CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

F5 vs Imperva

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. Imperva sells an Application Security Platform that protects against application and API attacks without impacting legitimate users. CISO Tribune files both under WAF and WAAP and API security. 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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  • F5
  • Imperva
F5 vs Imperva: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
F5F5 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.comImpervaImperva sells an Application Security Platform that protects against application and API attacks without impacting legitimate users.imperva.com
What it sells
  • 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.
  • Web Application Firewall (WAF)[9][12]Imperva WAF protects applications in any environment, cloud or on-premises.
  • Advanced Bot Protection[4][5][9][11][17]Imperva Advanced Bot Protection protects websites, mobile apps and APIs from sophisticated automated attacks.
  • API Security[4][5][9][17]Imperva API Security provides continuous protection of all APIs.
  • DDoS Protection[5][9][12]Imperva’s advanced DDoS protection defends against volumetric, protocol-based and Layer 7 attacks.
  • Client-Side Protection[9][13]Imperva Client-Side Protection safeguards against client-side attacks like formjacking, digital skimming and Magecart.
  • AI Application Security[5][14]Imperva AI Application Security is engineered for the unique architecture of LLMs.
  • Data Security Fabric[15]Imperva Data Security Fabric is purpose-built for hybrid multicloud environments.
  • Content Delivery Network[9]Imperva's Secure Content Delivery Network (CDN) accelerates the delivery of content and applications.
Categories
Headquarters
Seattle, United States[3]Redwood Shores, United States[3]
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Public (NASDAQ: FFIV)[2][4][5][7][17]Owned by Thales[1][5][7][8][10]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • June 22, 2026F5 introduced its AI Security Platform and announced the acquisition of SurePath AI as part of the launch.[17]
  • August 24, 2026Thales Imperva introduced the SSL Integration Center, a framework connecting Imperva Cloud WAF with certificate lifecycle management platforms, launching with a DigiCert integration.[19]
  • August 3, 2026Thales launched Imperva for AWS, which provides web application, API and bot protection for AWS environments.[6]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[5]
  • G2: listed, seen November 6, 2026[7]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 6, 2026[8]
Who it fits
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.From its own pages, Imperva sells mainly to organizations that need to protect applications and APIs in public or private cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments. Imperva addresses retail organizations that need to protect customers' data and secure applications, APIs, and cloud networks. Imperva addresses businesses aiming to comply with PCI DSS 4.0 standards while defending against client-side attacks. Imperva describes support for compliance in highly regulated industries across hybrid and multicloud environments. Imperva describes a purpose-built solution to secure AI applications for homegrown GenAI.
Last verified
September 27, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • WAF and WAAP is the primary category of both F5 and Imperva; both are also filed under API security.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Imperva is also filed under Bot and abuse management and DDoS protection.
  • 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. Imperva lists Web Application Firewall (WAF), Advanced Bot Protection, API Security, DDoS Protection, Client-Side Protection and 3 more.
  • F5 is headquartered in Seattle, United States. Imperva is headquartered in Redwood Shores, United States.
  • F5 is a public company listed on NASDAQ as FFIV. Imperva is owned by Thales.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files both F5 and Imperva under WAF and WAAP as the primary category, and both also appear under API security. Imperva is additionally filed under bot and abuse management and DDoS protection. F5 is headquartered in Seattle and is a public company listed on NASDAQ as FFIV. Imperva is headquartered in Redwood Shores and is owned by Thales.

F5 sells the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP), offered through term subscriptions, the Flex Consumption Plan (FCP), and perpetual licensing. Its other products include F5 Insight for ADSP for observability and fleet management, F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect, BIG-IP Container Ingress Services, and the F5 AI Security Platform. F5 names a medical organization, a European asset manager, and a national public safety technology agency as customers. On June 22, 2026, F5 introduced its AI Security Platform and announced the acquisition of SurePath AI.

