing and API-driven features of IBM NS1 Connect have helped my team by allowing routing based on user location, endpoint switching based on latency, and DNS response time.

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM NS1 Connect report

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP DNS

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM NS1 Connect

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

8th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Managed DNS (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP DNS is 3.5%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM NS1 Connect is 2.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Domain Name System (DNS) Security Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
F5 BIG-IP DNS	3.5%
IBM NS1 Connect	2.2%
Other	94.3%

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

Featured Reviews

Rajeevkumar Rai

Associate Consultant at HCLSoftware

Global load balancing has ensured continuous availability and optimized user response times

While F5 BIG-IP DNS is a very powerful solution, some improvements could enhance the overall experience. For example, the user interface could be more modern and simplified. The reporting and analytics features can be improved. Simplified deployment for cloud-native environments could be improved. Overall, F5 BIG-IP DNS is a robust and reliable solution for global traffic management and application availability. With its advanced traffic steering capability, we are definitely getting great benefits from that. However, the user interface is the major thing I think can be improved. The cost also can be reduced. Those are the two or three points that need to be improved. There is some scope for improvement, including the user interface and pricing. That is why I gave it a nine.

Read full review

DavidJackson1

Software Engineer at Abbott

Smart routing has improved uptime and performance and enables real-time automated traffic control

The best features IBM NS1 Connect offers, in my opinion, are real-time monitoring, intelligent traffic routing capabilities, and being API driven. The intelligent traffic routing and API-driven features of IBM NS1 Connect have helped my team by allowing routing based on user location, endpoint switching based on latency, and DNS response time. Additionally, IBM NS1 Connect has API integration. IBM NS1 Connect positively impacts my organization by making our website load faster and enhancing the user interface to be more intuitive and user-friendly. It's very economical and cost-effective. I also love it because it saves time through automation, saving around 30% to 35% of our time and also saving man-source. Our application uptime has improved by 40% to 45%. Although there have been a few outages, the service uptime has significantly improved our trust with clients. It is very cost-effective and affordable, hence providing a great return on investment.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	13

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP DNS?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was good. We got great support from the F5 sales team. They helped us to deploy it in our organization.

See all answers

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP DNS?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP DNS?

My main use case for F5 BIG-IP DNS is creating an active-active setup. With two data centers, if I want to make them active-standby or active-active, my major use case is to redirect traffic from o...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NS1 Managed DNS?

The aspect that needs improvement about IBM NS1 Connect is that the integration with AI is not seamless at this moment. That particular portion needs to be re-evaluated. We were able to increase th...

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What is your primary use case for NS1 Managed DNS?

I have worked on both deployment models of IBM NS1 Connect in the company's environment and in the clouds. I utilize IBM NS1 Connect's Intelligent Traffic Steering feature.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering NS1 Managed DNS?

I purchased IBM NS1 Connect through AWS Marketplace. We do use analytical tools built into the product. I rate this product 9 out of 10.

See all answers

Comparisons

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 20% of the time

BlueCat Edge vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 13% of the time

CIRA Anycast DNS vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 11% of the time

EfficientIP DNS Guardian vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 9% of the time

More F5 BIG-IP DNS Competitors

Cloudflare vs IBM NS1 Connect

Compared 25% of the time

Amazon Route 53 vs IBM NS1 Connect

Compared 18% of the time

Akamai Edge DNS vs IBM NS1 Connect

Compared 11% of the time

Managed DNS Services vs IBM NS1 Connect

Compared 9% of the time

Constellix DNS vs IBM NS1 Connect

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM NS1 Connect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP DNS

August 2026

Download F5 BIG-IP DNS product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM NS1 Connect

August 2026

Download IBM NS1 Connect product report

Also Known As

F5 BIG-IP DNS, F5 DNS Delivery

NS1 Managed DNS, NS1

Overview

F5 BIG-IP DNS provides intelligent traffic management and DNS security, enhancing application performance and availability through efficient load balancing and DDoS protection.

