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AWS WAF vs Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.7
AWS WAF offers cost-effective security by reducing the need for extra staff and effectively blocking threats.
Sentiment score
4.2
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service reduces security incidents and costs, offering effective protection and noticeable returns on investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
AWS WAF support is prompt and knowledgeable, but experiences vary in resolution speed and service costs.
Sentiment score
7.5
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud support is praised for fast, knowledgeable service, with minor delays manageable and high overall satisfaction.
Resolving issues can take time because the support personnel may lack product expertise, leading to delays.
Security Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The company provides technical support, and they are mostly available 24/7.
Pre sale engineer at Harnssen Group Limited
The proximity of Fortinet with customers ensures quick issue resolution.
Security Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Sometimes it could be faster, but generally, their support is reliable.
Principal Network Architect at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
AWS WAF is highly scalable, versatile for various infrastructures, but some users desire expanded features for broader adaptability.
Sentiment score
6.2
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service is scalable, efficient in handling traffic, easy to deploy, and highly rated.
It auto checks everything, and you need to install the certificate.
Pre Sales Architect at network techlab
In my experience, Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service's scalability is quite good, and I would rate it at eight point five out of ten.
Network and Security Engineer (Contractor) at Clymora Technology Limited
We are purchasing Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service from the distributor side, who have provided support and a price discount.
Owner at IT CARE
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
AWS WAF is stable, effectively blocking threats, with minor issues in custom rules, and continuous improvements enhance reliability.
Sentiment score
8.3
Users highly praise Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service for its stable and reliable performance, rating it highly.
In terms of reliability, I would rate AWS WAF about six out of ten due to the need for improved signature sets.
Security Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We faced issues with AWS WAF when writing the custom rules.
Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC
The stability of AWS WAF is generally good;
Security Engineer Dev Sec Ops at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The stability of the solution is excellent.
Principal Network Architect at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

AWS WAF requires enhanced features, security, user interface, documentation, seamless integrations, and added automation for improved effectiveness.
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service needs improved features, security measures, AI, pricing, integration, and reporting enhancements.
Compared to firewalls, WAFs generally provide limited stateful analysis capabilities.
Security Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The way we see it now is just mentioned as a percentage from bots and actual users, which should include proper graphs and detailed information.
Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC
The level of granularity is not great, and as you cross a certain threshold, the cost goes up by twenty or thirty percent every time.
Security Engineer Dev Sec Ops at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service could be improved with better logging capabilities, as many come with less spacing, necessitating a FortiSIM for enhanced functionality.
Network and Security Engineer (Contractor) at Clymora Technology Limited
The utilization of AI in Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service still needs to be upgraded and improved.
Assistant Technical Director at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
I want them to provide SAML authentication.
Pre Sales Architect at network techlab
 

Setup Cost

AWS WAF pricing is seen as affordable but can be costly in high-demand scenarios like DDoS attacks.
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud offers cost-effective WAF services with flexible payments, appealing to large enterprises despite not being the cheapest.
Due to our status as an AWS shop, AWS WAF is cost-effective for us, and we benefit from discounts due to our extensive use of AWS services.
Security Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The licensing cost for AWS WAF is just pay-as-you-go; it is a service-based model.
Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC
It is twice cheaper.
Pre sale engineer at Harnssen Group Limited
I just recommend Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service because it is very expensive.
Pre Sales Architect at network techlab
The price is not the cheapest, but it offers great value for money.
Principal Network Architect at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Valuable Features

