Akamai vs Cloudflare vs Imperva Application Security Platform comparison

Akamai is a powerful solution that aims to enhance the performance and reliability of websites and applications. With features like excellent performance, robust security measures, and efficient content delivery, it optimizes user experience. It also offers bandwidth optimization, caching, online asset security, and protection against DDoS attacks. Users value its wide network coverage and reliable customer support.

Cloudflare is a highly-regarded Content Delivery Network (CDN) and a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) protection solution. The robust global connectivity cloud platform that is Cloudflare ensures users are able to connect to the Internet quickly, securely, and reliably. Cloudflare is one of the world's largest networks in the marketplace today. Using Cloudflare, businesses, educational entities, NGOs, vloggers, bloggers, and anyone else with an internet presence can experience more secure, faster websites and applications.  

Currently, there are millions of Internet locations on Cloudflare, and the Cloudflare network 
continues to grow every day by the thousands. The solution is able to fulfill the requests for 
millions of websites seamlessly and serves on average 45 million HTTP requests per second.

Cloudflare has safe, secure data centers in close to 300 cities worldwide to ensure every 
client request is filled as quickly as possible. It is Cloudflare’s edge network that makes this 
possible by keeping content and other services as close to each client as possible, so the 
information requests are always only seconds away. 

Many organizations that work in democracy, civil society, human rights, or the arts are able to 
access Cloudflare's highest levels of protection for free via Project Galileo. Additionally, official 
election websites can be secured from hacking and fraud through Cloudflare’s Project 
Athenian, also at no additional cost.

Cloudflare can also help organizations of all sizes develop a robust zero-trust strategy to 
ensure the highest levels of productivity and profitability. Employees, stakeholders, and end users have a greater level of satisfaction and overall improved user experience, which can, in 
turn, result in higher revenues and overall ROI. Zero-trust and BYOD (bring your own device) 
access ensure end users and employees always have the best resources and technology 
available to them at all times. 

Cloudflare benefits

Cloudflare has many benefits. Some of its most valuable benefits include:

- Faster load times

- Robust DNS security

- Intuitive cloud Web Application Firewall (WAF)

- Free universal SSL

- Image enhancement 

- Automatic browser caching

- Next-generation cloud load balancer

- Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

- Rate limiting

- Minification

- Zero-trust capabilities 

- Cost-effective

- Reduced carbon footprint

Reviews from real users

“Many websites require an SSL certificate because they sell stuff and want SSL. Cloudflare 
comes with an SSL certificate built in. It's automatic. You sign yourself up for Cloudflare, and 
an SSL certificate automatically protects your website. If you have a connection between your 
website and your host, the server, Cloudflare, and the host, you don't necessarily need a 
certificate.” Spencer M., Owner at Tech Exchange

“What I like best about Cloudflare is that my company can use it to trace and manage 
applications and monitor traffic. The solution tells you if there's a spike in traffic. Cloudflare 
also sends you a link to check your equipment and deployment and track it through peering,
so it's a valuable tool.” Daniel P., Network Engineer at Ufinet

“The most valuable feature of Cloudflare is the GUI. You are able to control the solution very 
well through the interface. There is a lot of functionality that is embedded in the service.” PeerSpot user, Competence Center Manager at a tech services company

Imperva Application Security Platform delivers comprehensive and continuous web threat protection. Renowned for its ease of use, it shields web applications and databases from various cyber threats while integrating seamlessly with cloud and on-premises environments.

Imperva Application Security Platform protects web environments by offering advanced security measures against threats like DDoS attacks, SQL injections, and cross-site scripting. As a robust web application firewall, it provides extensive monitoring and bot management capabilities. The platform integrates content delivery networks for enhanced performance and scalability, while real-time traffic analysis ensures consistent protection. Despite its strengths, improvements can be made in policy management and customization options. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and more competitive pricing models. The inclusion of AI for enhanced analytics is also anticipated.

• Correlated Attack Validation: Enhances threat assessment by linking related security events.
• Threat Radar: Offers visibility into potential and ongoing threats.
• Virtual Patching: Provides protection against vulnerabilities without immediate code changes.
• IncapRules: Allows creation of custom security policies.
• DDoS Protection: Defends against large-scale distributed denial-of-service attacks.
• CDN Integration: Improves content delivery speed and reliability.

• User-Friendly Administration: Simplifies setup and ongoing management tasks.
• Seamless Integration: Ensures smooth operation with existing infrastructure.
• Comprehensive Threat Protection: Shields digital assets from a wide range of threats.
• Hands-On Support: Provides timely and effective customer service assistance.

Imperva Application Security Platform is implemented in industries needing strong database and application protection. Companies use it to enforce geolocation restrictions and manage bots, benefiting sectors like finance and e-commerce where data security and threat monitoring are critical. Its ability to protect and ensure data accessibility makes it integral to business operations prioritizing cyber resilience.