# AWS WAF alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 158 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where AWS WAF holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/aws-waf/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Cloudflare WAF: 69
- Akamai App & API Protector: 8
- Imperva Cloud WAF: 5
- Sucuri WAF: 5
- F5 BIG-IP Advanced WAF: 3
- Fastly Next-Gen WAF: 3

## Web application firewalls

**Small business**: 42 of 84 answers did not name AWS WAF (AWS WAF is #3 of 9 at 2%).

- Cloudflare WAF: first choice in 27 of those 42
- Sucuri WAF: first choice in 5 of those 42
- Barracuda WAF: first choice in 1 of those 42
- Cloudflare's Pro/Business plans: first choice in 1 of those 42

**Mid-market**: 52 of 84 answers did not name AWS WAF (AWS WAF is #3 of 11 at 4%).

- Cloudflare WAF: first choice in 17 of those 52
- ModSecurity: first choice in 3 of those 52
- Barracuda Web Application Firewall: first choice in 2 of those 52
- OWASP Core Rule Set: first choice in 2 of those 52
- Barracuda WAF: first choice in 1 of those 52
- BunkerWeb: first choice in 1 of those 52
- Check Point CloudGuard: first choice in 1 of those 52
- Cloudflare Business Plan: first choice in 1 of those 52

**Enterprise**: 64 of 84 answers did not name AWS WAF (AWS WAF is #6 of 9 at 2%).

- Cloudflare WAF: first choice in 25 of those 64
- Akamai App & API Protector: first choice in 8 of those 64
- Imperva Cloud WAF: first choice in 5 of those 64
- F5 BIG-IP Advanced WAF: first choice in 3 of those 64
- Fastly Next-Gen WAF: first choice in 3 of those 64
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 1 of those 64
- Imperva Web Application Firewall: first choice in 1 of those 64
- NetScaler Web Application Firewall: first choice in 1 of those 64

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.