A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) comparison

A10 Networks and F5 are both solutions in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category. A10 Networks is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0, while F5 is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. A10 Networks holds a 5.0% mindshare in ADC, compared to F5’s 15.4% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of A10 Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of F5 users who would recommend it.

A10 Networks Thunder ADC

Read 22 A10 Networks Thunder ADC reviews

2,224 Views
1,601 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Read 121 F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) reviews

6,405 Views
5,241 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

A10 Networks Thunder ADC

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

A10 Networks Thunder ADC and F5 BIG-IP LTM compete in the application delivery and load balancing category. Thunder ADC seems to have the upper hand with its cost-effective licensing system and ease of deployment, while F5 BIG-IP LTM stands out in robust performance and feature set for complex environments.

Features: A10 Networks Thunder ADC offers an all-inclusive licensing system reducing costs, high-performance traffic management, and comprehensive security features like DDoS protection and SSL offloading. It supports virtualization across cloud environments and straightforward setup. F5 BIG-IP LTM provides advanced load balancing, iRules for flexible traffic management, and modular features for complex environments with robust hardware performance.

Room for Improvement: A10 Networks Thunder ADC users highlight concerns about legal issues, limited U.S. support, and challenges with third-party integrations. Improvements are suggested for its web acceleration support, GUI, and support articles. F5 BIG-IP LTM is criticized for high costs and complexity, with requests for flexible pricing, better documentation, and improvements in cloud support and AI-driven reporting.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: A10 Networks Thunder ADC is praised for stability in hybrid cloud environments with consistent support, though users seek faster response times. F5 BIG-IP LTM, mainly deployed on-premises, is lauded for comprehensive support but requires expertise for full utilization, with support regarded as satisfactory but costly.

Pricing and ROI: A10 Networks Thunder ADC offers budget-friendly pricing with embedded licensing that reduces total costs, providing a significant ROI due to efficient management. F5 BIG-IP LTM, although more expensive, offers robust features and performance justifying its cost, with users seeking a clearer and flexible pricing structure, achieving adequate ROI when its features are fully leveraged.

To learn more, read our detailed A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

April 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

A10 Networks Thunder ADC

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

10th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

121

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of A10 Networks Thunder ADC is 5.0%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is 15.4%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Featured Reviews

SatishBabu

Vice President at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Known for its load balancing capabilities, the WAF features need to be improved

The solution's initial setup process was easy. For the installation, it takes around five minutes. One person can do the maintenance since it is not required much. So, it's a one-time solution, and its maintenance is fine. The number of people required for maintenance depends on the clients as well. One or two engineers are fine to serve around a hundred clients. If you have a number of devices, more people are needed for their maintenance because of the patching it requires during regular operations. Only for the maintenance, one engineer's fine. However, for regular operations, we need multiple people.

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Bonieber Orofeo

Information Security Manager at Chong Hua Hospital

Identifying compromised traffic and securing data has been a significant advantage

One of the most beneficial features of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) ( /products/f5-big-ip-local-traffic-manager-ltm-reviews ) is its ability to identify compromised traffic and its capabilities in authentication. Additionally, the security aspect of it provides a significant advantage as it helps us secure our data, which is a major investment and benefit for us. Before using this system, we had difficulties in storing our data and managing the traffic that comes in and out.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We do have the option of creating virtual chassis, so that gives it a bit more security. If we find an application which is not going to play well in the main pool, we can easily create a virtual chassis and have that application in that virtual chassis. With the virtual chassis we can also create system partitions and have a test system for test applications, and have the others elsewhere."

"A10 Networks Thunder ADC is an easy-to-use and flexible solution."

"The ADCs are pretty straightforward and easy to use. There is a GUI base where you can go in and see everything, but they also have a CLI base where you can use a command and get the information that you want, very fast."

"Being a public entity and having a public website which is highly visible with a lot of traffic, we are a target for DDoS. Within the last year, we have had a couple of DDoS attacks which could have affected our web traffic and taken down certain parts of our website. This did not happen because the A10 was able to mitigate the attacks using rate limiting that can be configured for DDoS mitigation on the box."

"The solution is flexible."

"A10 explained why the latency dropped significantly on a site that we have."

"The DNS application firewall and load balancing are very valuable."

"The solution is stable."

More A10 Networks Thunder ADC pros

"The configuration and integration into the AWS environment was pretty easy."

"Its user interface is very easy to use on a day-to-day basis. It is very user-friendly."

