Best WAF for AWS

AWS WAF is the native choice on AWS, attaching directly to CloudFront, Application Load Balancer, API Gateway (REST APIs), AppSync, App Runner, Verified Access, Amazon Cognito user pools, AWS Amplify, and now Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Gateway. It shares one control plane with the rest of your AWS account (IAM, CloudWatch, Security Lake, Firewall Manager), so there is no extra routing hop and policies deploy the same way as the rest of your infrastructure.

Cloudflare sits in front of your AWS origins as a reverse-proxy CDN and WAF, deployed with a simple DNS change and requiring no changes to your ALB or CloudFront setup. For teams running workloads across multiple clouds, it provides a single edge control plane for WAF, DDoS mitigation, bot management, and caching, absorbing attacks before traffic ever reaches your AWS bill.

Imperva is an enterprise-grade WAAP available through AWS Marketplace as both a managed cloud service and self-hosted appliances that run natively in your VPC. It is a strong fit for regulated, hybrid estates that need database-layer protection, advanced bot defense, and API security alongside application firewalling, backed by Imperva's threat research.

The Fastly Next-Gen WAF (formerly Signal Sciences) is favored by DevOps-led teams for its low false-positive rate and flexible deployment: it can run at the Fastly edge, as a cloud WAF, or as a lightweight agent/module next to applications on AWS. That flexibility lets you protect ALB, API, and container workloads without forcing all traffic through a single choke point.

Wallarm is an API-first WAAP that deploys inside AWS as a node, sidecar, or in-line filter and is available on AWS Marketplace. For API-heavy and microservice architectures behind API Gateway or an ALB, it adds automated API discovery, schema enforcement, and attack detection that traditional signature WAFs miss.

Fully managed cloud WAF combining automatic policy generation, advanced bot mitigation, and 24/7 expert support with industry-leading DDoS protection.

AI-powered WAF with preemptive zero-day protection, featuring dual machine learning engines and minimal false positives for cloud-native applications.

Enterprise application security platform from F5 Networks combining behavioral analytics, bot defense, API protection, credential stuffing prevention, and L7 DDoS mitigation. The WAF that banks, airlines, and governments have relied on for over two decades.

High-performance WAF built into the world's most widely used open source load balancer. Uses machine learning-powered threat detection instead of regex-based signatures, delivering 98.5% balanced accuracy with sub-millisecond latency. Enterprise product with custom pricing.

Enterprise CNAPP with integrated WAF, API security, and bot management, designed for cloud-native applications across multi-cloud environments.

AI-powered bot and fraud protection platform that stops advanced bots, credential stuffing, scraping, and L7 DDoS attacks across websites, mobile apps, and APIs. Forrester Leader in Bot Management with 99.99% detection accuracy and sub-2ms latency. Starts at $3,830/month.

AI-powered web application firewall from Fortinet providing advanced threat detection, API protection, and bot mitigation for web applications and APIs, available as hardware appliance, VM, or cloud service.

Lightweight, high-performance WAF running natively inside NGINX Plus. Brings F5's enterprise threat intelligence to DevOps workflows with declarative configuration, Kubernetes-native deployment, and CI/CD integration. Part of the NGINX One platform.

AI-powered API security platform combining WAF/WAAP, automated API discovery, security testing, and bot protection with runtime defense across any environment.

Comprehensive WAF with flexible deployment options from appliances to cloud, featuring strong bot defense, API protection, and deep DevOps integration.

Cloud-native WAAP platform offering fully managed WAF, bot management, and DDoS protection with private cloud deployment options for enhanced data privacy.

Fully managed cloud WAF by Indusface with integrated vulnerability scanning, zero false positive guarantee, and 24/7 SOC support. Deploys in block mode from day one.

Enterprise application firewall integrated into the Citrix NetScaler (now Citrix ADC) application delivery controller, providing positive and negative security models with deep traffic inspection.

Australian-based WAAP platform combining WAF, bot management, DDoS protection, and CDN in a single solution designed for DevOps and security teams.

AI-powered WAF built natively on Kubernetes, combining behavioral threat detection with zero-configuration API protection for cloud-native applications.

European sovereign WAF offering comprehensive application and API protection with EU data residency guarantees and flexible SaaS or cloud deployment options.

Cloud-native WAF from Alibaba Cloud, the largest cloud provider in Asia-Pacific. AI-powered deep learning detection, bot management, API security, and DDoS protection. Battle-tested during Double 11 (Singles' Day) handling millions of QPS. Available as pay-as-you-go (SeCU-based billing) or subscription. Recognized by Gartner, Forrester, IDC, and Frost & Sullivan.

API gateway with built-in WAF plugin for enterprise customers. Kong is the most popular open source API gateway (35K+ GitHub stars, 312M+ downloads) built on NGINX, processing 400B+ API calls daily. The WAF plugin is an Enterprise-only add-on that protects API endpoints at the gateway layer.

Enterprise-grade next-gen WAF from Chinese cybersecurity leader NSFOCUS, offering comprehensive web and API protection with flexible cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployment options.

Next-gen firewall (SFOS on XGS appliances) with a built-in reverse-proxy Web Application Firewall via its Web Server Protection module; the active successor to the end-of-life Sophos UTM.

German-made, GDPR-compliant cloud WAF built for critical infrastructure and regulated industries. BSI-qualified, NIS-2 and DORA compliant. Managed WAF service available. Blocks 8M+ malicious L7 requests per customer per year. Data processing exclusively in Germany on request.

Appliance-based WAF from the established network security vendor, offering deep packet inspection, PCI DSS compliance, and integration with SonicWall's broader firewall ecosystem.

Cloud-managed WAF from Qualys that integrates with their vulnerability scanning platform, enabling one-click virtual patching of discovered vulnerabilities. Note — product was decommissioned September 2024.