The load balancing features are valuable. We use a lot of web applications. The solution helps us to integrate with our core banking system. We are happy with the configurations and interface.
The load-balancing features are excellent, but we do not have knowledgeable support teams locally
Pros and Cons
- "The load balancing features are valuable."
- "We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
Most support teams are from other countries. We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for almost two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s stability an eight out of ten.
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
October 2025

Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s scalability a nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
I rate the ease of setup an eight out of ten. We have more than 100 engineers. Our technical team is strong.
What about the implementation team?
A third-party vendor deployed the product for us.
What was our ROI?
We see a 100% return on investment in the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The tool is a little bit expensive. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
We have moved to microservices. Overall, I rate the product a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Customer

Network and Security Engineer at CITG - Continental Information and Telecom Group
Helps secure remote connections and create customized portals 
Pros and Cons
- "The product allows us to create customized portals for your users."
- "Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions can simplify user authentication and access control."
What is our primary use case?
We use F5 BIG-IP APM to control and monitor device access based on MAC addresses.
How has it helped my organization?
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) has improved our organization's ability to manage and secure remote connections, particularly from external partners.
What is most valuable?
The product allows us to create customized portals for your users.
What needs improvement?
They should work on issues related to login and access for MacOS addresses. They could provide us with direct access to edit the policies. Additionally, there need to be more features for network, portal, and VPN access. Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions can simplify user authentication and access control.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) version 17.1.0 for six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the platform's stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the product's scalability a ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support team takes around a month to resolve the case.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process is complex as we have sync policies between two sites.
What was our ROI?
The platform generates a return on investment for us.
What other advice do I have?
I rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
October 2025

Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Site Reliability Engineer
A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex
Pros and Cons
- "Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product."
- "The solution’s GUI looks very old."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product for load balancing. We use it to read, understand, and direct traffic.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution helps us to distribute the load.
What is most valuable?
Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product.
What needs improvement?
The solution’s automation is not good. The solution’s GUI looks very old.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of the product is high. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten. Seven people in my organization are using the product.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment was done in-house.
What was our ROI?
We see an ROI on the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We have specific cookies with stickiness. The product should not be used for WAF. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware
Pros and Cons
- "The performance of the solution is valuable."
- "The operational deployment is not great."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for this solution is remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware, and we deploy the solution on-premises.
What is most valuable?
The performance of the solution is valuable.
What needs improvement?
The operational deployment is not great and can be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. Approximately 1,000 users are utilizing the solution.
How are customer service and support?
We have had a good experience with customer service and support. I rate them a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Cisco ASA and House CCure. We chose to switch to this solution based on our company's needs.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution a nine out of ten, and I recommend it. The solution is good, but its functionality start offering can be improved.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Process Specialist at Telstra
Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability
Pros and Cons
- "F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."
- "F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."
What is our primary use case?
I use F5 BIG-IP APM to connect to my company's private network and access the tools that I need.
What is most valuable?
F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use.
What needs improvement?
F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) for approximately a year and a half.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the F5 BIG-IP APM could be better.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
F5 BIG-IP APM is used within our company and we have approximately 17,000 employees.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted the support of F5 BIG-IP APM for the initial setup only.
What other advice do I have?
I rate F5 BIG-IP APM a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director of consulting at a marketing services firm with 51-200 employees
Reliable, good for portal access, and can expand well
Pros and Cons
- "The portal access was very good."
- "The initial setup was complex."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily used the solution for portal access.
It was scalable.
The solution is stable and reliable.
What is most valuable?
The portal access was very good.
What needs improvement?
The initial setup was complex.
They could do a better job on the reporting and how we can use the data, provide more detail on the reporting logs, and show how we can export them and have graphical views. The reporting doesn't have graphical views, which makes things hard. You have basic reports that you can export, however, it's not that easy to use. The reporting needs to be improved a bit.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used the solution for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It was very stable, the solution itself. However, the underlying software, the LTM software, had an issue when we deployed with the failover. The APM itself, the access policy manager, I find the solution a great, great tool. It's very stable. We used it for years and we deployed it for approximately more than 100 applications at the same time which is why it took so long to implement.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For the organization I was working for, there are different solutions being used. I would say, in terms of the number of users, F5 was around 10,000.
It was scalable enough for our purposes.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not use something previously, however, after using this solution I did use a different product.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not easy. It was pretty complex.
I was the integrator. I worked as an integrator for the solution. I worked as an expert and it still took six to nine months to implement that.
Maintenance requires a team. It's not one person. It's a team that is managing not only APM. They were managing a component like a load balancer. They were managing network components. They were managing many other components. That team was a big team of maybe 15 to 20 people working across different profiles.
What about the implementation team?
I worked as an integrator and would implement the solution for clients.
What other advice do I have?
I’d rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Engineer at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
Reliable and scalable but needs better reporting
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is stable and reliable."
- "The solution is quite costly."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for access management.
What is most valuable?
The solution is stable and reliable.
The scalability is good.
What needs improvement?
The solution is pretty technical.
The initial setup is complex.
The solution is quite costly.
The solution could offer better reporting.
The management aspect of the solution needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. I haven't noticed any bugs or glitches and I haven't seen it crash or freeze. It seems to be reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution can scale if a company needs to expand it. It's not a problem.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've been able to work with technical support in the past and I have had positive experiences. When we have issues, they help. We are satisfied with their services.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not very straightforward or easy. It's complex.
What about the implementation team?
I can handle the initial setup myself. I do not need the assistance of an integrator or consultant.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is expensive. It's not a cheap product.
You do need to pay extra for certain features and services.
What other advice do I have?
Our company didn't use F5 ourselves, however, we sell F5 products. We're resellers.
Overall, I would rate the solution at a seven out of ten.
I'd recommend this solution to other users and companies.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. reseller
Presale Engineer at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Easy to install, simple to use, and the SSL VPN is good
Pros and Cons
- "This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use."
- "The price of this product can be improved."
What is most valuable?
This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use.
The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN.
It allows you remote access to applications, such as those from Microsoft, as well as to our internal website.
What needs improvement?
The price of this product can be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using F5 APM for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is okay.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability depends on the office and the number of remote users. We have about 50 users.
How was the initial setup?
Using the documentation available on the website, it was easy to set up.
What other advice do I have?
The F5 Access Policy Manager is something that I have experience with and I am happy with it. This is a product that I can recommend for others.
At this point, we don't have requirements beyond what this product provides, so I cannot think of any additional features that it needs.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller

Buyer's Guide
Download our free F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
        sharing their opinions. 
Updated: October 2025
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