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F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) pros and cons

Vendor: F5

4.1 out of 5

18 reviews
88% willing to recommend

Pros & Cons summary

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is known for its user-friendly installation, customized portals, and robust features like authentication, SAML, and SSO, all enhancing security and performance. It is valued for its load balancing, virtual IP creation, and powerful WAF and bot defense solutions. Despite its high cost and complex setup, it faces challenges in technical support, local expertise, identity provider integration, and agent stability, while lacking SaaS capability direction.

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is easy to install, integrate, and use.

Customized portals can be created for users using F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM).

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) offers valuable load balancing features and virtual IP creation.

Stable, reliable, and critical for the security infrastructure, F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) effectively addresses cyber threats.

Providing effective WAF and bot defense, F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is highly recommended for its reliability and security features.

CONS

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is considered expensive, and users have expressed a desire for improved pricing.

Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions is suggested to simplify user authentication and access control.

Users have requested improvements in technical support response time and availability of knowledgeable support teams locally.

The initial setup is described as complex, and there is a need for better integration with other products.

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) lacks direction for SaaS, and there is a call for better cloud service integration.

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Pros review quotes

SÜ

Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem

Oct 21, 2025

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) provides excellent WAF and bot defense solutions.

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CL

Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited

Feb 28, 2025

On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten.

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SG

Business Development Manager at Pylones

Mar 13, 2025

I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) to others due to its reliability, and it is perceived as critical to security infrastructure.

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F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

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Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.

893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.

IS

Senior Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Feb 12, 2024

The most valuable feature is the virtual IP creation. It's our most frequently used feature.

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reviewer2644098

Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees

Jan 22, 2025

A lot of features are useful to me, including mostly the authentication, SAML, or SSO, with no sign-on.

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Ashish Kumar Rai

Associate Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Mar 18, 2024

In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.

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AR

IT Security Specialist at a educational organization with 201-500 employees

Sep 10, 2024

Our organization is small - a college with about 3,500 students. We use F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager to protect our site, especially from the Iranian attacks we faced last year. We restrict access to only inside the country.

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Sr. Architect at NBC Universal

Jun 21, 2022

We have seen a return on investment from F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager. It provided access at a time when we didn't have it.

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SM

Deputy managing director at AL-ARAFAH ISLAMI BANK LTD

Jan 19, 2024

The load balancing features are valuable.

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MR

Senior Site Reliability Engineer at a transportation company with 201-500 employees

May 12, 2023

Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product.

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Show 8 more reviews (out of 18)

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Cons review quotes

SÜ

Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem

Oct 21, 2025

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is not user-friendly and operates slowly.

Read full review

CL

Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited

Feb 28, 2025

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) does not have a direction for SaaS.

Read full review

SG

Business Development Manager at Pylones

Mar 13, 2025

The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5.

Read full review

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Free Report: F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.

893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.

IS

Senior Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Feb 12, 2024

In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side.

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reviewer2644098

Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees

Jan 22, 2025

If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great.

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Ashish Kumar Rai

Associate Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Mar 18, 2024

I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal.

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AR

IT Security Specialist at a educational organization with 201-500 employees

Sep 10, 2024

Regarding price, I'm not directly involved in purchasing, but our CIO thinks the product is very expensive. He's considering moving from the tool to Citrix NetScaler WAF because it's cheaper, and we already have Citrix for VDI. We got NetScaler almost free as part of our VDI deal. Three years ago, I convinced him to use the solution because it's better, but now, with budget constraints, he may want to switch.

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Sr. Architect at NBC Universal

Jun 21, 2022

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products.

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SM

Deputy managing director at AL-ARAFAH ISLAMI BANK LTD

Jan 19, 2024

We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally.

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MR

Senior Site Reliability Engineer at a transportation company with 201-500 employees

May 12, 2023

The solution’s GUI looks very old.

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Show 8 more reviews (out of 18)

Product Categories

Product Categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Network Access Control (NAC)

Access Management

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Product Categories

Product Categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Network Access Control (NAC)

Access Management

Popular Comparisons

Popular Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Microsoft Intune vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Microsoft Entra ID vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Cloudflare One vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

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Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Okta Platform vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Zscaler Internet Access vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Workspace ONE UEM vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Aruba ClearPass vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

TeamViewer vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

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