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Fastly vs NetScaler 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
6.0
Fastly boosts return on investment with improved performance, reduced latency, and cuts infrastructure costs by 40-60%.
Sentiment score
8.1
NetScaler ensures data security and operational efficiency, providing significant cost savings and stability for medium enterprises.
Reducing infrastructure costs by 40 to 60% because Edge Caching minimizes backend traffic, resulting in lower computing costs.
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
I have seen a return on investment, particularly in time savings, especially regarding the changes.
Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
Fastly's customer care is efficient with multi-channel support, but has inconsistencies in response times and transparency across time zones.
Sentiment score
6.1
Citrix support is responsive and knowledgeable, though some users report delays and prefer direct access to experienced engineers.
demonstrating the team's technical expertise in CDN and Edge architecture
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
We have SLAs defined because we opted for enterprise support pricing.
Staff Engineer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would describe Fastly's customer support as fast and efficient when I have had to use it.
Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Fastly is praised for scalability, ease of growth support, cloud flexibility, excellent support, and successful global integrations.
Sentiment score
7.8
NetScaler is praised for high scalability and flexibility, despite some challenges with licensing complexity and multi-tenancy support.
Seamlessly handling massive traffic without requiring backend changes due to its globally distributed Edge network and stateless API-driven design.
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Fastly is stable and reliable with high uptime, no technical issues, and strong performance in enterprise applications.
Sentiment score
7.6
NetScaler is highly rated for stability and performance, with some recommending regular maintenance for optimal reliability.
Highly reliable for enterprise-scale applications with high uptime guarantees.
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
 

Room For Improvement

Fastly requires improvements in China presence, configuration complexity, pricing, customer support, security features, documentation, and bot detection.
NetScaler needs improvements in usability, stability, security integration, and support while enhancing documentation, pricing transparency, and deployment processes.
I chose 8 out of 10 because it has excellent performance and low latency delivery, making it suitable for larger applications, with strong Edge Caching and instant purging capabilities.
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
Fastly could improve by improving the documentation and having some code examples.
Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Fastly should provide features similar to Cloudflare regarding a block list.
Technical support engineer at Adobe
 

Setup Cost

Fastly is competitively priced with usage-based costs and customizable options, but some find it expensive with a learning curve.
NetScaler pricing is high but offers strong features; cost-saving options include alternatives or negotiating multi-year subscriptions.
It operates on a pay-as-you-go structure, but costs scale with traffic, requiring monitoring to avoid unexpected spikes based on data transfers and the number of requests handled.
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
In terms of price, I find it good.
Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Fastly CDNs integrate with Signal Sciences WAF for efficient content delivery, enhancing performance with global edge locations and code management.
NetScaler provides flexible deployment, security enhancements, and integration with Citrix for efficient application delivery and robust traffic management.
We observed a 30 to 50% reduction in response time and a significant reduction in backend load of 40 to 60%, improving visibility through a real-time dashboard for monitoring traffic, errors, and performance.
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
We have improvements in traceability by having the changes integrated into the Git repositories and having the possibility of doing a rollback in the event of any problem in a very simple way.
Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In this project, it is working as a reverse proxy for CDN and WAF, web application firewall, additionally image optimization.
Technical support engineer at Adobe
 

Categories and Ranking

Fastly
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
24th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
CDN (7th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (11th)
NetScaler
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
25th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (5th), Network Management Applications (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of Fastly is 2.2%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 3.0%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Web Application Firewall (WAF) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fastly2.2%
NetScaler3.0%
Other94.8%
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
 

Featured Reviews

Pranay Jain - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
Edge caching has transformed response times and delivers faster candidate data globally
Fastly can be improved in certain areas such as VCL, which is powerful but has a steep learning curve for normal users. A more user-friendly, UI-based configuration could simplify the experience, alongside better templates for common use cases and dashboard improvements, as the current dashboard feels complex for beginners, and pricing can be hard to predict for smaller companies. I chose 8 out of 10 because it has excellent performance and low latency delivery, making it suitable for larger applications, with strong Edge Caching and instant purging capabilities. However, VCL complexity and pricing predictability, especially for smaller companies, along with a user-friendly dashboard are areas impacting my score.
MP
Senior Data Center Engineer at Axians
Load balancing and secure access have supported complex migrations and automation at scale
NetScaler has positively impacted my organization because I work for a system integrator and deploy it for customers. Many customers are really happy with NetScaler, except for the pricing, as Citrix has changed a lot of their pricing in the last two or three years when they transitioned to Cloud Software Group. However, despite that, I know customers are really satisfied with the technical capabilities that NetScaler provides. While I do not have specific outcomes or metrics from my customers, I think using Core Logic has made it much easier for the big municipality I mentioned to implement NetScaler as a total solution, thus speeding up their automation. There are likely many benefits, but I lack benchmarks or timing figures to quantify that.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Web Application Firewall (WAF) solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise59
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fastly?
In terms of price, I find it good, and as I mentioned, the implementation cost had some difficulty at the beginning due to the learning curve.
What needs improvement with Fastly?
I think Fastly could improve by improving the documentation and having some code examples so that it is easier for developers, since at the beginning it becomes a bit complicated.
What is your primary use case for Fastly?
My primary use case for Fastly is using it as a CDN to speed up my customers' access to the applications. A specific example of how Fastly has helped improve my customers' access to the application...
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 solution eight out of ten.
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 increasing, affecting small to medium businesses in Israel.
What needs improvement with Citrix Web App and API Protection?
The configuration is complex, and only one or two people know how to assist when problems arise. It would be beneficial if F5 and NetScaler could be combined.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall, NetScaler VPX - Customer Licensed
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Twitter, Airbnb, Alaska Airlines, Pinterest, Vimeo, The Guardian, The New York Times, Ticketmaster, The Drupal Association, Opera, about.com, imgur, Etsy, Foursquare, GitHub, New Relic, shopify, Shazam, Firebase
ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk
Find out what your peers are saying about Fastly vs. NetScaler and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.