CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Blackwall vs F5

Blackwall sells a web traffic management platform for the hosting market. F5 sells the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP), which F5 describes as keeping applications and APIs fast, available, and secure across complex environments. CISO Tribune files both under WAF and WAAP. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Blackwall
  • F5
Blackwall vs F5: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
BlackwallBlackwall sells a web traffic management platform for the hosting market.blackwall.comF5F5 sells the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP), which F5 describes as keeping applications and APIs fast, available, and secure across complex environments.f5.com
What it sells
  • GateKeeper[4][6]Blackwall's flagship product, deployed across 2.3M+ websites and applications.
  • F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP)[1]A platform that keeps applications and APIs fast, available, and secure across complex environments.
  • F5 Insight for ADSP[9]Observability and fleet management for ops teams.
  • F5 AI Security Platform[10]A platform that covers AI application security and AI workforce security.
  • F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect[12]Connects applications, clusters, and services across clouds, data centers, and remote sites.
  • BIG-IP Container Ingress Services[14]Lets teams manage BIG-IP from Kubernetes or OpenShift.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesSeattle, United States[3]
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Privately heldPublic (NASDAQ: FFIV)[2][4][5][7][17]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • October 20, 2026Blackwall announced it raised $100 million at a $2.2 billion valuation in a C round led by AVP, with existing investors Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures and Tera Ventures.[9]
  • June 22, 2026F5 introduced its AI Security Platform and announced the acquisition of SurePath AI as part of the launch.[17]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[5]
Who it fits
From its own pages, Blackwall sells mainly to hosting providers and service providers, who offer its security to their own customers. Blackwall describes itself as channel-first, protecting websites through hosting providers around the world. Blackwall solutions are aimed at hosting providers, cloud platforms and enterprise networks. GateKeeper is described as protecting SMB customers worldwide. Service providers can white-label the product and keep control over how security features are delivered to their customers.From its own pages, F5 sells mainly to organisations that run applications across multiple clouds, on-premises data centers, and edge sites. F5 addresses DevOps teams and ops teams that want network observability and control over their applications. F5 sells its Diameter products to service providers and mobile operators. F5 names customers such as a medical organization, a European asset manager, and a national public safety technology agency. F5 positions its AI security offerings for organisations that need to govern workforce AI usage across users, agents, and third-party services.
Last verified
October 21, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Blackwall and F5 are both filed under WAF and WAAP.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Blackwall's primary category is Bot and abuse management; F5's is WAF and WAAP.
  • Blackwall is also filed under DDoS protection and Network visibility and traffic brokering. F5 is also filed under API security.
  • Blackwall lists GateKeeper. F5 lists F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP), F5 Insight for ADSP, F5 AI Security Platform, F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect and BIG-IP Container Ingress Services.
  • F5 is headquartered in Seattle, United States.
  • Blackwall is privately held. F5 is a public company listed on NASDAQ as FFIV.

What it sells: Blackwall

What GateKeeper does[4][6]
GateKeeper is described as the flagship product of Blackwall and is deployed across 2.3M+ websites and applications. GateKeeper is described as protecting SMB customers worldwide against emerging threats. The latest version of Blackwall's GateKeeper is v1.6.x.

What it sells: F5

What F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) does[1]
F5 offers ADSP through term subscriptions, the Flex Consumption Plan (FCP), and perpetual licensing. F5 says its security offering covers sensitive data, apps, and APIs on a single platform.
What F5 Insight for ADSP does[9]
F5 Insight for ADSP enables ops teams to find answers more quickly, optimize deployments, and execute updates faster. Guided workflows distribute and install software patches, updates, and upgrades across an entire fleet in parallel. Deployment is possible in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and others, and in on-prem or fully air-gapped environments.
What F5 AI Security Platform does[10]
The F5 AI Security Platform helps teams operationalize AI governance with customizable policy enforcement and auditability for every model, user, and agent action. A continuous loop of testing and runtime protection secures deployed AI systems. Workforce AI usage is discovered, classified, and governed across users, agents, and third-party services.
What F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect does[12]
F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect securely connects applications, clusters, and services across any cloud provider, on-premises data center, or remote site. DevOps teams get network observability and control.
What BIG-IP Container Ingress Services does[14]
BIG-IP Container Ingress Services (CIS) lets users manage an F5 BIG-IP device from Kubernetes or OpenShift using either environment's native CLI/API. CIS watches the Kubernetes API for specially formatted resources and updates the BIG-IP system configuration accordingly. F5 describes Container Ingress Services as free and open-source.

