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F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs Radware DDoS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
F5 BIG-IP AFM offers ROI and cost efficiency when integrated, but standalone ROI is below average, despite perceived value.
Sentiment score
5.8
Radware DDoS enhances service availability, reduces costs, and improves infrastructure efficiency, offering significant financial and reputational benefits.
The hybrid approach optimized infrastructure costs and personnel resources.
CIO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Because of Radware DDoS, many attacks can be mitigated effectively.
Technical Specialist at HCLSoftware
I have seen a return on investment with Radware DDoS because it reduced our work by mitigating traffic before it reached the perimeter firewall, which lessened the need for extra security policies.
Senior Security Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
F5 BIG-IP AFM support is praised for professionalism but needs faster ticket resolution and improved recommendation accuracy.
Sentiment score
6.9
Radware DDoS support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though improvements in communication and availability are suggested.
The responses are generally fast and effective.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
The customer service is excellent, and I rate it ten out of ten.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
I rate the technical support by F5 a ten from one to ten.
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
Providing assistance almost instantly when needed.
IT Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Ensuring less than one second mitigation for L3/L4 and less than ten seconds for L7.
CIO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Sometimes I do not even get a response for days.
3rd Line Security Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager offers scalable, efficient management for hybrid setups, supporting organizational growth and cloud migration.
Sentiment score
7.4
Radware DDoS excels in scalability and support, benefiting sectors like banking, despite licensing flexibility and availability concerns.
The solution is highly scalable, allowing me to add or remove nodes and manage traffic without interruption, which is essential for meeting application demands.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
In terms of scalability, Radware DDoS excels.
Associate Manager for Network and Cybersecurity at TP Northern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPNODL)
In terms of scalability, Radware DDoS is easy to use.
Technical Specialist at HCLSoftware
Radware DDoS's scalability is good; scaling up or down is easy without performance issues.
Senior Security Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
F5 BIG-IP AFM is lauded for its stability and reliability, with high user ratings and minimal operational issues.
Sentiment score
8.2
Radware DDoS is acclaimed for its stability and reliability, with minor issues efficiently resolved by proactive support.
In my opinion, there is no downtime experienced with Radware DDoS Protection Service due to external network redundancy.
Sr IT Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
DefensePro is the technology that is in front of the traffic and protects against DDoS attacks.
Professional Consultor Digital Services at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Radware DDoS is stable in my experience, with no downtime or reliability issues.
Senior Security Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

F5 BIG-IP AFM is costly, complex, needs dashboard improvements, enhanced features, better integration, and concerns over CPU and support.
Radware DDoS needs cloud integration, AI improvements, better support, user interface, reporting, pricing, and security enhancements.
Having advanced technology similar to other vendors like Palo Alto for zero-day attack prevention would be valuable.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
The appliance and features could be enhanced further, especially in terms of security.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
I would assess the importance of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s integration with cloud services as significant.
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
We suggest that clear visibility within a management console could significantly enhance Radware DDoS's usability.
Associate Manager for Network and Cybersecurity at TP Northern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPNODL)
There should be improved bot management integration that mitigates bot-based DDoS attacks completely.
Information Security Manager at Dalmia Bharat Ltd
Radware DDoS does not have any authentication countermeasures to mitigate any attacks, which needs to be addressed.
3rd Line Security Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

F5 BIG-IP AFM is costly but justified by its features, with pricing for licenses and potential extra feature fees.
Radware DDoS pricing is high but justified, offering flexible subscriptions, superior features, and adaptability for comprehensive protection.
The standard license is reasonably priced, but additional features like the WAF can be more expensive.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
If considering a one-stop solution that provides load balancing, DNS security, AAA authentication, and firewalling on the same hardware, the cost is reasonable.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
Radware pricing is on the high end, suitable more for larger organizations.
IT Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
I didn't check pricing of other providers in depth but verified with two, and found Radware to be significantly cheaper compared to F5.
Sr IT Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We have a premium cost setup to align with a tier four uptime certified data center, storing and protecting critical infrastructure.
CIO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

F5 BIG-IP AFM offers robust network security, ease of use, and supports cloud migration with AI-driven features.
Radware DDoS provides advanced multi-layer protection, real-time analytics, and seamless integration, ensuring minimal disruptions with scalable deployment.
The solution provides behavioral analysis via AI to detect malicious traffic.
Network Security Engineer at IIPL
The most valuable features for me are stability, availability, and security, along with the ability to manage multiple features to secure my applications.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
I think the DDoS features are valuable in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM), and I recommend it usually for certain types of companies.
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
The support from Radware is also exceptional, as they are always willing to jump on a call to help solve issues and improve our network design.
IT Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
This solution is a significant win compared to other vendors because it tries to understand the traffic and the behavior of the traffic, and it utilizes intelligence or machine learning to mitigate false positives, which is highly customized for different types of customers.
Professional Consultor Digital Services at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The average time for Radware DDoS to detect an incident is only milliseconds, as even a delay of ten seconds is significant in networking.
Technical Specialist at HCLSoftware
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall...
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Radware DDoS
Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is 1.2%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Radware DDoS is 8.1%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Radware DDoS8.1%
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)1.2%
Other90.7%
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection
 

Featured Reviews

Nawapol Boonlerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Engineer at BigFish Enterprise Ltd.
Comprehensive network protection has mitigated DDoS risks and supports secure on-prem operations
Currently, there are no weaknesses or disadvantages in F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) that I have identified. It is a little bit expensive, and I think about additional features they could have in the future to make it even better. For example, I have thoughts about the price. Currently, it does not integrate, and I would assess the importance of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s integration with cloud services as significant. Currently, I use only one site, and I cannot tell you about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) centralized security policies. I have not used F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)'s Threat Intelligence capabilities. I have not used their dynamic traffic shaping feature. So far, the only thing that could be improved is the pricing of F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM).
NK
Information Security Manager at Dalmia Bharat Ltd
Behavioral analytics and AI automation enhance security and performance
It provides protection for network applications and infrastructure level, and the best part is the behavioral-based detection that Radware provides us, along with real-time signature creation. We also have some applications where we have botnets running, and it provides protection against them. Web DDoS targets the application layer, which is layer seven of the OSI model. For that, we focus on the Web DDoS technique for bot-based attacks because we have many applications where bots are running. We also face many random URL attacks every day, and it protects against malicious or suspicious random URL attacks. It ensures both security and performance. It achieves this by learning behavior patterns and providing protection without blocking normal traffic. These are some of the features I am particularly satisfied with in this product.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Performing Arts
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
The standard license is reasonably priced, but additional features like the WAF can be more expensive. There are plenty of technical documents and a supportive community available, which helps mana...
What needs improvement with F5 Advanced Firewall Manager?
The appliance and features could be enhanced further, especially in terms of security. Some features like the WAF ( /categories/web-application-firewall-waf ) firewall may seem expensive compared t...
What do you like most about Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service?
The most important part is that Radware DDoS integrates seamlessly and provides anomaly identification, real-time notifications, and security against DDoS attacks. It also helps us with multi-layer...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service?
For Radware Cloud DDoS Protection, the pricing model can vary based on a number of factors such as the scale of the business, the specific level of protection required, the geographical regions cov...
What needs improvement with Radware Cloud DDoS Protection Service?
The time it takes to upload a site to the cloud is critical when under attack. If a site is down, a quick response to migrate the site to the cloud is essential. It currently takes about 15 to 20 m...
 

Also Known As

F5 AFM, F5 Advanced Firewall Manager
Radware DDoS Protection Service, Radware DefensePro, Radware DefenseFlow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Myntex, APAC retailers
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs. Radware DDoS and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.