Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
Vice President of It Operations at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5
Jun 20, 2023
The solution is more expensive than Barracuda. We pay yearly for its support services. There are no additional costs involved apart from the standard license.
Senior Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Mar 15, 2023
The licensing model of F5 BIG-IP LTM is highly complex. The operation cost of the solution is high. The overall cost is high. I rate the price of F5 BIG-IP LTM a one out of ten.
This solution comes with a standard license, and there are also extra licenses that can be obtained. The licenses are purchasable for durations of one, two, three, and five years. The hardware is something to consider when purchasing
Tax Department at a government with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Dec 19, 2022
I found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) an expensive product. The costs would depend on the appliance and infrastructure size. However, my company didn't have to pay extra to use additional features. As F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is very pricey, I'd rate its pricing as two out of ten.
There are a few licensing options available for F5 BIG-IP LTM. You can have a perpetual license which is a lifetime license. You then only need to renew the support, if you choose to open a ticket with the support. The second option is a subscription model on the cloud. When I have a project that will only one year. I purchase a subscription for one year only. It would work for the whole year and after we can shut it down because there is no need for it.
Senior Technical Consultant at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Real User
Jun 24, 2022
I'm not aware of the licensing costs. My understanding is that it is expensive. I'd rate it a four out of five in terms of the rather expensive cost. We do pay for extra support.
Head of Presales at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Jun 22, 2022
BIG-IP LTM is considered a premium product, so it's quite expensive and isn't affordable for all customers. F5's licensing is based on modules, so there are separate charges depending on which features you want.
Senior Network Engineer at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
May 22, 2022
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.
Senior ICT Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Feb 9, 2022
The cost is high for this product, so small customers, e.g. those in a private bank, won't be able to afford F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM), and they also don't really need the kind of support and functionality that this product gives. For customers who are in the government, we propose F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) despite its cost being high, because they'll really need it. They host their applications in the cloud, and in private data centers, e.g. private cloud services, so they'll need the kind of protection that this product provides. It depends on customer. Whenever we see that customers can't afford, or the environment is smaller, we propose Fortinet, or some other solution that's cheaper than Fortinet. We don't propose F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) to them.
Total Solution System Engineer at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Real User
Oct 20, 2021
I can't say much about the price because our sales department handles pricing. I'm a technical engineer, but I can say that all of these products are in the same price range.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Reseller
Feb 17, 2021
The costs could be lower. In a report, we found that Citrix Solutions are somehow cheaper - including in relation to encryption licensing. I cannot compare as I haven't spoken to Citrix. I don't know if it's easier or has the same (or more features). That said, I wouldn't describe this product as cheap.
System Engineer at PT Nusantara Compnet Integrator
Real User
Jan 22, 2021
The solution is quite expensive if we compare it with the competition. For only load balancer, it is too expensive. The license is subscription-based, except for the security model.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jan 12, 2021
The price should be reduced because it is expensive when compared to the competition. Alternatively, bundled packages should be offered. This is an issue that shows up for most of our customers.
Director of Network Strategies and Technologies at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Dec 4, 2020
The cost is quite high. The long-term support in particular is quite high. Customers need to be aware that each feature is licensable, which allows costs to accrue.
Head Of Technology at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Dec 4, 2020
When we purchased additional licenses for our other locations, we received a discount of between 20% and 25%. My understanding is that they matched the competitor's price.
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...
The product is costly. I would rate the price a five out of ten.
The pricing should be more flexible.
The tool is a bit expensive. I cannot recommend another tool in its place to those who don't find it budget-friendly.
It's more expensive than other load-balancing vendors.
The product is expensive. We pay a yearly licensing fee.
Pricing is quite high. We have taken it on a five-year basis. Not yearly. And for support also, there is an extra cost.
The solution is more expensive than Barracuda. We pay yearly for its support services. There are no additional costs involved apart from the standard license.
Our company pays for the licensing cost on a yearly basis. Also, there are no extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.
BIG-IP LTM is somewhat pricey for a small company with a limited budget.
