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

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 233 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Azure 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/azure-waf/alternatives/

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

- Cloudflare WAF: 135
- Akamai App & API Protector: 12
- Imperva Cloud WAF: 11
- Sucuri WAF: 5
- AWS WAF: 4
- ModSecurity: 4

## Web application firewalls

**Small business**: 74 of 84 answers did not name Azure WAF (Azure WAF is #7 of 9 at 0%).

- Cloudflare WAF: first choice in 59 of those 74
- Sucuri WAF: first choice in 5 of those 74
- AWS WAF: first choice in 2 of those 74
- Akamai App & API Protector: first choice in 1 of those 74
- Barracuda WAF: first choice in 1 of those 74
- Cloudflare's Pro/Business plans: first choice in 1 of those 74
- Imperva Cloud WAF: first choice in 1 of those 74

**Mid-market**: 79 of 84 answers did not name Azure WAF (Azure WAF is #11 of 11 at 0%).

- Cloudflare WAF: first choice in 41 of those 79
- ModSecurity: first choice in 4 of those 79
- Barracuda Web Application Firewall: first choice in 2 of those 79
- OWASP Core Rule Set: first choice in 2 of those 79
- AWS WAF: first choice in 1 of those 79
- Barracuda WAF: first choice in 1 of those 79
- BunkerWeb: first choice in 1 of those 79
- Check Point CloudGuard: first choice in 1 of those 79

**Enterprise**: 80 of 84 answers did not name Azure WAF (Azure WAF is #9 of 9 at 0%).

- Cloudflare WAF: first choice in 35 of those 80
- Akamai App & API Protector: first choice in 11 of those 80
- Imperva Cloud WAF: first choice in 10 of those 80
- F5 BIG-IP Advanced WAF: first choice in 3 of those 80
- Fastly Next-Gen WAF: first choice in 3 of those 80
- Imperva Web Application Firewall: first choice in 2 of those 80
- AWS WAF: first choice in 1 of those 80
- Akamai Adaptive Application Firewall: first choice in 1 of those 80

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