Software · head to head
Akamai vs Fastly
The short version
- Only Fastly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Akamai only the cloud computing services carry published rates; security and content delivery products require contacting sales for a price; Fastly bandwidth is priced per region, and delivery to India, Africa and South Korea is $0.28 per GB against $0.12 in North America and Europe
- They diverge on capability: Akamai covers Web Application Firewall, Fastly covers Edge Compute.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Akamai and Fastly actually diverge.
Identical on both: platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Akamai
- Web Application Firewall
- Bot Management
- Video Platform
- API Gateway
- Analytics
- AWS
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud
Only in Fastly
- Edge Compute
- Real-time Analytics
- Video Streaming
- API
- Instant Purge
- GitHub
- Terraform
- Datadog
Both cover
- CDN
- DDoS Protection
- Image Optimization
- DDoS protection
- SSL/TLS
- Cloud deployment
- Web support
- Api support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Akamai
- Content delivery and web performance through Ion and adaptive media deliverynot Fastly
- DDoS protection, bot management and API securitynot Fastly
- Running compute, Kubernetes and managed databases on Akamai's cloudnot Fastly
- Edge compute with EdgeWorkersnot Fastly
- Zero trust access for enterprise applicationsnot Fastly
Fastly
- Serving static and dynamic content through a global CDNnot Akamai
- Running edge logic and caching in front of an origin applicationnot Akamai
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Akamai
- Only the cloud computing services carry published rates; security and content delivery products require contacting sales for a price
- Cloud pricing varies by region across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific rather than being a single rate
Fastly
- Bandwidth is priced per region, and delivery to India, Africa and South Korea is $0.28 per GB against $0.12 in North America and Europe
- The same traffic therefore costs more than twice as much depending on where the audience is, which is invisible until the bill arrives
- The free allowance is 100 GB of bandwidth and 1M requests a month
- Requests are billed separately from bandwidth, at $0.01 per 10,000 above the first million
- High volume rates past 50 TB are not published and require contacting sales
Pricing, plan by plan
Akamai
$1000/month- CDN$1000/month
- Content delivery
- Global edge network
- Real-time analytics
- Security Suite$2000/month
- DDoS protection
- WAF
- Bot management
Fastly
Free- Free TrialFree
- CDN
- DDoS protection
- Real-time analytics
- Pay-As-You-GoFree
- Usage-based pricing
- Advanced features
- Priority support
Which should you pick?
Choose Akamai if
- You need web application firewall.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want bot management.
Choose Fastly if
- You need edge compute.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want real-time analytics.
Questions people ask
- Is Akamai or Fastly better?
- Neither clearly leads. Akamai starts at $1000/month and Fastly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Akamai or Fastly?
- Fastly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1000/month for Akamai and Free for Fastly.
- Does Akamai or Fastly run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Fastly for free?
- Yes. Fastly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akamai starts at $1000/month.
- What is Akamai best used for?
- Akamai is most often used for content delivery and web performance through ion and adaptive media delivery, ddos protection, bot management and api security, running compute, kubernetes and managed databases on akamai's cloud, edge compute with edgeworkers. Of those, content delivery and web performance through ion and adaptive media delivery and ddos protection, bot management and api security are not what Fastly is typically brought in for.
- What can Akamai do that Fastly cannot?
- Akamai covers Web Application Firewall, Bot Management, Video Platform, API Gateway. Fastly covers Edge Compute, Real-time Analytics, Video Streaming, API. Both handle CDN, DDoS Protection, Image Optimization, DDoS protection.