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F5 BIG-IQ vs vCenter Orchestrator comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 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

F5 BIG-IQ
Ranking in Process Automation
27th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
vCenter Orchestrator
Ranking in Process Automation
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IQ is 0.9%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCenter Orchestrator is 0.9%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
vCenter Orchestrator0.9%
F5 BIG-IQ0.9%
Other98.2%
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Bikale Kassu - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager for Implementation and Administration at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Has faced challenges with visibility and technical support but allows centralized management of multiple sites
The configuration part is complex for F5 BIG-IQ. The simplicity and visibility part needs improvement. The dashboard, especially the analytics part, needs to be more simple and presentable. For the security part, it is difficult to present to our management, so we have to capture it and prepare manual reporting options rather than getting them directly from the system. The automation part in F5 BIG-IQ is limited; we are still using it only for load balancing for some services. We haven't integrated it with our Accesso or implemented any automation options. The setup process for F5 BIG-IQ would rate a five out of ten.
NB
Hybrid Cloud Engineer at RealPage
Boosts operational efficiency with flexible workflows and reliable cluster management
We currently use vCenter Orchestrator's pre-built workflow templates for our IT processes. The templates are flexible, allowing us to create and convert processes simply and manage patches. Regarding integration capabilities, we do not integrate any third-party tools. We exclusively use VMware products. The integration within the VMware infrastructure is limited to Single Sign-On (SSO). I have not created any workflows in vCenter Orchestrator as workflows are only used for change management. I have not encountered any drag and drop interface. The version control and logging features of vCenter Orchestrator have significantly improved the reliability of our automated processes, particularly during upgrades or patching to the cluster-wise. Previously, it would be done on a one-to-one cluster or one-to-one host basis, but now we only need to monitor it for upgrading or patching the entire cluster. I cannot comment on the pricing and licensing of vCenter Orchestrator as these aspects are managed by our onsite counterpart. Overall, I rate vCenter Orchestrator 8 out of 10. The rating reflects occasional delays in support response times and portal stability issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best aspect of the solution is that we can have everything integrated with a rather large capacity in order to personalize and configure specific rules."
"This solution is one of the finest in the industry."
"The GUI is fine, at least from an engineer's perspective."
"We use this solution on a daily basis, and it is very stable."
"The backup, monitoring and logging are the best features."
"The most valuable features are load balancing and WAF."
"We mainly use F5 BIG-IQ to protect our web-based applications, such as our email and website, so we use it as a web-based application firewall for those services."
"The product is excellent."
"User-friendly and easy to deploy."
"I am impressed with the tool's easiness to work with VMware solutions."
"Effective time saving, diminished manual errors, complex IT workflow, and reduced operational cost has resulted in increasing our IT Application Service value proposition by many folds"
"The most valuable feature is affinity rules."
"The product's integration is good, it works well with other programs and solutions."
"The most valuable feature is how easy it makes it to manage the VM, and in our case, that is quite good."
"We have excellent technical support, and they have always been helpful when we have needed them."
"The most valuable feature is the Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)."
 

Cons

"A bug caused me to lose all the configuration."
"They could use YAML or JSON if they wanted to make it a little bit easier for us."
"There are a lot of scripts available on the internet for people who know how to use them, but with a graphical interface, it would be easier for new users."
"F5 BIG-IQ is a complex solution, and it cannot manage everything related to BIG-IPs."
"Sometimes the solution does not work."
"If they had a GUI interface for creating security rules then it would make it easier."
"From a hands-on experience perspective, more resources should be available on the Internet, like labs and lab preparations."
"Integration with VAS is something that they need to work on."
"I think that vSAN can be improved."
"VMware tools would benefit from more automation. When installing our devices and servers, we often need to install the VMware tools manually. This process should be automated during the VM installation process."
"The snapshot technology of VMware is not good compared to other solutions in the market, like Nutanix."
"The product lacks GUIs. The tool should have more GUIs available, along with easier product documentation."
"The product’s cost needs improvement."
"I liked the previous client better than the current web client of vCenter Orchestrator, though my colleagues like the client now. The technical support for vCenter Orchestrator needs improvement."
"It is too expensive. One of the main issues is the price."
"The solution's price could be cheaper."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"F5 BIG-IQ is a cheap solution."
"There is only one licensing fee for F5 BIG-IQ and everything is included in the price."
"Users have to pay an annual subscription fee for the solution's iSeries."
"I would like the product to be cheaper."
"We renew the solution's license every one or two years."
"The product is expensive."
"We provide the VMware solution to our clients, for which they pay a perpetual license."
"vCenter Orchestrator is a very expensive solution."
"The licensing cost is manageable because they have different versions available, standard, essential, and advanced."
"My organization didn't have to pay extra for vCenter Orchestrator. It was already included, so it's basically free. Even VMware regular support is included."
"vCenter Orchestrator could be more affordable."
"My company needs to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IQ?
From the pricing perspective, F5 BIG-IQ rates an eight out of ten as it's reasonably priced.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IQ?
The configuration part is complex for F5 BIG-IQ. The simplicity and visibility part needs improvement. The dashboard, especially the analytics part, needs to be more simple and presentable. For the...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IQ?
Currently for WAF, we are moving to another device, F5. We are not using Imperva. F5 BIG-IQ is the Web Application Firewall we're currently using, but regarding the Imperva products, now we are flo...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vCenter Orchestrator?
We're running a low-profile budget. This is not our main focus on investment technology, so we're trying to reduce costs due to the change from perpetual to subscription licenses.
What needs improvement with vCenter Orchestrator?
For our environment, I do not see any areas of vCenter Orchestrator that could be improved or enhanced. We are currently satisfied with the orchestrator. If any improvements are needed, I will prov...
What is your primary use case for vCenter Orchestrator?
My usual use cases for vCenter Orchestrator involve managing all the ESXi hosts from the US, as we have almost 1200 to 1500 ESXi hosts.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Beiersdorf Shared Services
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IQ vs. vCenter Orchestrator and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.