Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Azure Application Gateway

Azure Web Application Firewall is a cloud-native security service designed to protect web applications and APIs from common web vulnerabilities and attacks, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting. By integrating seamlessly with Azure services like Application Gateway, Front Door, and Content Delivery Network , Azure WAF offers centralized protection, ensuring the security and availability of web applications without the need for modifications to backend code.

Azure Application Gateway is a web traffic load balancer that enables you to manage traffic to your web applications. Unlike traditional load balancers that operate at the transport layer (Layer 4), Application Gateway operates at the application layer (Layer 7), allowing it to make routing decisions based on attributes such as URL paths and host headers. This capability provides more control over how traffic is distributed to your applications, enhancing both performance and security.