Akamai Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, hidden costs, and cost analysis
Akamai costs $0/month for Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud). Plans range from $0 to $992/month.
Akamai costs Free to $992 per month as of March 2026, with 4 plans available. Plan: Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud) at $5/month. Enterprise pricing is available on request. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
Akamai offers 4 pricing tiers: Standard CDN, Web Application & API Protection, Media Delivery, Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud). Paid plans include Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud) at $5/month. The Web Application & API Protection plan is financial services, healthcare, and enterprises requiring advanced security, compliance, and bot management.
Compared to other cdn & edge software, Akamai is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.
- Median contract: $60/yr from 0 purchases 0
- 4 documented hidden costs beyond list price
How much does Akamai cost?
Akamai Pricing Overview
Akamai has 4 pricing plans ranging from $0 to $992/month. The Standard CDN plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for enterprises with high-volume, globally distributed traffic needing the most extensive edge network. The Web Application & API Protection plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for financial services, healthcare, and enterprises requiring advanced security, compliance, and bot management. The Media Delivery plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for broadcasters, ott platforms, and media companies delivering video at massive scale. The Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud) plan costs $5/month, best for developers and businesses wanting affordable cloud compute with generous egress, as an alternative to aws/gcp/azure.
The median Akamai customer pays $60/year.
There are at least 4 documented hidden costs beyond Akamai's list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.
This pricing was last verified in February 4, 2026 from 1 independent sources.
Akamai Technologies is the world's largest and oldest CDN provider, operating over 4,200 edge servers across 130+ countries. Founded in 1998, Akamai delivers 15-30% of all global web traffic daily. It serves the most demanding enterprises including major banks, Fortune 100 companies, government agencies, and the world's largest media platforms. In 2022, Akamai acquired Linode to add cloud computing (now called Akamai Connected Cloud) to its edge delivery platform, offering compute instances starting at $5/month alongside its enterprise CDN services.
Akamai CDN pricing is entirely custom with no public rate card. All contracts require a sales engagement and typically involve 12-month minimum commitments. Industry estimates put per-GB rates at $0.035-$0.049 depending on volume, with total monthly costs ranging from $500 for small deployments to $50,000+ for large enterprises. Additional products like WAF, Bot Manager, Prolexic DDoS protection, and media delivery are priced separately. Akamai's Cloud Computing platform (formerly Linode) is the exception, with transparent pricing starting at $5/month for shared compute instances.
How Akamai Pricing Compares
Compare Akamai pricing against top alternatives in CDN & Edge.
All Akamai Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard CDN Estimated per-GB rate: $0.035-$0.049/GB depending on volumeMinimum commitment: 12-month contract typical | Contact Sales | Contact Sales | Enterprises with high-volume, globally distributed traffic needing the most extensive edge network |
| Web Application & API Protection WAF: Enterprise-grade, adaptiveDDoS: Prolexic (dedicated scrubbing centers) | Contact Sales | Contact Sales | Financial services, healthcare, and enterprises requiring advanced security, compliance, and bot management |
| Media Delivery Streaming protocols: HLS, DASH, CMAFStorage: NetStorage (custom capacity) | Contact Sales | Contact Sales | Broadcasters, OTT platforms, and media companies delivering video at massive scale |
| Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud) Nanode: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB storageEgress included: 1-20 TB/month depending on plan | $5 /month | Custom | Developers and businesses wanting affordable cloud compute with generous egress, as an alternative to AWS/GCP/Azure |
View all features by plan
Standard CDN
- Global CDN delivery across 4,200+ edge locations
- Intelligent traffic routing and load balancing
- SSL/TLS encryption with managed certificates
- Real-time monitoring and analytics dashboard
- API acceleration and optimization
- Basic DDoS mitigation included
- Origin offload and caching optimization
- 24/7 NOC monitoring
Web Application & API Protection
- Everything in Standard CDN
- Enterprise WAF with adaptive security
- Bot Manager for credential abuse and scraping
- API security and rate limiting
- Advanced DDoS protection (Prolexic)
- Client reputation scoring
- Managed security services option
- Compliance support (PCI, SOC 2, HIPAA)
- Custom security rules and policies
Media Delivery
- Adaptive bitrate streaming (HLS, DASH)
- Video on demand and live streaming optimization
- Download delivery for large file distribution
- NetStorage (origin storage platform)
- Media analytics and QoS monitoring
- Audience analytics and engagement metrics
- Multi-CDN orchestration support
- Low-latency streaming capabilities
Cloud Computing (Connected Cloud)
- Shared compute plans starting at $5/month (Nanode)
- Dedicated compute, GPU, and high-memory instances
- Object storage at $0.02/GB/month
- Block storage volumes
- Managed Kubernetes (LKE)
- Managed databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
- Generous egress included (1-20 TB/month per instance)
- 12 global data center regions
- Egress overage at $0.005/GB
Compare Akamai vs Alternatives
Before committing to Akamai, compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.
Hobbyists, learners, and developers getting started with CDN delivery and basic security
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Compare pricingPersonal sites, blogs, and small projects needing basic CDN and DDoS protection
Compare pricingWhat Companies Actually Pay for Akamai
The median Akamai buyer pays $60/year based on 0 verified purchase transactions.
Akamai Year 1 Total Cost by Company Size
Real deployment costs including licenses, implementation, training, and admin — not just the sticker price.
