The Forrester Wave™: Bot Management Software, Q3 2024

Bot Management Software Vendor Product Comparisons 2024

Key features and pros and cons of top Bot Management Software products:

DataDome - Leaders

Pros:

Excels at usability with an easy-to-use management interface that enables bulk addition of applications and discovers new applications
Robust partner ecosystem including AWS Security Competency and Retail Software Competency designations, Adobe Commerce Gold Technology Partner
Wide range of out-of-the-box integrations with SIEM tools and platforms like Google Analytics, Adobe, and Marketo
DataDome Companion integration with ChatGPT provides guidance on creating custom rules and policies
Strong adoption support with dedicated onboarding team, training, and app-discovery tool

Cons:

Some reference customers wished for more flexibility in pricing to account for seasonal traffic increases
Threat research capabilities are on par with market but not superior compared to other vendors

HUMAN - Leaders

Pros:

Leading threat research team with notable takedowns including VASTFLUX malvertising attack and BADBOX operation
Strong reporting capabilities and configurable out-of-the-box integrations with various SIEM and monitoring tools
Successfully merged PerimeterX platform emphasizing each vendor's strengths into singular offering
Proactive customer engagement by analyzing UI usage through tools like Pendo and recommending relevant training
Copilot for Security collaboration with Microsoft

Cons:

Some reference customers encountered higher-than-expected false-positives
Limited threat research insights visible in the product UI
Fewer details about why requests were tagged as bots
Lacks the awards and partner status that differentiate other vendors in this evaluation

Arkose Labs - Strong Performers

Pros:

Strong innovation strategy with heavy R&D investment and MatchKey advanced captcha offering
Technology partnerships with customer identity and access management vendors like Ping Identity and Okta
Extensive options for out-of-the-box and customized response policies with 180 rules available
Easy analysis of which rules triggered bot identification
Great customer support and security operations center services

Cons:

Cumbersome reporting with no way to create custom dashboards or new visualizations
Out-of-the-box reports have little in the way of use case specifics
Reference customers noted that puzzles are solvable by fraud farms
Limited self-service reporting capabilities

Cloudflare - Strong Performers

Pros:

Easy to use with simple toggle activation for existing WAF and DDoS customers
Top-notch innovation engine with regular innovation weeks introducing new features like Turnstile and Private Access Tokens
Solid management UI for bulk application management and grouping
Thorough out-of-the-box list of good bots
Range of SIEM integrations with granular data control options

Cons:

Customers cannot bring their own detection models (on roadmap)
Reference customers reported higher-than-expected false-positive rates
Recent attacks scored closer to 'human' than 'bot' than expected
Product vision over-rotates on AI and data, which can be replicated by other large-scale cloud providers

F5 - Strong Performers

Pros:

Standout mobile app protection with SDK that extends into mobile application shielding
Strong privacy controls allowing customers to specify region for data retention policies
Impressive innovation engine with formal pipeline and investments in AI, data, API security, mobile security, and WebAssembly
Most effective detection against active attacks according to reference customers
Part of single-stack Distributed Cloud offering with WAF, API security, and DDoS

Cons:

Out-of-the-box report customization limited to filtering
UI and dashboard customizations require engaging with F5 team
Few options to customize detection models or allow customers to bring their own
Reference customers noted reporting and dashboards could be improved

Imperva - Strong Performers

Pros:

Flexible out-of-the-box and customizable response policies applicable per application, path, or group
Unique simulator that lets customers see results of potential policies before deploying
Available as part of broader Imperva stack or standalone with connectors for other CDNs
Strong product vision acknowledging role of nonsecurity stakeholders and detection challenges
Support team is engaged and responsive to customer needs

Cons:

UI performance is a customer sticking point with reports of slow performance and regular crashes
Only partly complies with WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility standards
Innovation focused on limited initiatives compared to other vendors
Reference customers struggle with product UI reliability

Kasada - Strong Performers

Pros:

Exceptional bot explainability with detailed plain-language explanations of bot purpose and sophistication
Company Insights dashboard with company-specific threat intelligence for all customers
Customer-obsessed mindset with free professional services and use case education during onboarding
Strong, forward-looking vision addressing challenges from faster adversaries and privacy-driven signal reduction
Reference customers uniformly happy with detection capabilities

Cons:

More limited policy customization options as firm prefers to keep policies simple
Custom dashboard creation still on roadmap
Lacks breadth of supporting offerings and services compared to other vendors
Time zone difference with R&D in Australia noted by reference customers

Akamai Technologies - Contenders

Pros:

Broadest set of adjacent products offering integrated appsec, antifraud, and SOC offerings
Out-of-the-box list of 1,300 known bots tagged by category in UI
Available to any Akamai CDN customers with easy integration
Solved customer's number one problem use case and recognizes new attack patterns
Strong adoption support with managed services and customer support

Cons:

Lost differentiation compared to previous evaluations with fewer standout features
Out-of-the-box reporting lacks use-case-specific dashboards
Little in product roadmap that speaks to vision focused on use-case-based solutions
Reference customers noted reporting functionality could be enhanced and UI sometimes slow

Google - Contenders

Pros:

Gemini-generated fraud insights report and integration with broader Google ecosystem
Free access to Looker with prebuilt use-case-based dashboards
Gemini-powered chatbot assistant in preview
Range of tools and templates including bad bot demo site for all customers
Customer support and engagement have improved significantly

Cons:

Product UI lacks list of good bots
Limited bot explainability with only basic reason codes
Reference customers gave low-to-middling grades for detection and explainability
Dashboard described as very basic and not useful for customer needs
Risk scoring described as a black box
Questions about overall commitment to the product and its direction

Netacea - Contenders

Pros:

Distinguished threat research with range of takedowns and leadership in developing BLADE framework
Only vendor relying exclusively on server-side detections
Unusual service offering allowing customers to shadow threat research team
Can test new rules against previous traffic to see what would have been tagged
Active customer support relationship praised by reference customers

Cons:

Must work with managed services or support to customize dashboard visualizations and configure SIEM integrations
Basic partner ecosystem lacking differentiating product integrations or technology partnerships
Cloud marketplaces still on roadmap
Explainability received mixed reviews with reason for blocking described as fairly opaque

Radware - Contenders

Pros:

Good range of response policies with granular customization options
Will work with customers to build or bring their own detection models
Unified platform and portal that correlates with other Radware modules
OEMs Bot Manager to other large security vendors extending reach
Reference customers praised level of drilldown and executive-level details

Cons:

New UI lacks features like use-case-based dashboards and ability to add applications in bulk
Innovation investments are narrower compared to other vendors
Lacks formal adoption methodology offered by other vendors
Explainability received mixed reviews with blocking reasons not always clear

FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2024?

A: DataDome, HUMAN

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

A: Leaders in the Forrester Wave for Bot Management Software demonstrate strong current offerings and strategy. These vendors excel at rapidly evolving detections to defend against new attacks, supporting the full range of use cases and stakeholders across security, e-commerce, marketing, fraud, and executive teams, and helping customers incorporate bot management into a larger security strategy. Leaders typically offer comprehensive detection capabilities, robust reporting and dashboards, strong threat research, extensive integrations with SIEM and other tools, excellent usability, and either provide adjacent fraud/appsec products or simplify deployments to support existing investments in those areas.

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

A: https://www.forrester.com/policies/forrester-wave-methodology/

Report:

Top Vendor Products for Bot Management Software in 2024

Bot Management Software Vendor Product Comparisons 2024

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FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2024?

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

Reference