Akamai vs Windows Azure CDN comparison

Akamai and Microsoft are both solutions in the CDN category. Akamai is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.4. Akamai holds a 17.3% mindshare in CDN, compared to Microsoft’s 3.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Akamai users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Akamai and Windows Azure CDN are competing content delivery networks focused on enhancing online content distribution. Akamai seems to have the upper hand due to its extensive geographic coverage and advanced security features.

Features: Akamai provides a wide global reach with an expansive network infrastructure and advanced security features. It supports HTTP/2 and HTTPS, with extensive geographic coverage. Azure CDN offers seamless integration with Microsoft’s cloud services and supports HTTP/2 and HTTPS. It provides a smooth scaling experience with effective integration with other Azure services.

Room for Improvement: Akamai could enhance its ease of integration with non-proprietary platforms and simplify its configuration options to lower the learning curve. It can consider optimising costs to appeal to businesses with tighter budgets. Azure CDN should work on expanding its geographic coverage and enhance its advanced security features to match Akamai. It might also improve caching efficiency outside Microsoft's ecosystem.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure CDN offers easy integration with the Azure platform, simplifying deployment for existing Microsoft customers and providing efficient support through its integrated platform. Akamai, while offering comprehensive configuration options, may present a steeper learning curve; however, it delivers personalized support experiences.

Pricing and ROI: Azure CDN generally offers a lower setup cost, making it attractive for businesses with budget constraints. Despite higher pricing, Akamai often delivers higher ROI due to improved delivery speeds and robust security features.

To learn more, read our detailed Akamai vs. Windows Azure CDN Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Akamai vs. Windows Azure CDN

April 2025

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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

Cloudflare

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the CDN category, the mindshare of Cloudflare is 22.3%, up from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Akamai is 17.3%, up from 15.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Azure CDN is 3.0%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

CDN

Featured Reviews

Spencer Malmad

Owner at Tech Exchange

It's easy to set up because you point the DNS to it, and it's working in under 15 minutes

Cloudflare is highly scalable. Cloudflare is a system with a web portal that the end users like me see. It's a console where we can adjust the DNS, caching, and security features all in that console. Cloudflare owns thousands of servers across the world that cache the data. It's a powerful solution. When clients sign up for Cloudflare, they're getting this monster content delivery network, security, and a web application firewall in one. It's all rolled into one, and it's massive. Unless you have your website hosted on a massive hosting provider, there's no way that you can deliver the amount of data that Cloudflare can provide to the end users. If you have static content, there's no way that you can ever match what Cloudflare can do. Obviously, there are competitors to Cloudflare that do the same, but I'm saying other types of solutions. Let's say you go with F5. Great, that's on-prem. That's in your colo. You can't deliver as much data to the internet as you can with a CDN. You don't have to spend $20,000 on a net scaler, F5, or whatever Cisco's selling now. You don't have to buy that. You pay them $50 a month or $150 a month. It's totally worth it because even in five years, you'll never get the performance value, not just the actual ROI. You have to consider how much throughput you can get with Cloudflare.

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Aryan Singh1

Product Manager at Infozion

Offers great enterprise support, ideal for solutions requiring high scalability and seamless integration with AWS infrastructure

For Akamai, it is definitely one of the best tools out there. However, there are challenges with how their approach is designed for large enterprises. While it's great for solutions with high scalability, like global e-commerce, it's not really built for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It has too many options and can be complex for SMBs to utilize. That's the biggest challenge we faced when migrating to Akamai from other solutions, like Cloudflare. It can be difficult to migrate between platforms. Due to its great features but high activation thresholds. So, while it's a powerful tool, it has limitations for some implementations. It was difficult to migrate from and to Akamai. It is challenging when we are building a website.

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Muhammad ZaheerNazir

Team Lead and Solutions Architect at Systems Arabia

Helps to handle edge cases and has purge features

I believe Windows Azure CDN can improve monitoring and measuring overall end-user performance. Providing monitoring tools or agents that can be integrated into our pages would be highly beneficial. Setting up a custom domain with Windows Azure CDN involves proving domain ownership, which can take some time. The process is relatively straightforward if your DNS or domain registrar is already integrated with Microsoft. However, the verification process may be more time-consuming if you use a different service provider.

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

"Cloudflare is a security SaaS provider that provides security and protects us from any application layer attack."

"Centralized, full-featured DNS."

