Comparisons
Neutral, practical notes across AWS, Cloudflare, and Akamai for CDN & WAF.
AWS vs Cloudflare vs Akamai (CDN & WAF)
| Capability | AWS | Cloudflare | Akamai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edge functions | Lambda@Edge / CloudFront Functions | Workers / Durable Objects | EdgeWorkers |
| Image optimization | CloudFront + Lambda/Functions (DIY) | Cloudflare Images/Polish | Image & Video Manager |
| HTTP/3/QUIC | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bot management | AWS WAF Bot Control (add-on) | Cloudflare Bot Mgmt (add-on) | Bot Manager Premier (add-on) |
| API security | AWS WAF + API Gateway patterns | API Shield (mTLS, schema) | App & API Protector |
| Custom rules UX | JSON/Terraform; console ok | Rich UI + Terraform | UI + API |
| Log export | Kinesis/Firehose/S3 | Logpush to S3/BigQuery/etc. | SIEM connectors, DataStream |
| Global PoPs | ~600+ edge locations | 285+ cities (public) | Large global footprint |
| Support SLAs | AWS Support plans | Enterprise SLA tiers | Enterprise SLAs |
| Typical cost profile | Predictable intra‑AWS egress | Aggressive CDN pricing | Enterprise contracts |
| Best for | AWS-centric stacks; tight IaC | Feature-rich edge + strong WAF UX | Global scale, media-heavy |
| Trade-offs | DIY images/workers | Many SKU/options | Opaque pricing |