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Azure Web Application Firewall vs Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service comparison

Microsoft and Barracuda Networks are both solutions in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category. Microsoft is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.5, while Barracuda Networks is ranked #33 with an average rating of 6.0. Microsoft holds a 4.2% mindshare in WAF, compared to Barracuda Networks’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 75% of Barracuda Networks users who would recommend it.
Azure Web Application Firewall
Read 15 Azure Web Application Firewall reviews
  • 3,033 Views
  • 2,069 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service
Read 5 Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service reviews
  • 491 Views
  • 297 Comparison Views
75% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service and Azure Web Application Firewall compete in web application protection. Azure Web Application Firewall holds the upper hand due to its extensive features and integration capabilities.

Features: Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service includes automated threat updates, comprehensive reporting tools, and DDoS protection. Azure Web Application Firewall offers seamless integration with Azure services, advanced threat intelligence, and filtering capabilities to block false positives with custom rules.

Room for Improvement: Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service could enhance its scalability, improve integration with third-party services, and offer more customizable threat rules. Azure Web Application Firewall might simplify its often complex setup process, improve ease of use for non-Azure environments, and possibly reduce its cost to offer better competitive pricing.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is known for quick deployment and responsive customer service. Azure Web Application Firewall, despite a more complex integration process, benefits from being part of the Azure ecosystem, offering streamlined processes for those environments.

Pricing and ROI: Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service typically offers a lower setup cost with effective support that ensures a quick ROI. Azure Web Application Firewall, though with higher initial costs, provides extensive scalability and features, appealing to organizations invested in Azure's ecosystem for long-term ROI.

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To learn more, read our detailed Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service
June 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

Azure Web Application Firewall
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (22nd)
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service
Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)
33rd
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of Azure Web Application Firewall is 4.2%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is 0.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
 

Featured Reviews

Mano Senaratne - PeerSpot reviewer
Comprehensive suite simplifies configuration while frequent updates require management
Mainly, it comes with the complete suite of Microsoft services. I can use it in conjunction with the best options and other features that come with it. Configuration is much easier than using different platforms. For example, if I have hosted the application in AWS and am using the Application Firewall from Azure, there are certain additional steps to follow when configuring them. With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan. Azure continually upgrades platforms and sends us messages to upgrade to the next version, simplifying the process. Later, it's much easier if I want to upgrade the software platform, scale it, or move it to a different application host as the whole suite comes together. The return on investment is good. If I am doing applications for clients, I can invoice them for better costs. Most applications that I run and use have a better return on investment.
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Hadar Eshel - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to install platform with valuable policy management features
We use the product for securing email systems, protecting websites, and safeguarding web-based applications and portals One significant area for improvement in Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service lies in its market positioning and pricing strategy. Additionally, it could operate in a local data center.…
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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

"The most valuable feature is that it allows us to publish our applications behind the firewall."
"It's a good option if you want a solution that's ready to go and easy for your team to learn. It's cloud-based, so you don't need to buy or maintain any hardware infrastructure."
"The return on investment is good."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Web Application Firewall is its ability to filter requests and block false positives by using custom rules and the OWASP rule set."
"We have found the most valuable features to be the web application, minimal skills required for management, control through policies, and automation."
"It is almost impossible to access these assets from outside, requiring a very skilled attacker to obtain asset tokens of a customer using Azure."
"I can only strongly recommend using the Azure Web Application Firewall."
"The solution has good dashboards."
More Azure Web Application Firewall pros
"The product's bot protection feature is valuable for our company."
"The solution can be used for threat prevention or as a cloud-to-cloud backup system"
"I like its ability to identify known attacks, including DDOS attacks. It's valuable because software must be able to stop known attacks. Application attacks are evolving all the time. When it comes to software-as-a-service, we need to have software that knows about all the latest attacks. It should also protect against major unknown attacks."
"It provides an ease of policy management."
"The most valuable features of the solution are it is plug and play, has automated policies, a simple configuration, and is easy to create rules."
 

