Azure Web Application Firewall vs Fastly comparison

Azure Web Application Firewall

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Fastly and Azure Web Application Firewall are competing in the web security space, with Fastly's agile approach often favored for pricing and Azure WAF offering a comprehensive feature set for larger enterprises.

Features: Fastly offers real-time logging, edge cloud computing, and flexible APIs for dynamic protection. Azure WAF integrates with Azure services, providing robust threat intelligence and automated scalability. Its extensive security options make it attractive to enterprises within the Azure environment.

Room for Improvement: Fastly could enhance zero-trust features, user interface customization, and detailed reporting. Azure WAF may improve initial setup processes, offer more competitive pricing models, and expand third-party integration capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fastly provides straightforward deployment with a user-friendly API and quick customer service. Azure WAF leverages Microsoft's resources for detailed deployments, with extensive documentation and support for complex needs.

Pricing and ROI: Fastly's competitive pay-as-you-go pricing is cost-effective for smaller organizations. Azure WAF, despite its higher price, offers substantial ROI through deep integration with Azure’s suite, appealing to enterprises seeking comprehensive cloud service use.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Fastly Report (Updated: December 2025).

Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Fastly

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

Azure Web Application Firewall

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (21st)

Fastly

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

18th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CDN (8th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of Azure Web Application Firewall is 3.1%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fastly is 1.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Web Application Firewall (WAF) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure Web Application Firewall	3.1%
Fastly	1.3%
Other	95.6%

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Featured Reviews

Mano Senaratne

Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.

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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Patel Parth

Technical support engineer at Adobe

Optimized ecommerce performance and improved access control through image handling and IP filtering

I believe that Fastly should provide guidelines for their WAF blocking rules. It should be public what the rules are that are blocking their contents. I believe Fastly should provide regional IP addresses instead of POP IPs. Fastly should provide features similar to Cloudflare regarding a block list. Additionally, a POP address should be there with a wide range of IP addresses provided, public static IP addresses, so customers can integrate egress IPs. Fastly should provide WebP image processing on the backend instead of on the fly. It would be a very useful feature to avoid unnecessary time for browser to browser and local cookies. I believe that Fastly service has a few gaps. We are not getting quick responses from Fastly technical support engineers. Sometimes they depend on their D3 developers. There should be transparency.

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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 solution has good dashboards."

"It has been a stable product in my experience."

"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."

"The return on investment is good."

"The most valuable feature is that it allows us to publish our applications behind the firewall."

"It's quite a stable product and works well with Microsoft products."

"The functions of Azure Web Application Firewall that I found most valuable include its cost-effectiveness, and unlike other WAF products I have worked with such as Barracuda, we have flexibility to create rules."

"Azure WAF is extremely stable."

More Azure Web Application Firewall pros

"Its initial setup process is straightforward."

"The product helps our organization to access sites located in different regions quickly."

"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."

"Support is good; the product works as advertised. We have a Slack connection with them. So we can basically ask for help, live, engage, and ring when they respond. Very quickly."

"Rate limiting is a good feature that protects from volumetric attacks."

"Fastly uses configuration versioning, where you can deploy a new version in less than one minute."

"Fastly provides CDN, WAF, image optimization, and IP restriction."

"Compute@Edge features are valuable to me."

More Fastly pros

Cons

"Deployment should be simplified so that a non-techie can handle it."

"Azure WAF should not be deployed in the middle of the traffic."

"The support for proxy forwarding could improve."

"We would like to see additional site services using AI to provide information about blocking requests and offer analytics on the origin of calls."

"I would say that Azure's customer service is not that good...I am not very happy with the support offered."

"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."

"The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced."

"From my point of view, there is no need for improvement."

More Azure Web Application Firewall cons

"Stronger analytics would be helpful, like showing configurations that haven't served a certain amount of traffic in a while. With many properties, things can get lost track of - duplicates or unused configurations not properly decommissioned."

"We are not getting quick responses from Fastly technical support engineers. Sometimes they depend on their D3 developers."

"What I don't like about Fastly is that they charge a heavy price."

"It is missing a "staging" platform to deploy a test configuration with all of the real settings, which would allow us to properly test before putting it into production."

"The product should provide improved bot detection and management."

"Fastly's customer service area needs improvement."

"Support is not that great."

"The solution's pricing could be better."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 price is reasonable. It is approximately $2,000 US per month."

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."

"We have an enterprise agreement with Microsoft and the pricing is good."

"The price is for this solution is fair and there is a license needed."

"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 pricing has been very competitive."

"You need to pay a premium price for the tool."

"The solution is cheaper than other products in the market."

"In my opinion, Fastly is priced competitively."

"Fastly is less expensive than one of its competitors."

"It is an expensive solution."

"I've generally found Fastly to be very competitive in pricing, especially around Compute@Edge."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Web Application Firewall (WAF) solutions are best for your needs.

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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Web Application Firewall?

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.

What needs improvement with Azure Web Application Firewall?

The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced. I've worked with Fortinet and Cisco, and I think the UI is a litt...

What is your primary use case for Azure Web Application Firewall?

Because we mostly operate in the cloud and because we're a Microsoft environment, it was the best option in the scenario. The options were limited in terms of wanting to be an only Microsoft enviro...

What do you like most about Fastly?

Support is good; the product works as advertised. We have a Slack connection with them. So we can basically ask for help, live, engage, and ring when they respond. Very quickly.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fastly?

You need to pay a premium price for the tool.

What needs improvement with Fastly?

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Product Reports

Azure Web Application Firewall

January 2026

Download Azure Web Application Firewall product report

Download Fastly product report

January 2026

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

Fastly helps the world’s most popular digital businesses keep pace with their customer expectations by delivering fast, secure, and scalable online experiences. Businesses trust Fastly’s edge cloud platform to accelerate the pace of technical innovation, mitigate evolving threats, and scale on demand.

Sample Customers

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Twitter, Airbnb, Alaska Airlines, Pinterest, Vimeo, The Guardian, The New York Times, Ticketmaster, The Drupal Association, Opera, about.com, imgur, Etsy, Foursquare, GitHub, New Relic, shopify, Shazam, Firebase