Fastly vs Akamai
CDN & Edge pricing comparison · 2026
Fastly pricing ranges from $0–$6000/month, while Akamai ranges from $5–$992/month. Akamai is typically 99% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.
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Fastly and Akamai both operate in the cdn & edge category. This page compares their list pricing.
Plan-by-Plan Pricing
| Plan | Fastly | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | Free /month | Custom |
| Usage (Pay-As-You-Go) | $50 /month | Custom |
| Basic Package | $1.5K /month | Custom |
| Starter Package | $6K /month | $5 /month |
| Enterprise (Advantage / Ultimate) | Custom | — |
Cost at Scale
Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.
Fastly
6 scenarios$0/month
Developer Prototyping
Covered by Fastly's permanent $50/month free credit, no charges unless usage exceeds credit
$50
Growing Web Application
$75/month - Pay-as-you-go with $50 minimum, ~$40 in bandwidth + $10-$25 in request fees
$1,500
Mid-Size E-Commerce Platform
$6,000/month - Basic or Starter package with bundled requests, image optimization, and security
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
Fastly
- Median annual cost
- $31,465
- Average negotiated discount
- 17%
- Based on
- 128 deals
Akamai
- Median annual cost
- $3,200
- Based on
- 37 deals
Contract Terms
| Term | Fastly | Akamai |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-renewal | Yes | — |
| Cancellation | Requires support ticket - no self-service cancellation available | — |
| Minimum commitment | Monthly for Usage plan; annual options available for packages | Volume-based traffic commits typical for enterprise customers |
| Price escalation | No published schedule, but growth can lead to rapid cost increases due to bandwidth-based pricing | — |
| Can downgrade | No | — |