Quick Answer
Last verified:
Estimate

F5 BIG-IP uses custom pricing as of July 2026 with 3 plans available. Contact F5 BIG-IP directly for a personalized quote. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: No free tier available

F5 BIG-IP offers 3 pricing tiers: Good Bundle, Better Bundle, Best Bundle. The Better Bundle plan is organizations needing dns and firewall features.

Last verified:
Know Before You Buy — Request F5 BIG-IP Pricing

F5 BIG-IP uses custom pricing, and hidden costs like implementation and support add to the quoted price as of July 2026. Contact the vendor for a quote. Hidden costs like implementation and support add significantly to the total. Key hidden costs: professional services, support and maintenance, training. Verified from 1 sources by CostBench.

Hidden Costs Breakdown

1

Professional Services

high implementation

F5 deployments, especially in complex environments or during migrations, often necessitate professional services from F5 or certified partners.

industry

Term Subscriptions for specific products can range from 1 to 3 years

2

Support and Maintenance

high support

Support and maintenance for hardware appliances can be 17-22% of the hardware list price, with annual renewals often non-negotiable and increasing by 3-5%.

industry

Annual maintenance renewals for hardware are often non-negotiable after the initial contract, with common annual increases of 3-5%

3

Training

medium training

Organizations deploying F5 for the first time should budget for training courses and certifications to ensure effective use.

industry

Training courses and certifications (e.g., F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator) typically cost $2,000–$5,000 per person per course

4

High Availability (HA) Deployments

high implementation

Production environments usually require HA pairs, which effectively doubles the appliance or instance costs.

industry

Cloud Infrastructure Costs: For BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) and Distributed Cloud Services, separate cloud provider charges (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) for compute, storage, and bandwidth can be significant, especially for high-throughput deployments

5

Add-on Modules

medium addon

Many buyers initially purchase base ADC functionality and later add modules like WAF, APM, or DNS, incurring additional costs.

industry

Add-on Modules: Many buyers initially purchase base Application Delivery Controller (ADC) functionality and later add modules like Web Application Firewall (WAF), Access Policy Manager (APM), or DNS, incurring additional costs

6

Cloud Infrastructure Costs

high overage

For BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) and Distributed Cloud Services, separate cloud provider charges for compute, storage, and bandwidth can be significant.

industry

Cloud Infrastructure Costs: For BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) and Distributed Cloud Services, separate cloud provider charges (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) for compute, storage, and bandwidth can be significant, especially for high-throughput deployments

7

Migration Costs

high migration

Migrating from legacy ADC platforms to F5, or between F5 products, requires planning, testing, and can be complex and costly.

industry

Term Subscriptions for specific products can range from 1 to 3 years

8

Hardware Costs

critical implementation

Total costs for BIG-IP hardware appliances, including first-year support, typically range from $150,000–$400,000.

industry

Companies purchasing BIG-IP hardware appliances (e.g., a pair of 10 Gbps appliances with Advanced WAF and APM) typically see total costs (hardware + first-year support) in the $150,000–$400,000 range

9

Hardware Displacement Value (Not Always Captured in License Cost)

medium implementation

F5 BIG-IP's value case often depends on displacing physical hardware (e.g., external load balancers). If not properly modeled, the total cost of ownership can appear high without accounting for hardware savings. The opportunity cost of F5 appliances vs. alternatives like VMware VCF with NSX is non-trivial.

reddit

F5's are not exactly free

Frequently Asked Questions

01 What hidden costs should I budget for with F5 BIG-IP?

Beyond the license fee, budget for: Professional Services ($10,000 to over $100,000); Support and Maintenance (17-22%); Training ($2,000–$5,000 per person per course); Hardware Costs ($150,000–$400,000 range); Hardware Displacement Value (Not Always Captured in License Cost) (10-25% of license costs). Exact totals depend on your deployment size and negotiated terms.

02 Does F5 BIG-IP charge for implementation?

F5 BIG-IP implementation is not included in the license cost. F5 deployments, especially in complex environments or during migrations, often necessitate professional services from F5 or certified partners.. Estimated impact: $10,000 to over $100,000.

03 How much does F5 BIG-IP support cost?

Support and maintenance for hardware appliances can be 17-22% of the hardware list price, with annual renewals often non-negotiable and increasing by 3-5%.. Estimated impact: 17-22%.

04 Are there overage or storage costs with F5 BIG-IP?

For BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) and Distributed Cloud Services, separate cloud provider charges for compute, storage, and bandwidth can be significant..

05 What add-ons cost extra with F5 BIG-IP?

Add-on pricing for F5 BIG-IP varies by feature. The sourced cost breakdown above lists any verified add-on costs we have.

Now You Know the Real Cost — Request F5 BIG-IP Pricing

Check current F5 BIG-IP pricing

Prices and terms change; verify against the live pricing page.

See F5 BIG-IP Pricing