Akamai App and API Protector vs Fortinet FortiDDoS comparison

Akamai and Fortinet are both solutions in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category. Akamai is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.0, while Fortinet is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0. Akamai holds a 4.2% mindshare in DDOS, compared to Fortinet’s 2.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Akamai users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Akamai App and API Protector

Read 29 Akamai App and API Protector reviews

4,499 Views
1,710 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiDDoS

Read 15 Fortinet FortiDDoS reviews

1,461 Views
1,125 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Akamai App and API Protector

Fortinet FortiDDoS

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

Fortinet FortiDDoS and Akamai App and API Protector are key players in the cybersecurity sector. Fortinet FortiDDoS leads in pricing and customer support, while Akamai App and API Protector offers superior advanced features, making it an attractive choice for those prioritizing comprehensive security capabilities.

Features: Fortinet FortiDDoS provides powerful DDoS protection, real-time threat analysis, and automatic mitigation which focus on network security enhancement. Akamai App and API Protector, on the other hand, delivers extensive API security, bot management, and adaptive threat protection, offering a versatile range of policies suitable for varied environments.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiDDoS could enhance its capabilities in API security and flexibility of security policies. Improvements in handling complex application-level threats might also be beneficial. Akamai App and API Protector could simplify its deployment process, offer better pricing strategies, and further reduce complexity in user interface operations for wider accessibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiDDoS impresses with easy deployment and responsive customer service, offering straightforward guidelines. Akamai App and API Protector provides comprehensive documentation and skilled support, although its deployment is more complex. Customers can benefit from Akamai’s robust feature set with the right resources.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiDDoS is lauded for its attractive pricing and efficient cost-to-benefit ratio, resulting in faster ROI. Akamai App and API Protector, despite higher initial costs, shows strong long-term ROI owing to advanced security capabilities. The choice depends on budget limits and needed security feature levels.

To learn more, read our detailed Akamai App and API Protector vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS

February 2026

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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

Akamai App and API Protector

Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Web Application Firewall (WAF) (16th), Cloud and Data Center Security (12th)

Fortinet FortiDDoS

Ranking in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

12th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of Akamai App and API Protector is 4.2%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiDDoS is 2.3%, down from 2.8% 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 (%)
Akamai App and API Protector	4.2%
Fortinet FortiDDoS	2.3%
Other	93.5%

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

Featured Reviews

Gavin Pinho

Privacy & Risk Management Vice President, Information Security at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees

Has provided strong protection against evolving threats but still needs support for configuration fine-tuning

The standout features of Akamai App and API Protector are rooted in it being the Web Application Firewall, where all traffic gets scanned, including the implementation of web firewall rules, and after this phase, traffic proceeds through the BMP, which is Bot Management. Akamai App and API Protector exceeds expectations in terms of AI capabilities, and it genuinely combines a plethora of advanced features. The area in which Akamai excels compared to other competitors with a WAF is in threat intelligence, as threats continually evolve, requiring ongoing updates to backend algorithms to effectively capture smart bots, and Akamai's commitment in that regard is backed by an excellent team, while other providers are still catching up.

Read full review

Marcos AntonioOliveira

IT Analyst at Evapco, Inc.

Reliable protection and smooth setup enhance company security

Currently, I have two firewalls, with one located in Sorocaba, model 90D, and the other in São Paulo, model 30D. They are connected by VPN. I use the firewalls for VPN and final protection for my company, and my equipment is maintained by an internet company called Multiprox The equipment works…

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 support that we got from their technical team has been fantastic. I have never experienced this level of support from other CDN providers."

"The features are powerful and better than F5."

"It is scalable for DDoS."

"I like that the charges are all based on usage and labor costs. For the time that we spend onboarding almost 252020 FQDN, Akamai charges us only for the traffic usage, but it's only charging us for the labor costs for onboarding."

"Akamai Web Application Protector is a good solution that provides basic web application protection."

"The solution can scale extremely well."

"The product has a good UI."

"The dashboard is the most interesting feature of the Akamai portal where you can have a detailed analysis of all the attacks that are happening. You can drill down an issue and see exactly what is happening, who are the bad guys attacking your website, and how Akamai is protecting the website. That is the most valuable feature."

More Akamai App and API Protector pros

"The product allows the users to adjust the thresholds."

"I find the interface easy to use."

"This solution can protect Layer 3, Layer 4 and Layer 7 attacks of applications for us."

"It is a user-friendly product in terms of monitoring and updating policies."

"The most valuable feature is the cloud DDoS scrubbing capability."

"Among its key features: Detects and mitigates DDoS attacks at L3 to L7; negligible to zero false-positives; Generates and sends reports without the need for an expensive third-party solution."

"The protection resources and the support are valuable features of the solution."

"The equipment works very well, and I have not encountered any issues with it."

More Fortinet FortiDDoS pros

Cons

"One thing I asked them is to integrate the API discovery product that they have and push that data into Akamai App and API Protector so that we do not have two types of reviews to identify the type of traffic. We already know the APIs that are frequently getting used, so analysis becomes easier. We can integrate both products and use them."

"The WAF features definitely have a lot of room for improvement. A lot of the WAF is really basic. For some products or some of our solutions, we need to run a second layer of more advanced WAF. If it had better layer seven protection then we would not need a second WAF."

"Support and the pricing need to improve."

"I do not see any area for improvement. Akamai is already maintaining its own databases for the security concerns, vulnerabilities, and attacks that are there. If anything, they should have a solution in the infrastructure security area as well. They should not be only in cloud cybersecurity; they should also be in infrastructure security."

"Could integrate more features for each security."

"The solution could offer even more integrations."

"The product should provide a secure NTP."

"It would be better if there weren't any issues with latency. We had latency issues, but I think they are all solved now."

More Akamai App and API Protector cons

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

"I would like to see analytics, big data."

"I find that there have been issues in the past year with the solution hanging. It freezes often."

"The main improvement would be to change the firewall model, however, currently, everything is fixed and working well."

"The challenge lies within the customer environment, particularly in Brazil, where companies have stringent security requirements for implementing solutions."

"All the thresholds that need to be configured should be included in the default so that user will not forget or misconfigure."

"The primary area for improvement is the on-premises capacity limit, currently fixed at 10 GB."

"Alerts and reporting features must be improved."

More Fortinet FortiDDoS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product’s price is high."

"Price-wise, I would say Akamai's pricing is competitive."

"The solution is not expensive."

"Its price is at the medium level. It is not very high. It is also not very low. It serves the purpose."

"The price they are offering is quite reasonable for premium customers, but it's very expensive if you're a small and medium-sized enterprises."

"The product is expensive, but it is worth the money."

"Its price is slightly high. Every company has a justification for the high price. Overall, it feels worth the money based on how the service has been structured, but we do negotiate it."

"Cost depends on the volume of traffic."

More Akamai App and API Protector pricing and cost advice

"The solution is reasonably priced."

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

"It's quite pricey."

See which vendors are best for you

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

Manufacturing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	18

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Akamai Web Application Protector?

The price is higher than others. It could be about 80% to 70% more expensive than other tools. So, it’s not just a slight difference.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Akamai Web Application Protector?

There are no significant areas for improvement on the WAF side or for Akamai App and API Protector solution; they are comprehensive in their current state.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Akamai Web Application Protector?

The main use case for Akamai App and API Protector is serving as the WAF, Web Application Firewall.

See all answers

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

Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiDDoS?

Fortinet FortiDDoS offers lower costs compared to other solutions. The licensing costs are annually renewed.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiDDoS?

There is a need for more features that protect personal information, especially given the PDP issue in Indonesia.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

Prolexic vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 6% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 5% of the time

AWS WAF vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 5% of the time

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Arbor DDoS vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 20% of the time

Radware DDoS vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 10% of the time

VMware NSX vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 8% of the time

Cloudflare vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiADC vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiDDoS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector

February 2026

Download Akamai App and API Protector product report

Buyer's Guide

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

February 2026

Download Fortinet FortiDDoS product report

Also Known As

Akamai Web Application Protector, Akamai Kona Site Defender, Akamai Kona DDoS Defender

Fortinet DDoS, FortiDDos

Overview

Akamai App and API Protector provides website security by preventing DDoS attacks, acting as an application firewall, managing content delivery, and monitoring APIs. It adapts to threat profiles and is used for fast media delivery and identifying malicious activities.

Akamai App and API Protector offers strong protection, adaptable security features, and efficient traffic management. Its WAF blocks IP addresses and country-specific threats while preventing SQL injections. Companies utilize it for scalable CDN services and comprehensive traffic analysis. Known for its cost-effectiveness and user-friendly dashboard, this protector stands out for its customizable rules and technical support. Users also highlight the ease of integration and detailed attack insights available through its advanced dashboard.

What are the key features of Akamai App and API Protector?

DDoS Protection: Strong defense against Distributed Denial of Service attacks.
Scalable CDN: Manages content delivery efficiently under high traffic loads.
WAF Capabilities: Blocks specific IPs and countries, prevents SQL injections.
Traffic Filtering: Analyzes and controls incoming requests to maintain security.
Adaptive Stream Delivery: Adjusts content delivery to meet bandwidth needs.

What benefits should users expect?

Cost-Effectiveness: Provides robust security tools at a competitive price.
Enhanced Security: Comprehensive protection against cyber threats.
Scalability: Easily handles increasing traffic and data loads.
Ease of Integration: Simple integration with existing systems.
Insightful Analytics: Offers data-driven insights into traffic and attack patterns.

In media, Akamai App and API Protector ensures smooth streaming by handling high bandwidth demands. E-commerce companies use it to guard against fraud and data breaches. Financial sectors rely on its ability to protect sensitive transactions. Implementations in healthcare focus on safeguarding patient data while maintaining compliance with regulations.

Akamai

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are ever-evolving and use a variety of technologies. To successfully combat these attacks, you need a dynamic, multi-layered security solution. FortiDDoS protects from both known and zero day attacks with very low latency. It’s easy to deploy and manage, and includes comprehensive reporting and analysis tools.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Douglas Omaha Technology Commission, ZALORA, PrintPlanet

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS

February 2026

Free Report: Akamai App and API Protector vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS

Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai App and API Protector vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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See our Akamai App and API Protector vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS report.

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