--- title: F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Reviews meta_title: 'F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 15 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 3.9 review_count: 15 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-07-07' parent_category: name: Network Security url: https://www.g2.com/categories/network-security --- # F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Reviews **Vendor:** F5 **Category:** [Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/network-security-policy-management-nspm) **Average Rating:** 3.9/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 15 ## About F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is a high-performance, full-proxy network security solution designed to protect networks and data centers against incoming threats that enter the network. Built on F5’s industry-leading BIG-IP hardware and software platforms, BIG-IP AFM provides a scalable platform that delivers the flexible performance and control needed to mitigate aggressive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and protocol attacks before they overwhelm and degrade applications and infrastructure availability. Natively a part of F5 BIG-IP AFM, F5 intrusion prevention system (IPS) performs Layer 5-7 inspection of incoming traffic and protects protocol and infrastructure against security incidents and exploits. BIG-IP AFM’s IPS solution reviews traffic for adherence to protocol standards, matching against known attack signatures. For service providers, BIG-IP AFM IPS does even more, protecting the network edge and performing traffic inspection and protocol adherence for prevalent service provider protocols such as SS7, Diameter, HTTP/2, GTP, SCTP and SIP traffic coming into the network over UDP, TCP, and SCTP. ## F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Reviews ### 1. F5 AFM is powerful and advanced software based firewall **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sumit K. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 07, 2023 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** F5 advanced firewall is software based firewall solution to provide network security. It can provide real-time visibility in to network traffic and can block traffic real-time. It also has intrusion prevention which is advanced security feature. It can be deployed in a wide range of network environment. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** It is premium product but still having some performance related issues. Overall its a powerful device with great features. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** It provides the advanced network security in large networks. Better GUI interface for quick setup and configuration. Really advanced firewall in industry. ### 2. Great Product and has met all our needs! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** David L. | LAN/WAN Specialist, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 15, 2021 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** It has integrated well with what we have and replaced some really old software. It has been a great experience and given us everything we needed. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** Nothing so far.. the only thing was we had to have some help on the setup due to it being a little complicated. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** giving extra security to some of our internal websites ### 3. "Firewall Manager for Data Center" **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Networking | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 20, 2019 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** As i am working with ISP Company i need to deal with firewalls.F5 Advanced Firewall Manager are most effective network-level security for enterprises and service providers.Connect securely to VPN within quick time.Connection times are fast and reliable.Web properties and applications in balance and maintain high accessibility level." **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** I think cost is little bit high as compare to other firewall manager. **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** Secure protection for data center and cloud,Highly recomended. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** *Connection times are fast and reliable. *It provides full SSL visibility,as well as network-layer and session-layer security. *Advanced Firewall Manager gives fast and secure access as well as it is high performance firewall. ### 4. Protection within an APP **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Deanna C. | Support Team Lead, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 14, 2019 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** This worked perfectly when remoting in form home. The system ensured protection for both my computer and computer remoting into. The benefit of protecting the companies data, and business, requires thinking about app security first and they excelled. Working for the company 5 years, in a manager role, we never has any security issues using this app. Easy to get in touch with people in support when there are issues. This is also available in any cloud which is a huge benefit as well. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** There were times it was difficult to log in, not sure if it came from f5 or that company I was working for. The system was slow at times too. This is great for companies with impertinent information. I don't have to many dislikes regarding this app since it was a huge positive for the company. **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** I think you're doing a great job, the only feedback is to make it faster! **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** This allowed us to work from home and provide service to our customers. Helped connect us to our customers! As our mission statement reflected as always on and this app allowed us to hit our mission statement. This also solves problems for people that need to work from home due to illness or any issues of the sort. There is also a ton of training and information on their website for more information regarding best practices, how to use, and environmental concerns. ### 5. F5 AFM works but use F5 WAF instead **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Translation and Localization | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 08, 2019 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** Ddos protection simple and out of the box. The concept of protection out of the box was very attractive. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** dDos protection broke our applications due to timeouts specified in our web application the two were not initially compatable. The URL filters were very hard to implement **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** Be careful use the auto-learning functions and stick to it. Do not go too deep into URL filters as that can cause large sweeping impacts. Be careful if something breaks your application it maybe hard to find. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** Provides protection to large scale attacks ### 6. F5 has a lot of potential **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Retail | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 12, 2019 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** When running smoothly, F5 is awesome. I’m able to access all of the files needed for my business, which is a must have. Makes me feel like I’m in the office sometimes even though I work remotely. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** F5 has a lot to offer but it could use some improvements. Although it has improved a lot, the constant disconnection hurts as I work remotely and rely on it. I have determined through multiple sources that it is not my ISP but, in fact, F5. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** Definitely great because as soon as we login, we have access to all of the applications we need to do our job. Also great to have as a remote user. Without it, I cannot do my job. ### 7. Got rid of the product **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Public Relations and Communications | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 14, 2019 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** The consistency of appearence; specifically- that when it shows up I can be alerted of potential threats on my computer. