Easily compare Cloudflare and Akamai 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 | Cloudflare | Akamai |
---|---|---|
Short profile | Cloudflare provides a global CDN with unique performance capabilities and a strong focus on security. The company has a global infrastructure built from the ground up using only next-generation, high-performance equipment—no legacy software or hardware. The result is a CDN that's easy to set up, affordable, and built to continuously adapt and integrate emerging technologies to meet future needs of everyone's Internet properties. | 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. |
Products
Product | Cloudflare | Akamai |
---|---|---|
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? | Stream Live | Adaptive Media Delivery |
Video on demandDelivery of on demand video | Stream | |
Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization | Image Resizing, Mirage, Polish | Image & Video Manager |
DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain | DNS | Edge DNS |
WAFWeb Application Firewall | Cloud Web Application Firewall | Web Application Protector |
Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. | DDoS Protection | Kona DDoS Defender |
Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs | ||
Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers | Workers | EdgeWorkers |
Network
How many POP locations do Cloudflare and Akamai have in different parts of the world?
Region | Cloudflare | Akamai |
---|---|---|
North America | 54 | ? |
Latin America | 55 | ? |
Europe | 47 | ? |
Russia & CIS | 12 | ? |
Asia excl. China | 45 | ? |
China | 37 | ? |
Oceania | 14 | ? |
Middle East | 21 | ? |
Africa | 24 | ? |
Pricing
Pricing & contract duration | Cloudflare | Akamai |
---|---|---|
Minimum contract term | None | 12 months |
Minimum monthly costs | $0 | Unknown |
Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests | None | Unknown |
Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred | None | Unknown |
NA/EU traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
APAC traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
LATAM traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
Features
Web acceleration | Cloudflare | Akamai |
---|---|---|
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 No performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com | Global Anycast network | If you also use their Fast DNS for your domain |
HTTP/2 | ||
HTTP/3 | HTTP/3 Prioritization | HTTP/3 announcement |
WebSockets | WebSockets docs | WebSockets docs |
IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6? | ||
Compression Reduce 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? | Can be an IP address | |
Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP | Tiered Cache, included in all paid plans | |
Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room | Cloudflare Waiting Room | Virtual Waiting Room |
Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin | ||
Cache control - CDN caching | Page rules for overriding caching headers | |
Cache control - client caching | ||
Serve Stale CDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble | Only 'stale while revalidate' | |
Purge Invalidate or delete cached objects on CDN | Purge Speed | |
Purge - capabilities | Purge per file and purge all | |
Analytics | Web analytics, threats and more. Live-updating for paying customers | |
Log files | Only for Enterprise customers, instantly available | |
API | Purge, analytics, configuration |
HTTPS & Content Protection | Cloudflare | Akamai |
---|---|---|
CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net | SNI | |
Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate | More info | |
Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN | ||
Token authentication | More info | |
Geo blocking | Access Rules | |
Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content | ||
Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content | Possible with Workers | |
IP white/blacklisting | Access Rules |
Support
Customer support | Cloudflare | Akamai |
---|---|---|
Documentation | Yes, public. Cloudflare Community. | Akamai techdocs |
Humans | Email support for all. Phone only for Enterprise customers |