Cloud · pricing
Akamai pricing
Akamai publishes 2 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 30 August 2026, Akamai pricing is $1000/month across 2 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- $1000/month
- Model
- Quote
- Tiers
- 2
- Free tier
- Not on record
Akamai plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDN | $1000/month | 4 | Entry tier |
| Security Suite | $2000/month | 4 | +$1000/month, 4 more features |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
CDN
$1000/monthThe entry tier. It covers content delivery, global edge network, real-time analytics, custom support.
Security Suite
$2000/monthOver CDN, this tier adds:
- DDoS protection
- WAF
- Bot management
- Advanced security
What the product covers
The full Akamai feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- CDN
- DDoS Protection
- Web Application Firewall
- Bot Management
- Image Optimization
- Video Platform
- API Gateway
- Analytics
Integrations
- AWS
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud
Security
- DDoS protection
- WAF
- Bot management
- SSL/TLS
Deployment
- Cloud deployment
Platform
- Web support
- Api support
People bring Akamai in 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, zero trust access for enterprise applications. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to Akamai are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Cloud
Across the 3 cloud tools in this directory that publish a starting price, the median entry point is $5/month. Akamai starts at $1000/month, which puts it above the middle of its category.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akamai (this page) | $1000/month | quote | - | |
| Rook | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Akamai |
| OpenEBS | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Akamai |
| Portworx | $0.33/node hour | Per node hour | - | vs Akamai |
| Longhorn | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Akamai |
| Qovery | On request | quote | - | vs Akamai |
| Dokku | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Akamai |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Akamai badges page.
Before you pay for Akamai
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 2 tiers between $1000/month and $2000/month, with the jump itemised above. With no free tier on record, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to compare Akamai against the tools that do have one before committing.
Akamai runs on web, api, and is published by Akamai Technologies of Cambridge, MA. The full record is on the Akamai review, and the rest of the category is under best cloud tools.
Akamai pricing questions
- How much does Akamai cost?
- Akamai publishes 2 tiers, from $1000/month for CDN up to $2000/month for Security Suite. The cheapest paid tier is $1000/month.
- Does Akamai have a free plan?
- Not on the record we hold: Akamai is listed as quote. Whether a free trial is offered is not something this record captures, so check the vendor's site.
- What is the difference between CDN and Security Suite on Akamai?
- Security Suite costs $2000/month against $1000/month, and adds ddos protection, waf, bot management, advanced security.
- Is the Security Suite plan on Akamai worth it?
- That depends entirely on whether you need what it adds, which on the published record is ddos protection, waf, bot management, advanced security. It costs $2000/month against $1000/month for CDN. Softwr has not used either tier, so this page can tell you what changes, not whether it is worth the difference to you.
- Is Akamai expensive for a cloud tool?
- It starts above the middle of its category. Across the 3 cloud tools in this directory that publish a starting price, the median entry point is $5/month; Akamai starts at $1000/month.
- Which cloud tools can I use without paying?
- 6 of the 8 cloud tools listed alongside Akamai have a free tier: Rook, OpenEBS, Longhorn, Dokku, Coolify.
- What am I actually paying for with Akamai?
- The record lists 18 features across 5 areas: other, integrations, security, deployment, platform. In practice it is brought in 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.
- Does Akamai charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 2 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Akamai prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Akamai against before paying?
- The closest cloud tools in this directory are Rook, OpenEBS, Portworx, Longhorn. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Akamai covering price, platforms and features.