Corporate website with 5-10 TB/month bandwidth, basic CDN delivery and SSL, no advanced security requirements
Banking or fintech platform requiring CDN, enterprise WAF, bot management, and PCI compliance with 20-50 TB/month traffic
Streaming service or broadcaster delivering 200+ TB/month of video content with adaptive bitrate streaming and audience analytics
Using Akamai Connected Cloud (formerly Linode) for application hosting with generous included egress
Basic CDN delivery for a growing website with moderate traffic
Large-scale video streaming with HTTPS delivery requirements
Enterprise customer with negotiated volume commitment and better per-GB rates than list pricing
Sustained large-scale DDoS attack protection with high traffic volumes
How Akamai Pricing Compares
| Software | Starting Price | Top Price |
|---|---|---|
| Akamai | Free | $992/month |
| AWS CloudFront | Free | $1000/month |
| Bunny CDN | $1/month | $9.5/month |
| Cloudflare | Free | $250/month |
| Fastly | $1/month | $6/month |
Akamai Contract Terms
Akamai contracts do not auto-renew. Changes require advance notice. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.
How to Negotiate Akamai Pricing
Akamai contracts are negotiable. These 5 tactics are sourced from real buyer experiences and procurement specialists.
Akamai's pricing is highly negotiable for customers committing to large traffic volumes (50TB+ monthly). Negotiate multi-year volume commitments for better per-GB rates.
Hacker News discussions from CDN users with 50TB commitsUse competitive quotes from Cloudflare, Fastly, and CloudFront as leverage. Akamai's legacy pricing model means they often need to match competitive offers to retain customers.
Multiple HN threads comparing Akamai pricing to CloudFront, Cloudflare, and FastlyCompetitors like Cloudflare and CloudFront charge the same for HTTP and HTTPS. Use this as leverage to negotiate lower or eliminated HTTPS delivery premiums.
HN discussion noting Cloudflare prices HTTP and HTTPS equally while Akamai charges premiumCustom SSL fees are described as 'absurdly high.' Consider alternative SSL approaches (SNI-based SSL) or negotiate these fees as a separate line item with hard caps.
HN comment describing Akamai custom SSL pricing as absurdly highAkamai's legacy architecture uses many small POPs which can drive up costs. Question whether premium POP charges are necessary or if traffic can be served from standard POPs.
HN discussion of how traffic from expensive POPs increases billsAkamai Pricing FAQ
01 How much does Akamai CDN cost?
Akamai CDN uses custom enterprise pricing with no public rate card. Based on industry estimates, per-GB rates range from $0.035/GB for high-volume contracts (50+ TB/month) to $0.049/GB for lower volumes (0-10 TB). Total monthly costs typically range from $500-$50,000+ depending on bandwidth, security features, and support level. All pricing requires a sales conversation and minimum 12-month contract.
02 Does Akamai have a free tier?
Akamai does not offer a free CDN tier. Their Cloud Computing platform (formerly Linode) starts at $5/month for the Nanode plan. For CDN and edge delivery services, Akamai is strictly enterprise-focused with custom contracts. Smaller organizations should consider Cloudflare (free CDN), Bunny CDN ($1/month minimum), or CloudFront (1 TB free tier) instead.
03 How does Akamai pricing compare to Cloudflare?
Akamai is significantly more expensive than Cloudflare. Cloudflare's Free plan includes unlimited CDN bandwidth; Akamai has no free option and typically costs $500-$50,000+/month. Akamai charges per GB ($0.035-$0.049) while Cloudflare has flat monthly pricing. However, Akamai offers the world's largest edge network (4,200+ locations vs Cloudflare's 330+), more granular enterprise controls, and dedicated account management. Akamai is justified for enterprises needing maximum global coverage and compliance.
04 What is Akamai's per-GB rate?
Akamai's estimated per-GB rates are: $0.049/GB for 0-10 TB/month, $0.045/GB for 10-50 TB/month, and $0.035/GB or less for 50+ TB/month with negotiated contracts. Rates vary by geography - North America/Europe get base rates while Asia-Pacific and South America are 10-20% higher. These are estimates; actual rates depend on contract negotiations, committed volume, and bundled services.
05 Is Akamai worth the enterprise premium?
Akamai is worth the premium for organizations that need the world's largest CDN network (4,200+ edge locations in 130+ countries), enterprise security (Prolexic DDoS, Bot Manager), compliance requirements (PCI, HIPAA, SOC 2), or media delivery at massive scale. For standard website CDN needs, Cloudflare, Fastly, or Bunny CDN offer 90% of the performance at a fraction of the cost. Akamai's value is in its unmatched network reach and enterprise security stack.
06 Why doesn't Akamai publish pricing on their website?
Akamai uses custom enterprise pricing based on traffic volume, geographic distribution, feature requirements, and contract terms. All pricing requires sales engagement and is negotiated case-by-case. This lack of transparency is a common complaint but reflects their enterprise-focused positioning.
07 How much more does Akamai charge for HTTPS vs HTTP delivery?
Akamai charges a significant premium for HTTPS delivery compared to HTTP. For large-scale deployments like video streaming, this premium can add millions of dollars annually to total costs. The exact percentage varies by contract, but the difference is described as 'dramatic' in user reports.
08 Is Akamai more expensive than competitors?
Yes, Akamai is widely considered one of the most expensive CDN providers. Users report that AWS CloudFront at $0.12/GB is 'Akamai-level expensive,' and Akamai is consistently described as 'notoriously expensive' in the industry. However, pricing is highly negotiable at volume, and Akamai provides premium hand-holding and support.
09 What is Akamai Connected Cloud pricing?
Akamai Connected Cloud (formerly Linode) offers compute instances starting at $5/month. This is separate from Akamai's core CDN, media delivery, and security products, which use custom enterprise pricing.
10 Do I need to sign a long-term contract with Akamai?
Akamai typically uses volume-based traffic commitments rather than pure time-based contracts. Better pricing is available with larger monthly traffic commits (50TB+ mentioned in sources). Contract terms are negotiated based on expected usage.
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