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Akamai App and API Protector vs Illumio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 14, 2024

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
4.8
Akamai App and API Protector offers superior traffic management, security, and cost savings for large infrastructures, despite higher costs.
Sentiment score
8.2
Illumio provides East-West traffic visibility and log auditing, offering substantial value with cost-effectiveness and time efficiencies despite incomplete data.
I observe extensive return on investment with Illumio.
Senior Security Consultant at Orange Cyberdefense
Illumio is known to be the cheapest solution among the security solutions we evaluated.
IT Specialist at Allianz
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
Customer service is excellent, while technical support has mixed reviews with praise for expertise but needs improved availability.
Sentiment score
1.0
Illumio's customer service is generally responsive with 24/7 availability, but experiences and satisfaction vary among users.
Even if we raise an issue on non-working days like Saturdays or Sundays, we receive prompt responses.
IT Specialist at Allianz
From my experience, they are very responsive.
Technical Associate at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Akamai App and API Protector excels in scalability, seamlessly handling extensive user demands and large-scale deployments with stability.
Sentiment score
7.6
Illumio effortlessly scales in large installations, supports diverse environments, and receives high user satisfaction across various professional roles.
Scaling it to a large level is not an issue for us.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Akamai App and API Protector is highly stable and reliable, with no reported outages or issues over years of use.
Sentiment score
7.9
Illumio is praised for stability and reliability, using native firewalls with high user satisfaction and an 8.5 rating.
Illumio is a stable solution with no glitches or bugs reported, making it a reliable product for us.
IT Specialist at Allianz
 

Room For Improvement

Akamai App and API Protector needs enhancements in flexibility, UI, customer support, documentation, and advanced protection features.
Illumio needs improved support, integration, OS compatibility, data security, detailed logs, interactive sessions, and tagging automation guidance.
They need to install an agent in the container world, while Akamai Guardicore does not need to install an agent, so they have native support that Illumio lacks.
Senior Security Consultant at Orange Cyberdefense
There could also be more examples of how the automations can be done using Illumio.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
There should be an option to upgrade from the console to the latest version instead of performing manual upgrades.
IT Specialist at Allianz
 

Setup Cost

Akamai App and API Protector is expensive yet considered worth the cost by large enterprises for its quality services.
Illumio offers flexible pricing based on workloads, with mixed views on cost, subscribing every three years.
But when you compare it to firewalls, then it may not be that expensive.
Senior Security Consultant at Orange Cyberdefense
I know that Illumio is the cheapest solution in the security area.
IT Specialist at Allianz
I think it's not very expensive if we compare it with Guardicore.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Akamai App and API Protector delivers scalable security, ease of use, and cost-effective protection with advanced features like DDoS defense.
Illumio enhances security and usability with its Application Dependency Map, traffic analysis, and centralized policy management, aiding visibility and micro-segmentation.
The area in which Akamai excels compared to other competitors with a WAF is in threat intelligence, as threats continually evolve, requiring ongoing updates to backend algorithms to effectively capture smart bots.
Privacy & Risk Management Vice President, Information Security at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
There have been times when an attack was halted from expanding laterally.
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Illumio helps in audit purposes by saving data and showing blocked traffic, ensuring no outside traffic is allowed.
IT Specialist at Allianz
Illumio has some VPN features and encryption features that are not available in Guardicore.
Senior Security Consultant at Orange Cyberdefense
 

Categories and Ranking

Akamai App and API Protector
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (16th), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection (8th)
Illumio
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (14th), Microsegmentation Software (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Akamai App and API Protector is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Illumio is 18.4%, down from 24.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud and Data Center Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Illumio18.4%
Akamai App and API Protector1.4%
Other80.2%
Cloud and Data Center Security
 

Featured Reviews

Gavin Pinho - PeerSpot reviewer
Privacy & Risk Management Vice President, Information Security at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Has provided strong protection against evolving threats but still needs support for configuration fine-tuning
The standout features of Akamai App and API Protector are rooted in it being the Web Application Firewall, where all traffic gets scanned, including the implementation of web firewall rules, and after this phase, traffic proceeds through the BMP, which is Bot Management. Akamai App and API Protector exceeds expectations in terms of AI capabilities, and it genuinely combines a plethora of advanced features. The area in which Akamai excels compared to other competitors with a WAF is in threat intelligence, as threats continually evolve, requiring ongoing updates to backend algorithms to effectively capture smart bots, and Akamai's commitment in that regard is backed by an excellent team, while other providers are still catching up.
US
Cyber Security Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Have created granular security policies based on roles and application behavior
The best feature that Illumio offers is that we can easily understand how to label the applications, how to install Illumio agent on the client machines, how to install the agent on the servers, and how to do the ring-fencing. The log analysis is very simple, and we can map the traffic very easily, such as the traffic view and map view. We have many views to do that, and then we have a topology environment where we can expand the topology and understand how we want to prepare our policy based on the requirement. These are some of the very good use cases that Illumio provides, which none of the other vendors can offer in such an easy and usable way. The most important feature is the traffic review analysis, where we use the draft view and the reported view that helps us understand how the application interacts with other applications in the environment, and based on that, we are able to define the policies. It has increased the business for the organization. We are creating business by supporting the client. The client is getting more security and is more confident in their network because they now have the micro-segmentation feature in their environment. This is new technology and that's how it helps the organization as a whole. The clients we support are benefited, and at the same time, we are making money out of it. This is definitely a good approach. After implementing Illumio, there has been significant progress. Most of the app owners now understand what applications are communicating, how these applications interact with others, and we are more aware of which application is talking to what other servers and applications, and their roles. For instance, whether an application is talking to the DB server or an app server. We have a more granular understanding of the traffic view. Additionally, after implementing Illumio, there is greater segmentation, and fewer incidents are occurring. There have been times when an attack was halted from expanding laterally.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Performing Arts
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

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 slight difference.
What needs improvement with Akamai Web Application Protector?
There are no significant areas for improvement on the WAF side or for Akamai App and API Protector solution; they are comprehensive in their current state.
What is your primary use case for Akamai Web Application Protector?
The main use case for Akamai App and API Protector is serving as the WAF, Web Application Firewall.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
My experience was really good because I think it's not very expensive if we compare it with Guardicore. I believe that's a good product.
What needs improvement with Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
Illumio can be improved if we have more interactive sessions with the tech team. The support of Illumio can be better since it's a new tool, and people can explore it more. There could also be more...
What is your primary use case for Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
The main use case for Illumio is providing micro-segmentation where we don't want to segment the network based on IP addresses but rather segment them based on roles, applications, and environments...
 

Also Known As

Akamai Web Application Protector, Akamai Kona Site Defender, Akamai Kona DDoS Defender
Illumio Adaptive Security Platform, Illumio ASP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Douglas Omaha Technology Commission, ZALORA, PrintPlanet
Plantronics, NTT Innovation Institute Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai App and API Protector vs. Illumio and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.