"I get a lot of value from Cloudflare's API because it enables you to build a separate environment inside the solution. You can create a domain for performing test requests before you move to the production environment and connect various domains."

"The most valuable feature is its usability."

"The most valuable feature is the web application firewall."

"The most valuable feature of Cloudflare DNS is its global reach and it is always evolving."

"Generally, I am satisfied with this product."

"When using services like Heroku, Cloudflare is very useful for CNAME flattening. I also use it for their end-to-end SSL with TLS authentication on nginx for securing servers."

More Cloudflare pros

"The solution's technical support is very prompt and good."

"The solution's most valuable feature is that it has been quite helpful in our company, especially when it comes to applications needing updates frequently."

"The most valuable feature of Akamai is its ease of use and simple integration. Additionally, the solution has new aspects added to it regularly."

"The solution's technical support is very good...The installation phase of Akamai was easy."

"The most valuable feature in managing web traffic has been the ability to handle vertical scaling effectively."

"Akamai's scalability is good."

"Akamai has a very established network of PoPs globally."

"All the policies of the CDNs are very beneficial."

More Akamai pros

"The fact that it just delivers what it is supposed to do is its most valuable feature...The initial setup is very straightforward."

"I enjoy engaging in discussions with colleagues possessing unique expertise. I leverage the three platforms—Azure, Google, and AWS extensively. This allows me to offer diverse solutions to customers, commonly referred to as a multi-cloud approach."

"It is a stable solution."

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that one can access Windows Azure CDN from anywhere."

"I like that CDN offers a routing feature."

"The geolocation feature is very important because many colleagues travel worldwide and need to access information from anywhere. The product has improved security."

"One of the tool's best features is its ability to handle edge cases. For instance, we encountered a situation where we needed to remove certain files from public access. The solution offered a purge feature that allowed us to remove these files. This feature ensured that the files were deleted from all edge servers. Subsequently, we were able to upload new versions of the files."

"The most valuable feature of Windows Azure CDN is its effectiveness."

More Windows Azure CDN pros

Cons

"Integration involving API with other products could be more user-friendly."

"Cloudflare could be improved by introducing a mid-tier pricing option."

"I would like Cloudflare to offer a dedicated account manager for large enterprise clients like us."

"The reporting can definitely be improved to offer a lot more explanation on something that may have happened or has actually happened."

"There should be a specific price list for enterprise-level customers."

"It should confirm audit findings of the assigned area with auditees to ensure that the audit conclusions are based on an accurate understanding of the issues."

"It should be easier to collect the logs with companies like Sumo. However, based on my discussions with the salespeople, I understand that's how they make their money. With the enterprise product, they want people doing those kinds of enterprise features to do the logging. They want them to pay a lot of money, and that's where I have an issue with them. That should be a default. You should be able to get the log no matter what. The logging should be universal."

"In the last two years, there has been a certain amount of downtime when using the VDM."

More Cloudflare cons

"Akamai could improve by providing its own cloud services. We have to use third-party cloud services at this time, such as Amazon AWS. The offering becomes a lot easier for an SMB if everything was in one single platform to be used for the services."

"When we open tickets, we have a delay in response times."

"Akamai's configuration part is an area of concern where improvements are required to make the process easy."

"I'd like to see more Web 3.0 and IoT solutions."

"One area for improvement with Akamai could be pricing."

"After three or four months from this perspective, I don’t know all the features on the platform yet, so I am still learning about it."

"While it's great for solutions with high scalability, like global e-commerce, it's not really built for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It has too many options and can be complex for SMBs to utilize."

"Caching strategy is an area with certain shortcomings in the solution where improvements are required."

More Akamai cons

"There were a few bugs that were very disappointing. So, that is a part of the reason why we started using Fastly."

"Azure is continuously improving its CDN but the documentation should be up-to-date."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

"Windows Azure CDN should lower its prices."

"I believe Windows Azure CDN can improve monitoring and measuring overall end-user performance. Providing monitoring tools or agents that can be integrated into our pages would be highly beneficial. Setting up a custom domain with Windows Azure CDN involves proving domain ownership, which can take some time. The process is relatively straightforward if your DNS or domain registrar is already integrated with Microsoft. However, the verification process may be more time-consuming if you use a different service provider."

"Exploring shared access solutions with cloud accounts would be a beneficial choice."

"The response time of the support team must be improved."

"They should include configuration for cache rules."

