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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
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NGINX App Protect
Ranking in API Security
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (15th), Container Security (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the API Security category, the mindshare of Akamai API Security is 9.8%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX App Protect is 4.1%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Akamai API Security9.8%
NGINX App Protect4.1%
Other86.1%
API Security
 

Featured Reviews

WB
Arquiteto at C.Vale - Cooperativa Agroindustrial
Uses bot detection and browser inspection features to fine-tune access policies effectively
I enabled the anomaly detection to understand the solution better. I configured the policies and created exclusions for some bots. For example, when I read and inspected the user agent data, I found that the Axion bot request was blocked by the browser inspector. In this case, I created an exclusion for the user agent Axion. I enabled the anomaly detection to study and understand the solution.
JP
Project Manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Blocking IPs and detecting bots enhances security for medical websites
I was researching products like NGINX App Protect and F5 Advanced WAF for long-term options. I have some use for such a solution, but probably not before next year Detecting bots and blocking IPs have proven effective for securing applications. We were able to block groups of IP addresses that…

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 support from Akamai API Security is good, the employment and support are of excellent quality."
"Akamai API Security has made a positive difference for our organization by improving our security posture and saving our team time, as we can actually prioritize tasks unless there are some false positives, but it is definitely saving a lot of time."
"It is a very good tool for load balancing."
"There's a cache, or it works like a proxy, so it can speed up applications."
"The tool is not complex and is very user-friendly."
"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."
"WAF is useful to track mitigation, inclusion, prevention, and the parametric firewall."
"It has the best documentation features."
"NGINX App Protect's best features are auto-learning, which creates a profile of applications that are deployed, bot protection, and force protection, which lets you configure your brute force policy and alert for and prevent brute force attacks."
"The initial setup was simple and took three to four days."
 

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."
"More features would be beneficial."
"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."
"The configuration needs to be more flexible because it is difficult to do things that are outside of the ordinary."
"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."
"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."
"It doesn't have more advanced features like no false-positive security, which you can configure in Advanced WAF."
"The product's price is high, making it an area of concern where improvements are required. The tool's licensing model is also not good."
"I encountered issues with NGINX App Protect while trying to upgrade custom rules."
 

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."
"NGINX App Protect is expensive."
"Really understand the licensing model, because we underestimated that."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
"There is a license needed to use NGINX App Protect."
"NGINX is not expensive."
"There are no additional fees."
"The pricing is reasonable because NGINX operates on an instance basis."
"There are not any additional costs we had to pay to use NGINX App Protect."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which API Security solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Akamai API Security?
It is not expensive. It is practical to use and represents an excellent solution.
What is your primary use case for Akamai API Security?
I use Akamai API Security. I downloaded a report comparing WAF Akamai and WAF Azure to understand the real differences. I studied the solution to comprehend how it detects bots. For example, with A...
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: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.