F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Symantec Web Application Firewall comparison

The compared F5 and Broadcom solutions aren't in the same category. F5 is ranked #2 in ADC , with an average rating of 8.7, and holds a 14.9% mindshare in the category. Broadcom is ranked #29 in WAF , with an average rating of 9.0, and holds a 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of F5 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Read 123 F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) reviews

7,152 Views
5,221 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Symantec Web Application Fi...

Read 4 Symantec Web Application Firewall reviews

387 Views
337 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Symantec Web Application Fi...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Symantec Web Application Firewall based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs. Symantec Web Application Firewall Report (Updated: September 2020).

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs. Symantec Web Application Firewall

September 2020

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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:

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

123

Ranking in other categories

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (2nd)

Symantec Web Application Fi...

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Web Application Firewall (WAF) (29th)

Mindshare comparison

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Symantec Web Application Firewall aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is designed for Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and holds a mindshare of 14.9%, down 15.4% compared to last year.
Symantec Web Application Firewall, on the other hand, focuses on Web Application Firewall (WAF), holds 0.5% mindshare, up 0.1% since last year.

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)	14.9%
NetScaler	13.0%
Fortinet FortiADC	9.8%
Other	62.3%

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Web Application Firewall (WAF) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Symantec Web Application Firewall	0.5%
Fortinet FortiWeb	7.8%
Imperva Application Security Platform	7.8%
Other	83.9%

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Featured Reviews

Bonieber Orofeo

IT Manager at Chong Hua Hospital

Identifying compromised traffic and securing data has been a significant advantage

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. Additionally, the security aspect of it provides a significant advantage as it helps us secure our data, which is a major investment and benefit for us. Before using this system, we had difficulties in storing our data and managing the traffic that comes in and out.

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Vatsal Mehta

Director, Co-Founder & CEO at HEDEHI Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Boosts Security Measures with Easy Deployment and Implementation

Regarding areas for improvement in Symantec Web Application Firewall, I think they can enhance the features they currently focus on, as there are various types of web applications, and it would be great if they could develop features to cater to all these types. For example, a feature to scan for unauthorized plugins or extensions could let us know if those extensions are authorized, unauthorized, or malicious. There's room for improvement in Symantec Web Application Firewall by introducing AI into their dashboard so that we can query the dashboard and fetch data insights, similar to querying ChatGPT for answers. They currently have this feature but can make improvements for better querying to get insights.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The F5 interface is easy to use."

"If I were to choose one key feature in particular, perhaps it would be the iRule feature. It’s a really versatile tool."

"The most valuable feature is the proxy."

"I have never faced any stability issues with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)."

"F5 Big-IP Local Traffic Manager has better modular features especially LTM, which according to the clients, is very beneficial. Most of the users opt for a combination of big IP LTM and WAF which helps them to leverage application load balancing and enhance application security many-fold."

"Users can see a remarkable performance difference from a qualitative sense."

"BIG-IP LTM is completely stable, and its performance is good."

"Tech support has been very quick to respond to all of the needs that we've had. If you want ad-hoc support. They also provide professional services that you can purchase as well."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) pros

"The best feature of Symantec Web Application Firewall is that it is very easy to use, and the deployment and implementation processes are really easy."

"The setup was straightforward."

"The best feature of Symantec Web Application Firewall is that it is very easy to use, and the deployment and implementation processes are really easy."

"The interface is user-friendly."

"The solution has an up-to-date data repository to deal with external threats."

Cons

"Currently, the product offers everything we need. I can't recall any features that may be lacking."

"The deployment can take some time because you can do a lot of configuring to meet the needs of the use cases for clients."

"The user experience for dashboards and reports can be improved. They should make dashboards and the reporting system easier for users. They need to add more reports to the dashboard. Currently, for complicated reports, I have to do the customization. It should have more integration with network firewalls to be able to gather all the information required for traffic management."

"They need to improve the interface and some of the functionalities."

