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CrowdSec vs. F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    CrowdSec

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/ACrowdSec is a CTI tool leveraging crowdsourced data to identify and block malevolent IPs in real time worldwide. It is an open-source & collaborative IPS able to analyze visitor behavior by parsing logs & provide an adapted response to all kinds of attacks. It also enables users to protect each other. Each time an IP is blocked, all community members are informed so they can also block it. That way, they are generating a real-time crowdsourced CTI database.N/A

    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AF5 Networks offers the F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager, a firewall software combining a number of features including DDoS, DNS security, and other protections.N/A
    Pricing
    CrowdSecF5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    CrowdSecF5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    CrowdSecF5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of CrowdSec and F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    Feature
    CrowdSec
    8.2
    1 Ratings
    5% below category average
    F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    5.6
    3 Ratings
    42% below category average
    Identification Technologies8.01 Ratings2.73 Ratings
    Visualization Tools8.01 Ratings1.83 Ratings
    Content Inspection8.01 Ratings5.53 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging8.01 Ratings6.43 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection8.01 Ratings2.73 Ratings
    Proxy Server9.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls00 Ratings6.43 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console00 Ratings2.73 Ratings
    VPN00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    High Availability00 Ratings3.63 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    CrowdSecF5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.4 out of 10
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    CrowdSecF5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    CrowdSecF5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    CrowdSec
    Since I've only used CrowdSec in a homelab/small-medium sized business setup, that's really the only market I can safely recommend it and say it's well suited for, because I don't know how much it would cost to run it in an enterprise environment. I've heard some pricing and how they plan on rolling out a subscription model, but it's still in talks. Either way, if you have publicly exposed web applications hosted locally or on a virtual private server, then CrowdSec should be part of every virtual machine and/or network. Even with the lmited number of filter you get out of the free subscription, it provides a nice layer of constantly updated data,
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    We were able to eliminate a firewall from our network architecture by integrating the module into our existing F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM). This allowed us to save on tech refresh costs, since the F5 was able to handle the module without much additional strain on the device. However, if a firewall had features that the AFM lacked, then using that firewall in tandem with an F5 would be preferable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    CrowdSec
    • Provides great integrations with tools you already use, such as fail2ban, Cloudflare, WordPress, NGINX, Linux Firewalls, etc.
    • Lightweight agents can run on individual servers and report to a main security engine so that if there's an attack on one server and a block is implemented, the entire network can be protected
    • There are a lot of ways to receive alerts and store logs
    • CrowdSec Central API is a nice way to manage everything externally
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    • Load balancing using pools
    • SSL offloading
    • iRules for threat handling
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    CrowdSec
    • Getting CrowdSec to run on OPNsense can be a challenge, but that's also a limitation of the OS
    • You can only subscribe to a couple of feeds before paying an unknown amount of money that's part of their "Enterprise" package. So, there could be better transparency.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    • The GUI icons are very small and Overall UI can use some refreshing
    • The training on the tool is not easily available and mostly involves a high cost
    • The support or third party implementation teams could use some improvement
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    CrowdSec
    No answers on this topic
    F5
    While parent policies help simplify the deployment, the UI definitely could be more straight forward and simplified for troubleshooting and tuning
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    CrowdSec
    No answers on this topic
    F5
    F5 Advanced Firewall Manager has been a solid, strong solution to both keep our systems safe and being seamless for our end users. Most of the time, the end-user is not impacted and does not even know F5 Advanced Firewall Manager is running which is exactly what we are looking for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    CrowdSec
    No answers on this topic
    F5
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is a bit easier to initially set up than F5 Advanced Firewall Manager but not as robust in its ability to manage different devices with different profiles. Different machines need different access and F5 Advanced Firewall Manager is better at allowing flexibility in identifying different devices and managing what they can access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    CrowdSec
    • It flat-out blocks malicious IPs from accessing any PC on my network.
    • It's free-tier makes this a no brainer to implement
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    • When we had to decide on whether to buy different hardware our team were all in support of renewal for F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager]
    • F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager] requires proper training on tools and clear concepts of packets, headers, and content to create WAF policies
    • Overall, we are satisfied by the ROI provided by our F5 AFM and GTMs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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