F5 NGINX
Container networking software
Application server software
Load balancing software
Web server accelerator software
Web application firewalls (WAF)
DDoS protection software
DevSecOps software
Web security software
DevOps software
Containerization software
Web accelerator software
- Features
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- Ease of management
- Quality of support
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What is F5 NGINX
F5 NGINX is a software-based web server and reverse proxy used to deliver and secure web applications and APIs. It is commonly deployed as a load balancer, HTTP cache/accelerator, and ingress component in container and Kubernetes environments, and it can be extended with commercial modules for advanced traffic management and security controls. Typical users include platform engineering, DevOps, and security teams operating high-throughput web services. The product is available as open source (NGINX Open Source) and as commercial editions (for example, NGINX Plus and related security offerings) managed under F5.
High-performance reverse proxying
NGINX is widely used for L7 reverse proxy and HTTP load balancing with efficient event-driven request handling. It supports common traffic-management patterns such as TLS termination, connection reuse, buffering, and caching for static and dynamic content. This makes it suitable for high-concurrency web and API front ends where predictable latency and resource efficiency matter.
Flexible deployment across environments
NGINX runs on standard Linux distributions and is available as containers, which fits both VM-based and containerized deployments. It is commonly used at the edge, as an internal service entry point, and as an ingress layer in Kubernetes (often paired with an ingress controller implementation). This flexibility helps teams standardize traffic handling across on-premises and cloud environments.
Extensible commercial feature set
Commercial editions add capabilities such as advanced health checks, richer load-balancing methods, active-active state sharing options, and centralized management tooling depending on the package. F5 also offers adjacent security products that integrate with NGINX deployment patterns for WAF and API protection use cases. This provides a path from open source adoption to enterprise support and governance.
Security features vary by edition
Core NGINX focuses on web serving and proxying; full WAF and advanced DDoS protections are not inherent to the open source distribution. Organizations often need additional commercial modules or separate security components to meet enterprise web security requirements. This can complicate architecture decisions and procurement when teams expect an all-in-one security gateway.
Operational complexity at scale
Large fleets require disciplined configuration management, certificate lifecycle processes, and consistent rollout practices to avoid drift. While automation is common, teams still need strong operational controls for safe changes to routing, caching, and TLS settings. In Kubernetes, aligning ingress behavior with service networking and policy can add additional operational overhead.
Not a full service mesh
NGINX can front services and provide ingress-style routing, but it does not inherently provide the full set of service-to-service capabilities associated with dedicated service mesh platforms (for example, uniform mTLS identity, deep traffic policy, and distributed telemetry across all east-west calls). Teams needing those capabilities may need additional components. This can lead to overlapping layers of traffic management if both ingress and mesh are deployed.
Plan & Pricing
NGINX / F5 NGINX — official pricing summary (from vendor sites)
A) Subscription / On‑prem / NGINX One (annual enterprise subscription)
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| NGINX One (Standard/Premium packaging described) | Contact F5 / not publicly listed | Annual enterprise subscription; includes NGINX One components (NGINX Plus, Ingress Controller, Instance Manager, Console) and optional F5 WAF/DoS add‑ons. Official page directs customers to contact F5 for pricing. cite |
B) Usage-based (NGINXaaS — cloud marketplace offerings) Pricing model: Pay‑as‑you‑go (hourly consumption, billed monthly) Free tier/trial: See 30‑day enterprise trial for NGINX One; cloud marketplace developer SKUs noted separately. cite
NGINXaaS for Azure (Standard V3 plan — example official rates):
- Fixed deployment price: $0.25/hour.
- NCU (NGINX Capacity Unit) rate: $0.008 per NCU/hour.
- Data processing: $0.005 per GB.
- Notes: Standard V3 SKU = standardv3_Monthly; Developer plan billed at Azure Marketplace offer rates. Billing minimum interval = 1 hour; NCUs are billed per hour. cite
NGINXaaS for Google Cloud (Enterprise plan — per‑region tiered example rates):
- Tier 1 (many US/EU/Asia regions): Fixed price per deployment: $0.10/hour; NCU: $0.008/NCU/hour; Data processing: $0.0096/GB.
- Tier 2 (some EU/Asia regions): Fixed: $0.133/hour; NCU: $0.0106/NCU/hour; Data: $0.0127/GB.
- Tier 3 (europe‑central2): Fixed: $0.166/hour; NCU: $0.0132/NCU/hour; Data: $0.0159/GB.
- Notes: Minimum billing interval = 5 minutes; billing tracked in Google Cloud Console. cite
C) Standalone security add‑ons
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Pricing model | Notes |
| F5 WAF for NGINX / F5 DoS for NGINX (standalone) | Standalone per‑instance; contact F5 | Listed as available but pricing is ‘‘per instance’’ and customers are directed to contact F5 / sales for pricing details. cite |
Additional notes:
- NGINX Open Source (the OSS project) is available (open source) and not sold by F5; it is available for free under its open‑source license. NGINX Plus and NGINX One are commercial offerings. cite
- Many commercial NGINX (NGINX Plus / NGINX One) licensing/pricing details for on‑prem annual subscriptions are not published on the site; the vendor directs customers to contact F5 for quotes. cite
Seller details
F5, Inc.
Seattle, Washington, USA
1996
Public
https://www.f5.com/
https://x.com/f5
https://www.linkedin.com/company/f5/