The licensing model of F5 BIG-IP LTM is highly complex. The operation cost of the solution is high. The overall cost is high. I rate the price of F5 BIG-IP LTM a one out of ten.
This solution comes with a standard license, and there are also extra licenses that can be obtained. The licenses are purchasable for durations of one, two, three, and five years. The hardware is something to consider when purchasing
The price of F5 BIG-IP LTM could improve. I rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP LTM a ten out of ten.
I found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) an expensive product. The costs would depend on the appliance and infrastructure size. However, my company didn't have to pay extra to use additional features. As F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is very pricey, I'd rate its pricing as two out of ten.
There are a few licensing options available for F5 BIG-IP LTM. You can have a perpetual license which is a lifetime license. You then only need to renew the support, if you choose to open a ticket with the support. The second option is a subscription model on the cloud. When I have a project that will only one year. I purchase a subscription for one year only. It would work for the whole year and after we can shut it down because there is no need for it.
I'm not aware of the licensing costs. My understanding is that it is expensive. I'd rate it a four out of five in terms of the rather expensive cost. We do pay for extra support.
BIG-IP LTM is considered a premium product, so it's quite expensive and isn't affordable for all customers. F5's licensing is based on modules, so there are separate charges depending on which features you want.
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is an expensive product. However, the only additional cost we have with it is the yearly support cost.
I would rate the pricing a three out of five. There are no additional fees to the standard licensing fee; everything is paid once.
BIG-IP LTM isn't a cheap solution - I'd rate its pricing as three out of five.
The price is little bit on higher side, compared to the cost of NGINX.
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.
The biggest concern for my clients is the pricing.
The price of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is too high.
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager is a high-priced tool. We pay for its license yearly.
The cost is high for this product, so small customers, e.g. those in a private bank, won't be able to afford F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM), and they also don't really need the kind of support and functionality that this product gives. For customers who are in the government, we propose F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) despite its cost being high, because they'll really need it. They host their applications in the cloud, and in private data centers, e.g. private cloud services, so they'll need the kind of protection that this product provides. It depends on customer. Whenever we see that customers can't afford, or the environment is smaller, we propose Fortinet, or some other solution that's cheaper than Fortinet. We don't propose F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) to them.
We are on an annual license to use the solution.
It is a little pricey. I wish the pricing was cheaper, but I wish the pricing was cheaper for everything.
I can't say much about the price because our sales department handles pricing. I'm a technical engineer, but I can say that all of these products are in the same price range.
When you buy it you have a license bundle which I think you have to renew every year or every couple of years.
It is quite expensive as a product. Because it is very stable, it is also expensive.
I am not familiar with the price of this solution.
The pricing is pretty high. It's not the least expensive option. That said, we're willing to pay for the premium security on offer.
F5 is expensive. Reasonable in comparison, but it should be cheaper.
The solution could work at lowering its prices a bit. The licensing needs to be a bit more flexible. We pay our licensing fees on a yearly basis.
Compared to using open-source products, the prices are not cheap.
You can buy it on a yearly basis, or you can go for a subscription. For on-premise boxes, it is just the RMA.
The price of the solution is sometimes expensive.
The costs could be lower. In a report, we found that Citrix Solutions are somehow cheaper - including in relation to encryption licensing. I cannot compare as I haven't spoken to Citrix. I don't know if it's easier or has the same (or more features). That said, I wouldn't describe this product as cheap.
It is a bit expensive product. Kemp Loadmaster is much cheaper than F5. Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It can be for one year or three years.
The solution is quite expensive if we compare it with the competition. For only load balancer, it is too expensive. The license is subscription-based, except for the security model.
The price should be reduced because it is expensive when compared to the competition. Alternatively, bundled packages should be offered. This is an issue that shows up for most of our customers.
F5 BIG-IP can be expensive, although there are trial versions available which are helpful to find out if the solution is right for your company.
The cost is quite high. The long-term support in particular is quite high. Customers need to be aware that each feature is licensable, which allows costs to accrue.
When we purchased additional licenses for our other locations, we received a discount of between 20% and 25%. My understanding is that they matched the competitor's price.