F5 BIG-IP DNS is a powerful tool for managing global traffic across data centers, offering robust security, scalability, and intelligent traffic steering based on server health and location. It balances traffic through its Global Traffic Manager and Global Server Load Balancing, ensuring high availability and improved performance. Users value its ease of configuration, stability, and cost-effectiveness, though improvements are needed in cloud integration, identity management, documentation, and deployment complexity. Pricing and documentation require refinement, while support response and VMware integration are also areas for potential growth.

What are the key features of F5 BIG-IP DNS?

Robust Security: Provides strong security with DNS and DDoS protection.
Global Server Load Balancing: Balances traffic across multiple servers and data centers to ensure high availability.
Intelligent Traffic Steering: Directs traffic based on server health and location, optimizing application performance.
Scalability: Ensures performance with scalable traffic management solutions.
Scripting Flexibility: Allows customization and automation through scripting capabilities.

What should users look for in reviews when evaluating F5 BIG-IP DNS?

Ease of Configuration: Simplifies setup and management.
Cost-Effectiveness: Provides value for investment with comprehensive features.
Stability: Offers reliable performance without frequent issues.
Availability and Recovery: Enhances disaster recovery and availability through robust load balancing.
DNS Security: Protects against DNS-related threats efficiently.

F5 BIG-IP DNS is often implemented in industries requiring high availability and security, such as finance and healthcare. These industries benefit from its capabilities in managing global server load balancing, DNS protection, and traffic distribution. Many organizations deploy it to ensure disaster recovery and improve application performance. It's used in conjunction with local traffic management and application security management to provide a comprehensive solution for businesses seeking reliability and security in their network operations.

IBM NS1 Connect delivers comprehensive DNS management with features like DNSSEC, low latency, and intelligent traffic routing. It integrates seamlessly with automation tools, making it ideal for improving infrastructure management.

IBM NS1 Connect offers a robust DNS management platform combining security, speed, and reliability. Its API-driven functionality allows for seamless integration with Terraform and other tools, enhancing geolocation-aware capabilities and real-time performance monitoring. Smart Domains ensure optimal routing, while Pulsar boosts user experience. Real-time telemetry and intelligent traffic routing minimize load times, contributing to efficient service delivery and application uptime. Recommendations for improvement include enhancing DNS timeout resolutions and providing educational resources for networking novices.

What are IBM NS1 Connect's key features?

DNSSEC: Enhances security by protecting DNS information.
Low Latency: Ensures faster DNS query responses.
API-driven Functionality: Facilitates easy integration with tools like Terraform.
Real-time Telemetry: Provides up-to-date performance insights.
Intelligent Traffic Routing: Directs traffic for optimized user experience.
Pulsar: Enhances performance with smart routing algorithms.
Filter Chains: Offers customizable rules for traffic handling.
Secondary DNS: Ensures redundancy and disaster recovery.

What benefits should users look for?

Cost-effectiveness: Reduces infrastructure costs by leveraging cloud hosting.
Improved Application Uptime: Minimizes downtime with reliable DNS management.
Faster Provisioning: Speeds up infrastructure setup and updates.
Reliable Metrics: Provides accurate performance data for informed decision-making.
Enhanced User Interface: Offers a straightforward navigation experience.

In healthcare, IBM NS1 Connect enhances CDN routing and facilitates efficient DNS management. Financial institutions leverage its geo-load balancing capabilities for secure transaction processing. E-commerce brands use its low latency and automation features to improve website responsiveness and reduce error rates. Telecom companies benefit from its API integration, allowing for seamless upgrades and network optimizations.

IBM

Sample Customers

Ricacorp Properties, Bangladesh Post Office, Shawbrook Bank, Shinsegae Internet Duty Free

Avast Software, Bloomberg L.P., BBC, Carfax, CNBC LLC, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Disney Streaming, Dropbox, EBAY Inc, Gannett Media Corp, Salesforce, Wayfair, Workday

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP DNS vs. IBM NS1 Connect

July 2026

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