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LoadMaster vs F5 BIG-IP

Progress® Kemp® LoadMaster® provides enterprise-grade load balancing with simpler licensing, lower total cost of ownership, and critical security and performance features included by default.

LoadMaster vs F5 BIG-IP

Why Progress Kemp LoadMaster is an Ideal Alternative for Your Current ADC Solution

Affordable Performance

As F5 ends support for its BIG-IP iSeries appliances, rather than investing in a pricey next-gen replacement, many IT leaders are evaluating Progress Kemp LoadMaster — a load balancer and application delivery controller (ADC) platform known for its cost-effectiveness, robust performance and simplicity.

Smart Scaling

The LoadMaster solution provides a reliable, scalable performance while minimizing operational overhead makes it the smart choice for businesses prioritizing efficiency and simplicity in application delivery.

Effortless Optimization

LoadMaster ADC offers a user-friendly interface and lower total cost of ownership (TCO), making it the ideal solution for organizations that want to optimize web traffic without overspending.

Trusted by Leading Brands With Over 100,000+ Deployments Worldwide

How Do LoadMaster and F5 Hardware Models Compare?

The LoadMaster solution offers hardware models that provide the most complete high-performance application delivery platform with dual power supplies and RAID storage for enhanced resilience.

With models that deliver up to 45,000 SSL transactions per second and an overall system throughput of 90 Gbit/sec, this load balancer can easily integrate with the most complex and demanding network environments.

Find Your LoadMaster Match

Select your current F5 BIG-IP model to get a recommended model with detailed comparison.

F5 BIG-IP Hardware Model
Select Your F5 Model
Select Your F5 Model
F5 Big-IP Models
i2600
i2800
i4600
i4800
i5600
i5800
i7600
i7800
i10600
i11600
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli2600LM-X15-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$27,000$17,500
L7 THROUGHPUT10 Gbps15 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​2,50015,000
L7 RPS​350K1M
L4 RPS​125K600K
Max L4 Concurrent Connections14M35M
BULK ENCRYPTION​5 Gbps10 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1N/A
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​N/A
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES12
1 GB ETHERNET416
10 GB SFP+24
25 GB SFP28N/AN/A
40 GB QSFP+N/AN/A
100 GB QSPF28N/AN/A
HARD DRIVESingle 1 TBRedundant 2 x 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY16 GB32 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U1U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and exclude local taxes, duties and transportation charges. Please contact your local Kemp office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMasters must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

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Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli2800LM-X15-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$30,900$17,500
L7 THROUGHPUT10 Gbps15 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​4,30015,000
L7 RPS​650K1M
L4 RPS​250K600K
Max L4 Concurrent Connections14M35M
BULK ENCRYPTION​8 Gbps10 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES12
1 GB ETHERNET416
10 GB SFP+24
25 GB SFP28N/AN/A
40 GB QSFP+N/AN/A
100 GB QSPF28N/AN/A
HARD DRIVESingle 1 TBRedundant 2 x 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY16 GB32 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U1U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

