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A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs Akamai Ion comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

A10 Networks Thunder ADC
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Akamai Ion
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
15th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of A10 Networks Thunder ADC is 5.7%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Akamai Ion is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
A10 Networks Thunder ADC5.7%
Akamai Ion2.0%
Other92.3%
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

NC
Head Of Technical And Network Security at Connex Information Technologies
Global load balancing has improved reliability and currently reduces latency across multi-cloud
I have experience with AWS, and I also have experience with both AWS and Azure, and sometimes GCP as well. We utilize multi-cloud support with A10 Networks Thunder ADC. We have customers utilizing A10 Networks Thunder ADC in the public cloud as well. I didn't technically involve myself with analytics in A10 Networks Thunder ADC because I haven't been involved in that part in the past few years. According to my team, the analytics tools are quite prominent, so there are no issues there. We have a distributorship with A10 Networks and are considered a partner. I would rate this review 9 out of 10.
HarshBhardiya - PeerSpot reviewer
SOC Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Reliable bot management with valuable traffic analytics and good delivery configuration
We are using Akamai Ion primarily for CDN services. It is more about delivery configuration, and for security, we use Akamai WAF security controls and Botman Akamai Ion helps protect us from DOS, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and scraping tools. Real-time analytics are very helpful for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, A10 ADC is pretty good, it's reasonably priced and easy to use."
"With A10, we have a very robust load balancing solution that is capable, like F5, of iRule or aFleX scripting."
"Since we switched to A10 Networks, we have had all the features that we need in a more value-oriented package."
"You get a lot more for your dollar with A10."
"It's a phenomenal investment that the company has made, improving our performance and management and saving us money."
"The DNS application firewall and load balancing are very valuable."
"This is one of the best products, it is capable, and I'll always suggest it for my customers as it is better than the other products."
"The solution is stable."
"The most valuable feature is bot management."
"Akamai is easy to use and very effective."
 

Cons

"The setup depends on certain situations. In certain scenarios, it may be more complex than others. For example, while the initial configuration may be easy, the environment itself may be complex and that may limit the ease of deployment. It is easy for those who understand their environment."
"The tool's load-balancing feature should improve."
"One area where A10 Networks Thunder ADC could improve is the user interface, which is functional but not the most intuitive, especially for new users, making it a bit under-utilized."
"Maybe one concrete thing that they can improve on is their two-factor authentication."
"I chose a rating of eight or nine instead of a perfect ten because there are a few areas that could be improved for A10 Networks Thunder ADC."
"It scaled well for our numbers, up to 3 million subscribers for our most crowded region but I would like to see the same scalability numbers for the virtualized version as well."
"I would like them to provide learning tips and a community forum where users can share ideas. They need more detailed support articles on the A10 website."
"While I do use the security features on the load balancing, I find them to be primitive."
"Log management should display data for more than two months."
"The product must provide more flexibility."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution costs less than its competitors."
"The price of A10 Networks Thunder ADC depends on capacity and the customer's requirement. They have several offerings. They have different price models and options to choose from. Additionally, you need to subscribe to support for the hardware appliances."
"We just pay for support in addition to our licensing."
"The pricing is a third of the price of the F5 competition."
"There were budgetary constraints that keep us from investing in the single pane of glass traffic management feature. We saw a demo of this feature about a year to a year and a half ago."
"One of the main reasons for switching away from Cisco was the licensing model. A10 gives you global server load balancing for free, while Cisco charged a significant licensing fee for that."
"For the hardware and license, we paid $35,000 per box, which was a one-time cost. Then, for the Gold Support on the two boxes, we pay $9400 annually."
"As for the initial investment in the hardware, F5 and A10 are quite similar now. For the current A10 solution, the initial cost was about $36,000. As for annual support, the F5 solution would be between $10,000 and $12,000, while the A10 is $2,200 a year for support."
"The tool is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise18
No data available
 

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 Akamai Ion?
The billing cycle is monthly, however, payment is done yearly. While expensive, it provides value for the services offered.
What needs improvement with Akamai Ion?
Log management should display data for more than two months. The traffic report needs to be more flexible. The response time of technical support should be improved.
What is your primary use case for Akamai Ion?
We are using Akamai Ion primarily for CDN services. It is more about delivery configuration, and for security, we use Akamai WAF security controls and Botman.
 

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
Eurail, Boston Scientific
Find out what your peers are saying about A10 Networks Thunder ADC vs. Akamai Ion and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,563 professionals have used our research since 2012.