Software · head to head
Vagrant vs Akamai
The short version
- Only Vagrant has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Vagrant vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence; Akamai only the cloud computing services carry published rates; security and content delivery products require contacting sales for a price
- They diverge on capability: Vagrant covers Box management, Akamai covers CDN.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Vagrant and Akamai 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 Vagrant
- Box management
- Provider support
- Multi-machine setups
- Provisioners
- Networking
- Synced folders
- Snapshots
- Plugins
Only in Akamai
- CDN
- DDoS Protection
- Web Application Firewall
- Bot Management
- Image Optimization
- Video Platform
- API Gateway
- Analytics
Both cover
- AWS
- Cloud deployment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Vagrant
- Reproducible local development environments defined in a Vagrantfilenot Akamai
- Provisioning identical VMs across VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V for a teamnot Akamai
- Sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptopnot Akamai
Akamai
- Content delivery and web performance through Ion and adaptive media deliverynot Vagrant
- DDoS protection, bot management and API securitynot Vagrant
- Running compute, Kubernetes and managed databases on Akamai's cloudnot Vagrant
- Edge compute with EdgeWorkersnot Vagrant
- Zero trust access for enterprise applicationsnot Vagrant
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Vagrant
- Vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
- The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vagrant to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vagrant
- Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published
- Uses that fall outside the Additional Use Grant require a separately negotiated licence from the licensor
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
Pricing, plan by plan
Vagrant
Free- Open SourceFree
- Development environment provisioning
- Multiple providers
- Provisioner support
Akamai
$1000/month- CDN$1000/month
- Content delivery
- Global edge network
- Real-time analytics
- Security Suite$2000/month
- DDoS protection
- WAF
- Bot management
Which should you pick?
Choose Vagrant if
- You need box management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
- You also want provider support.
Questions people ask
- Is Vagrant or Akamai better?
- Neither clearly leads. Vagrant starts at Free and Akamai at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Vagrant or Akamai?
- Vagrant has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Vagrant and $1000/month for Akamai.
- Does Vagrant or Akamai run on more platforms?
- Vagrant runs on Linux, Windows, Mac. Akamai runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Vagrant for free?
- Yes. Vagrant has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akamai starts at $1000/month.
- What is Vagrant best used for?
- Vagrant is most often used for reproducible local development environments defined in a vagrantfile, provisioning identical vms across virtualbox, vmware and hyper-v for a team, sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptop. Of those, reproducible local development environments defined in a vagrantfile and provisioning identical vms across virtualbox, vmware and hyper-v for a team are not what Akamai is typically brought in for.
- What can Vagrant do that Akamai cannot?
- Vagrant covers Box management, Provider support, Multi-machine setups, Provisioners. Akamai covers CDN, DDoS Protection, Web Application Firewall, Bot Management. Both handle AWS, Cloud deployment.