Akamai vs. Cloudflare
I am currently trying to figure out wether to opt in for Akamai or Cloudflare.
Google and talks with the companies already gave me some insights.
But I'd be happy to hear your opinion on this.
- Any experiences using either one with hosting multiple domains?
- Has Cloudflare overcome its security flaws?
- Proper alternatives that scale with a start up?
Thanks!
2 Replies
watrick
Linode Staff
As with most either or questions like this, it will come down to your specific scenario that will help to determine which option. Because of that, it’s good to break down their offerings to see which option would give you the most bang for your buck.
Because you asked about scaling for a startup, I’ve looked into the comparisons based on my perception of which one would benefit a startup most, based on pricing and flexibility to scale the services.
Akamai
Akamai is built for enterprise companies. Their payment structure is for companies that have a more predictable cash flow. The minimum contract is 12 months, which can be a big commitment for a startup. They don’t publish their pricing on their website, so you’ll have to talk to their sales rep to get a quote for the price of their services. From what I can tell online, it looks to around $350/month for 1 TB of bandwidth.
Of course, with that higher cost comes with some nice features. As the CodeinWP article explains, Akamai has servers around the world for maximum coverage.
In a word, there’s a reason some of the biggest websites on the internet use them.
CloudFlare
Because of their free and lower cost plans, that do not require a contract, I think CloudFlare positions itself as a better option for startups. Also, their services can be purchased a la cart, which is also friendlier to smaller companies.
Linode has a guide on setting up your Linode with Cloudflare, which may be helpful here:
How to Set Up Cloudflare with Linode
There are other risks and trade offs you’ll have to weigh in making your decision, of course. I know that price point is always on the mind of startup founders. Hopefully other members of our community that have more hands-on experience will be able to weigh in to share their first-hand experiences here.
Sites I used to research this information:
• MaxCDN vs CloudFlare vs Amazon CloudFront vs Akamai Edge vs Fastly
• Cloudflare vs Akamai detailed comparison as of 2018
• Akamai versus Cloudflare
Awesome - I am also keen on what other's can share.
Thought CF was a bigger player in the market and did not have MaxCDN(Stackpath) on the list.
I also completely agree with the price tag.
CF seems like a good catch in regards to single domains.
And CF's self service option does underline that.
But as soon as you are checking out for a reselling / partner solution you easily end up on the same pricing level, even if you have a flat fee on CF's bandwidth.