"F5's attack signatures and automation are the most valuable features. The disaster recovery capabilities are also excellent. You don't need to do anything. It has automatic failover from production."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is IP Intelligence."

"It can determine if the system is going down, then route the traffic somewhere else."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The product is quite flexible."

"The most valuable features of the solution are in the area of DDoS and WAF."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) pros

Cons

"A10 Networks Thunder ADC could improve on the Application Delivery Controller. it's not a fully-fledged web application firewall solution. For example, application data and support need to improve."

"There are competitors that have more features."

"Traffic flow issues are very difficult, as there's no means for us to analyze the traffic coming in or out of the appliance without technical support."

"There is room for improvement in the upgrading process. Sometimes we have to contact A10 for verification of some stuff."

"In my opinion, they need to improve their cloud support. There is support for cloud, but not all functions are there, such as high-availability."

"There is two-factor authentication built-in, but it could be more robust."

"The costs can be quite high."

"I would like them to provide learning tips and a community forum where users can share ideas. They need more detailed support articles on the A10 website."

More A10 Networks Thunder ADC cons

"Security enhancement should be more user friendly."

"We would like to see load balancing between the cloud and the on-premise, a straightforward deployment feature."

"The product is expensive."

"While the licensing is good through the AWS Marketplace, it is more expensive than what you could buy yourself."

"If we decide to migrate to the cloud, I don't think that BIG-IP is a good solution and we probably won't use it."

"Bugs are the part of program and they are fixed with every release, as with any vendor."

"In the LTM solution, it would be beneficial to have more algorithms for traffic segmentation or the ability to create user-defined algorithms rather than being restricted to predefined ones."

"F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager could improve by having an FNI feature for a single source to multi-domain load balancing."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the maintenance support is too expensive."

"As for the initial investment in the hardware, F5 and A10 are quite similar now. For the current A10 solution, the initial cost was about $36,000. As for annual support, the F5 solution would be between $10,000 and $12,000, while the A10 is $2,200 a year for support."

"There were budgetary constraints that keep us from investing in the single pane of glass traffic management feature. We saw a demo of this feature about a year to a year and a half ago."

"We just pay for support in addition to our licensing."

"One of the main reasons for switching away from Cisco was the licensing model. A10 gives you global server load balancing for free, while Cisco charged a significant licensing fee for that."

"The pricing is fine, considering the features they are providing. If you are an individual user, they'll price the product differently compared to how they price the product that is sold to an organization."

"The pricing is a third of the price of the F5 competition."

"We previously had F5 and switched because of costs."

More A10 Networks Thunder ADC pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is inclusive of many features."

"Unless the price difference is large, this is not the primary concern for the product. The performance and product-related issues (secure for VPN, multi-function for network device, etc.) are the keys."

"The price of F5 BIG-IP LTM could improve."

"I use a yearly subscription, which is the most expensive one now compared to its competitors."

"The only area that has room for improvement would be pricing, so its competitors do not have a say."

"F5 pricing is too high, compared to Citrix."

"I would recommend that the cost be lowered."

"This is a high-priced tool. We pay for its license yearly."

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

13%

University

Government

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

I would recommend A10 Networks due that it delivers high performance in a small form factor to reduce OPEX with significantly lower power usage, rack space, and cooling requirements compared to oth...

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Do you recommend A10 Networks Thunder ADC?

I do recommend A10 Networks Thunder ADC. It's very user-friendly, easy to configure, and flexible. It is a very useful solution - especially now, when a lot of employees are working remotely. I hav...

See all answers

What do you like most about A10 Networks Thunder ADC?

A10 Networks Thunder ADC is an easy-to-use and flexible solution.

See all answers

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?

The price needs improvement as it is quite costly.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?

We're using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) ( /products/f5-big-ip-local-traffic-manager-ltm-reviews ) for our applications and for managing our incoming and outgoing traffic.

See all answers

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)?

