Akamai App and API Protector vs Cloudflare One comparison

Akamai and Cloudflare are both solutions in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category. Akamai is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.7, while Cloudflare is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3. Additionally, 100% of Akamai users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cloudflare users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 22, 2025

Cloudflare One and Akamai App and API Protector compete in cybersecurity and performance optimization for applications and APIs. Cloudflare One has an advantage in accessibility and overall cost-effectiveness, while Akamai App and API Protector offers a richer set of features, excelling in security capabilities.

Features: Cloudflare One includes advanced DDoS protection, Zero Trust Network Access, and a secure web gateway with strengths in usability and system integration. Akamai App and API Protector excels in API security capabilities, threat intelligence, and a customizable rules engine for security policies.

Room for Improvement: Cloudflare One could enhance more advanced security features, deeper threat intelligence, and expand its customizability options. Akamai App and API Protector might benefit from simplifying its learning curve, reducing setup complexity, and improving integration ease.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cloudflare One is recognized for its straightforward deployment and efficient customer service, requiring minimal infrastructure changes. Akamai App and API Protector, although detailed in its security offerings, often involves more complex configurations and a lengthier deployment process but is supported by a comprehensive onboarding experience.

Pricing and ROI: Cloudflare One offers competitive pricing with a favorable return on investment through cost-effective protection and network optimization at lower price tiers. Akamai App and API Protector, while higher in initial costs, provides significant ROI for businesses needing advanced security resolutions that extensively boost app performance.

To learn more, read our detailed Akamai App and API Protector vs. Cloudflare One Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector vs. Cloudflare One

July 2025

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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

Cloudflare Web Application ...

Featured Reviews

SachidDoshi

Senior Enterprise Security Architect at HGS - Hinduja Global Solutions

Offers a huge signature repository and is superiorly effective in mitigating DDoS attacks

The solution's learning curve can still be further reduced, which presently stands at two or three months. The product has a custom rule set that users can modify and manifest as needed. The vendor can probably shorten the learning curve using cutting-edge technologies like AI. The solution provider can also work around the web applications and identify the toolset that needs to be implemented to deploy the solution in less time. The vendor has launched a SASE product that can function with Cloudflare Web Application Firewall, but many improvements are needed in terms of features, such as the web filtering feature, and CASB has not yet been added.

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Bharat Chandra

Head of DevOpps at Indian express

Exceptional support, protects our sites, and provides visibility into traffic

We did a PoC of Akamai and Cloudflare. One area where Akamai can improve is the captcha part. Cloudflare provides a captcha if there are a certain number of threats. For example, I can assign that if there are 10 requests within a second from a single IP, it should send a captcha to the user. The user should fill in the captcha, and only after that, the user should be able to access our website. This captcha feature should be built into Bot Manager. I love this captcha feature of Cloudflare. Other things are good in Akamai. That is why we are using Akamai. Only the captcha part should be implemented.

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Carlos Alam Hernandez Baruch

Engineer at SITMEXICO

The solution enables seamless security management and fosters a learning environment

Feedback could be enhanced. While I work efficiently with Clover as a partner in Mexico City, sometimes the information and requests are easier to manage with more concrete solutions. For the solution stopping us for e-learning, I appreciate the concept yet need more resources or courses in Mexico, preferably in Spanish. Certifications are easy, however, I require more real-world environments and instructors.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Cloudflare Web Application Firewall's most valuable feature is its ease of configuration."

"The security features are valuable. The particular feature we use is called OWASP."

"We extensively use the solution every day. The solution is very stable; we haven’t seen any glitches."

"Someone with a basic understanding of networking and security will be able to implement the firewall's basic features within 15 minutes."

"The stability of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall deserves a perfect 10 out of 10."

"It's pretty convenient and pretty easy to set up and run. And then kind of for static content, it also offers caching."

"The product has a valuable security control functionality."

"Caching is the most valuable feature of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall."

More Cloudflare Web Application Firewall pros

"The product is user-friendly."

"It is scalable for DDoS."

"It gives us a report of traffic. It gives us a report of the day-to-day URL traffic, and it also gives an individual report. If we reach out to Akamai, they give us the IPs as well."

"Traffic filtering and WAF are valuable."

"Everything will be handled by Akamai's system before it reaches our infrastructure."

"I can attest to its benefits in terms of understanding and mitigating threats...The solution's technical support team seems to be pretty responsive."