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** I dislike the quality of the browser when this pops up. I’d like to adjust it in my settings but I don’t know how to. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** I’m not solving any business problems per say; it’s moreso if managing my computer and my files to make sure that everything is safe and secure. ### 8. F5 **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Government Administration | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 03, 2019 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** I like that if handles firewall, active directory, logging controls, SSH, DDos **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** They might not be flexible especially then we're talking about corner cases. We had very special problem to fix with them once. They came to our place, told us that the problem is peace of cake. Two years later the problem is till there **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** It's a no brainier for agencies and firms that take security seriously. You don't have to do a thing since F5 will handle it for you. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** We're small government agency. F5 helps us to keep our team small ### 9. A power application to manage network, firewall **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Loc n. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 09, 2018 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** There are a lot of function which meet my expectation, like setup fire wall, do a load balancing, easy to config redirect website... **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** The price is little higher. At this time I don't have any. **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** For large business I would recomend they used F% big ip. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have a big webserver, dxt system, to managed it separately is very consume time so this tool help us to centralization, configure firewall for my client website... ### 10. Fantastic protection for all PC’s **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Health, Wellness and Fitness | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 12, 2019 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** Great protection. User friendly and easy to load. Really filters things out. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** It can be hard to load at times but then will pickup. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** Fighting viruses and other problematic sites. ### 11. f5 is one of the best products in its class **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Building Materials | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 19, 2016 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** I like the fact that in f5 I can create and assign custom "Access Profiles" to any "Virtual Server". I also like that I can run a report on the "Access Policy" to get information on all the sessions in real time. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** I dislike that the development/test licensing expires after about 3 months and then it needs to be renewed. **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** I recommend performing a total assessment of your network environment before engaging with f5; that way you'll be able to answer any questions they have in regards to the architecture. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** We solved an issue with different applications using different authentication methods. We realized that implementing SSO (Single Sing On) is quite beneficial since it makes it easier for our users to use our applications. ### 12. Amazing Load Balancing Hardware and Interface **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Internet | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 27, 2016 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** We use the F5 to load balance all of our web properties. It is versatile and quite intuitive to use. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** Would just like the learning curve to be a bit easier but hands on training has helped a lot. **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** If you to use the F5 for load balancing of for firewall, you have picked a great versatile product. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have enabled our web properties to be load balanced and thus offered in high availability. ### 13. Easy and Straigthforward **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Michael L. | Marc Hershman Marine Policy Fellow at the Washington State Department of Ecology, Environmental Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 27, 2016 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** Very easy to use, I've never had a problem with my RSA remote login device. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** The device itself is a bit clunky, and I'm told fairly susceptible to water damage. **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** Assuming it isn't more expensive that competitors, I have no complaints about the F5 advanced firewall manager. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** This software and corresponding device allows me to access the department's servers remotely. ### 14. f5 Works Great! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Biotechnology | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 23, 2016 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** Connect securely to VPN quickly and effortlessly. Connection times are fast and reliable. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** No complaints thus far in using the software. **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** Connect securely to VPN quickly and effortlessly. ### 15. F5 AFM **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 25, 2016 **What do you like best about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** The ability to be granular in where and how to apply access rules. **What do you dislike about F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM)?** The cli configuration for AFM is overly complicated and difficult to manage. **Recommendations to others considering F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM):** None **What problems is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) solving and how is that benefiting you?** The ability to use the f5 as a state full firewall instead of having a traditional firewall load balancer configuratuon. ## F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Discussions - [What is F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-f5-big-ip-advanced-firewall-manager-afm-used-for) - [Need to know if F5 Advance firewall manger matches to our crieteria for which we are looking](https://www.g2.com/discussions/27568-need-to-know-if-f5-advance-firewall-manger-matches-to-our-crieteria-for-which-we-are-looking) - 1 upvote - [View F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/f5-big-ip-advanced-firewall-manager-afm/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-07-13+14%3A26%3A21+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=30a27d33-6900-4e0c-b5e6-cdf80589a279&secure%5Btoken%5D=1ac1249c67594c7b2e29decbbd25dbf1fa5687e65791f5baaea0d1cc1402af87&format=llm_user) ## F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Features **Network Maintenance** - Policy Optimization - Risk Analysis - Auditing **Network Management** - Network Mapping - Compliance - Reporting - Console **Network Monitoring** - Network Monitoring - Configuration Monitoring - Change Management ## Top F5 BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) Alternatives - [SolarWinds Observability](https://www.g2.com/products/solarwinds-worldwide-llc-solarwinds-observability/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (817 reviews) - [Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)](https://www.g2.com/products/check-point-cloud-firewall-formerly-cloudguard-network-security/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (271 reviews) - [Palo Alto Networks Panorama](https://www.g2.com/products/palo-alto-networks-panorama/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (39 reviews)