Software · head to head
Akana vs Prisma
The short version
- Only Prisma has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Akana owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com; Prisma prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
- They diverge on capability: Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, Prisma covers ORM.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Akana and Prisma actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Akana
- API Lifecycle Management
- API Security
- Governance Controls
- OAuth
- SAML
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- Cloud support
Only in Prisma
- ORM
- Query builder
- Auto-migrations
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- GraphQL
- REST APIs
- Node.js support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Akana
- API lifecycle management across REST, SOAP and GraphQLnot Prisma
- Applying OAuth, JWT and SAML policies at the gatewaynot Prisma
- Running the same platform on-premises, in Kubernetes or across cloudsnot Prisma
- Developer portal and API monetisationnot Prisma
- Monitoring API traffic and enforcing quotasnot Prisma
Prisma
- Using a type safe ORM and query layer against a Postgres databasenot Akana
- Adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing databasenot Akana
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Akana
- Owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com
- Pricing is not published; only a 30 day trial is offered
Prisma
- Prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage
- Starter at $10 a month includes 1M operations then charges $0.0080 per 1,000
- Storage overage runs from $2.00 per GB on Starter down to $1.00 per GB on Business, so the unit cost depends on the plan
- Accelerate charges separately per operation and per GiB of query egress beyond the first 1 KiB
- Cache tag invalidations are not included below the Pro plan and are billed per thousand above it
Pricing, plan by plan
Akana
$2500/monthly- Professional$2500/monthly
- API Gateway
- Developer Portal
- Basic analytics
- Enterprise$5000/monthly
- Advanced governance
- Multi-cloud support
- Premium support
- Custom$undefined/monthly
- Custom solutions
- Dedicated support
- SLA guarantee
Prisma
Free- Open SourceFree
- Full Prisma ORM
- Community support
- Professional$50/monthly
- Extended browser
- Priority support
- Monitoring
Which should you pick?
Choose Akana if
- You need api lifecycle management.
- You work on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
- You also want api security.
Choose Prisma if
- You need orm.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Node.js, TypeScript.
- You also want query builder.
Questions people ask
- Is Akana or Prisma better?
- Neither clearly leads. Akana starts at $2500/monthly and Prisma at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Akana or Prisma?
- Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2500/monthly for Akana and Free for Prisma.
- Does Akana or Prisma run on more platforms?
- Akana runs on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid. Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript.
- Can I use Prisma for free?
- Yes. Prisma has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akana starts at $2500/monthly.
- What is Akana best used for?
- Akana is most often used for api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql, applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway, running the same platform on-premises, in kubernetes or across clouds, developer portal and api monetisation. Of those, api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql and applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway are not what Prisma is typically brought in for.
- What can Akana do that Prisma cannot?
- Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, API Security, Governance Controls, OAuth. Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js.
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