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Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) vs Alibaba Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 16, 2024

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 Connected Cloud (Lin...
Ranking in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (8th)
Alibaba Cloud
Ranking in Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)
11th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) category, the mindshare of Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) is 8.7%, up from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Alibaba Cloud is 5.4%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode)8.7%
Alibaba Cloud5.4%
Other85.9%
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

AK
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Reliability and simplicity have ensured a seamless experience for 15 years
I am not satisfied with the customization options from Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) because I still haven't tried any new capabilities provided by them yet. I am still keeping it as a virtual server because it is consistent and my business is stable using it. I didn't try the new features. The main improvement I would like to see from Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) is the ability to duplicate the server as it is and initialize a new one with the same features. This is my main need, and I think this feature was published a few months ago, but I am not sure of this. I may often need to replicate the server and initiate a new one for some business and drop it again.
Salahuddin Shaikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Site Reliability Engineer at EPAM Systems
Alibaba Cloud has evolved a lot in all specially in AI space, but still needs to improve the support offered to users.
The part where the product lacks is not because of the services it offers. The support offered by the tool is ridiculous. Whenever you raise the support ticket, someone from China comes over the phone. When I used to raise a ticket for support, some person from China came along with another English-speaking person to whom I had to explain my issues, after which the English-speaking individual used to translate it into Mandarin for the person from China. The Chinese person used to explain something in Mandarin to the English-speaking person, and it used to keep happening continuously, making it a hectic support service from Alibaba Cloud. The support was time-consuming, and it was also frustrating. As a technical person, if you are someone who is expecting something to be done as soon as possible and the support services offered to you turn out to be time-consuming and frustrating, then it won't be a great experience for the users.

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 aspects of Linode are the virtual server and the clean server. I install what I need on it."
"For small businesses and people who have some technical skills and are good with Linux command line, this solution is great."
"To me, Linode is like having your coffee in the morning or breathing; it is integral."
"The features are convenient with the console, and security is valuable, as I think all of the service is safe."
"Compared to other service providers, like AWS and Google, the cost of services are much less and more affordable."
"The management of different DNS domains is beneficial due to the user-friendly interface that provides all necessary options."
"In summary, Linode is a good product and I've been extremely satisfied with it for exactly the purposes I use it for."
"In summary, this is a product that meets all of my expectations for a cloud service in terms of functionality, scale, and pricing."
"The cost of hosting the solution is very reasonable. It's quite inexpensive."
"Flexibility and costs were probably the most important thing for us. The cost was one of the big factors for choosing Alibaba Cloud relative to other cloud solutions, especially in Asia"
"We cut our costs significantly by migrating our infrastructure to the cloud, and Alibaba Cloud employs a pay-as-you-go model, so that minimizes many costs for us."
"We use the solution's AI features for data analysis."
"Alibaba Cloud has lower costs and good support."
"It's easy to use, cheaper than other solutions, and more secure."
"The most valuable feature of Alibaba Cloud is the communication it allows between two servers."
"Alibaba also offers a lot of flexibility compared to Google Cloud, where you can only use Google's Tools."
 

Cons

"I'm not sure what could be improved at Linode since they're likely already making enhancements, especially with the Akamai acquisition and, I don't have any specific suggestions as I haven't encountered any major issues. I might consider using API for managing DNS records, but overall, I'm satisfied with Linode."
"Our primary concern is always the latency."
"I've had some difficulties with some of their IP addresses being banned by certain mail servers."
"It would be nice if they had more data centers in Latin America."
"The only improvement in this aspect of the service which I can think of is perhaps a pool of developers who could be hired for those cases where the need goes beyond the support offered."
"The network between different servers isn't very good. I have to install additional solutions to link the servers with each other."
"Unfortunately, we're not notified when new upgrades come out so it's difficult for us to communicate with our customers."
"I would like to see more seamless integration with backup, although it's pretty easy to do."
"If you want more accuracy, stability, and 24/7 customer support, primarily relying on the SDKs and APIs, you should think twice."
"The solution needs to improve its graphical user interface."
"The user experience must be improved."
"Alibaba Cloud's initial setup is somewhat complex."
"It is not robust."
"Alibaba Cloud's initial setup is somewhat complex."
"From a performance point of view, Huawei and Azure are faster. Alibaba isn't as good."
"Alibaba Cloud has some problems related to latency and connection issues. If you go for a cloud solution provider, you will need to access the Internet, which may result in latency and bandwidth issues, leading to slowness in operations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing model is very simple. I like the simplicity of it, starting at $5, then doubling as it goes up from there. That is a brilliant idea, and it is not complex at all. It is about as dead simple as you can imagine. So, if you want to double what you have, then you double your price, pay the money, and reboot. It is done. It's that simple. You can't beat that."
"There are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees to include things like extra public IPs and backup services."
"One key difference is that pricing is very hard to come by and to understand with all the bigger companies. Their pricing models are so weird and it's hard to figure out exactly how much I am going to pay for this kind of service. Everything is piecemeal. With Linode, it's simple and straightforward. You know exactly what you will have to pay at the end of the day."
"The pricing model is simple."
"Overall, it is cost-effective. They offer flat, no lock-in pricing. We also get discounts. As compared to its competitors, it is costly, but at the same time, it has many features."
"The monthly cost depends on your requirements."
"I pay just over £20 per month and have done so ever since I started eight years ago, which to me is good value."
"I pay $5 per month for each of three servers, for a total of $15 per month, and I normally prepay a few months in advance."
"We cut our costs significantly by migrating our infrastructure to the cloud. Alibaba Cloud employs a pay-as-you-go model, so that minimizes many costs for us."
"The solution's pricing is the same as AWS'."
"I noticed on the pricing that it's quite expensive. It is the price you pay for making a practical choice for enterprise-level companies since it has so many features and it fits an enterprise-level company just like our company right now."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"The cost is better than similar solutions."
"The price of Alibaba Cloud is good. If I was to use Microsoft Azure I would have to pay 30 percent more."
"I don't know the exact cost. It is cheaper than AWS."
"I'm not sure about the exact pricing, but let's just say if it cost a dollar for Amazon AWS, it was closer to 70 to 80 cents for Alibaba Cloud."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Linode?
I find Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode)'s pricing very competitive. They never charge extra without improvements. I always receive more features for the same price.
What needs improvement with Linode?
I am not satisfied with the customization options from Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) because I still haven't tried any new capabilities provided by them yet. I am still keeping it as a virtual se...
What is your primary use case for Linode?
My use case for Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) involves using the servers, specifically for servers. I am using the virtual server from Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode). I have more than one virtua...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alibaba Cloud?
On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten.
What needs improvement with Alibaba Cloud?
Alibaba Cloud needs to improve emails. Its pricing can also be lower. Regarding security issues, Alibaba Cloud is more complex and better suited for developers and R&D teams. On the other hand,...
What is your primary use case for Alibaba Cloud?
I was using Alibaba Cloud for the deployment of one of the products that my previous company was developing for a client in the KSA, where I had utilized servers, storage accounts, email services, ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Best Buy, Panasonic, Giphy, Marco Polo, World Health Organization, Font Squirrel
Schneider Electric, BorderX Lab, Royal Philips, Catchpoint, Conversant, Blogmint
Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) vs. Alibaba Cloud and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.