A10 Thunder TPS vs AWS Shield comparison

A10 Networks and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are both solutions in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category. A10 Networks is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.5, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.7. A10 Networks holds a 1.9% mindshare in DDOS, compared to Amazon Web Services (AWS)’s 4.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of A10 Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users who would recommend it.

A10 Thunder TPS

Read 15 A10 Thunder TPS reviews

858 Views
858 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AWS Shield

Read 11 AWS Shield reviews

1,995 Views
1,995 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

A10 Thunder TPS

AWS Shield

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

A10 Thunder TPS and AWS Shield compete in network security. A10 Thunder TPS stands out for comprehensive protection and strong pricing and support ratings, whereas AWS Shield is noted for a robust feature set, offering attractive value in its integration with AWS services.

Features: A10 Thunder TPS is valued for advanced traffic monitoring, DDoS protection, and flexible integration capabilities. AWS Shield offers seamless integration with AWS, scalable protection, and automated traffic analysis. AWS Shield's integration capability is a highlight, whereas A10 Thunder TPS is renowned for its flexibility.

Room for Improvement: A10 Thunder TPS could improve by broadening its integration with more cloud services, refining its user interface, and enhancing automated configuration options. AWS Shield could reduce configuration efforts for non-AWS deployments, enhance real-time attack visibility, and streamline multi-cloud integrations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: A10 Thunder TPS is praised for efficient deployment and responsive support, making setup straightforward. AWS Shield, integrated with AWS, offers streamlined deployment for AWS users but may require more configuration for non-AWS services. A10 is recognized for supportive customer service, while AWS Shield benefits from AWS's broader support infrastructure.

Pricing and ROI: A10 Thunder TPS offers competitive setup costs and strong ROI with adaptable pricing models. AWS Shield has higher costs associated with premium service, justified by extensive AWS integration, appealing to those heavily invested in AWS. A10's cost-effectiveness offers a notable advantage in ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed A10 Thunder TPS vs. AWS Shield Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

A10 Thunder TPS vs. AWS Shield

December 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 Thunder TPS

Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

17th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

AWS Shield

Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of A10 Thunder TPS is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Shield is 4.9%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
AWS Shield	4.9%
A10 Thunder TPS	1.9%
Other	93.2%

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

Featured Reviews

reviewer1126782

Information Technology Security Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Management console adds value and technical support delivers timely solutions

I had issues with the user interface because, when putting settings up, the system asked me for strange things like virtual local networks that I didn't create. For example, I set an NTP server, and after some clicks, a message appeared stating 'setup is incorrect'. It asked for a VLAN even though no VLANs were created. We had to find workarounds for issues like A10 blocking necessary traffic, sometimes leading to decreased security, because it was the simplest way to deal with them. This was a real issue. A more flexible policy for demo licenses would also be helpful.

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PranavTelang

Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has enabled multi-layered threat mitigation but still lacks deeper visibility for advanced application attacks

AWS Shield has limited coverage as it only protects against common and high-volume network and transport layer attacks, such as SYN floods. It does not provide inherent protection against more sophisticated layer 7 attacks such as HTTP floods. In such cases, integration with WAF is necessary, which results in additional costs for customers. To protect layer 7, layer 4, and layer 3, customers must implement both solutions. The service also has difficulties with static detection thresholds, which may not be sensitive enough to detect smaller application-specific attacks. While AWS Shield is a key security service, AWS should enhance their expert support with 24/7 response for complex attacks, which is currently limited.

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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

"I had a rather positive experience with A10 Networks Support Service."

"The product's initial setup phase is very simple."

"The response time to an attack is instant. We've used some outsourced solutions in the past, out in the cloud, that weren't so quick. But it's all within our control now. We control how fast it mitigates."

"The most valuable feature of A10 Thunder TPS is load balancing."

"They give us the ability to configure many features for DDoS. There are many items that we can use."

"It is a scalable solution."

"The solution's support is one of the coolest things about the product. I"

"The primary benefit that we see from their systems is that their filtering technology has the ability to detect and drop the malicious traffic from the legitimate traffic with a high success rate. That, in combination with the very small effort needed to manage their systems, are the two most important benefits to us."

More A10 Thunder TPS pros

"I am impressed with the product's multiple features like security."

"The solution operates smoothly at its baseline level, and we do not encounter any issues at that level."

"It is quite scalable, and we have not faced any issues with its scalability."

"AWS Shield is aligned with the web application firewall (WAF), and they work seamlessly together, primarily working with Elastic Load Balancer, CloudFront, and Route 53 for CDN and DNS services protection."

"The product is easy to use."

"The solution's ease of use is the most valuable feature."

"It is integrated with AWS. So, it gives you a good first step."

"The automatic detection and mitigation of DDoS attacks in the product operates in real-time and provides satisfactory results."

More AWS Shield pros

Cons

"The solution is a little expensive."

"We have had some issues with implementation. So, it is the only area that needs improvement."

"The upgrade process for the boxes is not efficient. We have to go through the A10 aGalaxy where we have issues, like timeouts. They told me it was fixed in the latest version, but I tried to do it on the Portal and it is not working all the time."

"We currently do not use the solution's machine-learning-powered Zero-day Automated Protection because of an issue with it... We also use the aGalaxy platform, which is a management platform for the TPS devices. The issue is that some TPS features were added at the TPS level but weren't carried over to aGalaxy, and we manage all of our devices through aGalaxy. So we can't actually use some of the new features that are available on the TPS because that functionality doesn't exist in aGalaxy. That is one of my biggest complaints."

