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Akamai API Security vs NGINX App Protect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 4, 2025

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

Akamai API Security
Ranking in API Security
1st
Average Rating
6.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NGINX App Protect
Ranking in API Security
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (16th), Container Security (22nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the API Security category, the mindshare of Akamai API Security is 18.7%, down from 26.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX App Protect is 2.6%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Security
 

Featured Reviews

Deepesh  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Excellent API authentication support but needs better analytics and reporting
I conducted a proof of concept for four months to identify PII and financial information exposed through APIs. Primarily, the API part is effective. I have been using Akamai AppMyWAF. The tool's API authentication, tokenization, and enhanced scalability and performance are valuable features. Akamai's support is impeccable, and its plug-and-play features are helpful.
Tomaz Sobczak - PeerSpot reviewer
Signature-based detection, DOS protection, and bot protection
NGINX App Protect is easier to automate and configure, or manage from an API. This is good for securing applications. However, it's not suitable for more complex tasks. NGINX App Protect positively impacted performance changes. There's a cache or it works like a proxy, so it can speed up applications. It can also offload some functions from servers, which NGINX can handle faster.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its integration with API gateways, WAP and with part of their SDLC."
"API throttling is the most valuable feature of Akamai API Security."
"The API part is effective."
"The most valuable feature of NGINX App Protect is the reverse proxy."
"The initial setup was simple and took three to four days."
"The stability of the product is very impressive since it handles 60,000 to 70,000 requests or transactions per second."
"I tested specific features and evaluated the solution against the Web Application Firewall. I conducted research to test different detection percentages. I did not use it directly for protection but for evaluation purposes."
"The most valuable feature is that I can establish different services from the firewall."
"NGINX App Protect is stable."
"It's very easy to deploy."
"NGINX App Protect has complete control over the HTTP session."
 

Cons

"I think it would be good if they can integrate more with API gateways as this is currently limited."
"The challenge I found was with contextualization and how analytics are generated."
"It would be beneficial to use machine learning and API throttling together to identify how the APIs are called and whether it's coming from the right person or the wrong person."
"NGINX App Protect would be improved with integration with Shape and F5 WAF, which would make it easy for users to manage all their web application security with a single solution."
"Currently, the policies have to be handled manually, and you have to create from scratch, which can be a bit time-consuming, in a large environment."
"Right now, the tool doesn't provide an option revolving around update feeds, specifically the signature update option in the UI."
"I encountered issues with NGINX App Protect while trying to upgrade custom rules."
"They could provide a better user interface."
"The configuration needs to be more flexible because it is difficult to do things that are outside of the ordinary."
"Setting policies and parameters through the UI should be more automated because the process is manual, where we can only edit one rule at a time."
"NGINX App Protect could improve security."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a limit to the number of APIs we can use inside a bundle, and we have to pay extra if we exceed that limit."
"There are not any additional costs we had to pay to use NGINX App Protect."
"The price of NGINX App Protect is not much different from the products that fall under the leader category of Gartner Magic Quadrant."
"Our licensing costs are about $40,000 a year."
"There is a monthly or annual subscription to use NGINX App Protect. There are not any additional costs to the subscription."
"Really understand the licensing model, because we underestimated that."
"There are no additional fees."
"The pricing is reasonable because NGINX operates on an instance basis."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Akamai API Security?
API throttling is the most valuable feature of Akamai API Security.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Akamai API Security?
I mentioned that support from Akamai is expensive yet it is worth it.
What needs improvement with Akamai API Security?
The challenge I found was with contextualization and how analytics are generated. Reports were sent in a raw format without proper analytics. There was no mechanism to identify which APIs will alwa...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NGINX App Protect?
I don't know the pricing yet because in my other project, I was not part of the buying side and I was just starting to look at options.
What needs improvement with NGINX App Protect?
It would be better if it were easier to implement and if there was more information from F5 regarding hardware requirements and specifications to deploy the service, to avoid disruptions after impl...
 

Also Known As

Noname Security
NGINX WAF, NGINX Web Application Firewall
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai API Security vs. NGINX App Protect and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
862,077 professionals have used our research since 2012.