Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs F5 BIG-IP DNS comparison

Akamai and F5 are both solutions in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category. Akamai is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0, while F5 is ranked #6 with an average rating of 9.0. Akamai holds a 2.0% mindshare in DS, compared to F5’s 4.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Akamai users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of F5 users who would recommend it.

Akamai Secure Internet Acc...

Read 3 Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise reviews

754 Views
422 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

F5 BIG-IP DNS

Read 21 F5 BIG-IP DNS reviews

1,451 Views
1,451 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Akamai Secure Internet Acc...

F5 BIG-IP DNS

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise and F5 BIG-IP DNS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Domain Name System (DNS) Security solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs. F5 BIG-IP DNS Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs. F5 BIG-IP DNS

December 2025

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Helped 881,114 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 Secure Internet Acc...

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (24th)

F5 BIG-IP DNS

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise is 2.0%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP DNS is 4.4%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Domain Name System (DNS) Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
F5 BIG-IP DNS	4.4%
Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise	2.0%
Other	93.6%

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

Featured Reviews

MeshwaShah

Senior Analyst at Deloitte

Have successfully routed high-volume application traffic through secure channels and maintain compliance across client environments

CDN capability is what I appreciate about Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise. It protects applications that are internet-facing or public-facing. Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise is a product which has very good features and capabilities. I have worked on Radware also, but Radware has some limited capabilities. Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise has positively impacted my organization. We have around 62 applications within our firm which are now routing traffic through Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise. It has fewer false positives, which is something we haven't encountered yet. I assess the impact of Akamai's real-time threat filtering as 10 out of 10, and I am satisfied with this feature.

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reviewer2733993

Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Ensures reliable web application security and offers comprehensive load balancing solutions

When it comes to denial of service or DNS security, F5 is not the best vendor as dedicated vendors such as Arbor for denial of service and Infoblox for DNS security offer more comprehensive solutions. The main features such as WAF and load balancing do not generate complaints. F5 BIG-IP DNS is not the best for DNS denial of service because they handle it as part of BIG-IP features, mainly used for GSLB, while other vendors provide complete DDI solutions, including DHCP, DNS, and IP address management, along with specialized DNS security, offering much more than just GSLB and basic recursive DNS security. The two main concerns are DNS related and denial of service, areas where F5 BIG-IP DNS could improve, and they could do better as they are not the best vendor, indicating ample room for improvement especially since those are not their main specialties.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The best feature of Akamai SPS Threat Avert is that it's very user-friendly compared to other technologies."

"Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise is a product which has very good features and capabilities."

"The threat intelligence feature is particularly valuable when used with another product of Akamai, as their researchers continuously update this threat feed database, making it an effective tool for defending against and blocking bad actors, public malicious IPs, harmful hashes, and malicious URLs."

"The main features valued in F5 BIG-IP include high availability, scalability, and protection of applications from attacks."

"BIG-IP DNS effectively handled a traffic surge. For example, we have application forms replicated across our DCs. If our primary application becomes unavailable, BIG-IP automatically fails over to a client-unaware secondary application."

"BIG-IP DNS's best features are DNS monitoring and global service load balancing."

"The solution is easy to configure and deploy. It is scalable and works without any downtime. F5 BIG-IP DNS is a flexible solution."

"The management is very easy."

"F5 BIG-IP DNS stands out as they are number one when it comes to WAF and load balancing technologies, and they have plenty of add-on features such as APM and AFM to handle DDoS attacks, DNS security, and GSLB."

"F5 BIG-IP DNS is useful, depending on how you use it."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is security."

More F5 BIG-IP DNS pros

Cons

"Their support response time needs improvement. They take on average one week to respond, which is not satisfactory given how critical applications are to the organization."

"Akamai SPS Threat Avert's pricing could be improved because it's a very expensive enterprise solution."

"From a financial standpoint, I do not believe Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise is cost-effective when compared to other solutions available in the industry."

"I would like to see deeper integration with VMware in the sense that F5 compliments VMware, in the context of application availability."

"The solution's initial setup is complex compared to Fortinet."

