FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) vs NetScaler comparison

FortiWeb Web Application Fi...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

NetScaler and FortiWeb WAF are key contenders in the application delivery and web security market. FortiWeb WAF may have the upper hand in security features with its emphasis on machine learning and integration simplicity. NetScaler stands out with extensive ADC functions and integration with Citrix solutions.

Features: NetScaler provides a versatile deployment model with strong load balancing, SSL offloading, and robust multitenancy. Its TriScale architecture enables efficient scaling and integration with Citrix solutions. FortiWeb WAF emphasizes machine learning for threat detection, secure access, and comprehensive web protection features, enhancing its reputation for streamlined security.

Room for Improvement: NetScaler users often request more feature innovation, better documentation, and a simpler configuration process. Stability and update issues are also noted. FortiWeb WAF users desire more robust signature database updates, enhanced integration with other security solutions, and better documentation to improve performance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetScaler offers flexibility across various environments, including Microsoft Azure and hybrid clouds but receives critiques on inconsistent customer service. FortiWeb WAF is known for its straightforward on-premises deployment and better integration simplicity, though technical expertise in customer support could be enhanced.

Pricing and ROI: NetScaler is considered a high-cost solution with complex licensing, appealing to large enterprises. It offers good ROI due to its feature depth. FortiWeb WAF, priced more competitively, is seen as offering good value with straightforward licensing, appealing to small and medium businesses seeking effective ROI through lower operational costs.

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

FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) vs. NetScaler

June 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

FortiWeb Web Application Fi...

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

16th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetScaler

Ranking in Web Application Firewall (WAF)

14th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st), Network Management Applications (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Web Application Firewall (WAF) category, the mindshare of FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 3.2%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Featured Reviews

Martin Ellmann

Chief Executive Officer at EE Solutions GmbH

Provides users with ease of policy configuration and good integration capabilities

The solution helps protect our company's web applications against common threats up to 99 percent. We feel very safe with the tool. Speaking about how the tool has effectively mitigated web security threats for an application, I would say that it is an application behind the web portal, so there are about a hundred or thousand people who can access a website. If it is a sensitive application, and we have to watch every access to it to make it really safe, that is the reason why we need WAF on the application. My company doesn't use AI with the tool. I recommend the product to others. I would say that others need to have it if they have a shopping website or something similar. I know it is hard to sell because we find it quite hard whenever my company tries to do so. The solution offers 100 percent integration with other Fortinet security products. The ease of policy configuration in the tool is okay. I rate the tool a nine to ten out of ten.

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DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU

Cloud Consultant at Migros Ticaret A.Ş.

A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking

Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

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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

"It improves latency by optimizing traffic routing."

"The most valuable features of the solution are SD-WAN, filtration, web filter, application filter, and IPS."

"FortiWeb has a very extensive library of known attack signatures, which makes the product fit for any environment, regardless if the customer uses Windows-specific or non-Windows-specific applications."

"The product's initial setup phase was easy."

"FortiWeb Web Application Firewall helps us to block certain categories of browsing, such as weapons, and other inappropriate content on the client side. We have also blocked social media sites like TikTok and Facebook to enhance user productivity and maintain application security."

"The initial setup was easy since it was possible to get remote support for the product."

"The fact that I can log into the platform and see everybody, see logs, authentication failure, and see everything on one platform, is the most valuable feature."

"The platform's stability is good."

More FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) pros

"It has helped us to increase the resiliency of the application and the performance."

"It allows students to access required software for their studies."

"It's very easy to configure."

"Most of the functions are user-friendly and great."

"The solution is very stable. We don't have any downtime or issues of that nature."

"The most valuable features are for the ADMs and the overall monitoring environment."

"The load balancing feature of this solution is very good."

"The solution is extremely stable."

More NetScaler pros

Cons

"FortiWeb could have an inbound load balancing pack."

"There could be ADC offering as well."

"The product lacks features offered by enterprise-level firewall tools."

"FortiWeb Web Application Firewall needs to improve its performance."

"The price is a little higher than the competitors."

"FortiWeb WAF's tuning causes trouble. It's complicated. The solution needs to improve the signature feature as well."

"FortiWeb Web Application Firewall's signature database updates could be improved."

"There is room for improvement in pricing, and actually, the price is a bit higher because on the same terms I purchased, the support subscription is so high."

More FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) cons

"Quality assurance could improve by ironing out security vulnerabilities before releasing upgrades."

"Maybe creating policies with simple regular expressions."

"Citrix ADC can be really complex. It isn't very simple like some other appliances that I've worked with. You need a lot of skill and experience to manage it. I'm not talking about a year or two. You need at least four years to understand it very well. It is not that easy to learn. They should make it a lot simpler for users to understand the management of it. They can also provide some additional training. The material they have on the site is not sufficient enough for you to understand how to manage it. Their training is expensive, and not everyone has the funds and experience for it. Citrix isn't very popular around these parts of the world. So, it can use some more marketing, sales, enlightenment, and advertisement. These could bring more market for them. Basically, there are just a few companies that really go for Citrix. Most of the companies go for VMware because they marketed themselves more than Citrix. There isn't much difference between Citrix and VMware. VMware is a little more robust than Citrix. Citrix has focused more on desktops rather than server virtualization, and that's the advantage VMware has over Citrix. Citrix also needs to educate and inform users about the infrastructure that is supported with a version. Currently, if the customers don't look at the datasheet, they might miss this important information."

