Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer vs F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing

Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer9.0Visit F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing8.4Visit

Higher score Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer #3 in Load Balancer Services 9.0/10 Paid ✓ 1 of 3 features Visit Alibaba Cloud

vs

F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing #8 in Load Balancer Services 8.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit F5

• Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer fits best

  Cost-conscious Alibaba Cloud deployments

• F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing fits best

  Hybrid and multicloud enterprise delivery

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer 9.0/10 Visit ↗	F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.4
Ranking	#3 in Load Balancer Services	#8 in Load Balancer Services
Best for	Cost-conscious Alibaba Cloud deployments	Hybrid and multicloud enterprise delivery
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	$0.007/unit usage-based	—
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Tickets, Live chat, Phone, Community, Docs	Email, Phone, Tickets, Docs
Integrations	13 integrations	6 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer 1/3 · F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing 3/3
TLS termination	✓	✓
Sticky sessions	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
DNS traffic steering	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
Balancing layers	Not checked yet	Both
Global regions	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Backend target limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Supports TCP, UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, QUIC, and gRPC Combines health checks, multi-zone recovery, and automatic scaling Integrates with ECS, WAF, ACK, CEN, CDN, and Global Accelerator	Balances Layer 4 and Layer 7 traffic with TLS termination and health checks Supports routing, failover, session persistence, and DNS-based global balancing Integrates load balancing with WAF, DDoS, API security, and bot protection
Cons	No free plan or dedicated CLB free trial Separate ALB, NLB, and CLB billing can complicate cost planning Public instances may add transfer, IP, and usage-based LCU fees	Public list pricing is not published; buying requires contacting sales Essentials targets public-facing web apps, not the advanced hybrid/multicloud scope Enterprise adds advanced security and behavioral analysis, making it a broader fit
Our verdict	Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer is a managed service for distributing client traffic across backend servers. Its ALB, NLB, and CLB components cover application-layer and network-layer delivery, making it suitable for Alibaba Cloud… Read the review →	F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing is a SaaS-based service for distributing application traffic across origins, sites, clusters, and cloud environments. It is aimed at mid-market and enterprise organizations managing public-facing and… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer — where it wins

  • Supports TCP, UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, QUIC, and gRPC
  • Combines health checks, multi-zone recovery, and automatic scaling
  • Integrates with ECS, WAF, ACK, CEN, CDN, and Global Accelerator

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan or dedicated CLB free trial
  • Separate ALB, NLB, and CLB billing can complicate cost planning
  • Public instances may add transfer, IP, and usage-based LCU fees

• F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing — where it wins

  • Balances Layer 4 and Layer 7 traffic with TLS termination and health checks
  • Supports routing, failover, session persistence, and DNS-based global balancing
  • Integrates load balancing with WAF, DDoS, API security, and bot protection

  Where it doesn't

  • Public list pricing is not published; buying requires contacting sales
  • Essentials targets public-facing web apps, not the advanced hybrid/multicloud scope
  • Enterprise adds advanced security and behavioral analysis, making it a broader fit

• Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer9.0/10 · Paid

  A broad managed balancing service with a clear ALB entry price and Alibaba Cloud integrations.

  Visit Alibaba CloudFull verdict →
• F5 Distributed Cloud Load Balancing8.4/10 · Pricing on request

  Layer 4/7 balancing and global traffic steering for distributed application estates.

  Visit F5Full verdict →