More Windows Azure CDN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a premium model. You can start at zero and work your way up to the enterprise model, which has a very high pricing level."

"We are using the free version."

"A free version of the solution is available."

"There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees."

"The cost primarily depends on the size of the organization."

"The solution has many features but there are ones that you need to pay for. Sometimes you have to find out which is available for free and which you have to pay for."

"So far I use free tier and happy with it. You can subscribe to business package if needed."

"The pricing for the service is reasonable, neither excessively cheap nor prohibitively expensive. It aligns well with the value of their solution."

More Cloudflare pricing and cost advice

"The solution's pricing is based on bandwidth."

"From the resource component, it's very costly, and Akamai's charges are also high. So, any organization with a high-tech budget can definitely afford it, but companies with 10-15% of their revenue as a technical budget probably won't be able to. That's where they have a lot of room for improvement if they want to onboard those early users."

"The pricing of Akamai is moderate, in my opinion. My company makes yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to Akamai. There are no additional costs besides the licensing costs for the solution."

"Price-wise, I find Akamai's pricing model's inclination to be more towards the expensive side of the spectrum, though I can't say that it is a very expensive product."

"The price of Akamai could be less expensive."

"This is a very expensive solution but it works well."

"The price of the solution depends upon its usage."

"Quite high in price, but equivalent to other enterprise products on the market"

More Akamai pricing and cost advice

"The solution's price depends on how much traffic you have. So, it was okay for us. Payments are to be made on a monthly basis since one has to pay for what they used."

"It comes at a relatively affordable cost."

"The tool's pricing is cheap."

"The pricing is extremely high, almost 9 out of 10."

"I rate the price of Windows Azure CDN a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is high."

"The tool's pricing is cheap."

"The pricing of the solution depends on usage and varies based on the company's needs. If you want additional features like advanced logging, it will be pricier. However, it could be cheaper if you don't need those features. It all depends on the resources and requirements."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."

More Windows Azure CDN pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user69348

Partner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Nov 17, 2013

Akamai vs. CloudFlare – Simple Stats

In the world of CDNs Akamai is the incumbent 500 pound gorilla, no question. They have a HUGE global presence, super solid technology and networks, and have the most experience with large enterprise clients. However, now there other strong players in the CDN market. One of the most…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

19%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

32%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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

Cloudflare. We are moving from Akamai prolexic to Cloudflare. Cloudflare anycast network outperforms Akamai static GR...

See all answers

Which would you choose - Cloudflare DNS or Quad9?

Cloudflare DNS is a very fast, very reliable public DNS resolver. It is an enterprise-grade authoritative DNS service...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cloudflare?

Cloudflare offers CDN and DDoS protection. We have the front end, API, and database in how you structure applications.

See all answers

What do you like most about Akamai?

The most valuable feature in managing web traffic has been the ability to handle vertical scaling effectively.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Akamai?

Akamai could improve by having a more robust and responsive support team. While the support is not bad, there is room...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Akamai?

We use Akamai ( /products/akamai-reviews ) as our CDN ( /categories/cdn ) to advertise prefixes and download traffic....

See all answers

What do you like most about Windows Azure CDN?

One of the tool's best features is its ability to handle edge cases. For instance, we encountered a situation where w...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Windows Azure CDN?

The pricing of the solution depends on usage and varies based on the company's needs. If you want additional features...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Windows Azure CDN?

Windows Azure CDN should lower its prices.

See all answers

Comparisons

Quad9 vs Cloudflare

Compared 50% of the time

Azure Front Door vs Cloudflare

Compared 3% of the time

Azure DNS vs Cloudflare

Compared 3% of the time

Imperva DDoS vs Cloudflare

Compared 2% of the time

Amazon Route 53 vs Cloudflare

Compared 2% of the time

More Cloudflare Competitors

Azure Front Door vs Akamai

Compared 21% of the time

Imperva DDoS vs Akamai

Compared 13% of the time

Fastly vs Akamai

Compared 7% of the time

Amazon CloudFront vs Akamai

Compared 5% of the time

AWS Global Accelerator vs Akamai

Compared 4% of the time

More Akamai Competitors

Edgio vs Windows Azure CDN

Compared 20% of the time

Amazon CloudFront vs Windows Azure CDN

Compared 14% of the time

Fastly vs Windows Azure CDN

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Front Door vs Windows Azure CDN

