AWS WAF vs BunkerWeb: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
AWS WAF 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 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.
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.
