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.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare | 21.1% |
| Akamai | 16.4% |
| Windows Azure CDN | 3.2% |
| Other | 59.3% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 45 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 8 |
| Large Enterprise | 25 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 8 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 4 |
| Large Enterprise | 14 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 7 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 6 |
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
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.
We monitor all CDN 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.
