

Azure Front Door and Azure Web Application Firewall compete in the domain of cloud security and performance solutions. Azure Front Door seems to have the upper hand in performance and scalability, thanks to its CDN and load-balancing capabilities, while Azure Web Application Firewall is favored for its robust security features.
Features: Azure Front Door is valued for its integration of CDN and load-balancing, providing global deployment, SSL offloading, and bot protection. It's easy to use for managing APIs. Azure WAF stands out with custom security rules, OWASP compliance, and effective DDoS protection, easily integrating into the Azure ecosystem.
Room for Improvement: Azure Front Door could improve by reducing costs, improving latency, and supporting multiple cloud vendors. Clearer distinctions from similar Azure products would also help. Azure WAF could enhance its deployment options, improve documentation, and offer more security features like its competitors.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Azure Front Door and Azure WAF are well-supported and straightforward to configure. Azure WAF offers more flexibility in deployment within hybrid and private clouds, whereas Azure Front Door is optimized for public cloud support.
Pricing and ROI: Azure Front Door provides a flexible pricing model with a balanced cost-to-quality ratio. Azure WAF's pricing is reasonable for enterprises, although the free version has limited capabilities. Both solutions demonstrate strong ROI through efficient management within the Azure ecosystem.
Azure Front Door offers a quick return on investment once it is set up.
AI-based recommendations save on time and money.
Recently, they have been under serious attack with major exploits, such as Log4j, affecting Fortinet and Palo Alto, and even Cisco and VMware.
I am able to set up a critical call with Microsoft, and they respond quickly to tickets with the highest severity.
I hardly use Microsoft's paid subscription or maintenance services, however, whenever I send them a note, they have been responsive.
I would rate the technical support that Azure provides from Microsoft a seven.
I reached out to their support, and they helped me resolve the issue effectively.
Scaling can be done anytime as needed.
I find that Front Door can become expensive for large-scale projects with more transactions and users.
Beyond a certain SKU, I can install and use these services.
For our company, Azure Web Application Firewall works effectively for scalability.
I rate Azure Front Door's stability a nine because it is easy to make updates through Azure Portal.
Very rarely do I see any latency issues.
If I could use Azure Front Door with private IP addresses, it would be more beneficial.
It relies on the WAF module where users must configure rate-limiting rules, as it does not automatically sense malicious spikes in traffic.
The only significant adjustment required is with URL set parameters that need to be passed for an existing domain.
Upgrading the platform regularly is necessary for security, however, frequent updates every six months or year from Azure can be a maintenance overhead.
The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced.
Azure Front Door is cheaper for small projects, companies, or applications compared to using separate tools.
It is even a lower cost compared to AWS and GCP.
Sometimes, when opting for a higher SKU, it's not the WAF itself that's costly but the additional requirements.
I would place Azure Web Application Firewall at an eight on a scale from one to 10, with one being cheap and 10 being expensive.
Azure Front Door includes a built-in web application firewall, which performs signature-based checks of the request payload, offering protection against common attacks or malicious requests.
Azure Front Door provides DDoS protection and features related to WAF.
With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan.
It integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot.
It is almost impossible to access these assets from outside, requiring a very skilled attacker to obtain asset tokens of a customer using Azure.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Azure Web Application Firewall | 3.1% |
| Azure Front Door | 3.9% |
| Other | 93.0% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 9 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 9 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 12 |
Azure Front Door enhances web application performance and security by leveraging traffic inspection, SSL offloading, and a web application firewall. It enables intelligent routing, load balancing, and global resource deployment while providing essential features for online application security.
Azure Front Door integrates GitOps for seamless deployment, offering significant capabilities in giant networks like CDN functionalities and DDoS protection. Its advanced configurations include traffic analytics and transit layer security. Despite its affordability and scalability, users see room for improvement in global load balancing and private IP address support, citing integration challenges with other cloud vendors. The interface may appear complex, and some users desire more transparent pricing, better DDoS defenses, and enhanced monitoring. This platform is especially beneficial for securing external traffic and optimizing content delivery, providing DNS integration and disaster recovery mechanisms.
What are the key features of Azure Front Door?In industries focusing on online presence and global user engagement, Azure Front Door is invaluable for optimizing web application performance. E-commerce platforms deploy it to secure transactions and enhance load times. Media companies leverage its CDN and security features to ensure seamless content delivery. Enterprises with international operations find it crucial for reliable and secure data access across regions.
Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) provides centralized protection of your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities. Web applications are increasingly targeted by malicious attacks that exploit commonly known vulnerabilities. SQL injection and cross-site scripting are among the most common attacks.
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