Web application firewalls · October 2026 Edition
ModSecurity vs Radware Cloud WAF
Zero of fourteen models named ModSecurity first on the direct prompt; one named Radware Cloud WAF. ModSecurity was named by twelve of the fourteen models and Radware Cloud WAF by seven and ModSecurity carries 26 labels and Radware Cloud WAF 12, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share8%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate54%17%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#4A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels2612A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, ModSecurity reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Cloudflare WAF was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Cloudflare WAF vs ModSecurity · Cloudflare WAF vs Radware Cloud WAF · ModSecurity vs AWS WAF
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the web application firewalls page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
ModSecurityFirst choices, of fourteen modelsRadware Cloud WAF
Direct011 against ModSecurity
Paraphrase00
Comparative003 against ModSecurity
Budget-constrained402 against ModSecurity
Scale-constrained00
Negative008 against ModSecurity · 2 against Radware Cloud WAF
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where ModSecurity and Radware Cloud WAF stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | |||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | ||||
| Perplexity Sonar | ||||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | |||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | |||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | |||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | ||||
| Kimi K2 | | | ||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | ||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | | |||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | |
ModSecurity Radware Cloud WAF first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, ModSecurity on the left and Radware Cloud WAF on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where ModSecurity and Radware Cloud WAF stood in it.
Radware Cloud WAF first, ModSecurity not the choice
1 of 14 modelsModSecurity was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Llama 4 MaverickRadware Cloud WAF
Neither was the first choice, one was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Grok 4.1 FastCloudflare WAF alternatives: AWS WAF, Akamai App & API Protector, Azure Application Gateway WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF, Radware Cloud WAF, Sucuri WAF
Neither was named
12 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5AWS WAF, Cloudflare WAF
GPT-5.4 miniCloudflare WAF alternatives: Imperva Cloud WAF
Gemini 3.5 FlashCloudflare WAF alternatives: AWS WAF, Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service, Fastly Next-Gen WAF
Perplexity SonarBarracuda WAF alternatives: Akamai App & API Protector, Cloudflare WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF
Mistral SmallBarracuda Web Application Firewall alternatives: Cloudflare WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF, Reblaze WAAP
DeepSeek V4 FlashCloudflare WAF alternatives: AWS WAF, Fastly Next-Gen WAF
Qwen 3.7 FlashCloudflare WAF alternatives: AWS WAF, Fastly Next-Gen WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF
Kimi K2Cloudflare WAF alternatives: AWS WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF
GLM 4.7 FlashXCloudflare WAF alternatives: AWS WAF, F5 Advanced WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF
MiniMax M2.5Barracuda Web Application Firewall, Cloudflare WAF alternatives: OpenAppSec / Check Point CloudGuard WAF
GPT-6 LunaCloudflare WAF alternatives: AWS WAF, Azure Front Door Premium with WAF, Fastly Next-Gen WAF
Muse Glimmer 30BCloudflare WAF alternatives: Barracuda WAF, Sucuri WAF
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Level: the same share of first choices.
ModSecurity0%#9 of 9Radware Cloud WAF0%#– of 9Mid-marketThe figures above
ModSecurity leads by six points.
ModSecurity8%#2 of 11Radware Cloud WAF2%#4 of 11Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
ModSecurity0%#– of 9Radware Cloud WAF0%#8 of 9What the models said about ModSecurity
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“ModSecurity, the classic open-source WAF engine, has reached End-of-Life (EOL).” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“Avoid/Be cautious with: Unpatched ModSecurity v3 versions” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · hard negative
“A critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-47947) in ModSecurity, a widely deployed open-source WAF, allows attackers to crash systems through denial of service attacks” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“If you want the absolute lowest cost and have internal sysadmin skills: go with ModSecurity (free) + OWASP CRS.” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“best-value WAF is usually an open-source stack: ModSecurity + OWASP Core Rule Set (CRS)” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · first choice
“ModSecurity with OWASP CRS is the de-facto standard free engine.” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Radware Cloud WAF
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“Be cautious with WAFs that have recent CVEs (Radware Cloud WAF, FortiADC WAF) unless you can apply the vendor's patches immediately.” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Steep learning curve, complex config, and poor reporting (G2 user complaints).” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“The best web application firewall for a mid-market B2B company is Radware, as it is best for mid-market teams wanting straightforward app protection” Llama 4 Maverick · direct prompt · first choice
“High marks in reliability and automation” Grok 4.1 Fast · comparative prompt · alternative
“Radware: High G2 (4.6/5, 140+ reviews)” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · alternative
Also compared
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.