Imperva sells a Web Application Firewall, Advanced Bot Protection, API Security, DDoS Protection, Client-Side Protection, and a Content Delivery Network. It also sells AI Application Security and Data Security Fabric, the latter built for hybrid multicloud environments. Imperva names BSE as a customer. On August 24, 2026, Thales Imperva introduced the SSL Integration Center, which launched with a DigiCert integration. On August 3, 2026, Thales launched Imperva for AWS, covering web application, API and bot protection for AWS environments.

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.

What it sells: Imperva

What Web Application Firewall (WAF) does[9][12]
Imperva says managed rules written and tested by the Imperva Threat Research team before deployment allow more than 94% of Imperva customers to deploy the Imperva WAF in blocking mode. Imperva’s Attack Analytics automatically correlates thousands of security alerts into narratives. Imperva’s Terraform provider automates Cloud WAF deployments.
What Advanced Bot Protection does[4][5][9][11][17]
Advanced Bot Protection safeguards websites, mobile apps and APIs from bot attacks, including all OWASP 21 Automated Threats. Imperva says its multi-layered approach detects malicious bots by combining direct client interrogation, behavior analysis, machine learning, connection characteristics and threat intelligence feeds.
What DDoS Protection does[5][9][12]
Imperva offers a guaranteed 3-second mitigation SLA for Layers 3 and 4 DDoS attacks. Imperva DDoS Protection for Networks shields entire infrastructures with 13 Tbps of multi-terabit scrubbing capacity. Imperva DDoS Protection for Websites works alongside a cloud web application firewall (WAF) to block attacks and malicious bots.
What Client-Side Protection does[9][13]
Imperva Client-Side Protection enables security teams to manage client-side resources and JavaScript while streamlining compliance with PCI DSS 4.0 requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1. Client-Side Protection automatically blocks known malicious domains based on data from the Imperva Threat Research Team.
What Data Security Fabric does[15]
Imperva Data Security Fabric protects all your data assets. Imperva data security reveals critical insight including sensitive data location, users, access, and risk. Imperva offers out-of-the-box support for over 100 data repositories, on-prem or in cloud.

Questions about F5 and Imperva

What do F5 and Imperva sell?
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. Imperva sells Web Application Firewall (WAF), Advanced Bot Protection, API Security, DDoS Protection, Client-Side Protection and 3 more.
Are F5 and Imperva in the same category?
Yes. WAF and WAAP is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Where are F5 and Imperva headquartered?
F5 is headquartered in Seattle, United States. Imperva is headquartered in Redwood Shores, United States.
Who owns F5 and Imperva?
F5 is a public company listed on NASDAQ as FFIV. Imperva is owned by Thales.
Who are F5 and Imperva sold to?
From its own pages, F5 sells mainly to organisations that run applications across multiple clouds, on-premises data centers, and edge sites. From its own pages, Imperva sells mainly to organizations that need to protect applications and APIs in public or private cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments.
What have F5 and Imperva announced recently?
June 22, 2026: F5 introduced its AI Security Platform and announced the acquisition of SurePath AI as part of the launch. August 24, 2026: Thales Imperva introduced the SSL Integration Center, a framework connecting Imperva Cloud WAF with certificate lifecycle management platforms, launching with a DigiCert integration.

About F5

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.[1][6]

F5 says its security offering covers sensitive data, apps, and APIs on a single platform. F5 offers ADSP through term subscriptions, the Flex Consumption Plan (FCP), and perpetual licensing. F5 says it can safeguard sensitive data from quantum risks with NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptography. F5 says it hardens its own code with frontier AI models and blocks zero-day and emerging AI-driven threats at runtime.

F5 sells management and automation solutions for BIG-IP and NGINX that provide central management, observability, and automation. F5 says its ADSP management and automation solutions offer end-to-end visibility, intuitive management workflows, and intelligent automation. F5 services for application delivery and security can be managed and provisioned with Ansible and Terraform.[8]

F5 Insight for ADSP enables ops teams to focus efforts where they are most needed, find answers more quickly, optimize deployments, and execute updates faster. F5 Insight uses open-source tools including custom OpenTelemetry resources, VictoriaMetrics database, and a Grafana instance. Users can ask questions about virtual server status, iRule resource use, or security configurations in plain conversational English. Teams can identify expiring certificates, inventory cryptographic assets, and track PQC readiness. Guided workflows distribute and install software patches, updates, and upgrades across an entire fleet in parallel. F5 says this observability and fleet management can be deployed in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and others, and in on-prem or fully air-gapped environments.[9]

