Last Updated on August 14, 2025 by Arnav Sharma
Here is the comparison between Azure Firewall and Web Application Firewall:
| Azure Firewall | Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud-native/Specific Design | Designed for Azure Virtual Network resources. | Designed to protect web applications from common exploits. |
| Firewall Type | Stateful firewall | Application-level firewall |
| Traffic Inspection | East-west and north-south traffic inspection. | Web application traffic |
| High Availability | Built-in | Depends on deployment method |
| Scalability | Unrestricted cloud scalability | Depends on deployment method |
| Threat Intelligence | Threat intelligence-based filtering and Signature-based IDPS (Premium) | Centralized patching of known vulnerabilities |
| Offerings/SKUs | Standard, Premium, Basic | Depends on deployment method |
| Integration with Azure Services | Azure Firewall Manager | Azure Application Gateway, Azure Front Door, Azure CDN |
| Protection Mechanisms | Signature-based IDPS (Premium SKU) | SQL injection, cross-site scripting |
| Available in Azure Firewall but not in WAF | Stateful capabilities, Traffic inspection, Signature-based IDPS, Multiple SKUs, Azure Firewall Manager | |
| Available in WAF but not in Azure Firewall | Protection against common web vulnerabilities, Centralized patching, Integration with other Azure services |
Let’s break down and explain each term used in the table:
Cloud-native/Specific Design:
- Cloud-native: Refers to applications or services that are designed specifically for a cloud computing architecture. They leverage cloud-specific features and are optimized for dynamic environments.
- Specific Design: The primary purpose or the main design consideration for which a service or product was created.
- Stateful firewall: Monitors the state of active connections and makes decisions based on the context. It remembers previous decisions and uses that information to accelerate traffic flow control.
- Application-level firewall: Focuses on filtering traffic for specific applications or services, often examining the payload of packets and making decisions based on content.
Traffic Inspection:
- East-west traffic: Refers to the traffic that moves within the network, typically between servers in the same data center.
- North-south traffic: Refers to the traffic that moves in and out of the network, typically between the data center and external endpoints.
- Web application traffic: Refers to the traffic related to web applications, typically HTTP/HTTPS requests and responses.
High Availability: The ability of a system or service to remain operational and accessible with minimal downtime, even in the event of failures. It often involves redundancy and failover mechanisms.
- Scalability: The capability of a system to handle an increased load, either by adding resources or optimizing performance.
- Threat Intelligence:
- Threat intelligence-based filtering: Uses real-time data feeds to block traffic from known malicious sources.
- Signature-based IDPS: Intrusion Detection and Prevention System that detects and prevents attacks based on known patterns or signatures.
- Centralized patching: The ability to apply security patches or updates from a central location, ensuring vulnerabilities are addressed across all applications.
Integration with Azure Services: The ability of the service to work in conjunction with other Azure services, either natively or through additional configuration.
Protection Mechanisms:
- Signature-based IDPS: As mentioned above, it detects and prevents attacks based on known patterns or signatures.
- SQL injection: A code injection technique that attackers use to insert malicious SQL code into a query.
- Cross-site scripting: A type of security vulnerability in web applications where attackers inject client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users.
Available in Azure Firewall but not in WAF and Available in WAF but not in Azure Firewall: These sections highlight features unique to each service, emphasizing their distinct capabilities.