# F5: how AI models rank it, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Named in 8 judge labels across 2 categories by 6 of 12 models. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/f5/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web application firewalls | 0% | 27 | 17% | 6 |
| DDoS protection | 0% | 18 | 0% | 2 |

## What the models said for it

- "Best for On-Premise / Hybrid Environments: F5 (Radware) or Palo Alto Networks (Arbor)" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, DDoS)
- "Best for highly customizable enterprise apps: F5" (Perplexity Sonar, WAF)

## And against it

- "Advanced control, but note: recent security incidents (CISA directive) should factor into vendor risk assessment" (MiniMax M2.5, WAF)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.