"I had issues with the user interface because, when putting settings up, the system asked me for strange things like virtual local networks that I didn't create."

"The solution needs improvement in terms of fail-open."

"Its documentation could be better."

"They have a cloud scrubbing feature that redirects the traffic if the on-prem appliance can't accommodate a large amount of traffic but it's not available where we are."

More A10 Thunder TPS cons

"We end up having to pay extra for features that AWS adds that we don't need."

"The time taken to detect anomalies must be reduced."

"AWS Shield has limited coverage as it only protects against common and high-volume network and transport layer attacks, such as SYN floods."

"The network has been experiencing frustrating performance issues today, which is not typical for Nigeria."

"The product needs to improve its logs and reports to make it read better."

"The product is expensive."

"There is an area for improvement regarding health checks. AWS Shield does not come with its own health check functionality."

"Perhaps the time required to detect anomalies can be reduced. Presently, it takes some time to determine whether a situation is normal or abnormal."

More AWS Shield cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We had a customer who was down for six hours and the loss of revenue for him was three times the price he was paying for us per year. The customer just said, "I don't care about paying you because on only one attack I saved money. It's three times better than losing money.""

"We may need to pay fifty percent more if we purchase other solutions. For the payments made to A10 Thunder TPS, we have received three-year support."

"The tool is expensive. If one is low price and ten is expensive, I rate the tool's price as a ten."

"Pricing is very reasonable."

"The financials are always a challenge with this type of technology. That's not really a product-functionality thing but it's the area where we push A10 the most."

"Pricing was much higher with Arbor (APS) for the same type of solution."

"We did a price survey, and compared to other solutions, A10 Thunder TPS wasn't cheap."

"We pay $3000 per month for the solution."

"The tool's pricing is good."

"The tool is cheap."

"It depends on your subscription level and the volume that you're spending with AWS. So, it is very relative to the consumption alignment in your subscription level. It is a well-constructed, scalable pricing option, but it is relative to how much you're spending on AWS. Because the more you spend, typically, the more you get off on services like this. I find it to be comparable to other solutions."

"The cost depends on traffic each month, so on average, it costs us between US$200 and US$300 per month."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

40%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for A10 Thunder TPS?

I have not seen specific prices, like $10,000 or $20,000. A frustrating aspect is the lack of demo versions. The vendor insists on commercial licenses despite requests for demo licenses. The global...

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What needs improvement with A10 Thunder TPS?

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What is your primary use case for A10 Thunder TPS?

Currently, I have a test setup. A10 Thunder TPS ( /products/a10-thunder-tps-reviews ) works in a chain with a Check Point firewall and a Juniper MX router. Recently, we had a presentation from a ve...

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What do you like most about AWS Shield?

We have integrated the tool with Active Directory. The most important feature is that it's transparent and doesn't degrade the performance of our solution. Additionally, it's easy to configure, whi...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Shield?

The pricing structure for AWS Shield is fair, yet it depends on the specific protections chosen. Enabling Shield Advanced on multiple services such as CloudFront, network load balancer, or Route 53...

See all answers

What needs improvement with AWS Shield?

Services always benefit from improvements, including AWS Shield. With respect to the Web Application Firewall, current rule-based setups may not be adequately defined or classified. Enhancement of ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Arbor DDoS vs A10 Thunder TPS

Compared 35% of the time

Radware DDoS vs A10 Thunder TPS

Compared 12% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs A10 Thunder TPS

Compared 10% of the time

Cloudflare vs A10 Thunder TPS

Compared 9% of the time

Corero vs A10 Thunder TPS

Compared 6% of the time

More A10 Thunder TPS Competitors

Cloudflare vs AWS Shield

Compared 24% of the time

Azure DDoS Protection vs AWS Shield

Compared 20% of the time

Cloudflare One vs AWS Shield

Compared 16% of the time

Radware DDoS vs AWS Shield

Compared 8% of the time

F5 Silverline Managed Services vs AWS Shield

Compared 2% of the time

More AWS Shield Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

A10 Thunder TPS

January 2026

Download A10 Thunder TPS product report

Buyer's Guide

AWS Shield

January 2026

Download AWS Shield product report

Overview

The Thunder TPS is a family of high-performance DDoS defense solutions that detect and mitigate multi-vector DDoS attacks. Unlike traditional DDoS defenses that leave a wake of collateral damage against users, Thunder TPS applies a source-based defense-in-depth mitigation pipeline. This multimodal defense that includes actionable DDoS weapons intelligence, operator definable adaptive policies, and machine learning-powered Zero-Day Automated Protection (ZAP) blocks attackers while protecting real users.

The Thunder TPS is uniquely suited for communication service providers, online gaming, and enterprise network operators who protect large networks and need compact solutions with faster response from a fully automated, zero-touch defense during an attack.

A10 Networks

AWS Shield is a managed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection service that safeguards applications running on AWS. AWS Shield provides always-on detection and automatic inline mitigations that minimize application downtime and latency, so there is no need to engage AWS Support to benefit from DDoS protection.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Sample Customers

DDoS defense solution trusted for more than 200 service providers, online gaming, and enterprises including; Bungie, Comcast, KDDI Corporation, Leaseweb, Microsoft Azure, NTT Docomo, Softbank, Turkcell Superonline, Verizon and more.

netflix, dow jones, mapbox, pearson, rovio, youview, moviestar planet, asurion, payplug, hour of code

Buyer's Guide

A10 Thunder TPS vs. AWS Shield

December 2025

Free Report: A10 Thunder TPS vs. AWS Shield

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