"The support that we got from their technical team has been fantastic. I have never experienced this level of support from other CDN providers."

"Adaptive stream delivery and WAF protection are valuable."

More Akamai App and API Protector pros

"This solution is easy to understand and easy to configure."

"It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it."

"The best feature is rate limiting. If I'm expecting 500 visits per hour, Cloudflare will limit the requests if I suddenly get 50,000."

"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."

"The solution has different options that can be used to differentiate DDoS attacks."

"Cloudflare DDoS is better than its competitors for its security, deployment, and scalability."

"Cloudflare, in my opinion, was easy to implement."

"Cloudflare DDoS mitigates DDoS attacks."

More Cloudflare One pros

Cons

"The platform's control features related to real-time authentication and response time need improvement."

"I have experienced some difficulties with Cloudflare's support as a customer based in India."

"It would be ideal if the solution offered better log integration and more integration with different platforms."

"If they add logs history within the Cloudflare offering, that would be a great benefit."

"The product can improve by having more multitenancy capability, which is currently not available."

"Support can be challenging at times."

"Cloudflare Web Application Firewall should include port forwarding features."

"The reporting could be more granular."

More Cloudflare Web Application Firewall cons

"They are already very flexible, but room for improvement is there. Reports generation could be better and should be improved."

"It would be nice if Akamai Web Application Protector's price is lowered and made cheaper."

"Akamai needs to focus on quickly responding to risks, even those that may potentially be of zero threat..Maybe some of the documentation is a little confusing. They have a lot of different places where you can go to get information, and some of the information is quite out of date."

"It's fine for a simple tool, but as I recall, if you encounter a lot of bots, scrapers, and other things, you'll need this tool bot and this other thing they offer called Bot Manager."

"The WAF features definitely have a lot of room for improvement. A lot of the WAF is really basic. For some products or some of our solutions, we need to run a second layer of more advanced WAF. If it had better layer seven protection then we would not need a second WAF."

"The performance of the cloud monitoring tool is low."

"The interface is a little bit clunky and can be improved."

"The custom rules must be improved."

More Akamai App and API Protector cons

"When there are any dynamic changes in complex applications, the tool takes a lot of time, making its analytics-related area a major matter of concern where improvements are needed."

"The response time for support must be reduced."

"There are premium tier live service and lower tier live service, so we opted for the lower tier. But there is no medium tier where we pay a little extra and get a bit more service. So if that can be improved."

"Feedback could be enhanced. While I work efficiently with Clover as a partner in Mexico City, sometimes the information and requests are easier to manage with more concrete solutions."

"Our customers no longer use Cloudflare because its service is subpar."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform needs to improve its documentation. It took time to do the implementation."

"Feedback could be enhanced."

"The initial onboarding was causing us some confusion."

More Cloudflare One cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's pricing option needs to be more transparent for enterprise clients."

"The annual licensing fee is $10,000 USD."

"The pricing model is very straightforward compared to the competition. You just pay per month for the product and usage."

"Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is more affordable than other solutions."

"Cloudflare offers different types of subscriptions for businesses, enterprises, and personal users, and the pricing is negotiable."

"It starts at $20 and can easily go up to $200 monthly"

"What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? I believe the pricing is not the best, but it's reasonable and acceptable. We also use the McAfee system in parallel. In terms of pricing, its okay - not great, but not bad either. It falls in the middle, which is acceptable. In terms of support licensing, last time, we were searching for a solution, and we considered products from resellers rather than directly from the cloud provider. However, the pricing we encountered was exceptionally high. As a result, we are inclined to select support from the reseller."

"The solution is expensive."

More Cloudflare Web Application Firewall pricing and cost advice

"Based on the billing discussions in the DevOps team, Akamai's cost does not seem to be a major thing. However, LOE is an issue. When it comes to support, we know that even all the competitors do this. For a 30-minute issue, they give us a LOE of one or two hours. That is a basic practice, but that is something we worry about."

"Cost depends on the volume of traffic."

"The solution is expensive."

"The price they are offering is quite reasonable for premium customers, but it's very expensive if you're a small and medium-sized enterprises."

"It's more expensive than others, but the ROI is good for large-scale infrastructure."

"The product’s price is high."

"One reason not all people use Akamai is that it is a little bit more expensive than some other providers."

"Akamai is very expensive."

