StackShareStackShare
Follow on
StackShare

Discover and share technology stacks from companies around the world.

Follow on

© 2025 StackShare. All rights reserved.

Product

  • Stacks
  • Tools
  • Feed

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. CDN
  4. CDN
  5. Akamai vs CloudFlare

Akamai vs CloudFlare

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Akamai
Akamai
Stacks1.9K
Followers442
Votes0
CloudFlare
CloudFlare
Stacks77.3K
Followers23.1K
Votes1.8K

Akamai vs CloudFlare: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this Markdown code, we will provide key differences between Akamai and CloudFlare. Both Akamai and CloudFlare are content delivery network (CDN) providers that assist in improving website performance and security. However, they have several distinct differences that set them apart from each other.

  1. Global Network: Akamai operates one of the largest content delivery networks in the world, consisting of thousands of servers across numerous data centers. This extensive network allows for faster content delivery and improved website performance, especially for international users. On the other hand, CloudFlare operates a smaller but still robust network of servers strategically located around the globe.

  2. Security Features: While both Akamai and CloudFlare offer security services, CloudFlare places a stronger emphasis on security features. CloudFlare provides built-in DDoS protection, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and other security measures as part of their standard offering. Akamai also offers security services but tends to focus more on performance optimization.

  3. Pricing Model: Akamai generally charges higher prices compared to CloudFlare. Akamai's pricing structure is often tailored to enterprise customers and can be more complex, including variable costs based on usage and additional services. CloudFlare, on the other hand, offers a more transparent and simplified pricing model, which is often more cost-effective for smaller businesses and organizations.

  4. Ease of Use and Integration: CloudFlare is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use. It provides a straightforward setup process, making it accessible even for users with limited technical knowledge. Akamai, on the other hand, primarily caters to larger enterprises and may require more technical expertise for implementation and configuration.

  5. Caching Mechanisms: When it comes to content caching, Akamai offers a more customizable and fine-grained caching mechanism. Customers have more control over cache configurations, allowing them to optimize content delivery based on their specific requirements. Conversely, CloudFlare offers a more straightforward and automatically optimized caching system, making it easier for users to implement and manage cache settings.

  6. Additional Services and Specializations: Akamai has been in the CDN industry for a longer period and offers a wide range of additional services beyond content delivery, such as media delivery, cloud security, and edge computing solutions. CloudFlare, while also expanding its service offerings, primarily focuses on CDN and website security-related services.

In summary, Akamai and CloudFlare differ in terms of network size, security features, pricing, ease of use, caching mechanisms, and additional services. CloudFlare stands out with its user-friendly interface, comprehensive security offerings, and simplified pricing, making it a popular choice among smaller organizations. Akamai, with its extensive global network and range of specialized services, caters more towards enterprise clients.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs
CLI (Node.js)
or
Manual

Advice on Akamai, CloudFlare

Francesco
Francesco

CTO at ORDR.menu

Dec 1, 2021

Decided

I don't think I have registered a domain in the last 10 years that hasn't been linked to CloudFlare within the first 2 hours from registration.

The benefits you get from even the free version of CloudFlare are amazing. From day 0:

  • 30/80% of bandwidth savings thanks to their CDN
  • Origin IP address protection
  • Managed SSL
53.1k views53.1k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Akamai
Akamai
CloudFlare
CloudFlare

If you've ever shopped online, downloaded music, watched a web video or connected to work remotely, you've probably used Akamai's cloud platform. Akamai helps businesses connect the hyperconnected, empowering them to transform and reinvent their business online. We remove the complexities of technology, so you can focus on driving your business faster forward.

Cloudflare speeds up and protects millions of websites, APIs, SaaS services, and other properties connected to the Internet.

Protect your apps and APIs, stop credential abuse, and move to a Zero Trust security model with the world’s most powerful edge security platform; Focus on increasing revenue with powerful data and automation built to enhance customer experience on web and mobile applications; Deliver and monetize high-quality and secure online streaming experiences; Quickly integrate Akamai into existing developer workflows, streamlining cloud deployment and delivery
CDN;WAF (Web Application Firewall);DDOS Protection;
Statistics
Stacks
1.9K
Stacks
77.3K
Followers
442
Followers
23.1K
Votes
0
Votes
1.8K
Pros & Cons
No community feedback yet
Pros
  • 426
    Easy setup, great cdn
  • 278
    Free ssl
  • 200
    Easy setup
  • 191
    Security
  • 181
    Ssl
Cons
  • 2
    Expensive when you exceed their fair usage limits
  • 2
    No support for SSHFP records
Integrations
Cloudinary
Cloudinary
Cloudability
Cloudability
CodeGuard
CodeGuard
Google Analytics
Google Analytics
GoSquared
GoSquared
Clicky
Clicky
UserVoice
UserVoice
SnapEngage
SnapEngage
Blitz
Blitz
Pingdom
Pingdom

What are some alternatives to Akamai, CloudFlare?

Amazon CloudFront

Amazon CloudFront

Amazon CloudFront can be used to deliver your entire website, including dynamic, static, streaming, and interactive content using a global network of edge locations. Requests for your content are automatically routed to the nearest edge location, so content is delivered with the best possible performance.

KeyCDN

KeyCDN

KeyCDN offers super fast and secure content delivery for minimal loading time. In addition to the CDN, it also offers advanced image processing and many other features such as live logs and Let's Encrypt SSL.

Fastly

Fastly

Fastly's real-time content delivery network gives you total control over your content, unprecedented access to performance analytics, and the ability to instantly update content in 150 milliseconds.

MaxCDN

MaxCDN

The MaxCDN Content Delivery Network efficiently delivers your site’s static file through hundreds of servers instead of slogging through a single host. This "smart route" technology distributes your content to your visitors via the city closest to them.

jsDelivr

jsDelivr

jsDelivr is a free CDN for open source developers, with advanced features for javascript projects with access to NPM and Github It uses multiple CDN providers, resulting in the best possible uptime and performance.

Moovweb XDN

Moovweb XDN

All-in-one platform to develop, deploy, preview, experiment on, monitor, and run your frontend.

Limelight CDN

Limelight CDN

Whether it’s your website, mobile applications, videos, music, software, games, or APIs, your content needs to reach customers quickly, reliably, and securely. It provides the capacity, coverage, and performance to cost-effectively deliver a better experience for you and your customers.

cdnjs

cdnjs

Everyone loves the Google CDN? Even Microsoft runs their own CDN. The problem is, they only host the most popular libraries. We host it all - JavaScript, CSS, SWF, images, etc! Powered by CloudFlare.

Statically

Statically

A free, fast, & modern CDN for open source projects, WordPress, images, and any static assets.

Incapsula

Incapsula

Through an application-aware, global content delivery network (CDN), Incapsula provides any website and web application with best-of-breed security, DDoS protection, load balancing and failover solutions.

Related Comparisons

Bootstrap
Materialize

Bootstrap vs Materialize

Laravel
Django

Django vs Laravel vs Node.js

Bootstrap
Foundation

Bootstrap vs Foundation vs Material UI

Node.js
Spring Boot

Node.js vs Spring-Boot

Liquibase
Flyway

Flyway vs Liquibase