AWS WAF enhances security with configurable rules, seamless AWS integration, scalability, and ease of deployment for threat protection.
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service offers AI-driven security, easy integration, and adaptability with robust threat protection and reporting.
The biggest benefit of AWS WAF for us is to filter malicious requests, so we can protect our environment and application from malicious actors.
Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC
The specific outcomes showing how AWS WAF has helped our organization include improving our security posture by reducing the attack surface and reducing malicious attacks.
Senior Cloud Security at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The cloud-native nature of AWS is crucial since most of our workload is in AWS, making AWS WAF native to Amazon Web Services.
Security Analyst at M2P Fintech
It is possible to easily find vulnerabilities with the WAF.
IT Specialist at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
It effectively mitigates web attacks, provides virtual protections, and handles large traffic with minimal processing effort.
Security Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Its usability is a key aspect as it is very easy to use and deploy in front of new APIs.
Principal Network Architect at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS WAF
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF...
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
22nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of AWS WAF is 4.0%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service is 0.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Web Application Firewall (WAF) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
AWS WAF4.0%
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service0.9%
Other95.1%
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2849304 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cloud Security at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Centralized web firewalling has reduced our attack surface and protects multi‑cloud applications
AWS WAF can be improved by not being too sensitive for some data because with some XML, it is sometimes very sensitive. When we upload videos or photos, it is flagged as a malicious pattern, and sometimes it is not sensitive enough because some query patterns that have the capability to perform malicious actions still result in false positives from AWS. It would be better for AWS WAF if it not only had logs but also specific payloads or something that directly included the specific logs so we can have more detail in our analysis. I think it should be better if they improve their capabilities in reducing the attack surface and also have better visibility for OWASP top 10 web applications and the API. Regarding AWS WAF's AI capabilities, its governance and security are very good because our attack surface is mostly reduced. The new dashboard is a bit complicated; it is easier for non-technical users, but for technical professionals, it is sometimes confusing. While the security itself is good and the governance is good, I think it needs to improve the UI or the flow itself. The accuracy and reliability of AWS WAF's output is better than others. With the free version, it has a good filter with the attack surface and the reliability is good, but sometimes we need to adjust. With the free version, we also have to pay some amount of money if the number exceeds the default provided by AWS.
NiteshSharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre Sales Architect at network techlab
Comprehensive web protection has secured public apps and supports advanced audit requirements
Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service has multiple valuable aspects. The WAF solution secures whatever public domains have been published by the public platform or internal servers exposed to public users. Firewalls have limitations, which is why I suggest using a WAF solution. The firewall provides the same features but in a limited edition. When discussing the SaaS platform or Layer 7 layer of security, you will receive multiple benefits. Firewalls have limitations with signatures, bot protection, and DOS protection. Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service is a dedicated WAF product that handles all DOS protection, bot protection, API security, endpoint connectivity, signature-based support, and top 10 OWASP support. Multiple features are available. AI and ML-based technology is available in almost every tool today. When discussing troubleshooting, there are AI models that will solve your problem and provide information. AI is helpful because it will give you proper information regarding errors and troubleshooting.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What are the limitations of AWS WAF vs alternative WAFs?
Hi Varun, I have had experienced with several WAF deployments and deep technical assessments of the following: 1. Imperva WAF 2. F5 WAF 3. Polarisec Cloud WAF Typical limitations on cloud WAF is t...
How does AWS WAF compare to Microsoft Azure Application Gateway?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Amazon’s Web Service Web Application Firewall or Microsoft Azure Application Gateway web application firewall software was the better fit ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS WAF?
AWS WAF is affordable; it depends on the number of rules you apply. The licensing cost for AWS WAF is just pay-as-you-go; it is a service-based model.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service?
It is expensive. Actually, it is expensive. When discussing small organizations, I would not recommend it to them. I always choose the enterprise because it is expensive. I just recommend Fortinet ...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service?
Currently, I want to add that Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service is offering only two-factor authentication. I want them to provide SAML authentication. If it gets SAML authentication or some...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service?
When discussing Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service, I always recommend it. Either I can recommend F5. Most users require security via SSL, so I recommend Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Serv...
 

Also Known As

AWS Web Application Firewall
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

eVitamins, 9Splay, Senao International
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS WAF vs. Fortinet FortiWeb Cloud WAF-as-a-Service and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.