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Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli4600LM-X25-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$59,000$33,500
L7 THROUGHPUT20 Gbps25 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​10,00025,000
L7 RPS​650K1M
L4 RPS​250K725K
Max L4 Concurrent Connections28M75.8M
BULK ENCRYPTION​10 Gbps20 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES12
1 GB ETHERNET82
10 GB SFP+48
25 GB SFP28N/AN/A
40 GB QSFP+N/AN/A
100 GB QSPF28N/AN/A
HARD DRIVESingle 1 TBRedundant 2 x 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY32 GB64 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli4800LM-X25-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$80,100$33,500
L7 THROUGHPUT20 Gbps25 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​20,00025,000
L7 RPS​1.1М1M
L4 RPS​450K725K
Max L4 Concurrent Connections28M75.8M
BULK ENCRYPTION​15 Gbps20 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES12
1 GB ETHERNET82
10 GB SFP+48
25 GB SFP28N/AN/A
40 GB QSFP+N/AN/A
100 GB QSPF28N/AN/A
HARD DRIVESingle 1 TBRedundant 2 x 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY32 GB64 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli5600LM-X40-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$100,400$32,000
L7 THROUGHPUT35 Gbps40 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​20,00035,000
L7 RPS​1.1M1.25M
L4 RPS​500K850K
Max L4 Concurrent Connections40M75.8M
BULK ENCRYPTION​15 Gbps20 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES12
1 GB ETHERNETN/A2
10 GB SFP+88
25 GB SFP28N/AN/A
40 GB QSFP+4N/A
100 GB QSPF28N/AN/A
HARD DRIVESingle 480 GBRedundant 2 X 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY48 GB64 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli5800LM-X40-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$114,400$48,000
L7 THROUGHPUT35 Gbps40 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​35,00035,000
L7 RPS​1.8M1.25M
L4 RPS​800K850K
Max L4 Concurrent Connections40M75.8M
BULK ENCRYPTION​15 Gbps20 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES12
1 GB ETHERNETN/A2
10 GB SFP+88
25 GB SFP28N/AN/A
40 GB QSFP+4N/A
100 GB QSPF28N/AN/A
HARD DRIVESingle 480 GBRedundant 2 X 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY48 GB64 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli7600LM-X40-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$120,400$48,000
L7 THROUGHPUT40 Gbps40 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​22,00035,000
L7 RPS​1.8M1.25M
L4 RPS​750K850K
Max L4 Concurrent Connections80M75.8M
BULK ENCRYPTION​20 Gbps20 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES22
1 GB ETHERNETN/A2
10 GB SFP+88
25 GB SFP28N/AN/A
40 GB QSFP+4N/A
100 GB QSPF28N/AN/A
HARD DRIVESingle 480 GBRedundant 2 X 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY96 GB64 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli7800LM-XHC55-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$136,400$82,200
L7 THROUGHPUT40 Gbps55 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​40,00040,000
L7 RPS​3M1.5M
L4 RPS​1.1M3M
Max L4 Concurrent Connections80M151.6M
BULK ENCRYPTION​20 Gbps35 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES22
1 GB ETHERNETN/A2
10 GB SFP+88
25 GB SFP28N/A4
40 GB QSFP+4N/A
100 GB QSPF28N/A4
HARD DRIVESingle 480 GBRedundant 2 X 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY96 GB128 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli10600LM-XHC100-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$156,800$113,500
L7 THROUGHPUT80 Gbps90 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​37,00045,000
L7 RPS​2.1M1.5M
L4 RPS​1M1M
Max L4 Concurrent Connections100M151.6M
BULK ENCRYPTION​40 Gbps45 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES22
1 GB ETHERNETN/A2
10 GB SFP+88
25 GB SFP28N/A4
40 GB QSFP+6N/A
100 GB QSPF28N/A4
HARD DRIVESingle 480 GBRedundant 2 X 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY128 GB128 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us
Comparison CriteriaF5 Big-IPKemp Loadmaster
Modeli11600LM-XHC100-NG
Pricing and Performance Metrics
MSRP$171,000$113,500
L7 THROUGHPUT80 Gbps90 Gbps
SSL TPS​ (2K KEYS)​37,00045,000
L7 RPS​2.5M1.5M
L4 RPS​1.1M1M
Max L4 Concurrent Connections140M151.6M
BULK ENCRYPTION​40 Gbps45 Gbps
SCALABILITY OPTIONS
FIPS 140-2 LEVEL1Add-On
SSO/ PRE-AUTHENTICATION​Add-On
WEB APPLICATION FIREWALL​Add-On
GLOBAL SERVER LOAD BALANCING​Add-On
IPS​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
FULL HTTP/2 STACK
CACHING
HTTP COMPRESSION
API SUPPORT
IPSEC VPN​​​Add-On
PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY
POWER SUPPLIES22
1 GB ETHERNETN/A2
10 GB SFP+88
25 GB SFP28N/A4
40 GB QSFP+6N/A
100 GB QSPF28N/A4
HARD DRIVESingle 960 GBRedundant 2 X 1 TB
STANDARD MEMORY256 GB128 GB
RACK HEIGHT1U2U

*The pricing of the products under comparison has been sourced from public data which includes F5 BIG-IP Good (Base) licensing and Progress Kemp LoadMaster Enterprise Plus (Best) licensing. The performance data for comparison has been sourced from the company published Specifications as available to the general public.

Listed prices are USD-based MSRP and subject to change without prior notice. Prices vary by country and excluded local taxes, duties, and transportation charges. Please contact your local Progress Office or authorized distributor for further pricing information specific to your country. All LoadMaster solutions must be licensed prior to use in the country where they were purchased and are subject to local licensing and trade regulations.


Need help finding the right LoadMaster for your F5?

Contact us

#1 Rated Load Balancer on Leading Customer Review Sites

The LoadMaster load balancing solution is rated higher than the competition based on real-world customer feedback.

Gartner peerinsights

Kemp Rated 4.9/5

"Kemp LoadMaster is a strong product, easy to use, and great support."

Capterra

Kemp Rated 4.7/5

"Excellent load balancers, from the first setup to the amazing support, the units just work."

Kemp Rated #1 in Load Balancing

See why Kemp received the highest satisfaction score from customers in the Load Balancing Product Category.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is F5 BIG‑IP iSeries really at the end‑of‑software-support (EoSS)?

Yes, starting on January 1, 2027, F5 will stop providing new maintenance releases, hotfixes and software development for most of the BIG-IP iSeries models leaving their customers vulnerable to known and new threats.

How does LoadMaster pricing/licensing differ from F5’s bundles?

The LoadMaster solution offers the most flexibility licensing available for today’s application delivery needs. Compared to the complexity and add-ons with F5, LoadMaster simplifies the licensing, focusing on the customer needs and including the advanced functionality into subscription tiers.

Can we migrate our F5 iRules and maintain parity?

Yes, moving from iRules to Content Rules is a simple task in most cases. In more advanced configurations, our Professional Services team is available to work with you to seamlessly migrate your configuration from F5 to the LoadMaster infrastructure.

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