F5 inspects traffic for bots, aggregators, and other anomalies using behavioral, network, and environmental client-side signals. F5 says it distinguishes trusted humans, bots, and agents from malicious activity through real-time behavioral analysis. F5 BIG-IP provides a native module for routing traffic to Bot Defense. Bot Defense can be deployed as SaaS in front of apps, and traffic from Distributed Cloud can be directed to Bot Defense. F5 offers real-time detection that stops malicious bots and AI agents and protects apps, APIs, and user experiences.[6]

The F5 AI Security Platform helps teams operationalize AI governance with customizable policy enforcement and auditability for every model, user, and agent action. F5 applies a continuous loop of testing and runtime protection to deployed AI systems. F5 discovers, classifies, and governs workforce AI usage across users, agents, and third-party services. F5 monitors shadow AI usage, sanctioned AI tools, and MCP servers across enterprise workflows. F5 says AI security can operate in fully isolated environments with no external connectivity.[10]

F5 says multicloud networking from F5 helps scale and automate networks so that applications are fast and reliable. F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect securely connects applications, clusters, and services across any cloud provider, on-premises data center, or remote site, giving DevOps teams network observability and control. F5 Distributed Cloud organizes network, traffic optimization, and security services in a single console. F5 Distributed Cloud Services support service discovery and service mesh integrations including Consul, Kubernetes, DNS, Istio, and Linkerd. Synthetic Monitoring from F5 Distributed Cloud sources data from global regions for analytics and insights.[11][12][13]

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. F5 IngressLink combines BIG-IP, Container Ingress Services (CIS), and NGINX Ingress Controller to deliver unified app services for modern applications in Kubernetes environments. BIG-IP Diameter Traffic Management enables service providers to manage network complexity with context-aware routing, secure roaming, and integration of Diameter and legacy elements. The F5 Diameter Firewall is compliant with GSMA-FS-19 Diameter Security requirements.[14][15]

A medical organization deployed F5 Workforce AI Security to bring ungoverned AI use under protection and oversight and to secure sensitive patient data. A European asset manager deployed F5 solutions for S3 data delivery for AI model training. A national public safety technology agency uses F5 BIG-IP r4600 appliances in front of its storage to secure and load balance its ingestion path.[1][8][10][11][13][14][15][16]

F5 on the record

Sources

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

Imperva full record

  1. [1]Thales completes acquisition imperva creating global leaderThales Group · thalesgroup.com · published December 4, 2023 · Tier A
  2. [2]AboutImperva · imperva.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Greg clark joins imperva board of directorsImperva · imperva.com · published June 4, 2014 · Tier A
  4. [4]Application securityImperva · imperva.com · published August 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Cyber Security Leader | Imperva, Inc.Imperva · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Thales Launches Imperva for AWS to Help Organizations Protect Applications and APIsBusiness Wire · published August 3, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Imperva Data Security Fabric Reviews & Product Details - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier C
  8. [8]Thales Group (Imperva) Reviews - Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier C
  9. [9]Best Application Security | Imperva WAAP ProtectionImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Web Application Firewall (WAF) | Cloud & On-Prem | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Advanced Bot Protection | Stop Advanced Bots | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Advanced DDoS Protection & Mitigation Services | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Client-Side Protection | PCI 4.0 Compliance | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Enterprise AI & LLM Security | Stop Prompt Injection | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Data Security Solutions | Protecting Data Everywhere | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Plans and Services | Imperva Cyber SecurityImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Retail & eCommerce Cyber Security | Secure Online Transactions | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Data Security Fabric | Protect All Data Types | ImpervaImperva · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Bring Your Own CA: Introducing the Thales Imperva SSL Integration Center, Featuring DigiCert Trust Lifecycle ManagerImperva · published August 24, 2026 · Tier A

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