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NGINX Plus vs Windows Server AppFabric comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

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

NGINX Plus
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (10th)
Windows Server AppFabric
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of NGINX Plus is 7.9%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Server AppFabric is 2.7%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NGINX Plus7.9%
Windows Server AppFabric2.7%
Other89.4%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Nadeem-Inamdar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Security Engineer at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Advanced policies and web firewall have strengthened application protection and reduced attack traffic
There were some vulnerabilities in F5. They tried to fix it, but the fixes were not available at the time because they were zero days, so they attempted to fix it, but their support was not proper. Their support should be improved because sometimes features which we need for customization take time, and they are sometimes feasible and sometimes not feasible by the team, so their support and the engineering team should improve their product. I would like to see more features regarding customization which should be built into the application, and the tool optimization should be good, and the dashboard should be more crisp and clear.
DN
Senior System Administrator at Kentainers
Improved on-premise performance has supported faster, secure apps and clearer server monitoring
One thing I appreciate most about Windows Server AppFabric is because it's widely used; it's easier to get solutions online from other communities when I am stuck. Because it is widely used, it's easier to get solutions and also easier to work with. Especially after I found 2019, I have worked with 2019 and I appreciate it. It's easier to get solutions. After implementing Windows Server AppFabric, I can say I love the speed. The functionality and speed are good. Earlier, when they added more people, I could see some lagging. But now, I have no issue even if I double the users, even if I add 30% of users or any applications, it will still be fast. It increased the speed and also security. I've noticed the new one I have is good and secure. I love the security. The monitoring capabilities of Windows Server AppFabric help me improve service visibility and troubleshooting. In a day, I have to go through a lot of the logs and also the utilization. There, I see the CPU. I have to do the utilization, and I can see what is utilizing the most. By doing this, I can be able to tell what, in case I need to do an upgrade, what I might need to provide the upgrade or maybe increase in users that will not affect the operations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"NGINX is much easier to deploy and configure, and the skillset required to handle NGINX is more available in the market compared to deploying F5, Radware, or Citrix."
"The most valuable features are the gateway and the ability to publish to sites."
"The load balancing module, which is equivalent to LTM, is the focus of the PSE, and so far, the features of both are identical, and I believe NGINX has more features for securing these services, but in terms of load balancing, both are massive solutions."
"I need to highlight that the number one thing about NGINX is that it is free."
"I would recommend this solution."
"The product is lightweight and fast."
"Supports IMAP, POP and SMTP protocols for the reverse proxy."
"This is a great product, it has everything."
"The most valuable feature is AppFabric's hosting solution, which is what we need for running workflows."
"It is very usable and easy to understand, and antivirus and VPN are the main features being used now, allowing my clients to access the network from home, which was very crucial because of the pandemic."
"The product's deployment phase was very easy."
"The ability to seamlessly deploy, image, and patch without causing downtime is extremely helpful and user-friendly."
"This product works great for us and it's unfortunate that they're not going to support it anymore."
"After implementing Windows Server AppFabric, I can say I love the speed."
 

Cons

"I would suggest adding GUI-based configuration panels to NGINX Plus to simplify setup and management tasks."
"I would like to see the Grafana integration in NGINX which is already present in HAProxy. Grafana integration will help the solution visualize all the data analytics on the dashboard which is currently not present."
"The solution needs to be easier to setup and deploy."
"It would be great if there was even more automation to make it even easier to maintain."
"Only improvement needed that I would point to is scalability. With it, I mean clusterized organisation on a low level. At the moment, the best alternative is RHEL HA."
"The center management system was not very good, maybe their new NGINX manager product is better."
"They tried to fix it, but the fixes were not available at the time because they were zero days, so they attempted to fix it, but their support was not proper."
"Our most challenging part was to run an older PHP website reverse-proxied through NGINX. That was not fun."
"Microsoft will stop supporting the product next year, and we can't run unsupported programs in our systems."
"The most important issue I've found is the blue screen errors, particularly when customers use external displays with a P-type cable."
"Its price and licensing policy can be improved. It could be a little cheaper. Licensing is sometimes confusing. There are so many different options. It is difficult to find out what to buy or what to choose for my necessity."
"The product is unable to connect with different cloud services."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is the cost to contract support with a specialized company, usually during consulting hours.​"
"I use the solution's community edition which is free of cost."
"It's an open source solution, so it's free."
"NGINX Plus is an open-source solution with limited additional features. When you try to get additional features in the solution, then you need to pay an extra amount to NGINX Plus."
"There's an open-source version of NGINX that is free."
"​NGINX Plus is worth it, if you need it. If you do not need the features or support, the free and open source package is more than capable. ​"
"The cost is reasonable."
"HAProxy is cheaper than NGINX."
"The product is affordable, in my opinion."
"It is expensive, and its licensing is a bit confusing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise11
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?
IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What needs improvement with NGINX Plus?
There were some vulnerabilities in F5. They tried to fix it, but the fixes were not available at the time because they were zero days, so they attempted to fix it, but their support was not proper....
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Windows Server AppFabric?
I am overall satisfied with the licensing cost of Windows Server AppFabric. It's a reasonable price because I run multiple servers, so we bought the bulk one. I can say the price was fair.
What needs improvement with Windows Server AppFabric?
I do not utilize Windows Server AppFabric's workflow management for now because that's a project that we might be looking at in the coming year, in the first or second quarter.
What is your primary use case for Windows Server AppFabric?
All of our major applications are on-premise, so I think 90% of my software used by the employees is on-premise. We have the telephony, we have the ERP, we have some mobile apps. We run a mobile ap...
 

Also Known As

NGINX, F5 NGINX Plus
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Locaweb, AppNexus, Wix, Reliam, Montana Interactive, MuleSoft, Warpwire, Discovery Education, InkaBinka, WordPress.com, Gogo, GOV.UK, NASA
OSIsoft
Find out what your peers are saying about NGINX Plus vs. Windows Server AppFabric and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.