- Load balancing
- Application gateway
- SSL offloading
Head of IT Infrastructure at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Load Balancing and SSL offloading are key features for us
Pros and Cons
- "Load Balancing and SSL offloading are key features."
- "The GUI should be improved."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
It helped many internal websites to expose online use with single star certificates.
What is most valuable?
Load Balancing and SSL offloading are key features.
What needs improvement?
The GUI should be improved.
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May 2025

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For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Scalable, stable, and provides great technical support
Pros and Cons
- "What I like most about Citrix NetScaler is its stability, and I didn't see a lot of issues with it."
- "The setup for Citrix NetScaler has room for improvement. It could be easier."
What is our primary use case?
We use Citrix NetScaler as an access gateway for many virtual apps and desktops. We're also using the solution for load-balancing and content-switching purposes.
What is most valuable?
What I like most about Citrix NetScaler is its stability, and I didn't see a lot of issues with it.
What needs improvement?
The setup for Citrix NetScaler has room for improvement. It could be easier.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with Citrix NetScaler for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Citrix NetScaler is pretty stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Citrix NetScaler is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
I found Citrix NetScaler support great.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Citrix NetScaler is complex.
How long it takes to deploy Citrix NetScaler varies from one day to one month, depending on the customer's environment. Deployment time is different every time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The client pays for the Citrix NetScaler license annually.
What other advice do I have?
I have five hundred to six hundred clients using Citrix NetScaler.
I recommend the solution to other people who want to use it.
My rating for Citrix NetScaler is eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Buyer's Guide
NetScaler
May 2025

Learn what your peers think about NetScaler. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
851,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Security Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
Provides us with high-security access to our internal applications
What is our primary use case?
We are using it for two-factor authentication for our Citrix architecture, for secure access to our internal applications. It is mostly for admins who use it for remote access, as well as some users.
We do not use it as a web application firewall. We are running a virtual edition, not an appliance.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature, absolutely, is its high-security. This product is based on Unix and there have been no problems since we started using it in 2015.
What needs improvement?
Occasionally, our admin has to use the command line. If they could only use the Web GUI it would be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There have been no issues with stability.
How is customer service and technical support?
We have created two support tickets and our problems were successfully solved. The support is very good.
How was the initial setup?
Set up was done by our partner and there was no problem with configuration. And most of our upgrades are done by our local partner and there have been no problems.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are quite happy with price. It's not too high.
What other advice do I have?
I give it a nine out of 10 because there have been no problems since 2015, from a security point of view.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Engineer at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Innovative TriScale architecture and SSL offloading capability
Valuable Features:
Citrix main strong-point is its flexible deployment model, which can help customers save on acquisition costs at the onset. The TriScale architecture that the Citrix sales guys have been pushing provides a pay as you grow deployment model. It also allows us to consolidate devices with features such as multitenancy and clustering. Other features like SSL offload for 2048-bit and 4096-bit key lenghts and good traffic and application reporting capabilities makes our investment in this product worthwhile.They seem to have pretty competent and responsive technical support.
Room for Improvement:
It is somewhat frustrating that there has been less feature innovations from their products. Though I really believe that Citrix’s TriScale architecture is a very innovative and successful strategy, it still lacks features such as asymmetric web content optimization which is an essential for ADCs. Also, the use of templates for ease of configuration and use also makes it a somewhat inflexible system. If you need a more advanced rules creation system then this product is not for you.
Other Advice:
I worked with Netscaler in my previous company. Overall, I recommend it. Its innovative TriScale architecture and SSL offloading capability are on par with some of the best products available. It’s a very user-friendly system that is easy to configure and use for a variety of deployment scenarios
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Support Engineer at Greenware Technologies LLC
Delivery and load balancing that is stable and secure
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the VDA Delivery, Gateway Fort, and the load balancing."
- "The security is okay, but the monitoring and reporting need improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We are using this Citrix ADC with Windows Applications and desktop delivery.
How has it helped my organization?
They need to improve the ADC report
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the VDA Delivery, Gateway Fort, and the load balancing.
What needs improvement?
The security is okay, but the monitoring and reporting need improvement.
The price can be reduced. Our customers have compared the pricing and have indicated that there is a big difference compared to others, so it should be more competitive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for the last three to four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
They have both the VPX and the MPX hardware, and with the ADC, it's a stable product.
How are customer service and technical support?
With a subscription, they will give you immediate support.
How was the initial setup?
Straightforward
What about the implementation team?
In-house Team
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When compared to other solutions, the cost is high.
There are subscriptions for technical support available for an additional fee.
What other advice do I have?
This solution can be deployed on-premises, public cloud, and private cloud. It's hybrid.
It's a good product and I recommend it.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Virtualization Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Monitoring feature allows me to identify when a load-balanced resource is having issues
Pros and Cons
- "I like the monitoring ability as it enables me to identify when an internal (load-balanced) resource is having issues before it becomes a problem in production."
What is our primary use case?
Provides secure remote access to, as well as intelligent load-balancing for, internal resources.
How has it helped my organization?
Implemented dual-factor authentication on Outlook Web Access, making it well-protected.
What is most valuable?
I like the monitoring ability as it enables me to identify when an internal (load-balanced) resource is having issues before it becomes a problem in production.
What needs improvement?
The policies on the NetScaler can be a bit tricky at times.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Some of the valuable features are Load balancing, SSL offload, and content switching.
Pros and Cons
- "SSL Offload"
- "I would like to see support for scripting, like "iRule", which gives you the option to implement any configuration which is not available out of the box."
What is most valuable?
- LB - Load balancing
- SSL Offload
- Content Switching
- Responder
- Re-write
- App Firewall
How has it helped my organization?
Our company provides Managed Services and does Service Integration for our customers. We have deployed Citrix NetScaler for many customers. It has helped them to increase application up-time, scalability, and enhanced application performance and security.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see support for scripting, like "iRule", which gives you the option to implement any configuration which is not available out of the box. I would also like to see support for OCSP stapling.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have used this solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sometimes there are stability issues with certain releases.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I did not encounter any issues with scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate the level of technical support as excellent.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We work with multiple ADC vendors.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup had very few steps involved and the network settings were simple.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We work with all OEMs.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are channel partners.
Business Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Excellent for application delivery and security; improves performance
Pros and Cons
- "The solution improves security performance."
- "This is an expensive solution."
What is our primary use case?
Our company is based in Ecuador. I'm a key account manager and a business consultant.
What is most valuable?
With Citrix ADC, our clients can improve their security, performance, and they can escalate when they need it. It's a complete solution for application delivery and security.
What needs improvement?
When it comes to all Citrix products, price is an issue, because all their products are complete solutions. They have all the characteristics that our clients require, but it almost falls down when we are competing with less expensive solutions.
In Ecuador, people don't just rely on the functionalities of a solution, the price point is very important, even though they know that Citrix is a better product. I'd like to see a different licensing model that would take all that into account.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable and flexible.
How are customer service and support?
Most of our clients don't require support for the product. We manage the solution and organize periodical maintenance. If there are any firmware updates or a patch that Citrix has released, we install them.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation is quite difficult. We have one person who is certified in the solution and has a lot of experience with the products. Our other technicians don't have as much experience and implementation of ADC is complex for them.
What other advice do I have?
Citrix ADC is one of the main elements of the SEA approach that Garner has released. Users can manage their applications, as well as monitor and improve all the security that they need.
I rate this solution 10 out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

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Updated: May 2025
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For me using NetScaler was useful because Citrix offers it as a virtual appliance, which means that the user is able to use virtual appliances in non-production environments as a cost saving measure.