"The price needs improvement as it is quite costly."

"Fixing bugs."

"The SharePoint SSO part has some room for improvement."

"I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment. Security will then be a major concern when we migrate our own whole infrastructure to the public cloud."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) cons

"It would be an improvement if the management dashboards were not reliant upon Java."

"There's room for improvement in Symantec Web Application Firewall by introducing AI into their dashboard so that we can query the dashboard and fetch data insights, similar to querying ChatGPT for answers."

"Sometimes scanning slows down the endpoints."

"I'm not convinced that it's necessary the best solution going forward in the future."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is cheaper than the average on the market."

"It's fair, it's not too expensive. Maybe just a little high."

"The licensing pricing seems relatively easy enough to get your head around. I would advise anyone to ensure that you have a conversation with an F5 consultant before purchasing, as you would with most products."

"Our company pays for the licensing cost on a yearly basis. Also, there are no extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"It was probably a one-time purchase and then you have maintenance, but I don't have the details on that. We bought what they called the Best bundle at the time, which pretty much included all of the modules. There was probably no additional cost afterward."

"There are additional costs depending on what modules or what functionality is required."

"The pricing is inclusive of many features."

"There are no additional fees to the standard licensing fee; everything is paid once."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	62
Midsize Enterprise	32
Large Enterprise	85

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?

The pricing of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is on the higher side compared to competitors, but it is worth it.

See all answers

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

Our main use cases involve multiple applications, so we are using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) services, and we are using WAF and ASM services to secure those applications and load balance...

See all answers

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)?

The solution is robust and reliable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Web Application Firewall?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Symantec Web Application Firewall?

Our use case for Symantec Web Application Firewall is primarily for security purposes as we develop web application solutions for our customers. We have a business where we provide solutions for cr...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Symantec Web Application Firewall?

I would recommend Symantec Web Application Firewall to other users due to all the benefits I mentioned earlier, such as ease of use, ease of implementation, good technical support, and compared to ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiADC vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 23% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

HAProxy vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 6% of the time

A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 6% of the time

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Competitors

NetScaler vs Symantec Web Application Firewall

Compared 48% of the time

Fortinet FortiWeb vs Symantec Web Application Firewall

Compared 20% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Symantec Web Application Firewall

Compared 18% of the time

WAPPLES vs Symantec Web Application Firewall

Compared 14% of the time

More Symantec Web Application Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

January 2026

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) report

Download F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) product report

Buyer's Guide

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

January 2026

Symantec Web Application Firewall report

Download Symantec Web Application Firewall product report

Also Known As

F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP

Symantec WAF, Blue Coat Protecting Web Applications

Overview

F5 BIG-IP LTM optimizes the speed and reliability of your apps via both network and application layers. Using real-time protocol and traffic management decisions based on app and server and connection management conditions, and TCP and content offloading, BIG-IP LTM dramatically improves application and infrastructure responsiveness. BIG-IP LTM's architecture includes protocol awareness to control traffic for the most important applications. BIG-IP LTM tracks the dynamic performance levels of servers and delivers SSL performance and visibility for inbound and outbound traffic, to protect the user experience by encrypting everything from the client to the server.

BIG-IP LTM provides enterprise-class Application Delivery Controller (ADC). You get granular layer 7 control, SSL offloading and acceleration capabilities, and advanced scaling technologies that deliver performance and reliability on-demand. The highly optimized TCP/IP stack combines TCP/IP techniques and improvements in the latest RFCs with extensions to minimize the effect of congestion and packet loss and recovery. Independent testing tools and customer experiences show LTM's TCP stack delivers up to a 2x performance gain for users and a 4x increase in bandwidth efficiency.

The Symantec Web Application Firewall (WAF) enables you to secure and accelerate your web applications.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs. Symantec Web Application Firewall

September 2020

Free Report: F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs. Symantec Web Application Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs. Symantec Web Application Firewall and other solutions. Updated: September 2020.

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