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A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.0
Users saw ROI with A10 Networks Thunder ADC in 3-6 months, noting cost savings, improved uptime, and simplified configuration.
Sentiment score
6.7
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) offers cost-effective server deployment, saving users significantly on infrastructure expenses while providing valuable flexibility.
We do see a return on investment and cost reductions after the implementation of A10 Networks Thunder ADC.
Head Of Technical And Network Security at Connex Information Technologies
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
A10 Networks Thunder ADC offers reliable support with quick response times, though urgent resolutions and emergency staff could improve.
Sentiment score
7.7
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) is praised for exceptional, proactive, 24/7 customer support, surpassing AWS and Google in personal service.
Their tech support is very responsible, and their response time is very low, providing superb support.
PM at Connex Information Technologies
The support we receive from the team is quite excellent.
Head Of Technical And Network Security at Connex Information Technologies
Customer support for A10 Networks Thunder ADC was good, but it can be improved, as it was not the best.
Cloud Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
They respond with relevant and easy-to-follow solutions.
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
They were very responsive to my issue.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
A10 Networks Thunder ADC excels in scalability and efficiency, managing traffic and subscriber growth with minimal oversight.
Sentiment score
7.0
Akamai Connected Cloud excels in scalability and flexibility, suitable for small to medium tasks despite lacking advanced features.
A10 Networks Thunder ADC's scalability is impressive.
IT Architecture Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
A10 Networks Thunder ADC can handle growth easily, and I have scaled up during higher traffic periods.
Senior Consultant and Creative Director at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
For my usage, which is a small business, I rate the scalability of Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) around nine or ten.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
A10 Networks Thunder ADC is stable, reliable, with efficient load balancing and minimal downtime, offering quick troubleshooting and uptime.
Sentiment score
8.0
Akamai Connected Cloud is highly reliable, with minimal downtime and swift issue resolution, earning strong user trust.
A10 Networks Thunder ADC is very stable in my experience.
Cloud Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In some of our deployments of A10 Networks Thunder ADC, we have employed DDoS and other security features, and for the past few years, we haven't experienced any major incidents.
Head Of Technical And Network Security at Connex Information Technologies
Most of the time, it just runs in the background without issues.
Senior Consultant and Creative Director at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

A10 Networks Thunder ADC needs an intuitive UI, better documentation, third-party integration, scalability, security enhancements, and improved monitoring.
Akamai Connected Cloud needs better security, global data centers, improved support, DevOps workflow, and enhanced features to meet customer demands.
Having more structured, real-world configuration examples would make a big difference, especially for teams that are new to the platform, helping reduce the initial learning curve for them.
Senior Consultant and Creative Director at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
When compared against F5 BIG-IP or Citrix ADC, the GUI is not as good.
Cloud Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In the vThunder series of A10 Networks Thunder ADC, they have a perpetual license model and a subscription model, but in the Thunder series, the physical appliance does not have a perpetual license model, mainly operating on the subscription model.
PM at Connex Information Technologies
The main area for improvement is the lack of a backup feature to the local hard disk or storage.
System Administrator at mmcytech
The main improvement I would like to see from Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) is the ability to duplicate the server as it is and initialize a new one with the same features.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It would be useful to have the option to sort or group by tags on the domains page.
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Setup Cost

A10 Networks Thunder ADC is competitively priced, offers cost-effective licensing, and annual maintenance is generally cheaper than competitors.
Akamai Connected Cloud offers transparent, flexible pricing from $5/month, with a favorable cost-performance ratio, appealing to enterprises.
I estimate that I can save around 20 to 30 percent of my budget with A10 Networks Thunder ADC.
Head Of Technical And Network Security at Connex Information Technologies
I always receive more features for the same price.
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

