Akamai Prolexic
Akamai Prolexic is a cloud-based DDoS protection service that shields your entire network infrastructure and data centers from high-volume cyber attacks to ensure your digital business remains always available.
Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a global cloud services provider that delivers security, performance, and reliability for websites, APIs, and internet applications through a massive distributed network of edge servers.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Akamai Prolexic | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Website | akamai.com | cloudflare.com |
| Pricing Model | Custom | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✘ No free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 1998 | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, USA | San Francisco, USA |
Overview
Akamai Prolexic
Akamai Prolexic provides you with a dedicated defense shield against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. It works by rerouting your network traffic through Akamai’s global scrubbing centers, where malicious traffic is filtered out before it ever reaches your data center. This ensures your applications and infrastructure stay online even during massive, multi-terabit attacks that would otherwise crash your systems.
You can protect all your IP-based applications, whether they live in the cloud, on-premise, or in a hybrid environment. The platform gives you a zero-second mitigation SLA for many attack vectors, meaning threats are stopped instantly. It is designed for medium to large enterprises that cannot afford even a minute of downtime, such as financial institutions, e-commerce giants, and government agencies.
Cloudflare
Cloudflare protects and accelerates your online presence by acting as a secure gateway between your servers and your visitors. You can shield your website from DDoS attacks, malicious bots, and data breaches while simultaneously speeding up content delivery through a global network spanning hundreds of cities. It simplifies complex networking tasks, allowing you to manage DNS, SSL certificates, and web application firewalls from a single, intuitive dashboard.
You can deploy serverless code at the edge to build faster applications without managing infrastructure. Whether you are running a personal blog or a global enterprise application, the platform scales to meet your traffic demands. It eliminates the need for expensive hardware and complex configurations, giving you enterprise-grade security and performance tools that you can set up in minutes.
Overview
Akamai Prolexic Features
- Global Traffic Scrubbing Reroute your traffic through 20+ global scrubbing centers to filter out malicious data and keep your backend clean.
- Zero-Second Mitigation SLA Stop known attack vectors instantly with proactive defensive controls that neutralize threats the moment they are detected.
- Network Flow Monitoring Gain deep visibility into your network traffic patterns to identify and respond to anomalies before they become critical.
- Hybrid Protection Secure your assets across any environment, including private data centers, public clouds, and complex hybrid setups.
- SOCC Expert Support Access 24/7 support from specialized security operations centers to help you manage complex attacks and fine-tune your defenses.
- BGP Route Injection Control how your traffic is routed during an attack using standard BGP protocols for a fast and reliable failover.
Cloudflare Features
- Global CDN. Cache your content across a massive global network to deliver lightning-fast load times for your visitors everywhere.
- DDoS Protection. Block massive distributed denial-of-service attacks automatically to keep your website online and accessible during high-traffic events.
- Web Application Firewall. Protect your applications from common vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting with pre-configured security rules.
- Free SSL/TLS. Encrypt data between your visitors and your origin server with automated SSL certificates to improve trust and SEO.
- Cloudflare Workers. Run custom JavaScript or Rust code at the network edge to create high-performance applications without managing servers.
- Bot Management. Identify and mitigate automated bot traffic to prevent credential stuffing, content scraping, and inventory hoarding on your site.
Pricing Comparison
Akamai Prolexic Pricing
Cloudflare Pricing
- Global Content Delivery Network
- Unmetered DDoS protection
- Fast, authoritative DNS
- Universal SSL certificate
- Basic bot mitigation
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Lossless image optimization
- Mobile acceleration (Mirage)
- Automatic platform optimization
- Enhanced security reporting
Pros & Cons
Akamai Prolexic
Pros
- Unmatched capacity to handle massive multi-terabit DDoS attacks
- Excellent 24/7 support from highly skilled security experts
- Very low latency impact during active traffic scrubbing
- Comprehensive visibility into attack traffic and mitigation patterns
Cons
- Premium pricing makes it expensive for smaller organizations
- Complex initial configuration requires significant networking expertise
- Dashboard interface can feel overwhelming for novice users
Cloudflare
Pros
- Extremely easy to set up with simple DNS changes
- Generous free tier includes unmetered DDoS protection
- Global network significantly reduces latency for international users
- Clean and intuitive dashboard for managing complex settings
Cons
- Customer support can be slow on lower-tier plans
- Advanced features require a steep jump in pricing
- Occasional false positives in the web application firewall