The solution is robust and reliable.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 17% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

Radware Alteon vs A10 Networks Thunder ADC

Compared 10% of the time

Kemp LoadMaster vs A10 Networks Thunder ADC

Compared 7% of the time

NGINX Plus vs A10 Networks Thunder ADC

Compared 6% of the time

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Fortinet FortiADC vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 19% of the time

VMWare Avi Load Balancer vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 8% of the time

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

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 8% of the time

NGINX Plus vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Compared 6% of the time

More F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

A10 Networks Thunder ADC

May 2025

Download A10 Networks Thunder ADC product report

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

May 2025

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) report

Download F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) product report

Also Known As

Thunder ADC, AX Series

F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP

Overview

A10 Networks Thunder ADC is a dynamic application delivery controller and advanced load balancer. Thunder ADC is a value-added solution provided by A10 Networks specializing in robust, trusted, scalable application services for cloud, hybrid, edge cloud, and on-premise environments focused on improving business processes and keeping infrastructures safe. The solution consistently provides server availability, improves content delivery, and protects at-risk applications. A10 Networks Thunder ADC easily controls hybrid and multi-cloud deployments using a Polynimbus strategy to minimize difficulties and costs for IT processes, facilitating overall improved business results.

A10 Networks Thunder ADC is effective for small to medium businesses (SMBs) to large enterprises. Service providers and cloud operators are all using A10 Network ADC to manage their large and fast-growing group of business-critical applications.

A10 Networks Thunder ADC supplies L4-7 load balancing with numerous layers of security using DNS and web app firewalls, comprehensive support for advanced encryption, single sign-on (SSO) authentication, and high-performance Perfect Forward Secrecy and Error Correction Code (PFS/ECC). Thunder ADC is designed upon A10 Networks Advanced Core Operating System (ACOS®) platform to provide consistent, efficient application performance and trusted security for any environment.

A10 Networks Thunder ADC Benefits

Consistently accessible: A10 Networks Thunder ADC employs numerous load balancing protocols to evenly distribute workloads to all servers and works to ensure constant application functionality. User requests are monitored to ensure loads are directed to the appropriate server so that there is always a proper response delivery to content. This process ensures the applications are consistently available.
Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB): To ensure business processes are fully optimized at all times, A10 Networks Thunder ADC employs a dynamic Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) process to augment server load balancing capabilities throughout global data centers for high availability and improved user experience and application tolerance.
Fast content delivery: A10 Networks Thunder ADC conquers the general WAN latencies, chatty policies, and redundant software programs to ensure quick and responsive service. Employees receive a fast, excellent end-user experience while the organization's business leaders get exceeded SLA mandates and increased productivity with teams working remotely and a step up on the competition.

A10 Networks Thunder ADC Features

Detailed Analytics: When deployed with A10 Networks Harmony Controller, Thunder ADC delivers a large selection of detailed aggregate and per-request reports in real time. The reports include popular URLs, error and health indicators, latencies, and end-to-end response times. The data is further dissected to deliver per-app reporting, availability alerts, and performance.
API Coverage: Thunder ADC utilizes A10 Networks REST-based aXAPIs to structure all features with 100 percent API coverage. The resulting interface is then used to seamlessly integrate custom or third-party management solutions, such as VMware or other SDN platforms, OpenStack, Microsoft SCVMM, or other cloud orchestration systems. There are also software plug-ins available for private clouds utilizing VMware’s vRealize Orchestrator.
Comprehensive Management Controls: Thunder ADC is fully supported by A10 Networks Harmony Controller and can be deployed in software or as a software-as-a-service (SaaS). This controller functions as a native management platform that organizes and distributes application-centric service protocols and configuration data to numerous Thunder appliances and device cluster infrastructures throughout numerous multi-cloud environments. Users can instantly identify, audit and track every appliance using critical operational metrics, such as CPU, disk usage, device partitions, and end users. The A10 Networks Harmony Controller will also complete configuration backups and restore operations, and will schedule regular software upgrades.

A10 Networks

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 servers and delivers SSL performance and visibility for inbound and outbound traffic, to protect the user experience by encrypting everything from the client to the server.

BIG-IP LTM provides enterprise-class Application Delivery Controller (ADC). You get granular layer 7 control, SSL offloading and acceleration capabilities, and advanced scaling technologies that deliver performance and reliability on-demand. The highly optimized TCP/IP stack combines TCP/IP techniques and improvements in the latest RFCs with extensions to minimize the effect of congestion and packet loss and recovery. Independent testing tools and customer experiences show LTM's TCP stack delivers up to a 2x performance gain for users and a 4x increase in bandwidth efficiency.

Sample Customers

123inkt.nl, Bentley University, Box, Brainshark, Buienradar, Capgemini, CGN/LSN & NAT64, Chengdu Telecom, Club One, Code Ready, CRC Health Group, Cyso, Deutsche Telekom, Earth Class Mail, Excite, FFF Enterprises, Florence County, Framingham State University, From30

Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.

Buyer's Guide

A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

April 2025

Free Report: A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)

Find out what your peers are saying about A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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