Cloudflare Web Application Firewall vs Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) vs Imperva Web Application Firewall

Comparing Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) and Imperva Web Application Firewall across pricing, features, ease of use, and more. Each WAF has different strengths — the right choice depends on your specific requirements.

View Cloudflare Web Application Firewall Review

View Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) Review

View Imperva Web Application Firewall Review

Overview

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) and Imperva Web Application Firewall are popular web application firewall solutions. This comparison will help you understand the key differences and choose the right one for your needs.

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall: Industry-leading WAF with global CDN integration, offering robust protection against OWASP threats with easy setup and generous free tier.

Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences): Developer-friendly WAF using proprietary SmartParse technology, offering low false positives and seamless DevOps integration for modern application security.

Imperva Web Application Firewall: Enterprise-grade cloud WAF with industry-leading threat research, offering comprehensive application security with advanced bot protection and API security.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Cloudflare Web Application Firewall	Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences)	Imperva Web Application Firewall
Overall Rating	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.4/5
Free Tier	Yes	No	No
Pricing Model	Per domain / Per feature tier	Custom pricing based on requests and features	Custom enterprise pricing
Ease of Use	4.8/5	4.0/5	3.5/5
Value for Money	4.5/5	3.8/5	3.7/5
Support	4.0/5	4.5/5	4.5/5
Platforms	Any web application, WordPress, Shopify, AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes	Any web application, AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, Docker, Serverless, Nginx, Apache	Any web application, AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, on-premise
Compliance	SOC 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP	SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR	SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018
Best For	Small to medium websites, WordPress sites, developers wanting easy setup, organizations needing integrated CDN+WAF	Modern DevOps teams, API-heavy applications, organizations frustrated with false positives, companies needing flexible deployment options	Large enterprises, organizations with sophisticated security requirements, companies needing advanced bot management, regulated industries

Pricing Comparison

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall

Model: Per domain / Per feature tier

Free Tier Available

Free

$0/month

Pro

$20/month

Business

$200/month

Enterprise

Contact Sales

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Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences)

Model: Custom pricing based on requests and features

Essential

Custom pricing

Professional

Custom pricing

Premier

Custom pricing

View full pricing →

Imperva Web Application Firewall

Model: Custom enterprise pricing

Pro

Starting ~$59/month

Business

Starting ~$299/month

Enterprise

Custom pricing

View full pricing →

Features Comparison

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall

Managed Rulesets
Pre-configured rules from Cloudflare and OWASP that are automatically updated to protect against emerging threats.
Custom Rules
Create your own firewall rules using Cloudflare's expression language to block, challenge, or allow specific traffic patterns.
Rate Limiting
Protect against brute force attacks and API abuse by limiting request rates from specific IPs or patterns.
Bot Management
Advanced bot detection and mitigation using machine learning to distinguish good bots from malicious ones.
API Shield
Protect API endpoints with schema validation, mutual TLS, and anomaly detection.
Page Shield
Monitor and control third-party JavaScript to prevent supply chain attacks and data theft.

Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences)

SmartParse Technology
Intelligent parsing technology that understands application context to reduce false positives by 90%+.
Power Rules
Flexible rule language for creating custom detection and response logic based on any request attribute.
API Discovery
Automatic discovery and cataloging of API endpoints with security assessment.
DevOps Integration
Native integrations with CI/CD tools, infrastructure as code support, and developer-friendly APIs.
Multi-Environment Deployment
Deploy as cloud service, agent, or edge module across diverse infrastructure.
Real-Time Dashboards
Live visibility into attacks, decisions, and application health without sampling.

Imperva Web Application Firewall

Advanced Bot Protection
Machine learning-powered bot detection that distinguishes between legitimate users, good bots, and malicious automation.
API Security
Discover, classify, and protect APIs with schema validation, anomaly detection, and positive security model.
Account Takeover Protection
Detect and prevent credential stuffing and account takeover attacks using behavioral analysis.
Client-Side Protection
Monitor and protect against client-side attacks like Magecart, formjacking, and supply chain compromises.
Attack Analytics
AI-powered analysis of security events to identify attack campaigns and reduce alert fatigue.
Virtual Patching
Immediate protection against known vulnerabilities while you work on permanent fixes.

Our Verdict

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) and Imperva Web Application Firewall are all capable web application firewalls that can protect your applications from common threats.

Key considerations:

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is well-suited for: Small to medium websites, WordPress sites, developers wanting easy setup, organizations needing integrated CDN+WAF
Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) is well-suited for: Modern DevOps teams, API-heavy applications, organizations frustrated with false positives, companies needing flexible deployment options
Imperva Web Application Firewall is well-suited for: Large enterprises, organizations with sophisticated security requirements, companies needing advanced bot management, regulated industries

We recommend evaluating your options with a trial or free tier before committing. Consider your existing infrastructure, team expertise, compliance requirements, and budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the cheapest: Cloudflare Web Application Firewall or Fastly Next-Gen WAF (Signal Sciences) or Imperva Web Application Firewall?

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall offers a free tier.

Which WAF is easiest to set up?

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall has the highest ease of use rating at 4.8/5 in our review.

Which WAF has the highest overall rating?

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall leads with an overall rating of 4.5/5.