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F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs NetScaler vs Radware Alteon comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.6
Many companies found F5 BIG-IP LTM beneficial for security and deployment, with mixed views on ROI depending on pricing.
Sentiment score
8.1
NetScaler ensures data security and operational efficiency, providing significant cost savings and stability for medium enterprises.
Sentiment score
7.3
Radware Alteon offers quick implementation, affordability, robust threat blocking, boosting performance and satisfaction with immediate return on investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
F5 BIG-IP LTM support experiences vary, with mixed reviews on responsiveness, knowledge, community resources, and regional support efficacy.
Sentiment score
6.1
Citrix support is responsive and knowledgeable, though some users report delays and prefer direct access to experienced engineers.
Sentiment score
7.5
Radware Alteon support is praised for responsiveness and Spanish assistance but criticized for delays and specific regional challenges.
Customer support is quite good but could be faster.
Network Engineer at Stryker
Overall, my experience with F5 is very good compared to Radware.
Security Analyst at IBM
I would rate the technical support of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) nine out of ten.
IT Manager at Chong Hua Hospital
We never face support issues, and their team resolves any critical issues quickly once they are involved.
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
There is a dedicated expert answering even the toughest questions.
Senior System Administrator at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The customer service and support are excellent.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
F5 BIG-IP LTM offers scalable integration with AWS, suitable for enterprises, but requires careful sizing to avoid constraints.
Sentiment score
7.8
NetScaler is praised for high scalability and flexibility, despite some challenges with licensing complexity and multi-tenancy support.
Sentiment score
8.0
Radware Alteon offers seamless scalability and integration, supporting easy expansion and high performance under heavy loads for enterprises.
It handles peak loads and thousands of concurrent connections without exceeding 10% utilization.
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We have it deployed across multiple geographic locations, benefiting from load balancing resiliency.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Within a couple of hours, if the deployment is very straightforward and if the requirements or the IP addresses are already in place, the deployment can be completed.
Technical Manager at Secur Links
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
F5 BIG-IP LTM is stable and reliable, with occasional bugs manageable through updates, supported by responsive customer service.
Sentiment score
7.6
NetScaler is highly rated for stability and performance, with some recommending regular maintenance for optimal reliability.
Sentiment score
8.3
Radware Alteon offers high stability with minimal downtime, effective updates, and user ratings of nine to ten for reliability.
We've never faced downtime, even during peak transaction hours.
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
There is minimal downtime, and the solution is quite stable.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
There are no difficulties with the deployment of Radware Alteon; it is quite straightforward.
Technical Manager at Secur Links
 

Room For Improvement

F5 BIG-IP LTM needs better cost-effectiveness, user interface, cloud integration, documentation, security, automation, and a flexible licensing model.
NetScaler needs improvements in usability, stability, security integration, and support while enhancing documentation, pricing transparency, and deployment processes.
Radware Alteon needs improvements in automation, user interface, customer support, integration, security, and educational resources to enhance competitiveness.
I expect faster resolutions when providing contact numbers while raising cases, as other companies typically do.
Network Engineer at Stryker
The pricing of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is on the higher side compared to competitors, but it is worth it.
Security Analyst at IBM
In the future, I would like to see some other security features added, such as DDoS, which is Distributed Denial of Service.
Technical Manager at Secur Links
Other OEMs offer free courses and hands-on labs on new technologies and features, which we find useful.
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
They keep integrating new features that sometimes break our production, but we use clustered systems, so we can test those software releases.
Senior System Administrator at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

F5 BIG-IP LTM is feature-rich but costly, especially in AWS; consult F5 for tailored licensing options.
NetScaler pricing is high but offers strong features; cost-saving options include alternatives or negotiating multi-year subscriptions.
Enterprise buyers favor Radware Alteon for its competitive pricing, strong performance, and flexible, simple licensing options.
For our solution, it was right in the middle of price performance.
Senior System Administrator at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The implementation and running costs are quite high.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
The cost of the Radware solution is reasonable and stable.
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

