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F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition vs F5 Distributed Cloud Services 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (11th)
F5 Distributed Cloud Services
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
CDN (10th), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (21st), API Security (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition and F5 Distributed Cloud Services aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is designed for Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and holds a mindshare of 0.0%.
F5 Distributed Cloud Services, on the other hand, focuses on CDN, holds 1.4% mindshare, up 0.5% since last year.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition0.0%
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)15.9%
NetScaler14.3%
Other69.8%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
CDN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
F5 Distributed Cloud Services1.4%
Cloudflare21.8%
Akamai17.1%
Other59.7%
CDN
 

Featured Reviews

Lilian Blaitt - PeerSpot reviewer
Virtual deployment boosts efficiency and support is quick
In my company, we use NGINX. I don't work with NGINX. For us, it is better to have the virtual solution because we have more virtual VJPs on fewer machines. This is the reason we are using it today It's easy to use, and they have good support. When we open tickets, they are answered quickly, and…
FM
Protects web applications with comprehensive security features
All features are valuable. In a multi-cloud or distributed cloud, there are many protection possibilities from data to web application or API protection, including bot mitigation. This is a comprehensive package for web application security. The main benefit is Web App Security, offering a complete security package from DDoS to web application firewall, API protection, and bot mitigation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have a specific issue with the network interface connector, the NIC. We're limited to a maximum of two NICs in a virtualized environment. It's a limitation of the tool."
"The features that I like include LTM and Global Traffic Manager (GTM)."
"The tool's investment is less than a physical device."
"The integration capabilities of the product are easy to use, and there is no complexity involved in it."
"It's easy to use, and they have good support."
"It has DoS layer 7 protection, which not many vendors have."
"F5 is known for being the best load balancer in the market. Customers with an existing module can easily adopt additional modules without investing in new hardware."
"The main benefit is Web App Security, offering a complete security package from DDoS to web application firewall, API protection, and bot mitigation."
"In a multi-cloud or distributed cloud, there are many protection possibilities from data to web application or API protection, including bot mitigation."
 

Cons

"The tool has limitations with respect to code and RAM."
"On-the-go upgrades are an option that the tool currently lacks, making it an area where improvements are required."
"I have a specific issue with the network interface connector, the NIC. We're limited to a maximum of two NICs in a virtualized environment. It's a limitation of the tool."
"It's expensive and could be cheaper."
"F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is a heavy system that needs a lot of CPU, memory, and hard disk."
"BIG-IP could improve in supporting microservices, for example, in Docker and Kubernetes environments."
"The pricing could be adjusted to better meet the needs of typical customers in regions like Poland, where the product is considered too expensive."
"The main issue is integration with other parts or products of F5, like on-premise WAF."
"The main issue is integration with other parts or products of F5, like on-premise WAF. There are some problems, mainly from the perspective of implementation and customer expectations, which sometimes differ from reality."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition is an expensive solution, but it's worth the price."
"I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"My company's customers need to make payments for the licensing charges attached to the product. It is an expensive product."
"The pricing is standard."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Retailer
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition?
The integration capabilities of the product are easy to use, and there is no complexity involved in it.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition?
I find it too complex to assess the impact of F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition's automated deployment and integration with container orchestration platforms, such as Kubernetes and OpenShift, on my applic...
What advice do you have for others considering F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition?
I do not use the load balancing and traffic management features of F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition. I use other container orchestration platforms, but they are not relevant to F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition. ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 Distributed Cloud Services?
I am not involved in sales, so I do not deal with the pricing aspect directly. I give the cost of the solution a four out of ten since it is not a cheap product.
What needs improvement with F5 Distributed Cloud Services?
It's a long way to be perfect, of course, as with all solutions. The main issue is integration with other parts or products of F5, like on-premise WAF. There are some problems, mainly from the pers...
What is your primary use case for F5 Distributed Cloud Services?
There are two main use cases for Distributed Call Services: DDoS or Distributed attacks protection and WAF web application security or firewall.
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition vs. F5 Distributed Cloud Services and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.