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 7.7, while Fortinet is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0. Akamai holds a 4.2% mindshare in DDOS, compared to Fortinet’s 2.4% 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

4,306 Views
1,636 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiDDoS

Read 15 Fortinet FortiDDoS reviews

1,366 Views
1,065 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: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector vs. Fortinet FortiDDoS

December 2025

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

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 (14th)

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 January 2026, in the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection category, the mindshare of Akamai App and API Protector is 4.2%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiDDoS is 2.4%, down from 2.9% 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	2.4%
Other	93.4%

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.

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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

"All the solution's features are very good."

"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."

"I have contacted the support team of Akamai... I am happy with their responses and answers to my problems."

"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."

"Features like scalability and uptime are most effective."

"The product has a good UI."

"It gives us a report of traffic. It gives us a report of the day-to-day URL traffic, and it also gives an individual report. If we reach out to Akamai, they give us the IPs as well."

More Akamai App and API Protector pros

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

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

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

"The solution is very user-friendly and very easy to use."

"Packet inspection has been effective for mitigating DDoS attacks."

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

"It allows me to see all the traffic on my network."

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

More Fortinet FortiDDoS pros

Cons

"They are already very flexible, but room for improvement is there. Reports generation could be better and should be improved."

"Akamai needs to focus on quickly responding to risks, even those that may potentially be of zero threat..Maybe some of the documentation is a little confusing. They have a lot of different places where you can go to get information, and some of the information is quite out of date."

"There are some issues with pushing configurations across a network. It still takes about 20 minutes and that means to retract it's another 20 minutes."

"In terms of precedence of Akamai rules, the last one is implemented. That is the one that is operational. If two rules contradict, the last one is implemented. We had a clash, but it was really tough to find that out. I would like to have a rulebook because, in their architecture documentation, it is not mentioned anywhere that if two rules clash, the last one works, and if it does not work, then what to do. This is something we were debating today with their tech support. With AWS, we get documents for the issues so that they do not occur in the future. Akamai's support and knowledge base needs to be improved."

"One area where Akamai can improve is the captcha part. Cloudflare provides a captcha if there are a certain number of threats. For example, I can assign that if there are 10 requests within a second from a single IP, it should send a captcha to the user. The user should fill in the captcha, and only after that, the user should be able to access our website. This captcha feature should be built into Bot Manager. I love this captcha feature of Cloudflare."

"The custom rules must be improved."

"It could have better analytics and reporting visibility in the OEM console."

"The product should provide a secure NTP."

More Akamai App and API Protector cons

"The solution can be a little more user-friendly and it can be more affordable."

"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 only thing they need to do is to automate it. Today, you must create tools that do not require the use of an expert or anyone with special skills."

"The tool needs to focus more on the area of application traffic management, where it currently has some shortcomings."

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

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

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

More Fortinet FortiDDoS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no license at all for Akamai. They are going to charge us only for the usage."

"Akamai Web Application Protector is an expensive product."

"The solution is not expensive."

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

"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."

"If you want quality, you have to pay the price. Its price is fair. Their account managers are also very helpful. They help you a lot with pricing even though they are working with Akamai."

"Cost depends on the volume of traffic."

"Akamai is very expensive."

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

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection solutions are best for your needs.

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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

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 do you like most about Fortinet FortiDDoS?

The product's initial setup phase was really easy.

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

Comparisons

Cloudflare vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 7% of the time

Prolexic vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Azure Application Gateway vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 7% of the time

AWS WAF vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 5% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Akamai App and API Protector

Compared 5% of the time

More Akamai App and API Protector Competitors

Arbor DDoS vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 21% of the time

Radware DDoS vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 10% of the time

Cloudflare vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 9% of the time

VMware NSX vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 8% of the time

Imperva Application Security Platform vs Fortinet FortiDDoS

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiDDoS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Akamai App and API Protector

January 2026

Download Akamai App and API Protector product report

Buyer's Guide

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

January 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

December 2025

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: December 2025.

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

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