NGINX App Protect vs NetScaler comparison

NetScaler and F5 are both solutions in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category. NetScaler is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.3, while F5 is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.6. NetScaler holds a 3.2% mindshare in WAF, compared to F5’s 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of NetScaler users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of F5 users who would recommend it.

NetScaler

Read 107 NetScaler reviews

2,721 Views
647 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

NGINX App Protect

Read 24 NGINX App Protect reviews

1,737 Views
834 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

NetScaler

NGINX App Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

NetScaler and NGINX App Protect compete in application security and performance delivery. NetScaler seems to have the upper hand due to its wide array of features serving large, diverse environments.

Features: NetScaler offers flexible deployment models with features like SSL offload, multitenancy, and strong integration with Citrix applications. Its configuration allows efficient traffic management crucial for large enterprises. NGINX App Protect shines in traffic management and security with its command-line interface and ease of integration, although it may lack advanced features for user guidance.

Room for Improvement: NetScaler needs to enhance ADC functionalities such as asymmetric content optimization and simplify its setup process. Its advanced feature configurations require streamlining. NGINX App Protect should address configuration complexity and improve its user interface, providing better bot protection and pricing adjustments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetScaler supports both on-prem and hybrid cloud environments with versatile deployment options. However, its technical support has mixed reviews. NGINX App Protect supports diverse configurations but experiences gaps in customer service responsiveness and expertise.

Pricing and ROI: NetScaler is often critiqued for high costs and complex licensing, although users report significant ROI from its feature set. NGINX App Protect, with potentially lower costs, is considered flexible due to instance-based pricing, yet there's a call for better alignment with enterprise budgets.

To learn more, read our detailed NGINX App Protect vs. NetScaler Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

NGINX App Protect vs. NetScaler

June 2025

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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

NetScaler

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

14th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st), Network Management Applications (5th)

NGINX App Protect

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

15th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Container Security (21st), API Security (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of NetScaler is 3.2%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX App Protect is 1.8%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Featured Reviews

DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU

Cloud Consultant at Migros Ticaret A.Ş.

A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking

Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

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Tomaz Sobczak

Security System Engineer at Ascomp S.A.

Signature-based detection, DOS protection, and bot protection

NGINX App Protect is easier to automate and configure, or manage from an API. This is good for securing applications. However, it's not suitable for more complex tasks. NGINX App Protect positively impacted performance changes. There's a cache or it works like a proxy, so it can speed up applications. It can also offload some functions from servers, which NGINX can handle faster.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution allows the user to easily scale out application delivery, and provides secure remote access."

"The solution's technical support is good."

"I find all of it to be valuable, because of the flexibility that is built into this product."

"I would say the rewriting and redirection functions are must-have's for us."

"The load balancing feature of this solution is very good."

"Citrix Netscaler makes it easy to provide services to end users, offering better visibility into user sessions compared to VMware. However, instability in network or machine can cause headaches as it's hard to pinpoint issues. SSL offload feature enhances security posture by providing secure connectivity between end users and backend systems. We use additional Azure remote security solutions for comprehensive protection."

"The most valuable feature is the content switching."

"One of the most beneficial features for application delivery is its integration with Citrix Storefront, facilitating user logins and ensuring continuity during data center outages."

More NetScaler pros

"NGINX App Protect's best features are auto-learning, which creates a profile of applications that are deployed, bot protection, and force protection, which lets you configure your brute force policy and alert for and prevent brute force attacks."

"We were looking for a product that is capable of complete automation and a container based solution. It's working."

"The tool is not complex and is very user-friendly."

"There's a cache, or it works like a proxy, so it can speed up applications."

"The most valuable feature of NGINX App Protect is the reverse proxy."

"The policies are flexible based on the technologies you use."

"It's very easy to deploy."

"The most valuable feature is that there is a link in the system that will help to analyze the security of an application when something abnormal is found."

More NGINX App Protect pros

Cons

"Technical support could be improved."

"Quality assurance could improve by ironing out security vulnerabilities before releasing upgrades."

"It does not have a sandbox cloud service and antivirus. It should have on-prem or cloud sandboxing and antivirus."

"Too many bugs in the software and it's always difficult when you need to update."

"The product provides some templates to integrate with applications like MS Exchange, MS SharePoint, SAP Enterprise Portal, and others. However, the last update for these templates was 2013 (lots of applications are running on versions newer then 2013)."

"I think the documentation should be improved."

"The setup was not simple."