"The technical support could be better. Whenever I contacted support, I rarely got the solution that we needed. And most of the time, I finished fixing the problem by looking on the internet or by finding documents about the problem on Google."

"I think the documentation should be improved."

"The WAF component needs to be simplified so that it is easier to use."

"Manageability and adaptability can also be challenging for end customers."

"They can improve the scalability and the multi-tenancy feature. We recently tried to configure an authentication, and we ran into some issues while using the web-based GUI. It was very slow when you log in with your credentials in the web-based GUI. Each time we clicked on the menu, it tried to do the authentication. It works properly in the console."

More NetScaler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a cheap solution."

"I would rate the pricing a four out of ten."

"The licensing cost of the product is pretty high compared to other OEMs in the market."

"FortiWeb has a good presence because of its price."

"FortiWeb Web Application Firewall's pricing is suited for small or medium organizations."

"FortiWeb Web Application Firewall is not expensive."

"The tool is really expensive."

"FortiWeb WAF is priced well for customers compared to other vendors' solutions."

More FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) pricing and cost advice

"The solution is undoubtedly very good, but it is expensive."

"It is true that it is a bit pricey compared to newer technologies coming to the market. For example, A10 is a load balancer that does everything that Citrix can and it does a lot more than what NetScaler does when it comes to the security space, and their prices are so cheap. Every box comes with its own license and support built into it. When you compare that with NetScaler, you have to buy licenses separately, you have to buy a support agreement that is going to be separate. A small NetScaler, even if it is a VPX which is a virtual server, could cost you close to $150,000 to $200,000 dollars. So the pricing is really high."

"Licensing is adequate. I wanted to have a more prominent license, but until I do they don't give enough support. The additional cost would be too much."

"I do not have any experience with the pricing of the product."

"Its price is comparable to others and affordable."

"Price-wise, I feel that the solution is a little bit expensive."

"The license for Citrix NetScaler is on an annual basis and it is reasonably priced."

"The pricing could be lower."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

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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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)?

The most valuable features of the solution are SD-WAN, filtration, web filter, application filter, and IPS.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)?

The pricing for FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) is reasonable. That said, it depends on how many websites we need to protect. The licensing is based on the number of websites or individuall...

What needs improvement with FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)?

Their AI technology is good. Overall, Fortinet is only good. The improvement needed is in their response time. In the past three to four years, whenever we called for support, they responded quickl...

What do you like most about Citrix ADC?

The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?

After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive.

What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?

Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...

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Comparisons

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AWS WAF vs FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)

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Azure Front Door vs FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

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Fortinet FortiADC vs NetScaler

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Product Reports

FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)

June 2025

FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) report

Download FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) product report

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May 2025

Also Known As

No data available

Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall

Overview

FortiWeb Web Application Firewall uses machine learning to reduce false positives, detects zero-day threats, and blocks DDoS attacks. It integrates with existing security infrastructure and provides SD-WAN capabilities, offering protection for websites and mobile applications.

FortiWeb WAF secures web applications with features like machine learning-based threat detection, DDoS attack mitigation, and robust integration capabilities. Additionally, it manages HTTP traffic and offers SD-WAN functionalities. Built for GDPR compliance, it supports API protection and bot mitigation while enabling secure mobile and cloud application access. Users implement it across multi-cloud environments and in data centers offering advanced security and compliance, including PCI DSS. Despite feature-rich abilities, users seek enhanced database updates, better enterprise integration, and more accessible analytics. Improvements in support response, documentation, and scalability are desired to strengthen its robust security offering.

What are the key features of FortiWeb WAF?

Machine Learning: Reduces false positives and detects zero-day attacks.
DDoS Protection: Blocks distributed denial of service attacks.
Integration: Seamlessly fits with existing infrastructure.
GDPR Compliance: Ensures data privacy and protection standards.
SD-WAN Capabilities: Manages network distribution effectively.
Mobile and API Security: Protects applications and APIs efficiently.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Cost-Effectiveness: Offers a balance between features and pricing.
User-Friendly: Easy to navigate and manage deployments.
Global Deployment: Supports multi-cloud and cross-data center usage.
Security Compliance: Meets standards like PCI DSS for secure operations.
Enhanced Application Security: Provides comprehensive protection for apps.

FortiWeb WAF is widely implemented in data centers and financial industries, ensuring robust protection for web applications and sites. It supports multi-cloud environments on platforms like AWS and Azure, providing secure access while meeting compliance standards. Users benefit from enhanced application security and load balancing capabilities, making it a preferred choice in financial sectors that require VPN and SD-WAN consistency.

Fortinet

One platform for a consistent application delivery and security experience because nobody has time to learn multiple systems to manage ADC deployments. NetScaler is built with a single code base using a software-based architecture, so no matter which ADC form factor you choose — hardware, virtual machine, bare metal, or container — the behavior will be the same.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk