AWS Shield vs Azure DDoS Protection comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft are both solutions in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.7, while Microsoft is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.8. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 4.9% mindshare in DDOS, compared to Microsoft’s 3.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

Azure DDoS Protection and AWS Shield offer robust solutions for DDoS protection. AWS Shield appears to have an upper hand due to its feature-rich offerings despite higher costs.

Features: Azure DDoS Protection offers automatic attack mitigation, integration with Azure Monitor for analytics, and customizable policies. AWS Shield provides two tiers with AWS Shield Advanced offering 24/7 access to a dedicated DDoS Response Team and detailed attack diagnostics.

Room for Improvement: Azure DDoS Protection could enhance real-time attack detection capabilities, improve threat intelligence, and expand on proactive responses. AWS Shield could improve integrations outside of the AWS ecosystem, simplify deployment processes, and offer more competitive pricing schemes for small businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure DDoS Protection benefits from easy deployment within the Azure ecosystem and has accessible customer service channels. AWS Shield, although more complex to deploy, benefits from AWS’s global infrastructure and offers specialized support for Shield Advanced users.

Pricing and ROI: Azure DDoS Protection offers competitive pricing models for scalability, providing good ROI for Azure-centric enterprises. AWS Shield provides a basic free-tier option and a premium Shield Advanced service, which, while more costly, delivers comprehensive protection and support seen as a strategic investment by businesses needing extensive security features.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Shield vs. Azure DDoS Protection Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Shield vs. Azure DDoS Protection

December 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

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of Cloudflare is 16.7%, down from 18.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Shield is 4.9%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure DDoS Protection is 3.1%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cloudflare	16.7%
AWS Shield	4.9%
Azure DDoS Protection	3.1%
Other	75.3%

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

Featured Reviews

Herb Angle

Owner at Hga consulting

Has helped manage client domains with streamlined access control and threat visibility

I don't know what areas could be improved with Cloudflare WAF; Cloudflare is constantly improving and adding features to their feature set. They're doing a good job, and as far as DNS and support for any domains that I create or my clients create, it's mandatory for me to make sure that they have Cloudflare as their DNS provider. The Cloudflare load balancing capability hasn't really helped in enhancing my website's uptime and resiliency because we don't really get that much traffic; it's mostly remote users, and web hosting is done by a web hosting service. It doesn't pay to try to host your own website.

Read full review

PranavTelang

Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has enabled multi-layered threat mitigation but still lacks deeper visibility for advanced application attacks

AWS Shield has limited coverage as it only protects against common and high-volume network and transport layer attacks, such as SYN floods. It does not provide inherent protection against more sophisticated layer 7 attacks such as HTTP floods. In such cases, integration with WAF is necessary, which results in additional costs for customers. To protect layer 7, layer 4, and layer 3, customers must implement both solutions. The service also has difficulties with static detection thresholds, which may not be sensitive enough to detect smaller application-specific attacks. While AWS Shield is a key security service, AWS should enhance their expert support with 24/7 response for complex attacks, which is currently limited.

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Dinesh Jaisankar

Cloud Architect at Vision Bank

Security architecture shields infrastructure but dashboard needs enhancement

The Azure DDoS Protection plan is essential for environments like ours that are highly exposed to potential attacks, especially since DDoS attacks have become common. The security architecture with Azure DDoS Protection is critical for safeguarding our financial organization's infrastructure. Although implementing it is pricier, it is worth using since our applications are entirely in Azure.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution provides good load balancing and protection against DDoS attacks."

"The web application firewall brought us good security and a view of the accesses/blocks of the entire domain and subdomain that were accessed both by region (country) and IPs."

"The overall experience with Cloudflare is positive, with a rating of eight out of ten."

"The simplicity of the overall dashboard makes it a great product for a user like me who has less understanding of the internet than a developer or other more technical people. It gives me peace of mind. I also love the easy customization of the Page Rules."

"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."

"I like Cloudflare's application gateway and DDoS protection."

"Cloudflare is a security SaaS provider that provides security and protects us from any application layer attack."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is external DNS. It is also very secure. They have their own main server and once you configure it, the product takes care of everything. There are no issues in resolving IPs and low latency is also present."

More Cloudflare pros

"I recommend AWS Shield because it has proven helpful in tracking DDoS attacks within both my past and present environments, and without AWS Shield, a business could face potential losses, as this tool helps in identifying and mitigating fake traffic that disrupts applications, ultimately supporting business continuity."

"The product is easy to use."

"The product has a good mechanism to analyze trends and trigger events."

"The solution operates smoothly at its baseline level, and we do not encounter any issues at that level."

"AWS Shield is aligned with the web application firewall (WAF), and they work seamlessly together, primarily working with Elastic Load Balancer, CloudFront, and Route 53 for CDN and DNS services protection."

"It is integrated with AWS. So, it gives you a good first step."

