F5 Advanced WAF vs NSFOCUS Web Application Firewall comparison

F5 and NSFOCUS are both solutions in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category. F5 is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6, while NSFOCUS is ranked #46. F5 holds a 10.7% mindshare in WAF, compared to NSFOCUS’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of F5 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NSFOCUS users who would recommend it.

F5 Advanced WAF

Read 69 F5 Advanced WAF reviews

7,880 Views
4,103 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

NSFOCUS Web Application Fir...

Read 1 NSFOCUS Web Application Firewall review

180 Views
77 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

F5 Advanced WAF

NSFOCUS Web Application Fir...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between F5 Advanced WAF and NSFOCUS Web Application Firewall based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Web Services (AWS), F5, Microsoft and others in Web Application Firewall (WAF).

To learn more, read our detailed Web Application Firewall (WAF) Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

June 2025

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Helped 860,592 peers since 2012

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

F5 Advanced WAF

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NSFOCUS Web Application Fir...

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

46th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

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 F5 Advanced WAF is 10.7%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NSFOCUS Web Application Firewall is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Featured Reviews

Ahmed Moamen

Senior Security Solutions Architect at Orange

Protects applications with versatile authentication features

F5 offers a versatile solution that can be integrated with APM in cases where integration with an external IDB is needed. It is useful for authentication backup if the on-prem directory service is unavailable. Additionally, its WAF functionality is valuable for protecting applications from attacks. It is a versatile and strong solution that's easy to understand and deploy.

Read full review

it_user933945

Desktop Engineer at eros international media ltd

Offers Application Protection Against Web Attacks

There is a need for expanded licensing terms and options. There's also a need for improved and more agile customization features. The user needs to be able to manage each policy as required; the functionality needs to empower the user. There should be a complete suite of desktop provider policies available to users. Overall, it needs to be more user-friendly.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Identification, ease of use, and ease of modifying it to most of our needs are valuable."

"F5 Advanced WAF offers features not available in other products."

"Very easy to implement and works well."

"It ensures compliance with security standards by providing features like PCI DSS checks."

"The AOF solution provides numerous security features."

"I like the security features, especially against SQL injection."

"The initial setup was was easy to install."

"F5 technical support is excellent. They are experts who always provide the right solution, and they understand the problem. Their response and resolution times are good."

More F5 Advanced WAF pros

"Since we are using this tool for protection purposes we really appreciate the hybrid security abilities; the main idea here is that we powerful protection our application needs."

Cons

"I think the deployment templates can be better."

"People who want to work with the device have to be pro in Linux"

"F5 Advanced WAF could improve the precision of the scanning. There are many false positives. They should improve their threat database."

"F5 Advanced WAF could improve resource usage, it is CPU intensive. Additionally, adding automated remediation would be a benefit. For example, an easy button alerts us of the events that are occurring, and what we want to do at the time. An automated approach where somebody could be alerted very quickly. Instead of going and reconfiguring everything, an automated approach is what I'm looking at."

"F5 Advanced WAF needs better integration within the application, like remote dashboards."

"It's a powerful tool yet can be complex for new users."

"F5 Advanced WAF could improve on its funding for WAF features. There is a need to be more advanced WAF features."

"F5 needs to improve API protection with a single F5 solution, without requiring additional modules."

More F5 Advanced WAF cons

"There is a need for expanded licensing terms and options. There's also a need for improved and more agile customization features. The user needs to be able to manage each policy as required; the functionality needs to empower the user. There should be a complete suite of desktop provider policies available to users. Overall, it needs to be more user-friendly."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of F5 Advanced WAF is more expensive than other solutions like Radware and CD18, it is quite high."

"F5 Advanced WAF is not a cost-effective solution. Although they are attempting to reduce prices with their VE and cloud options, they are more expensive than other solutions. The solution is more expensive on average."

"I don't have any issue with the pricing of this solution."

"F5 Advanced WAF pricing structure should be adjusted to meet the need of small to medium-sized companies."

"Pricing for this solution is higher than average."

"The pricing for F5 Advanced WAF is comparable to a Rolls-Royce. Its price is a bit high when you compare it with other vendors. F5 Advanced WAF is a bit expensive. The customer was on a three-year plan and it was around $560,000."

"I would rate the pricing as seven out of ten"

"Licensing fees for this solution are paid on a yearly basis."

More F5 Advanced WAF pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Comms Service Provider

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 Advanced WAF?

It's a fairly easy-to-use and user-friendly tool. My administrators and team also like its ability to customize the rules per the requirements.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 Advanced WAF?

The price is affordable and satisfactory.

See all answers

What needs improvement with F5 Advanced WAF?

I do not have anything in mind right now that needs improvement. Generally, it works well. If we need any specific feature, we approach F5 directly.

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Comparisons

Fortinet FortiWeb vs F5 Advanced WAF

Compared 22% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs F5 Advanced WAF

Compared 12% of the time

AWS WAF vs F5 Advanced WAF

Compared 12% of the time

Imperva Web Application Firewall vs F5 Advanced WAF

Compared 6% of the time

Azure Front Door vs F5 Advanced WAF

Compared 4% of the time

More F5 Advanced WAF Competitors

Imperva DDoS vs NSFOCUS Web Application Firewall

Compared 53% of the time

More NSFOCUS Web Application Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

F5 Advanced WAF

June 2025

Download F5 Advanced WAF product report

Buyer's Guide

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

June 2025

Download NSFOCUS Web Application Firewall product report

Also Known As

No data available

NSFOCUS WAF, NSFOCUS Web Application Security

Overview

F5 Advanced WAF is a web application security solution for financial and government sectors, e-commerce, and public-facing websites. It offers protection against various attacks, including botnets, web scraping, and foreign entities. The solution can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud and is often used with other security tools. Its most valuable features include DDoS and DNS attack protection, SSL uploading, anomaly detection, and the ability to input custom rules.

F5 Advanced WAF has helped organizations to expose more services to the public while providing an extra layer of protection, preventing revenue loss, and securing connectivity.

NSFOCUS understands how critical your web servers and applications are to your business and we have designed a closed-loop web application security solution to protect you from web attacks, data breaches and downtime. This solution includes website protection through our Web Application Firewall (WAF) and pro-active vulnerability assessment using our Web Vulnerability Scanning System (WVSS).

NSFOCUS

Sample Customers

MAXIMUS, Vivo, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office, City Bank

2016 G20 Summit

Buyer's Guide

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

June 2025

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