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BlueCat Edge vs F5 BIG-IP DNS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

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

BlueCat Edge
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
F5 BIG-IP DNS
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of BlueCat Edge is 3.2%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP DNS is 4.1%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Domain Name System (DNS) Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
F5 BIG-IP DNS4.1%
BlueCat Edge3.2%
Other92.7%
Domain Name System (DNS) Security
 

Featured Reviews

LeandroFreitas - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We see the benefits immediately, it can identify DNS threats, and is flexible
The most impressive feature of BlueCat Edge is its versatility combined with robust security. It acts as a central platform that intelligently routes traffic to the correct resolver while simultaneously enforcing security policies. This includes the ability to blacklist malicious domains or redirect traffic, providing a significant security advantage. In my experience, I've successfully migrated nearly 100,000 internal IP addresses across 14 global data centers using BlueCat Edge, handling a substantial amount of traffic with ease. The interface is user-friendly, and what I find most helpful is the ability to quickly view logs. These logs contain all the queries from internal clients and the corresponding responses from the DNS service, making troubleshooting DNS traffic significantly easier. In the past 24 hours, we've seen 86,000 unique IP addresses using the service, though this number likely fluctuates seasonally. Overall, it's the best solution I've found for troubleshooting DNS traffic. The unparalleled visibility offered by BlueCat Edge is arguably the most critical benefit we receive.
RR
Associate Consultant at HCLSoftware
Global load balancing has ensured continuous availability and optimized user response times
While F5 BIG-IP DNS is a very powerful solution, some improvements could enhance the overall experience. For example, the user interface could be more modern and simplified. The reporting and analytics features can be improved. Simplified deployment for cloud-native environments could be improved. Overall, F5 BIG-IP DNS is a robust and reliable solution for global traffic management and application availability. With its advanced traffic steering capability, we are definitely getting great benefits from that. However, the user interface is the major thing I think can be improved. The cost also can be reduced. Those are the two or three points that need to be improved. There is some scope for improvement, including the user interface and pricing. That is why I gave it a nine.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We implemented BlueCat Edge to solve the visibility and security issues we were having."
"IP Address Management (IPAM) is the most valuable."
"The unparalleled visibility offered by BlueCat Edge is arguably the most critical benefit we receive."
"What I found most valuable is the ability to put it in place and integrate it very quickly. It allows us to create routing rule sets to route DNS traffic where it needs to go most efficiently in our environment."
"Edge has reduced the complexity and has been more reliable."
"Scalability-wise, it's pretty good."
"It allows us to easily monitor our subnets and routers."
"The configuration process is straightforward, making it easy to set up wide IPs and distribute traffic across local US sites and data centers via VPN."
"BIG-IP DNS's best feature is the Global Traffic Manager (GTM)."
"F5 technical support is quite good and they follow up if there are any issues."
"F5 BIG-IP DNS has been rock solid in terms of stability for years."
"For one of our clients, F5 improved global server load balancing with an active-active site configuration for Disaster Recovery."
"BIG-IP DNS effectively handled a traffic surge. For example, we have application forms replicated across our DCs. If our primary application becomes unavailable, BIG-IP automatically fails over to a client-unaware secondary application."
"It's very stable."
"F5 BIG-IP DNS is useful, depending on how you use it."
 

Cons

"I would like to see improvements in threat detection and the ability to add categorization for blocking queries, such as those related to adult entertainment."
"Its price is on the higher side."
"One pain point concerning DNS Edge is the inability to see per Edge endpoint, what devices are querying against it. They do have the capability for you to look at that data, but the data is roughly 24 to 48 hours old. I am looking for real-time data, and I cannot get that per Edge endpoint."
"A more graphical user interface would be a benefit."
"I have concerns about several aspects of BlueCat's site management."
"A more graphical user interface would be a benefit. It would be nice if I could click on a subnet and it would show me all of my links and everything."
"The main improvement for BlueCat Edge's security configuration would be more granular control."
"The analysis services needs improvement."
"In the product, one of the shortcomings is related to its configuration part...Though you can find some manuals or F5 documents, in real life, it's very hard to understand this product."
"I would like to see deeper integration with VMware in the sense that F5 compliments VMware, in the context of application availability."
"Scalability is a concern, it could be improved."
"Hand management and working with rules are two areas that need to be improved."
"The solution can improve by adding cloud integration through plugins or additional configurations so we can use F5 BIG-IP DNS to communicate with the cloud."
"I sometimes encounter issues with the porting of F5 BIG-IP DNS."
"The initial setup was complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We find the current pricing model more reasonable compared to the previous per-IP pricing."
"The licensing model for BlueCat Edge seems very good, although I can't confirm if it's specific to our contract."
"One of the nice benefits of getting DNS Edge is that you buy the subscription, and you are allowed to deploy as many Edge endpoints as you need. You do not need a separate license for each one. If you deploy 20 of them, you will not be billed for that many. It is one subscription. You can deploy as many as you need and consume as much as you need. The cost comes in based on the number of IPs that you are consuming and running through DNS Edge. We have that pretty much locked in for what we need for internal purposes. Being able to save money on deploying Edge endpoints has saved us drastically from deploying other BlueCat products in lieu of that."
"I'm doing a costing and licensing comparison between the BlueCat DNS Integrity and Micetro by Men&Mice. BlueCat has given me a range instead of a specific price. They gave me a range of ten thousand to two hundred thousand USD. That was a bit too wide for the cost comparison. Based on what I'm seeing, they are definitely on the higher side and very expensive."
"This product is quite pricey but if you compare the feature set and its compatibility with similar products on the market, you would understand why it's that price."
"In some cases, it is expensive."
"BIG-IP DNS is more expensive than its competitors like Citrix, but it gives good value for money."
"You cannot do much around DDoS protection without an additional license from F5."
"I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being a low price."
"They are competitively priced."
"Cost is a factor. It is really costly."
"The on-prem version is only available on a yearly license, but the cloud version can be paid for on a day-by-day basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BlueCat Edge?
I'm not aware of the exact pricing and licensing as I was not part of the procurement process. However, there was a significant cost reduction thanks to BlueCat Cloud DNS managing external solutions.
What needs improvement with BlueCat Edge?
BlueCat should consider deploying feature enhancement requests faster, especially if they are simple to implement. They need to focus and deploy such features in the next version itself, which woul...
What is your primary use case for BlueCat Edge?
We have deployed BlueCat Edge across our organization globally. Regional-based queries are directed to BlueCat Edge, and they are resolved within the regions themselves. For instance, we have an An...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP DNS?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was good. We got great support from the F5 sales team. They helped us to deploy it in our organization.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP DNS?
While F5 BIG-IP DNS is a very powerful solution, some improvements could enhance the overall experience. For example, the user interface could be more modern and simplified. The reporting and analy...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP DNS?
My main use case for F5 BIG-IP DNS is creating an active-active setup. With two data centers, if I want to make them active-standby or active-active, my major use case is to redirect traffic from o...
 

Also Known As

BlueCat DNS Edge
F5 BIG-IP DNS, F5 DNS Delivery
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Swisslos, Cologne Bonn Airport, TYROLIT
Ricacorp Properties, Bangladesh Post Office, Shawbrook Bank, Shinsegae Internet Duty Free
Find out what your peers are saying about BlueCat Edge vs. F5 BIG-IP DNS and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.