"The solution should be able to scale more effectively than it does."

More NetScaler cons

"It would be better if it were easier to implement and if there was more information from F5 regarding hardware requirements and specifications to deploy the service, to avoid disruptions after implementation."

"NGINX App Protect could improve security."

"The configuration needs to be more flexible because it is difficult to do things that are outside of the ordinary."

"Right now, the tool doesn't provide an option revolving around update feeds, specifically the signature update option in the UI."

"The product's user interface is an area with shortcomings as it can be quite confusing for users, making it an area where improvements are required."

"The price of NGINX App Protect could improve."

"The product's price is high, making it an area of concern where improvements are required. The tool's licensing model is also not good."

"The solution needs to be improved in the e-commerce portal."

More NGINX App Protect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is cheap."

"For the specific use case that my customers primarily engage with, I would give the pricing a rating of seven out of ten."

"The solution is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"Citrix ADC could improve the price and make it less expensive, other competitors have a better prices. This would allow Citrix ADC to keep dominating the market."

"Price-wise, I feel that the solution is a little bit expensive."

"The pricing could be lower."

"This product is more expensive than some of the competitors."

"For partners, NetScaler is not as expensive price-wise versus F5."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

"NGINX is not expensive."

"There are no additional fees."

"The pricing is reasonable because NGINX operates on an instance basis."

"The licensing fees for this solution are pretty expensive for what it does, but there is no alternative."

"NGINX App Protect is expensive."

"There is a monthly or annual subscription to use NGINX App Protect. There are not any additional costs to the subscription."

"There are not any additional costs we had to pay to use NGINX App Protect."

"The solution's price is reasonable."

More NGINX App Protect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix ADC?

The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?

After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?

Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...

See all answers

What do you like most about NGINX App Protect?

It's very easy to deploy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NGINX App Protect?

I don't know the pricing yet because in my other project, I was not part of the buying side and I was just starting to look at options.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NGINX App Protect?

It would be better if it were easier to implement and if there was more information from F5 regarding hardware requirements and specifications to deploy the service, to avoid disruptions after impl...

See all answers

Comparisons

HAProxy vs NetScaler

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs NetScaler

Compared 11% of the time

Fortinet FortiADC vs NetScaler

Compared 9% of the time

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

Compared 8% of the time

VMWare Avi Load Balancer vs NetScaler

Compared 7% of the time

More NetScaler Competitors

Azure Front Door vs NGINX App Protect

Compared 19% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs NGINX App Protect

Compared 18% of the time

Fortinet FortiWeb vs NGINX App Protect

Compared 14% of the time

F5 Advanced WAF vs NGINX App Protect

Compared 9% of the time

AWS WAF vs NGINX App Protect

Compared 7% of the time

More NGINX App Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

NetScaler

June 2025

Download NetScaler product report

Buyer's Guide

NGINX App Protect

June 2025

Download NGINX App Protect product report

Also Known As

Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall

NGINX WAF, NGINX Web Application Firewall

Overview

One platform for a consistent application delivery and security experience because nobody has time to learn multiple systems to manage ADC deployments. NetScaler is built with a single code base using a software-based architecture, so no matter which ADC form factor you choose — hardware, virtual machine, bare metal, or container — the behavior will be the same.

NetScaler

NGINX App Protect application security solution combines the efficacy of advanced F5 web application firewall (WAF) technology with the agility and performance of NGINX Plus. The solution runs natively on NGINX Plus and addresses some of the most difficult challenges facing modern DevOps environments:

Integrating security controls directly into the development automation pipeline
Applying and managing security for modern and distributed application environments such as containers and microservices
Providing the right level of security controls without impacting release and go-to-market velocity
Complying with security and regulatory requirements

NGINX App Protect offers:

Expanded security beyond basic signatures to ensure adequate controls
F5 app‑security technology for efficacy superior to ModSecurity and other WAFs
Confidently run in “blocking” mode in production with proven F5 expertise
High‑confidence signatures for extremely low false positives
Increases visibility, integrating with third‑party analytics solutions
Integrates security and WAF natively into the CI/CD pipeline
Deploys as a lightweight software package that is agnostic of underlying infrastructure
Facilitates declarative policies for “security as code” and integration with DevOps tools
Decreases developer burden and provides feedback loop for quick security remediation
Accelerates time to market and reduces costs with DevSecOps‑automated security

Sample Customers

ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

NGINX App Protect vs. NetScaler

June 2025

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