Application Gateway vs BunkerWeb: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
Application Gateway is a free cloud web application and api protection tool. BunkerWeb is a free cloud web application and api protection tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best cloud web application and api protection fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Teams running multi-region cloud applications on Azure will get the most from Application Gateway because its native integration with Azure infrastructure eliminates the latency and complexity of bolted-on WAF solutions. It handles Layer 7 load balancing with built-in DDoS protection across Microsoft's global backbone, and the free tier removes budget friction for teams testing WAF capabilities before scaling. Skip this if you need a vendor-agnostic WAF that ports easily to AWS or GCP; Application Gateway is tightly coupled to Azure and doesn't play well outside that ecosystem.
Teams deploying WAF in Kubernetes or container environments should reach for BunkerWeb first; its open-source model means you customize detection rules without vendor lock-in, and the 10K GitHub stars reflect real adoption by practitioners who've actually tested it in production. The free pricing removes the friction of POC approval, letting you validate WAF efficacy before committing budget. Skip it if your compliance mandate requires commercial SLA support or you need managed rule updates from a vendor with dedicated threat research; BunkerWeb puts rule maintenance on you.
