F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) vs. Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
F5 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
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
The VM-Series is a virtualized form of Palo Alto next-generation firewall that can be deployed in a range of cloud environments. The VM-Series natively analyzes all traffic in a single pass to determine the application identity, the content within, and the user identity.N/A
Pricing
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
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 Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Features
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)
8.6
2 Ratings
1% below category average
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
8.5
8 Ratings
2% below category average
Identification Technologies8.02 Ratings8.58 Ratings
Visualization Tools7.02 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Content Inspection9.02 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Policy-based Controls8.02 Ratings8.58 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP10.01 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Firewall Management Console7.02 Ratings8.58 Ratings
Reporting and Logging8.02 Ratings7.58 Ratings
VPN10.01 Ratings9.07 Ratings
High Availability9.02 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Stateful Inspection9.02 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Proxy Server10.01 Ratings9.44 Ratings
Best Alternatives
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Small Businesses
pfSense
pfSense
Score 8.8 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
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Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 9.2 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(5 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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Palo Alto Networks
PaloAlto VM-200 is a virtualized firewall with high processing power and network edge protection. The great advantage is being able to implement in a VMware environment without worrying about hardware, rack space, physical network connections and others. It can be easily managed via the web and remotely to create protection, access and reporting rules. The VM-200 firewall can be used by any company, small or large because it has several models available according to the real needs of each one.
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Pros
F5
  • Load balancing using pools
  • SSL offloading
  • iRules for threat handling
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Palo Alto Networks
  • Decrypt internet traffic
  • daily reporting of top internet users
  • classify internet traffic in real-time to allow us to understand the organization needs.
  • Strong AI capabilities
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Cons
F5
  • If unsure, can be overly cautious.
  • There are few changes the end user can make.
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Palo Alto Networks
  • High Availability can be improved to allow active-active deployment
  • All command line documentation to provide and support automation
  • It will be nice to have link aggregation just like in the hardware firewall models.
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Usability
F5
No answers on this topic
Palo Alto Networks
It is very easy to use, even for those with little experience in this particular firewall. Some of the advanced content filtering and content-based policies are difficult to pick up; however, almost all required decoders are built in. Built-in logging and rule testing make rule definition easy, and labels/tags allow filtering, grouping, and categorisation of rules. Updates are easy, and high availability is also reliable.
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Support Rating
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.
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Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto VM series are best selling and industry's top-selling security product which customers prefer while securing their public cloud environment
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Alternatives Considered
F5
Both F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager] and Radware require training as they are not easy to use. But Radware uses some configuration that needs deep learning and proper labs. From an admin's perspective, Configuration and management for F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager are] less. Also, the cost of implementing F5 [BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager] is lesser than that of Radware Alteon.
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Palo Alto Networks
palo alto firewalls are application-oriented systems. They can beat other product which are based on layer 3/4 inspection. Vm series are also quickly available and could be useful in urgent deployment needs . other vendors like Fortinet and cisco could take much more time to provide the VM and in some cases installation and license validation are complicated
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Return on Investment
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
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Palo Alto Networks
  • ROI has been achieved quickly through lack of security incidents.
  • Inline filtering happens at line rate, unline Sourcefire from Cisco.
  • Great incentives from PAN to switch made a difference in the choice to change.
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