Questions about Blackwall and F5

What do Blackwall and F5 sell?
Blackwall sells GateKeeper. F5 sells F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP), F5 Insight for ADSP, F5 AI Security Platform, F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect and BIG-IP Container Ingress Services.
Are Blackwall and F5 in the same category?
They share WAF and WAAP. Blackwall's primary category is Bot and abuse management and F5's is WAF and WAAP.
Where are Blackwall and F5 headquartered?
F5 is headquartered in Seattle, United States.
Who owns Blackwall and F5?
Blackwall is privately held. F5 is a public company listed on NASDAQ as FFIV.
Who are Blackwall and F5 sold to?
From its own pages, Blackwall sells mainly to hosting providers and service providers, who offer its security to their own customers. From its own pages, F5 sells mainly to organisations that run applications across multiple clouds, on-premises data centers, and edge sites.
What have Blackwall and F5 announced recently?
October 20, 2026: Blackwall announced it raised $100 million at a $2.2 billion valuation in a C round led by AVP, with existing investors Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures and Tera Ventures. June 22, 2026: F5 introduced its AI Security Platform and announced the acquisition of SurePath AI as part of the launch.

About Blackwall

Blackwall sells a web traffic management platform for the hosting market. Blackwall is a security infrastructure company focused on protecting web ecosystems from automated threats. Blackwall raises $100M at a $2.2B valuation to scale its global web traffic management platform. Blackwall describes itself as an AI-enabled security and web infrastructure company dedicated to safeguarding web ecosystems from automated threats.[2][3][4]

Blackwall is a channel-first web security company protecting millions of websites through hosting providers around the world. Every website connected to Blackwall initially operates in monitoring mode. The Blackwall platform analyses traffic in real time, detects malicious activity and generates security alerts that are delivered to website owners through Blackwall hosting partners.[5]

Blackwall integrates into a service provider's existing environment and tools, so the provider can package, price and deliver security its own way. Service providers can create new security tiers and add-ons on the infrastructure they already operate. Blackwall lets service providers make protection available across their entire customer base, from a simple upsell to security included by default. Blackwall offers modular security and traffic components that providers mix and match into tailored packages for every client tier.[1][2]

Blackwall technology can be white-labelled, and providers maintain control over how security features are delivered to their customers. Service providers can automate provisioning and management within their existing environment. Blackwall describes a model in which providers deploy across their client base and retain control of the customer relationship.[2]

Blackwall offers a component that visualises traffic patterns, visitor behaviour and anomalies for clients. Blackwall offers a component that stops malicious automated traffic and scraping. Blackwall offers a component that protects workloads against application-layer attacks. Blackwall offers a component that shields applications from common vulnerabilities, injection attacks and emerging threats. Blackwall offers a component that tailors security policies and traffic handling to individual client requirements. Blackwall offers a component that caches assets at the edge to accelerate content delivery and reduce origin server load.[1][2]

GateKeeper is described as the flagship product of Blackwall and is deployed across 2.3M+ websites and applications. GateKeeper is described as protecting SMB customers worldwide against emerging threats. The latest version of Blackwall's GateKeeper is v1.6.x. Blackwall provides several methods to integrate web servers with the Blackwall service.[4][6][7]

Blackwall is a brand and trademark of Botguard OÜ. BotGuard is legally registered in Estonia. Blackwall is backed by European investors. The Blackwall team is distributed across Europe, APAC and the Americas. Blackwall solutions are aimed at hosting providers, cloud platforms and enterprise networks.[1][3][4][8]

Blackwall on the record

Sources

Blackwall full record

  1. [1]blackwall.comBlackwall · blackwall.com · undated page, accessed October 21, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Blackwall – Cybersecurity, Bot Protection & Web SecurityBlackwall · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]About Us – BlackwallBlackwall · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Pre-Sales Solutions Architect - LATAM - BlackwallBlackwall · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Senior Product Manager - Conversion Optimisation - BlackwallBlackwall · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Blackwall DocsBlackwall · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Web Server Overview - Blackwall DocsBlackwall · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Blackwall Legal Information – BlackwallBlackwall · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Blackwall Raises $100M at $2.2B Valuation to Scale Its Global Web Traffic Management Platform for the Hosting MarketBusiness Wire · published October 20, 2026 · Tier A

F5 full record

  1. [1]f5.comF5 · f5.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Earnings q3 fy26F5 · f5.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]otcmarkets.comF5, Inc. via SEC EDGAR (Form 10-K) · otcmarkets.com · published November 25, 2025 · Tier A
  4. [4]Enterprise Application Security and Delivery Solutions | F5F5 · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]F5 Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier C
  6. [6]Bot and Risk Management | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Hybrid Multicloud App Security & Delivery for the AI Era | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Unified Management and Automation | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Operational Intelligence and Response for F5 ADSP | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]F5 AI Security Platform | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Hybrid Multicloud Network Management Platform | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Distributed application delivery solutions | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]F5 Distributed Cloud Synthetic Monitoring | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]BIG-IP Container Ingress Services | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]BIG-IP Diameter Traffic Manager | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]NFV Packaged Solutions | F5F5 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]F5 launches AI Security Platform to put security leaders in control of enterprise AI riskF5 · published June 22, 2026 · Tier A

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