AWS CloudFront vs Akamai
CDN & Edge pricing comparison · 2026
AWS CloudFront pricing ranges from $0–$1000/month, while Akamai ranges from $5–$992/month. Akamai is typically 98% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.
AWS CloudFront
AWS CloudFront is Amazon's global content delivery network, operating over 600 edge locati
verified 27d ago
$1.1K
$3.2K
Akamai
Akamai Technologies is the world's largest and oldest CDN provider, operating over 4,200 e
verified 27d ago
$1.1K
$3.2K
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
AWS
saves
$2.1K
vs
Akamai
· 25 seats
Cheapest
$1.1K
Spread
66%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Business (Flat-Rate)
$60K/yr
year 1 license · $200/seat
Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud)
$1.5K/yr
year 1 license · $5/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$1.1K/yr
Vendr · n=50
Median annual
$3.2K/yr
Vendr · n=37
REF · 01
Sources & confidence
Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.
Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources
1 sourced fact
Vendr median
Last verified
3w ago
Confidence
High confidence
Sources
7 sourced facts
5 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median
Last verified
3w ago
Confidence
Medium confidence
REF · 02
Plans at a glance
Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.
Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 05
What users say
Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.
User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats).
Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges.
Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
VS
AWS CloudFront and Akamai both operate in the cdn & edge category. This page compares their list pricing.
Plan-by-Plan Pricing
| Plan | AWS CloudFront | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| Free (Flat-Rate) | Free /month | Custom |
| Pro (Flat-Rate) | $15 /month | Custom |
| Business (Flat-Rate) | $200 /month | Custom |
| Premium (Flat-Rate) | $1K /month | $5 /month |
| Custom Pricing | Custom | — |
Cost at Scale
Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.
AWS CloudFront
4 scenarios$0/month
Personal Blog on AWS
Flat-rate Free plan with 100 GB/1M requests, includes WAF (5 rules), DDoS protection, and Route 53 DNS
$15/month
Growing SaaS on AWS
Flat-rate Pro plan with 50 TB allowance, 20 WAF rules, bot management, and no overage charges
$200/month
Business Application with SLA
Flat-rate Business plan with 125M requests, 50 WAF rules, origin failover, and 500 GB S3 storage
Akamai
8 scenarios$500
Small Enterprise Website
$2,000/month - Standard CDN with 12-month contract, estimated $0.049/GB at lower volumes
$5,000
Mid-Size Financial Services
$15,000/month - CDN + Web Application & API Protection bundle with compliance features and premium support
$15,000
Large Media Platform
$50,000+/month - Media Delivery with NetStorage, streaming optimization, multi-CDN support, and dedicated account team
Market Intelligence
AWS CloudFront
- Median annual cost
- $1,083
- Based on
- 50 deals
Akamai
- Median annual cost
- $3,200
- Based on
- 37 deals