"When it comes to denial of service or DNS security, F5 is not the best vendor as dedicated vendors such as Arbor for denial of service and Infoblox for DNS security offer more comprehensive solutions."

"F5's technical support responds a little slowly."

"It would be great to see a F5 BIG-IP DNS cloud version. What we within the Australian government are looking at doing is utilizing a secured DNS service much the same as the English GCHQ version of their protected DNS service."

"In the product, one of the shortcomings is related to its configuration part...Though you can find some manuals or F5 documents, in real life, it's very hard to understand this product."

"I sometimes encounter issues with the porting of F5 BIG-IP DNS."

"The analysis services needs improvement."

More F5 BIG-IP DNS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Provided the features Akamai SPS Threat Avert provides, it is bound to be expensive."

"The on-prem version is only available on a yearly license, but the cloud version can be paid for on a day-by-day basis."

"This product is quite pricey but if you compare the feature set and its compatibility with similar products on the market, you would understand why it's that price."

"BIG-IP DNS is more expensive than its competitors like Citrix, but it gives good value for money."

"I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being a low price."

"In some cases, it is expensive."

"They are competitively priced."

"Cost is a factor. It is really costly."

"You cannot do much around DDoS protection without an additional license from F5."

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881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Government

Marketing Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	9

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Akamai SPS Threat Avert?

Since Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise is not being used in our campus environment, as our users do not route their internet through Akamai, I cannot provide detailed feedback on areas for ...

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What is your primary use case for Akamai SPS Threat Avert?

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise is designed to protect users' access to the internet.

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What advice do you have for others considering Akamai SPS Threat Avert?

Our organization does not utilize the internet access feature of Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise because our company routes internet traffic through our public ISPs rather than through Aka...

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What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP DNS?

For one of our clients, F5 improved global server load balancing with an active-active site configuration for Disaster Recovery.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP DNS?

In terms of pricing, F5 BIG-IP is not cheaper compared to other solutions like Fortinet or Citrix. The cost can be high due to its comprehensive modules.

See all answers

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP DNS?

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Umbrella vs Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise

Compared 21% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise

Compared 17% of the time

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise

Compared 11% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise

Compared 8% of the time

iboss vs Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise

Compared 8% of the time

More Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise Competitors

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 44% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 12% of the time

CIRA Anycast DNS vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 9% of the time

EfficientIP DNS Guardian vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 7% of the time

Infoblox BloxOne Threat Defense vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 5% of the time

More F5 BIG-IP DNS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

January 2026

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise report

Download Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise product report

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP DNS

January 2026

Download F5 BIG-IP DNS product report

Also Known As

Akamai Enterprise Threat Protector, Akamai ETP, Akamai SPS Threat Avert

F5 BIG-IP DNS, F5 DNS Delivery

Overview

Safely connect users & devices to the internet with a secure web gateway.

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise (SIAE) enables security teams to proactively identify, block, and mitigate targeted threats such as malware, ransomware, phishing, and data exfiltration that exploit the Domain Name System (DNS). Powered by real-time intelligence from Akamai Cloud Security Intelligence and Akamai’s proven, globally distributed recursive DNS platform, Enterprise Threat Protector efficiently delivers security, control, and visibility to the enterprise while easily integrating with your existing network defenses.

Akamai

F5® BIG-IP® DNS distributes DNS and user application requests based on business policies, data center and cloud service conditions, user location, and application performance. BIG-IP DNS is commonly configured as a full proxy to provide global server load balancing (GSLB) for applications and DNS across architectures, and across the globe.

The BIG-IP platform delivers DNS services with visibility, reporting, and analysis; scales and secures DNS responses geographically to survive increased traffic or threats; delivers a real-time DNSSEC solution; designed to provide availability of global applications in all cloud environments.

Sample Customers

MCNC, Educational Testing Service

Ricacorp Properties, Bangladesh Post Office, Shawbrook Bank, Shinsegae Internet Duty Free

Buyer's Guide

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs. F5 BIG-IP DNS

December 2025

Free Report: Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs. F5 BIG-IP DNS

Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs. F5 BIG-IP DNS and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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We monitor all Domain Name System (DNS) Security reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.