Compared 4% of the time

F5 Distributed Cloud Services vs Windows Azure CDN

Compared 4% of the time

More Windows Azure CDN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare

May 2025

Download Cloudflare product report

Buyer's Guide

Akamai

May 2025

Download Akamai product report

Buyer's Guide

CDN

May 2025

Download Windows Azure CDN product report

Also Known As

Cloudflare DNS

No data available

Overview

Cloudflare is a highly-regarded Content Delivery Network (CDN) and a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) protection solution. The robust global connectivity cloud platform that is Cloudflare ensures users are able to connect to the Internet quickly, securely, and reliably. Cloudflare is one of the world's largest networks in the marketplace today. Using Cloudflare, businesses, educational entities, NGOs, vloggers, bloggers, and anyone else with an internet presence can experience more secure, faster websites and applications.

Currently, there are millions of Internet locations on Cloudflare, and the Cloudflare network
continues to grow every day by the thousands. The solution is able to fulfill the requests for
millions of websites seamlessly and serves on average 45 million HTTP requests per second.

Cloudflare has safe, secure data centers in close to 300 cities worldwide to ensure every
client request is filled as quickly as possible. It is Cloudflare’s edge network that makes this
possible by keeping content and other services as close to each client as possible, so the
information requests are always only seconds away.

Many organizations that work in democracy, civil society, human rights, or the arts are able to
access Cloudflare's highest levels of protection for free via Project Galileo. Additionally, official
election websites can be secured from hacking and fraud through Cloudflare’s Project
Athenian, also at no additional cost.

Cloudflare can also help organizations of all sizes develop a robust zero-trust strategy to
ensure the highest levels of productivity and profitability. Employees, stakeholders, and end users have a greater level of satisfaction and overall improved user experience, which can, in
turn, result in higher revenues and overall ROI. Zero-trust and BYOD (bring your own device)
access ensure end users and employees always have the best resources and technology
available to them at all times.

Cloudflare benefits

Cloudflare has many benefits. Some of its most valuable benefits include:

- Faster load times

- Robust DNS security

- Intuitive cloud Web Application Firewall (WAF)

- Free universal SSL

- Image enhancement

- Automatic browser caching

- Next-generation cloud load balancer

- Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

- Rate limiting

- Minification

- Zero-trust capabilities

- Cost-effective

- Reduced carbon footprint

Reviews from real users

“Many websites require an SSL certificate because they sell stuff and want SSL. Cloudflare
comes with an SSL certificate built in. It's automatic. You sign yourself up for Cloudflare, and
an SSL certificate automatically protects your website. If you have a connection between your
website and your host, the server, Cloudflare, and the host, you don't necessarily need a
certificate.” Spencer M., Owner at Tech Exchange

“What I like best about Cloudflare is that my company can use it to trace and manage
applications and monitor traffic. The solution tells you if there's a spike in traffic. Cloudflare
also sends you a link to check your equipment and deployment and track it through peering,
so it's a valuable tool.” Daniel P., Network Engineer at Ufinet

“The most valuable feature of Cloudflare is the GUI. You are able to control the solution very
well through the interface. There is a lot of functionality that is embedded in the service.” PeerSpot user, Competence Center Manager at a tech services company

Cloudflare

Akamai is a powerful solution that aims to enhance the performance and reliability of websites and applications. With features like excellent performance, robust security measures, and efficient content delivery, it optimizes user experience. It also offers bandwidth optimization, caching, online asset security, and protection against DDoS attacks. Users value its wide network coverage and reliable customer support.

Akamai

Windows Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) caches static web content at strategically placed locations to provide maximum throughput for delivering content to users. The CDN offers developers a global solution for delivering high-bandwidth content by caching the content at physical nodes across the world.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Trusted by over 9,000,000 Internet Applications and APIs, including Nasdaq, Zendesk, Crunchbase, Steve Madden, OkCupid, Cisco, Quizlet, Discord and more.

Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Capital One, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Disney, Ebay, Facebook, Google, Home Depot, HP, IBM, Intel, JPMorgan Chase, LinkedIn, McDonald's, Microsoft, Netflix, Nike, Oracle, PayPal, Pinterest, Qualcomm, Rakuten, SAP, Spotify, Tesla, Toyota, Visa, Walmart, WeWork

NORAD, Agreeya Mobility

Buyer's Guide

Akamai vs. Windows Azure CDN

April 2025

Free Report: Akamai vs. Windows Azure CDN

Find out what your peers are saying about Akamai vs. Windows Azure CDN and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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