LoadBalancer Enterprise vs NetScaler comparison

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LoadBalancer Enterprise

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

NetScaler and LoadBalancer Enterprise compete in the load balancing and application delivery space. NetScaler has the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and flexible deployment options, especially for users seeking a robust and versatile solution with strong Citrix integration.

Features: NetScaler offers a versatile deployment model through its TriScale architecture, facilitating a "pay as you grow" approach that benefits users with flexibility and cost efficiency. It provides key capabilities like SSL offload, GSLB, and robust traffic management options such as load balancing and application security. The strong integration with Citrix products and a streamlined configuration process is often noted. LoadBalancer Enterprise focuses on reliability and ease of use, making it a great choice for essential load balancing needs with simple integration and functionality incorporated into its design.

Room for Improvement: NetScaler users often mention stability concerns and desire a simpler configuration process. Enhanced scripting capabilities, comprehensive documentation, and an improved interface are among their specific needs. Occasionally, bugs and calls for a more cost-effective licensing model are highlighted. LoadBalancer Enterprise could benefit from improved security features, enhanced scalability, and a more intuitive configuration system.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetScaler's variety of deployment options includes on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, adding substantial versatility. While technical support is viewed as knowledgeable by some, others report inconsistent service and require escalation for complex issues. LoadBalancer Enterprise is easily deployable within on-premises and private cloud settings but doesn't match NetScaler's range of environments. Its customer support generally meets expectations but can be slow during peak times.

Pricing and ROI: NetScaler frequently involves high licensing fees and requires significant upfront investment, especially when its full set of features is utilized. Despite the cost, many report favorable ROI due to its comprehensive capabilities. LoadBalancer Enterprise is cost-effective for smaller enterprises with tight budgets, providing substantial value for money, albeit with a more straightforward feature set limiting advanced functionality. Specific pricing details are not provided for either product.

To learn more, read our detailed LoadBalancer Enterprise vs. NetScaler Report (Updated: July 2025).

LoadBalancer Enterprise vs. NetScaler

July 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

LoadBalancer Enterprise

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

13th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetScaler

Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (6th), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of LoadBalancer Enterprise is 3.9%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 14.4%, down from 16.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)

Featured Reviews

Roger Seelaender

UCaaS Engineering Manager at EarthLink

Great WAF - low-maintenance solution that performs as advertised

The solution can be improved with the development of a SIP engine because it is difficult to manage SBCs. All SBCs are really tough to write rules for. If we could put this in front of an SBC to have the right rules to possibly block the traffic, that would be very helpful. The solution can also improve the relationship between Loadbalancer.org and Metaswitch, or now, Microsoft because Metaswitch was purchased by Microsoft. They both position themselves as certified but don't always talk to each other. I wish there would be closer integration between the solution and the vendors when either release new upgrades to their product line. Often we find issues on either end post upgrades.

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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

"With basic network knowledge, our required system functionality can be configured and maintained."

"Load balancing helps us distribute both incoming and outgoing data loads evenly among the servers, preventing overload on a single server."

"The most valuable features of Loadbalancer.org are related to its load balancing capabilities."

"Loadbalancer is easy to use. It performs well, with low latency."

"Existing customers are trying to migrate from the physical F5 load balancer to the AVI load balancer because it is scalable and easily managed."

"The user interface precludes need to be well versed with Linux IPVS command line. This make it easy for junior team members to participate in managing load balancing needs."

"The performance is good."

"It helps us to route the traffic to the available servers. If we didn't have Loadbalancer we would fail to set the end-user and it would cause a failure in the cluster."

More LoadBalancer Enterprise pros

"NetScaler Gateway: Why? Availability/Security: We delivered more than 200 applications thru Xenapp. This feature give us the possibility to deliver the applications anywhere. Currently, 30% of access is made through our NetScaler Gateway (Internet connections)."

"Citrix Web App API Protection allows you to enable a blocking mode"

"The web application firewall is one feature I found valuable in the solution."

"The NetScaler appliance has provided a lot of customers with greater high availability for their enterprise applications within a single site and across multiple locations."

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

"The program is easy to install and to set up."

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

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

More NetScaler pros

Cons

"Possibly a more graphical overview page (with colors) to give a two second overview to see if everything is working fine."

"Originally we had some stability issues with it, so they replaced it with a new box and it's fine."

"You can run into an issue when one engineer passes the case over to another engineer after their shift and they don't know what the first engineer worked on up to that point."

"I would like it if Loadbalancer had the ability to make rules for specific shared bots."

"It would be great if there was a way to gain access to the graphing data, to create custom reports. If we had a way to use the graphing data, we could use it to present certain information to our client, such as the uptime status for their service."

"There are many features you can set in the backend of Loadbalancer. They should simplify the configuration. The administrator should be able to configure it more simply. How it is now, you can only configure it if you have a lot of experience."

"The configuration is somewhat complicated. Someone who does not know the solution may find this challenging."

"The interface from Loadbalancer.org should be improved."

More LoadBalancer Enterprise cons

"It can be difficult to setup."

"Scripting and writing expressions need to be improved by putting logic behind the rules and improve policies involving some of the scripting part, which is a tedious task to do."

"Should offer more flexible cost-effective licensing for small to medium sized organizations."

