Akamai vs AWS Shield
When comparing Akamai vs AWS Shield, the Slant community recommends Akamai for most people. In the question“What are the best services to protect against DDoS attacks for startups?” Akamai is ranked 3rd while AWS Shield is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose Akamai is:
Being one of the worlds largest CDNs, Akamai's large scale gives it a huge point of presence (PoP) to handle volumetric attacks.
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Pros
Pro Large scale point of presence
Being one of the worlds largest CDNs, Akamai's large scale gives it a huge point of presence (PoP) to handle volumetric attacks.
Pro Deeply customizable rules
The Kona Site Defender rules are all customizable, with continuous updates from Akamai. This means you can see how they are protecting your site under the hood, and adjust them to your needs.
Pro Lots of dedicated bandwidth specifically for DDoS absorption
Through Prolexic's PLXedge, Akamai provides their customers with a total of 2.3 Tbps of dedicated DDoS absorption bandwidth.
Pro Rules for rate limiting
Akamai provides tools for rate controlling traffic segments based on their request rate behavior.
Pro Capped bursting fees
If a sudden attack sucks up a lot of bandwidth, the bandwidth costs are capped.
Pro Application layer protection
Akamai utilizes a proprietary web application firewall in order to provide scalable protection against application layer attacks.
Pro Standard version available for free for AWS users
If you already use AWS services, AWS Shield Standard is available for no extra costs. You can choose to upgrade to AWS Shield Advanced for a higher degree of protection.
Pro A versatile tool
AWS Shield offers several options to deal enforce cyber security. You can block specific requests, or block all requests except the ones you specify, e.g. by IP addresses.
Cons
Con Expensive
Akami's services cost more than triple comparative packages from other security companies. At 13k a month for DDoS protection, there are many other choices out there that cost less for the same protection.
Con Slower security rule propagation
Because of Akamai's large CDN structure, it can take some time for security rules to propagate, making it harder to adjust security responses on the fly.