F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. NetScaler ADC

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
F5 Networks provides BIG-IP Access Policy Manager as an identity and access solution which can be deployed as a standalone solution or as an add-on to F5 Networks' flagship BIG-IP TLM or F5 Advanced WAF applications.N/A
NetScaler ADC
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
NetScaler ADC is an application delivery controller.N/A
Pricing
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)NetScaler ADC
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)NetScaler ADC
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)NetScaler ADC
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)NetScaler ADC
Small Businesses
Avast Small Business Solutions
Avast Small Business Solutions
Score 8.4 out of 10
Cloudflare
Cloudflare
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.2 out of 10
Cloudflare
Cloudflare
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.2 out of 10
NGINX
NGINX
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)NetScaler ADC
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(10 ratings)
8.6
(21 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)NetScaler ADC
Likelihood to Recommend
F5
I think that the platform is well suited to many Remote Access VPN solutions, but I also think there is a lot of room for improvement on the backend. If you are hoping to deploy your APM solution across many different datacenters or colos, it may not be the best choice for the final solution.
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NetScaler
Citrix Netscaler can be a powerful network appliance for environments that are fully committed and open to utilizing a network appliance that isn't made by a traditional network vendor. Administrator user experience has improved over the years and will continue to improve with the flexibility of virtual and physical appliances available for medium and large enterprises.
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Pros
F5
  • SAML 2.0 identity federation support.
  • Integrates with third-party SSO solutions.
  • Bridging modern authentication and authorization (SAML, OAuth/OIDC) and classic authentication and authorization methods.
  • Policy routing
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NetScaler
  • Flexibility. NetScaler assumes its admins know a bit about networking and in-depth details surrounding the applications they are configuring access for/to. This being so, the range of configuration options is very broad allowing various versions' combinations of protocol patterns, expressions, rules etc., all to the benefit of the admin.
  • Granularity. Having such a broad range of configuration options available, while still allowing simple options to be configured simply. The GUI is well-stylized and navigation has a good flow.
  • Ease of control. For load-balancing of simple services right out of the box, NetScaler makes it pretty easy, compared to the range of options available in the surrounding GUI and under the hood.
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Cons
F5
  • UI/UX can be quick and modern.
  • The application hosting is not one-click.
  • You cannot observer the changes done for external users internally.
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NetScaler
  • The documentation could use an overhaul with specific examples related to the command line as well as GUI. Explanations in the documentation would also be helpful.
  • Being able to have more than just one routing table would allow the ability to leverage security.
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Usability
F5
No answers on this topic
NetScaler
Improve on the specifics I mentioned previously and could be a 10/10 product. It is also a confusingly branded product that I have supported in two large enterprises where IT departments are unsure if the product belongs to the Citrix remote access support team or the Network infrastructure support team (it should be the later) and typically under utilized.
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Support Rating
F5
No answers on this topic
NetScaler
Overall, our organization's experience with Citrix support is that support can be hit or miss. Oftentimes it takes multiple attempts and much longer than desirable to obtain a viable solution for issues experienced with their products. It would be great to see Citrix invest time, effort, and almighty dollars into improving their support and bug fix process across the board.
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Alternatives Considered
F5
It is open platform so support is not good and than F5 and features visibility as not good as F5. F5 Set up and easy to use to admin console. Also have more feature visibility for load balancing, web server accelerator, application server ddos protection and WAF. F5 more efficient to handle concurrent request.
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NetScaler
We chose Citrix ADC over Kemp and F5 due to additional integrations with various products such as Citrix/Horizon/Monitoring tools. We additionally chose ADC due to better ease of use and ability to have the appliances be virtual or physical, with the configuration being a simple migration of code which provided flexibility to be able to do a hybrid environment with ease.
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Return on Investment
F5
  • Great VPN Solution during Covid
  • Excellent for remote access related service control and management
  • Reasonable ROI, since it is slightly expensive
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NetScaler
  • It has saved a tremendous amount of money and manpower by allowing for broad support without the need for a VPN.
  • The security functions within Netscaler enabled our business to pass additional IT-based audits.
  • Having a full Citrix stack from front to back makes our business look more professional both to our users and outsiders.
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ScreenShots