"The customization has always been a key area where some improvements are required. In the beginning, everything was for customizing the outer shell of it. You had to use the command-based utility and you had to do a lot of manual work. They have improved it a little bit and now there are some GUI-based functionalities that can be used. However, more can be done that doesn't require a lot of intervention. Right now there are some features, there are some customizations that can be done, but it's still very tedious, very cumbersome, a lot of work. So that could be simplified."

"Development team's response time could be better."

"Currently, it is not easy to use the configuration capabilities of the product."

"An area for improvement in Citrix Web App and API Protection is for it to give real-time notifications and alerts. It would be practical if the solution warns you if there's an attack or if the load or traffic volume increases or decreases. An additional feature I'd like to see in Citrix Web App and API Protection is a prediction or artificial intelligence on what is happening, for example, attacks."

"An area for improvement would be the difficulty in finding information about standard licensing costs over the internet. They should provide some reference prices on the net to be quickly referred to."

More NetScaler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution requires an annual support license of $2,780 for four systems or $695 a year per unit for support not including the units."

"The costs associated with Loadbalancer.org depends on the technology. For some, we need to pay, but others are open, so they're free."

"It's worth the cost. It's not cheap, but it's a good solution. If you're looking for a good solution, this is a good solution. Is it cheap? No. Is it worth the money? Yes, I think it is."

"These guys make their pricing scheme really easy."

"I love that they do not price on some arbitrary throughput rating where you are guessing at what the load balancer is going to handle."

"Loadbalancer.org is based on open-source products, but it requires money for support and other activities."

"It is inexpensive, and even their “unlimited” version, the VA MAX is still far cheaper than competitors."

"It was easy to upgrade the license for unlimited clusters and servers. Pricing is fair."

More LoadBalancer Enterprise pricing and cost advice

"The pricing for Citrix Web App and API Protection is unreasonable. I don't know the exact price, but I heard it's tens of thousands and it's a bit too much for the small country I live in."

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

"We have a yearly licencing fee, and there are no additional costs."

"Citrix Web App and API Protection are in the middle when we talk about pricing and licensing"

"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."

"Costly product and complicated licensing."

"For the specific use case that my customers primarily engage with, I would give the pricing a rating of seven out of ten."

"The client pays for the Citrix NetScaler license annually."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

11%

University

Government

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend Loadbalancer.org?

Since Loadbalancer.org is an open-source solution, I would recommend this solution for smaller businesses that don’t have major scaling requirements and don’t have the budget for a commercial solut...

What do you like most about Loadbalancer.org?

Existing customers are trying to migrate from the physical F5 load balancer to the AVI load balancer because it is scalable and easily managed.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Loadbalancer.org?

Pricing of Loadbalancer.org is something to consider.

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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Product Reports

Download LoadBalancer Enterprise product report

LoadBalancer Enterprise

August 2025

Download NetScaler product report

August 2025

Also Known As

No data available

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

Overview

LoadBalancer Enterprise offers a reliable, high-availability solution designed for efficient load distribution and a user-friendly interface, catering to teams with foundational network expertise.

LoadBalancer Enterprise enhances network performance through effective traffic routing, monitoring, and high availability. Users benefit from SSL termination with SNI and Layer 7 load balancing, ensuring seamless connections with reduced complexity compared to alternatives. While known for its user-friendly approach, improvements in configuration simplicity, scalable hardware upgrades, and enhanced notification systems are often discussed for better user experience. Additional demands include HTTP API access, automated configuration backups, DNS load balancing, and enhanced graphing data capabilities. Competitive pricing and heightened security for sensitive data are frequently requested. Interface refresh issues and Microsoft compatibility are noted among users, who deploy it for SSL/HTTP traffic management, redundancy, failover capabilities, web filtering, and cloud migration support.

What are LoadBalancer Enterprise's key features?

Ease of Use: Accessible interface for team members with basic network knowledge.
Reliability and High Availability: Ensures consistent service with effective load distribution.
SSL Termination with SNI: Supports secure connections with Server Name Indication.
Layer 7 Load Balancing: Enhanced functionality for better traffic management.
Scalability and Performance: Offers strong performance with low latency.

What benefits or ROI can users expect?

Quick Remote Support: Fast assistance for issue resolution.
Low Complexity: Streamlined operations compared to competitors.
Traffic Routing and Monitoring: Efficient management aids in decision-making.
Flexibility in Deployment: Suitable for diverse traffic scenarios and server needs.

LoadBalancer Enterprise is implemented across industries for managing SSL/HTTP traffic, enhancing network reliability, and providing failover capabilities. It supports web filtering, balances Exchange and application servers, facilitates cloud migration, and manages multiple ISP lines for optimal traffic distribution across web applications and services, including SIP provisioning. Industries also use it for enhancing security with web application firewalls, DNS sharing, and application publishing.

Loadbalancer.org

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

Vodafone, NASA, Mercedes, NBC, Siemens, AT&T, Barclays, Zurich, Penn State University, Fiserv, Canon, Toyota, University of Cambridge, US Army, US Navy, Ocean Spray, ASOS, Pfizer, BBC, Bacardi, Monsoon, River Island, U.S Air Force, King's College London, NHS, Ricoh, Philips, Santander, TATA Communications, Ericcson, Ross Video, Evertz, TalkTalk TV, Giacom, Rapid Host.

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