Software · head to head
Prisma vs Akana
The short version
- Only Prisma has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Prisma prisma Postgres is billed per operation, with the free tier at 100,000 operations and 500 MB of storage; Akana owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com
- They diverge on capability: Prisma covers ORM, Akana covers API Lifecycle Management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Prisma and Akana 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 Prisma
- ORM
- Query builder
- Auto-migrations
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- GraphQL
- REST APIs
- Node.js support
Only in Akana
- API Lifecycle Management
- API Security
- Governance Controls
- OAuth
- SAML
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- Cloud support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
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
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
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
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
Pricing, plan by plan
Prisma
Free- Open SourceFree
- Full Prisma ORM
- Community support
- Professional$50/monthly
- Extended browser
- Priority support
- Monitoring
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
Which should you pick?
Choose Prisma if
- You need orm.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Node.js, TypeScript.
- You also want query builder.
Choose Akana if
- You need api lifecycle management.
- You work on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
- You also want api security.
Questions people ask
- Is Prisma or Akana better?
- Neither clearly leads. Prisma starts at Free and Akana at $2500/monthly, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Prisma or Akana?
- Prisma has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Prisma and $2500/monthly for Akana.
- Does Prisma or Akana run on more platforms?
- Prisma runs on Node.js, TypeScript. Akana runs on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
- 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 Prisma best used for?
- Prisma is most often used for using a type safe orm and query layer against a postgres database, adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing database. Of those, using a type safe orm and query layer against a postgres database and adding a managed connection pool and edge cache in front of an existing database are not what Akana is typically brought in for.
- What can Prisma do that Akana cannot?
- Prisma covers ORM, Query builder, Auto-migrations, Node.js. Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, API Security, Governance Controls, OAuth.
Related pages
Keep looking
Other head to heads
- Prisma vs Appwrite
- Prisma vs Hasura
- Prisma vs PocketBase
- Prisma vs Sanity
- Prisma vs Apigee
- Prisma vs Bruno
- Prisma vs KeystoneJS
- Prisma vs Parse Server
- Prisma vs Stoplight
- Prisma vs Strapi
- Prisma vs Swagger/OpenAPI
- Prisma vs Thunder Client
- Prisma vs WSO2 API Manager
- Prisma vs 3scale
- Prisma vs Asyncapi
- Prisma vs AWS API Gateway
- Prisma vs Microsoft Azure API Management
- Prisma vs Backendless
- Akana vs Appwrite
- Akana vs Hasura
- Akana vs PocketBase
- Akana vs Sanity
- Akana vs Apigee
- Akana vs Bruno
- Akana vs KeystoneJS
- Akana vs Parse Server
- Akana vs Stoplight
- Akana vs Strapi
- Akana vs Swagger/OpenAPI
- Akana vs Thunder Client
- Akana vs WSO2 API Manager
- Akana vs 3scale
- Akana vs Asyncapi
- Akana vs AWS API Gateway
- Akana vs Microsoft Azure API Management
- Akana vs Backendless