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Akamai versus StackPath

Easily compare Akamai and StackPath for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks.

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Company

Company Akamai StackPath
Short profile Akamai is one of the oldest CDNs and generally considered to be the largest global CDN. They have 'servers everywhere' and a wide range of products and services. The company is actively involved in Let's Encrypt and is pushing HTTP/2 adoption. StackPath launched in 2016 and promises global, high performance content delivery + top notch security (integrated web application firewall and DDoS mitigation) while keeping things simple, transparent and affordable. StackPath is developer-friendly with 24/7/365 support and a fully-documented API.

Products

Yes
Sort of/partially
No
Extra costs
Unknown
Product Akamai StackPath
Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... Dynamic Site Accelerator
Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) Ion
Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB) Download Delivery
Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? Adaptive Media Delivery
Video on demandDelivery of on demand video
Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization Image & Video Manager Image Optimization
DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain Edge DNS
WAFWeb Application Firewall Web Application Protector Web Application Firewall
Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. Kona DDoS Defender DDoS Mitigation
Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs
Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers EdgeWorkers Edge Compute

Network

How many POP locations do Akamai and StackPath have in different parts of the world?

Region Akamai StackPath
North America ? 15
Latin America ? 6
Europe ? 12
Russia & CIS ? 0
Asia excl. China ? 6
China ? 0
Oceania ? 2
Middle East ? 0
Africa ? 1

Pricing

Pricing & contract duration Akamai StackPath
Minimum contract term 12 months One month
Minimum monthly costs Unknown $25
Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests Unknown None
Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred Unknown Unknown
NA/EU traffic (low volume) Unknown $0.04 per GB
APAC traffic (low volume) Unknown $0.04 per GB
LATAM traffic (low volume) Unknown $0.04 per GB

Features

Yes
Sort of/partially
No
Extra costs
Unknown
Web acceleration Akamai StackPath
Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. Can't sign up and get started. Must talk to sales.
Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? Instant
Apex/root domain OK Blog: Root domain on CDN and performanceNo performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com If you also use their Fast DNS for your domain
HTTP/2
HTTP/3 HTTP/3 announcement
WebSockets WebSockets docs WebSockets docs
IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6?
Compression CDN Guide: CompressionReduce file size for faster delivery Resend from origin, or compress on edge Resend from origin, or compress on edge
Origin pull - protocolHTTP only or HTTPS possible too? HTTP and HTTPS HTTP and HTTPS
Origin pull - Host headerUse client > edge value? Set specific value?
Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP
Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room Virtual Waiting Room
Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin
Cache control - CDN caching Full and granular control with EdgeRules
Cache control - client caching Full and granular control with EdgeRules
Serve Stale CDN Guide: Serve StaleCDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble
Purge CDN Guide: PurgeInvalidate or delete cached objects on CDN Instant!
Purge - capabilities Purge all, purge by directory/header,
Analytics Real-time!
Log files Only for larger volume plans
API Purge, analytics, configuration
HTTPS & Content Protection Akamai StackPath
CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net Free. SNI
Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate
Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN Free. SNI
Token authentication
Geo blocking
Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content
Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content
IP white/blacklisting

Support

Customer support Akamai StackPath
Documentation Akamai techdocs Yes, public
Humans 24/7 phone and email support included in all plans. Higher volume plans get a dedicated technical account manager