"I am impressed with the product's multiple features like security."

"We have integrated the tool with Active Directory. The most important feature is that it's transparent and doesn't degrade the performance of our solution. Additionally, it's easy to configure, which is crucial for us. It's easy to use and set up and stops attacks on our servers. We haven't encountered any attack problems because the solution stops them in real-time. AWS Shield specifically focuses on defending against denial-of-service attacks, making it a great solution for that type of threat."

More AWS Shield pros

"The Azure DDoS Protection plan is essential for environments like ours that are highly exposed to potential attacks, especially since DDoS attacks have become common."

"DDoS Protection is simple to deploy and integrates seamlessly with the Azure environment. Ease of deployment is a crucial feature for us."

"Azure is easy to set up and widely used by our clients."

"Azure DDoS Protection offers superior protection against denial-of-service attacks."

"The integration of various tools with Azure Firewall, like DDoS Protection, Web Application Firewall, and Azure Front Door, is quite effective."

"AI capabilities are very good. I would rate them an eight out of ten."

"Azure is easy to set up and widely used by our clients."

"This solution is the best option for us because we use a lot of Microsoft products. So, it is easy for us to deploy or integrate any features or products."

More Azure DDoS Protection pros

Cons

"I believe they currently have this feature, but there will most likely be integration with APIs so we can control some features through API."

"The solution could use more analytics on the backend to give us more insights into everything. More reports would be helpful."

"Support response time could be improved."

"The product needs to improve its automation."

"There might be helpful if there was some web application firewall feature."

"Sometimes their more advanced caching tools can cause higher first-byte times and problems with JavaScript."

"One area of improvement is in the Access Rules. Hypothetically, if we wanted to block or challenge traffic outside of the United States, the only way to currently do that (as far as I know) is to enter every single country outside of the United States. That could be a labor intensive job. A solution could be to enable users to create a rule where traffic is only allowed within a certain country."

"The integration of LLMs on the dashboard is something that is needed in the tool."

More Cloudflare cons

"The network has been experiencing frustrating performance issues today, which is not typical for Nigeria."

"Perhaps the time required to detect anomalies can be reduced."

"AWS Shield Standard requires improvement, particularly regarding its dashboard since it currently provides limited coverage against comprehensive DDoS attacks."

"The management of it is a bit hard. If you don't engineer it on the front side, it is hard to go back in and change it. It could be improved in terms of architecture requirements and then ongoing support requirements as a secondary component to it. People tend to set up things like this, and they just expect it to work without the care and feeding that needs to go back into it either from an application team or a network environment team."

"The product needs to improve its logs and reports to make it read better."

"Perhaps the time required to detect anomalies can be reduced. Presently, it takes some time to determine whether a situation is normal or abnormal."

"We end up having to pay extra for features that AWS adds that we don't need."

"The product should give users more flexibility to customize their security policies according to their requirements."

More AWS Shield cons

"I have noticed some false positives with the Web Application Firewall yet not with DDoS Protection."

"The implementation of Azure DDoS Protection results in a decrease in our bandwidth capacity and should be optimized to reduce resource consumption."

"Sometimes, it is hard for our staff to keep track of changes (in the GUI) between different projects, because there are constant changes. As a result, it is hard to manage, recall, and see all the features because they have been moved from one place to another."

"Azure DDoS Protection could improve on the reporting."

"It's not very easy to configure, in my view."

"The dashboard lacks insights and user-friendliness, as most data is logged into metrics like Log Analytics workspaces."

"The visibility could be better. We would like to have better metrics, so we could see all the information in a central place."

"I suggest adding more services and additional services, which would be beneficial."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees."

"We are using the free tier of the solution."

"The solution is expensive when compared to other products but offers unlimited bandwidth."

"Cloudflare's pricing is not much higher and is good for middle-level organizations."

"I believe their performance has improved, but I'd like to refrain from discussing the pricing aspect related to the cloud. The pricing, in my opinion, could be simplified, and I think they should consider reevaluating the pricing for support, as it can be quite high. At times, this cost can make it challenging to choose CARFAGuard or opt for the support."

"A free version of the solution is available."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"That is one of the great features. I was able to access the majority of the features and services for free."

More Cloudflare pricing and cost advice

"It depends on your subscription level and the volume that you're spending with AWS. So, it is very relative to the consumption alignment in your subscription level. It is a well-constructed, scalable pricing option, but it is relative to how much you're spending on AWS. Because the more you spend, typically, the more you get off on services like this. I find it to be comparable to other solutions."

"The cost depends on traffic each month, so on average, it costs us between US$200 and US$300 per month."

"The tool is cheap."

"The tool's pricing is good."

"We pay $3000 per month for the solution."

"You can test it for a certain period of time free of charge. You can have a free account. You can test it to compare its pros and cons with other products that you are testing."

"It is an expensive solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	25

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

Cloudflare. We are moving from Akamai prolexic to Cloudflare. Cloudflare anycast network outperforms Akamai static GR...

