# ModSecurity vs Radware Cloud WAF: which do AI models recommend for WAF, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Web application firewalls. Zero of fourteen models named ModSecurity first on the direct prompt; one named Radware Cloud WAF. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/network/web-application-firewalls/modsecurity-vs-radware-cloud-waf/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ModSecurity | 8% | #2 of 11 | 54% | 26 | 12 of 14 |
| Radware Cloud WAF | 2% | #4 of 11 | 17% | 12 | 7 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Llama 4 Maverick: radware cloud waf first (first choices: Radware Cloud WAF)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: AWS WAF, Akamai App & API Protector, Azure Application Gateway WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF, Radware Cloud WAF, Sucuri WAF)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: AWS WAF, Cloudflare WAF)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: Imperva Cloud WAF)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: AWS WAF, Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service, Fastly Next-Gen WAF)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Barracuda WAF) (alternatives: Akamai App & API Protector, Cloudflare WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Barracuda Web Application Firewall) (alternatives: Cloudflare WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF, Reblaze WAAP)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: AWS WAF, Fastly Next-Gen WAF)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: AWS WAF, Fastly Next-Gen WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: AWS WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: AWS WAF, F5 Advanced WAF, Imperva Cloud WAF)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: Barracuda Web Application Firewall, Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: OpenAppSec / Check Point CloudGuard WAF)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: AWS WAF, Azure Front Door Premium with WAF, Fastly Next-Gen WAF)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare WAF) (alternatives: Barracuda WAF, Sucuri WAF)

## What the models said about ModSecurity

- "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

- "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)

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. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.