F5 BIG-IP LTM excels in load balancing, security, and customization, enhancing performance and reliability for complex network environments.
NetScaler provides flexible deployment, security enhancements, and integration with Citrix for efficient application delivery and robust traffic management.
Radware Alteon excels in availability, security, and load balancing with user-friendly GUI, scalability, and robust support services.
The impact of SSL offloading on reducing server load and latency is very much positive because whatever traffic we receive, we encrypt at our F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) level, which has definitely reduced the additional load and SSL decryption load on the servers, so it has very much helped us and it is very smooth; it will not take much time and will not impact our regular traffic.
Security Analyst at IBM
R-series has better CPU and memory, leading to higher throughput with minimal downtime, making it a significant improvement over the I-series.
Network Engineer at Stryker
One of the most beneficial features of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is its ability to identify compromised traffic and its capabilities in authentication.
IT Manager at Chong Hua Hospital
The product allows us to manage multiple networks and VLANs into a single box and add numerous web services and farms efficiently.
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The best feature of Radware Alteon is basically the configuration; how we configure it is very straightforward, and it is very simple to configure.
Technical Manager at Secur Links
The most valuable features include the availability with an optional high-availability mode ensuring service continuity because of the resiliency.
Lead Network Reliability Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is 12.6%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 11.8%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Radware Alteon is 4.3%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)12.6%
NetScaler11.8%
Radware Alteon4.3%
Other71.3%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

edshyaa - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at Stryker
Load balancing has improved traffic distribution and currently supports high availability upgrades
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) offers effective load balancing methods that help distribute traffic across our servers, whether we have two or several. This load balancing feature stands out as it is the fundamental work we do with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). While I recognize there are many features, such as iRules, which I have not explored yet, we primarily work on VIPs, pool members, and traffic distribution. The load balancing algorithms' flexibility makes them very useful for our team, enabling us to choose different servers and manage load effectively. We use various methods based on user or application requirements, making the algorithms set up by F5 in the backend quite helpful. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) positively impacts our organization primarily through its load balancing capabilities. We avoid traffic overload on individual servers by placing backend servers behind F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) VIP. This load balancing helps us manage traffic effectively. Since the configuration of the I-series, we have had smooth performance, and with the recent migration to the R-series, it is working faster than before, providing positive outcomes for our operations. Since moving to the R-series, I notice improved performance; it is user-friendly and handles traffic efficiently. The upgrading process is different as we create tenants and a main host. R-series has better CPU and memory, leading to higher throughput with minimal downtime, making it a significant improvement over the I-series.
AR
IT Security Specialist at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
Allows students and lecturers access to necessary software for their courses cost-effectively
I am a consultant and do not recommend specific products. I work with customers, and they decide what they want to buy. I'm a CISO as a service, dealing with security. I'm from an integrator company, and they usually sell a few products. One customer uses NetScaler for a VDI system with Citrix…
RaynielBadiola - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Manager at Secur Links
Load balancing has simplified deployments and improves application performance monitoring
I don't think of features that will make Radware Alteon better because it is already better, but to be able to compete also with other competitors, the price is something to consider. It is not actually that expensive, but for their level, there are other load balancers with the same feature, but they have a lower price, so pricing is the only point I can give. In the future, I would like to see some other security features added, such as DDoS, which is Distributed Denial of Service. Currently, it has the Web Application Firewall feature, but in the future, they can also add a DDoS feature or a more in-depth DDoS feature.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise86
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise58
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) could improve file upload speeds when opening cases and attaching files; someti...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?
My main use case for F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is placing our applications on F5 and the backend servers ...
What advice do you have for others considering Citrix NetScaler?
Each product has its advantages, and combining certain features of F5 and NetScaler could be beneficial. I'd rate the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADM?
Regarding pricing, educational institutes often receive better prices. In the context of virtualization, prices are i...
What needs improvement with Radware AppWall?
There is room for improvement in reducing the number of false positives I receive. We could benefit from more configu...
What is your primary use case for Radware AppWall?
We are a system integrator company in the Philippines, and we are selling Radware Alteon product. Radware Alteon is u...
What advice do you have for others considering Radware AppWall?
I would rate Alteon nine out of ten. The main reason I would recommend it is Radware's excellent support. I rate the ...
 

Also Known As

F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall, NetScaler VPX - Customer Licensed
Alteon, Radware AppWall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk
Convergys
Find out what your peers are saying about F5, HAProxy, NetScaler and others in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC). Updated: May 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.