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Which would you choose - Cloudflare DNS or Quad9?

Cloudflare DNS is a very fast, very reliable public DNS resolver. It is an enterprise-grade authoritative DNS service...

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What do you like most about Cloudflare?

Cloudflare offers CDN and DDoS protection. We have the front end, API, and database in how you structure applications.

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What do you like most about AWS Shield?

We have integrated the tool with Active Directory. The most important feature is that it's transparent and doesn't de...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Shield?

The pricing structure for AWS Shield is fair, yet it depends on the specific protections chosen. Enabling Shield Adva...

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What needs improvement with AWS Shield?

Services always benefit from improvements, including AWS Shield. With respect to the Web Application Firewall, curren...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure DDoS Protection?

The pricing is somewhat costly, usually around $3,000 to $4,000 per month. Managing this expense is tough, especially...

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What needs improvement with Azure DDoS Protection?

The dashboard lacks insights and user-friendliness, as most data is logged into metrics like Log Analytics workspaces...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Azure DDoS Protection?

We are a bank with Internet banking and corporate banking portals, which exposes multiple applications externally. Th...

See all answers

Comparisons

Quad9 vs Cloudflare

Compared 51% of the time

Akamai vs Cloudflare

Compared 4% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Cloudflare

Compared 3% of the time

Myra Security DDoS Protection vs Cloudflare

Compared 2% of the time

DataDome vs Cloudflare

Compared 1% of the time

More Cloudflare Competitors

Cloudflare One vs AWS Shield

Compared 16% of the time

Radware DDoS vs AWS Shield

Compared 6% of the time

Prolexic vs AWS Shield

Compared 6% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs AWS Shield

Compared 5% of the time

Akamai App and API Protector vs AWS Shield

Compared 5% of the time

More AWS Shield Competitors

Arbor DDoS vs Azure DDoS Protection

Compared 7% of the time

Azure Front Door vs Azure DDoS Protection

Compared 6% of the time

Azure Web Application Firewall vs Azure DDoS Protection

Compared 6% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Azure DDoS Protection

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Azure DDoS Protection

Compared 5% of the time

More Azure DDoS Protection Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare

January 2026

Download Cloudflare product report

Buyer's Guide

AWS Shield

January 2026

Download AWS Shield product report

Buyer's Guide

Azure DDoS Protection

January 2026

Download Azure DDoS Protection product report

Also Known As

Cloudflare DNS

No data available

Overview

Cloudflare enhances web performance and security with features like CDN caching and DDoS mitigation while providing easy DNS management and intuitive setup through its user-friendly dashboard.

Cloudflare is recognized for its comprehensive web security and performance solutions. Speed improvements are achieved through caching mechanisms and DDoS protection, combining ease of DNS management with flexible page rules. The robust analytics and threat insight tools provide valuable data, assisted by a user-friendly dashboard allowing quick setup and configuration. An API offers dynamic DNS settings ensuring low latency and high performance across the globe.

What are Cloudflare's key features?

CDN Caching: Enhances website speed through content delivery network caching.
Web Application Firewall: Protects websites from online threats.
DDoS Mitigation: Shields against distributed denial-of-service attacks.
DNS Management: Offers easy-to-use and flexible domain management.
SSL Certificates: Ensures secure connections between users and servers.
Analytics: Provides insights with robust analytics tools.

What benefits and ROI should users evaluate?

Enhanced Security: Strengthening web security with DDoS and firewall protection.
Speed Improvement: Faster content delivery with CDN caching.
Operational Simplicity: Simplifies website optimization through a user-friendly interface.
Scalable Solutions: Scales with global reach, lowering latency for improved performance.
Cost Efficiency: Offers layers of valuable functionality with pricing options.

Cloudflare finds utility across industries for DNS management and defense mechanisms. Its content delivery network assures fast content distribution and fortified security. Businesses integrate features like web application firewalls, load balancing, end-to-end SSL, and zero trust to protect websites from cyber threats while ensuring resilience and reliable performance.

Cloudflare

AWS Shield is a managed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection service that safeguards applications running on AWS. AWS Shield provides always-on detection and automatic inline mitigations that minimize application downtime and latency, so there is no need to engage AWS Support to benefit from DDoS protection.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Azure DDoS Protection, combined with application design best practices, provides defense against DDoS attacks.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Trusted by over 9,000,000 Internet Applications and APIs, including Nasdaq, Zendesk, Crunchbase, Steve Madden, OkCupid, Cisco, Quizlet, Discord and more.

netflix, dow jones, mapbox, pearson, rovio, youview, moviestar planet, asurion, payplug, hour of code

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Buyer's Guide

AWS Shield vs. Azure DDoS Protection

December 2025

Free Report: AWS Shield vs. Azure DDoS Protection

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Shield vs. Azure DDoS Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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