A10 Networks Thunder ADC boosts app performance with load balancing, SSL offloading, security, and efficiency, enhancing user experience.
Akamai Connected Cloud excels with global coverage, ease of use, affordability, scalability, strong support, and superior speed versus competitors.
What really stands out to me about A10 Networks Thunder ADC is how customizable, performant, and automated the platform is.
IT Architecture Manager at a government with 10,001+ employees
The advanced load balancing plus SSL offloading in A10 Networks Thunder ADC directly improves application uptime, speed, scalability, server efficiency, and user experience.
Cloud Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Application load balancing in A10 Networks Thunder ADC plays a crucial role in improving application reliability during peak periods.
PM at Connex Information Technologies
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) is easy to use and has a fair price, making it accessible and straightforward, which is crucial when compared to other complex solutions.
System Administrator at mmcytech
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) is cheaper.
Senior Software Engineer at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Their support is really good. I can ask anything at any time, and they are able to resolve issues like reinstating deleted Linodes.
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

A10 Networks Thunder ADC
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (7th)
Akamai Connected Cloud (Lin...
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (4th), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

A10 Networks Thunder ADC and Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. A10 Networks Thunder ADC is designed for Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and holds a mindshare of 5.7%, up 5.0% compared to last year.
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode), on the other hand, focuses on Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS), holds 7.8% mindshare, up 5.7% since last year.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
A10 Networks Thunder ADC5.7%
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)12.6%
NetScaler11.8%
Other69.9%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode)7.8%
Amazon AWS15.1%
Microsoft Azure8.6%
Other68.5%
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

KA
Cloud Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Focused on reworking interface and ecosystem while load balancing has improved uptime
A10 Networks Thunder ADC is quite solid, but there are some issues that I face, particularly with the user interface. A current issue is that the GUI is less polished than competitors. When compared against F5 BIG-IP or Citrix ADC, the GUI is not as good. The documentation and learning curve are areas that can be improved by A10 Networks. Compared with larger vendors including F5, Cisco, or Palo Alto, A10 has a smaller ecosystem. Although A10 Networks Thunder ADC supports cloud and Kubernetes, many enterprises now expect deeper cloud-native functionality. Improvement areas include Kubernetes Ingress maturity, service mesh integration, and auto-scaling intelligence.
Julio Graham - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Support resolves issues quickly and helps in expanding storage efficiently
Their support is really good. I can ask anything at any time, and they are able to resolve issues like reinstating deleted Linodes. They include features like retaining deleted Linodes for 30 days. They offer volumes and object storage, which I can add quickly, and they are high speed. I can easily expand space for database work. Although I used to create images, I found them outdated and prefer installing new images.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
I would recommend A10 Networks due that it delivers high performance in a small form factor to reduce OPEX with significantly lower power usage, rack space, and cooling requirements compared to oth...
Do you recommend A10 Networks Thunder ADC?
I do recommend A10 Networks Thunder ADC. It's very user-friendly, easy to configure, and flexible. It is a very useful solution - especially now, when a lot of employees are working remotely. I hav...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for A10 Networks Thunder ADC?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for A10 Networks Thunder ADC is a question for another department, not for me.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Linode?
I find Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode)'s pricing very competitive. They never charge extra without improvements. I always receive more features for the same price.
What needs improvement with Linode?
I am not satisfied with the customization options from Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) because I still haven't tried any new capabilities provided by them yet. I am still keeping it as a virtual se...
What is your primary use case for Linode?
My use case for Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) involves using the servers, specifically for servers. I am using the virtual server from Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode). I have more than one virtua...
 

Also Known As

Thunder ADC, AX Series
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

123inkt.nl, Bentley University, Box, Brainshark, Buienradar, Capgemini, CGN/LSN & NAT64, Chengdu Telecom, Club One, Code Ready, CRC Health Group, Cyso, Deutsche Telekom, Earth Class Mail, Excite, FFF Enterprises, Florence County, Framingham State University, From30
Best Buy, Panasonic, Giphy, Marco Polo, World Health Organization, Font Squirrel
Find out what your peers are saying about F5, HAProxy, NetScaler and others in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC). Updated: May 2026.
902,456 professionals have used our research since 2012.