Easily compare Akamai and Imperva for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks.
Company
Company | Akamai | Imperva |
---|---|---|
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. | Imperva's CDN (formerly Incapsula) makes your websites and applications faster, more reliable and safer. A global network of servers provides content caching, load balancing and failover, while an enterprise-grade cloud web application firewall and DDoS protection safeguard your site from the latest threats. |
Products
Product | Akamai | Imperva |
---|---|---|
Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... | Dynamic Site Accelerator | Content Delivery Network |
Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) | Ion | Content Caching |
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 Compression |
DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain | Edge DNS |
Name Server (NS) Protection
|
WAFWeb Application Firewall | Web Application Protector | Web Application Firewall |
Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. | Kona DDoS Defender | DDoS Protection |
Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs | ||
Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers | EdgeWorkers |
Network
How many POP locations do Akamai and Imperva have in different parts of the world?
Region | Akamai | Imperva |
---|---|---|
North America | ? | 12 |
Latin America | ? | 5 |
Europe | ? | 12 |
Russia & CIS | ? | 0 |
Asia excl. China | ? | 12 |
China | ? | 0 |
Oceania | ? | 3 |
Middle-East | ? | 3 |
Africa | ? | 2 |
Pricing
Pricing & contract duration | Akamai | Imperva |
---|---|---|
Minimum contract term | 12 months | Unknown |
Minimum monthly costs | Unknown | Unknown |
Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests | Unknown | Unknown |
Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred | Unknown | Unknown |
NA/EU traffic (low volume) | Unknown | Unknown |
APAC traffic (low volume) | Unknown | Unknown |
LATAM traffic (low volume) | Unknown | Unknown |
Features
Web acceleration | Akamai | Imperva |
---|---|---|
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 |
If you also use their Fast DNS for your domain | Anycasted network (regional) |
HTTP/2 | FAQ | |
WebSockets | WebSockets docs | WebSockets docs |
IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6? | IPv6 support | |
Compression |
Resend from origin, or compress on edge | Compress on the 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? |
Can configure specific other Host header.
|
|
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 | Waiting Room |
Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin | ||
Cache control - CDN caching | Granular control/override rules possible | |
Cache control - client caching | Granular control/override rules possible | |
Serve Stale |
||
Purge |
Instant | |
Purge - capabilities | Purge all, by directory, by file extension, by tag(s) | |
Analytics | Real time perf and security events dashboard | |
Log files |
Available via UI, API, or full SIEM integration
|
|
API | Purge, analytics, configuration |
HTTPS & Content Protection | Akamai | Imperva |
---|---|---|
CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net | CDN and SSL/TLS | |
Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate | ||
Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN | ||
Token authentication | Via authentication header | |
Geo blocking | ||
Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content | ||
Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content | Two Factor Authentication | |
IP white/blacklisting | IP address/ranges/subnets, self-service in UI |
Support
Customer support | Akamai | Imperva |
---|---|---|
Documentation | Akamai techdocs | Yes, public |
Humans | Imperva’s team of support engineers deliver technical assistance 24x7x365 via phone, email, or online via the self service portal |