More Akamai App and API Protector pricing and cost advice

"The prices are slightly expensive."

"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."

"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."

"The pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."

"My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."

"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"The solution is not that expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?

The product has a valuable security control functionality.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?

The price of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?

I cannot say much about areas of improvement for Cloudflare Web Application Firewall because I haven't gone through d...

See all answers

What do you like most about Akamai Web Application Protector?

The product is user-friendly.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Akamai Web Application Protector?

The price is higher than others. It could be about 80% to 70% more expensive than other tools. So, it’s not just a sl...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Akamai Web Application Protector?

It could have better analytics and reporting visibility in the OEM console.

See all answers

What do you like most about Cloudflare Access?

The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Access?

The price of Cloudflare Access is the same as compared to Akamai, but I get better performance from Cloudflare. My co...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?

Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...

See all answers

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Compared 8% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall

August 2025

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall report

Download Cloudflare Web Application Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector

August 2025

Download Akamai App and API Protector product report

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare One

August 2025

Download Cloudflare One product report

Also Known As

Cloudflare WAF

Akamai Web Application Protector, Akamai Kona Site Defender, Akamai Kona DDoS Defender

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform

Overview

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall's intuitive dashboard enables users to build powerful rules through easy clicks and also provides Terraform integration. Every request to the WAF is inspected against the rule engine and the threat intelligence curated from protecting over 27 Million websites. Suspicious requests can be blocked, challenged or logged as per the needs of the user while legitimate requests are routed to the destination, agnostic of whether it lives on-premise or in the cloud. Analytics and Cloudflare Logs enable visibility into actionable metrics for the user.

Cloudflare

Akamai App and API Protector provides website security by preventing DDoS attacks, acting as an application firewall, managing content delivery, and monitoring APIs. It adapts to threat profiles and is used for fast media delivery and identifying malicious activities.

Akamai App and API Protector offers strong protection, adaptable security features, and efficient traffic management. Its WAF blocks IP addresses and country-specific threats while preventing SQL injections. Companies utilize it for scalable CDN services and comprehensive traffic analysis. Known for its cost-effectiveness and user-friendly dashboard, this protector stands out for its customizable rules and technical support. Users also highlight the ease of integration and detailed attack insights available through its advanced dashboard.

What are the key features of Akamai App and API Protector?

DDoS Protection: Strong defense against Distributed Denial of Service attacks.
Scalable CDN: Manages content delivery efficiently under high traffic loads.
WAF Capabilities: Blocks specific IPs and countries, prevents SQL injections.
Traffic Filtering: Analyzes and controls incoming requests to maintain security.
Adaptive Stream Delivery: Adjusts content delivery to meet bandwidth needs.

What benefits should users expect?

Cost-Effectiveness: Provides robust security tools at a competitive price.
Enhanced Security: Comprehensive protection against cyber threats.
Scalability: Easily handles increasing traffic and data loads.
Ease of Integration: Simple integration with existing systems.
Insightful Analytics: Offers data-driven insights into traffic and attack patterns.

In media, Akamai App and API Protector ensures smooth streaming by handling high bandwidth demands. E-commerce companies use it to guard against fraud and data breaches. Financial sectors rely on its ability to protect sensitive transactions. Implementations in healthcare focus on safeguarding patient data while maintaining compliance with regulations.

Akamai

Cloudflare One is a single-vendor Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform that enables Zero Trust security and any-to-any connectivity across enterprise applications, users, devices, and networks. Cloudflare One helps organizations simplify, modernize, and consolidate their IT architecture by converging security and networking services on our single global network and control plane.

Many organizations start by adopting our Security Service Edge (SSE) services — like ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and DLP — to reduce their attack surface, stop threats like phishing and ransomware, protect data, and apply identity-based Zero Trust verification across web, SaaS, and private app environments. Others prioritize simplifying network connectivity across offices, data centers, and cloud environments with our WANaaS.

Every service is available for customers to run in every location across Cloudflare’s global network, which today spans 330+ cities in 120+ countries, so you can scale connectivity with fast, consistent protections everywhere.

Cloudflare

Sample Customers

crunchbase, udacity, marketo, okcupid, zendesk

Douglas Omaha Technology Commission, ZALORA, PrintPlanet

23andMe

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector vs. Cloudflare One

July 2025

Free Report: Akamai App and API Protector vs. Cloudflare One

Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai App and API Protector vs. Cloudflare One and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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