Easily compare StackPath 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 | StackPath | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| Short profile | 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. | 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
-
= Yes
-
= Sort of/partially
-
= No
-
= Unknown
| Product | StackPath | 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? |
|
Adaptive Media Delivery
|
| Video on demandDelivery of on demand video |
|
|
| Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization |
|
Image & Video Manager
|
| DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain |
Managed DNS
|
Edge DNS
|
| WAFWeb Application Firewall |
Web Application Firewall
|
Web Application Protector
|
| Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. |
DDoS Mitigation
|
Kona DDoS Defender
|
| Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs |
Coming soon
|
|
| Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers |
Edge Compute
|
EdgeWorkers
|
Network
| Region | StackPath | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 14 | Unknown |
| Latin America | 2 | Unknown |
| Europe | 8 | Unknown |
| Russia & CIS | 0 | Unknown |
| Asia excl. China | 5 | Unknown |
| China | 0 | Unknown |
| Oceania | 2 | Unknown |
| Middle-East | 0 | Unknown |
| Africa | 0 | Unknown |
Pricing
| Pricing & contract duration | StackPath | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum contract term | One month | 12 months |
| Minimum monthly costs | $10 | Unknown |
| Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests | None | Unknown |
| Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred | Unknown | Unknown |
| NA/EU traffic (low volume) | $0.03 per GB | Unknown |
| APAC traffic (low volume) | $0.03 per GB | Unknown |
| LATAM traffic (low volume) | $0.03 per GB | Unknown |
Features
-
= Yes
-
= Sort of/partially
-
= No
-
= Extra costs
-
= Unknown
| Web acceleration | StackPath | 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 |
|
If you also use their Fast DNS for your domain
|
| HTTP/2 |
|
|
| 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? |
|
|
| Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP |
|
|
| 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 serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble |
|
|
| Purge Invalidate or delete cached objects on CDN |
Instant!
|
|
| Purge - capabilities |
Purge all
|
|
| Analytics |
Real-time!
|
|
| Log files |
Only for larger volume plans
|
|
| API |
Purge, analytics, configuration
|
|
| HTTPS & Content Protection | StackPath | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | StackPath | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation |
Yes, public
|
Yes, but not public
|
| Humans |
24/7 phone and email support included in all plans. Higher volume plans get a dedicated technical account manager
|
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