Array Networks Web Application Firewall vs AWS WAF: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Array Networks Web Application Firewall

Mid-market and enterprise security teams protecting APIs alongside traditional web apps will get the most from Array Networks Web Application Firewall, especially if you're running hybrid cloud and need zero-day blocking without waiting for signature updates. The platform's automatic threat detection across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud plus on-premises deployments covers three NIST CSF 2.0 functions,infrastructure resilience, platform security, and continuous monitoring,which means you're not sacrificing visibility for prevention. Skip this if your primary concern is post-breach forensics; Array Networks prioritizes blocking over investigation, so buyers needing deep incident response integration should look elsewhere.

AWS WAF

Teams protecting APIs and web applications already running on AWS infrastructure will get the most from AWS WAF because it integrates natively with CloudFront, ALB, and API Gateway without extra agents or out-of-band traffic. The free tier covers core attack patterns,SQL injection, XSS, bot control,and you only pay for requests above 5 million monthly, making it cost-effective for variable traffic loads. Skip this if you need centralized policy management across multi-cloud deployments or real-time threat intelligence feeds; AWS WAF's rule sets are competent but require manual tuning, and visibility across non-AWS resources stays limited.