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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 is that there is a link in the system that will help to analyze the security of an application when something abnormal is found."
"NGINX App Protect is stable."
"The most valuable feature of NGINX App Protect is the reverse proxy."
"It has the best documentation features."
"WAF is useful to track mitigation, inclusion, prevention, and the parametric firewall."
"The initial setup was simple and took three to four days."
"NGINX App Protect has complete control over the HTTP session."
"The tool is not complex and is very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"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."
"The challenge I found was with contextualization and how analytics are generated."
"I think it would be good if they can integrate more with API gateways as this is currently limited."
"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."
"It doesn't have more advanced features like no false-positive security, which you can configure in Advanced WAF."
"The setup of NGINX App Protect is complex. The full process took one week to complete. Additionally, we had to change the network infrastructure platform which took one month."
"The product's user interface is an area with shortcomings as it can be quite confusing for users, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Right now, the tool doesn't provide an option revolving around update feeds, specifically the signature update option in the UI."
"The dashboard could provide a more comprehensive view of the status of the connections."
"Its technical support could be better."
"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 implementation."
 

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."
"Really understand the licensing model, because we underestimated that."
"Our licensing costs are about $40,000 a year."
"NGINX App Protect is expensive."
"There are not any additional costs we had to pay to use NGINX App Protect."
"NGINX is not expensive."
"The price of NGINX App Protect is not much different from the products that fall under the leader category of Gartner Magic Quadrant."
"The price of NGINX App Protect is approximately $3,000 annually. All of our licenses are observed by a managed service partner."
"There is a license needed to use NGINX App Protect."
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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.