Cons

"From a reporting perspective, they could do more there."
"The support for proxy forwarding could improve."
"The management can be improved."
"Some Azure applications, like the web application firewall, require a certain level of SKU for hosting setup. The basic setup does not allow me to use the web application firewall and other additional services."
"Azure WAF should not be deployed in the middle of the traffic."
"Upgrading the platform regularly is necessary for security, however, frequent updates every six months or year from Azure can be a maintenance overhead."
"I would say that Azure's customer service is not that good...I am not very happy with the support offered."
"The documentation needs to be improved."
More Azure Web Application Firewall cons
"One significant area for improvement in Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service lies in its market positioning and pricing strategy."
"We found it a bit slow when accessing it through the web browser. The URL also exposed the user name and the hashed password. When I log into my Barracuda WAF user portal, I could see the username and the hashed password on the URL itself. So, it is not very secure, and it is important to take that off."
"It's a very specific solution that is only requested for a customer's web code or their global IT policy."
"The solution can improve by bundling Security Operation Center (SOC) with the WAF-as-a-Service, it would provide a lot more value to customers."
"The stability of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is for this solution is fair and there is a license needed."
"The price is reasonable. It is approximately $2,000 US per month."
"We have an enterprise agreement with Microsoft and the pricing is good."
"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."
"Azure WAF has price advantages over other WAF solutions. The pricing model is flexible because you pay on a scale based on the level of protection you need."
"The price of the solution depends on your architecture and how you manage it. You can control the cost in Azure quite well. The costs do not directly correlate to expenses in the features we are using."
"The product is expensive but it offers flexible pricing. It could be affordable."
"It's very difficult for me to give an estimate of the cost. All I know is that we sell the box itself as a service."
"I rate the product's price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high. There are no additional costs to be paid apart from the standard licensing fees attached to the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
14%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Web Application Firewall?
The integration it has with GitHub is great.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Web Application Firewall?
The pricing is okay at the moment. Sometimes, when opting for a higher SKU, it's not the WAF itself that's costly but the additional requirements. A higher SKU application hosting platform adds to ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Azure Web Application Firewall?
While using it, I identified certain areas where it would have been good to have additional features. Right now, I can't recall any specific instances. Seamless integration is good, yet having mult...
See all answers
What do you like most about Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service?
It provides an ease of policy management.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service?
One significant area for improvement in Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service lies in its market positioning and pricing strategy. Additionally, it could operate in a local data center. This limitation hinder...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service?
We use the product for securing email systems, protecting websites, and safeguarding web-based applications and portals.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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AWS WAF vs Azure Web Application Firewall
Compared 31% of the time
Fortinet FortiWeb vs Azure Web Application Firewall Logo
Fortinet FortiWeb vs Azure Web Application Firewall
Compared 11% of the time
Azure Front Door vs Azure Web Application Firewall Logo
Azure Front Door vs Azure Web Application Firewall
Compared 6% of the time
Akamai App and API Protector vs Azure Web Application Firewall Logo
Akamai App and API Protector vs Azure Web Application Firewall
Compared 5% of the time
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Azure Web Application Firewall Logo
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Azure Web Application Firewall
Compared 5% of the time
More Azure Web Application Firewall Competitors
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service Logo
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service
Compared 73% of the time
Fortinet FortiWeb vs Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service Logo
Fortinet FortiWeb vs Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service
Compared 15% of the time
More Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Azure Web Application Firewall
June 2025
Azure Web Application Firewall reportDownload Azure Web Application Firewall product report
Buyer's Guide
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
June 2025
Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service reportDownload Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
Barracuda WAF as a Service
 

Overview

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.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is a comprehensive solution designed to provide application security, DDoS protection, SSL authentication, protocol support, and application delivery. It is a plug-and-play solution with automated policies, simple configuration, and easy rule creation. 

The solution can be used for threat prevention or as a cloud-to-cloud backup system based on email protection with cloud security. It is also a web application firewall and covers major protection and threat management functions. With Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service, customers can ensure the security of their web code and comply with global IT policies.

Barracuda Networks
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Salvation Army
Buyer's Guide
Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service
June 2025
Free Report: Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service
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