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Akamai CDN vs. CDN5: Price Comparison

Akamai CDN vs. CDN5: Price Comparison

May 20, 202526 mins read

akamai cdn price and CDN5 cdn price are introduced and side-by-side comparisons are made, providing price strategy comparisons, security performance comparisons and enterprise selection recommendations.

Introduction to Akamai CDN

akamai cdn价格 VS CDN5 cdn价格

Akamai Technologies, known as Akamai, is a content delivery network and cloud services provider headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and is one of the world's largest distributed computing platforms, carrying 15-30% of the world's web traffic.

Introduction to CDN5

CDN5 provides comprehensive security acceleration solutions for enterprises, integrating distributed DDoS protection, WAF protection and BOT behavior analysis. Through accurate user behavior insights, it helps to effectively link data and operational decisions, and promotes stable, safe, and continuous growth of cloud-based business. Based on AI deep learning, it intelligently plans optimal transmission routes based on real-time network conditions, automatically defends against DDoS attacks and ignores CC attacks.

Akamai CDN Pricing List

Traffic tier (monthly usage)	Unit price ($/GB)	Unit price (US$/TB)	Applicable Scenarios
Tier 1 0 – 10 TB	$0.049 /GB	≈ $49/TB	Small website or startup with basic traffic needs.
Tier 2 10 – 50 TB	$0.045 /GB	≈ $45 /TB	More competitive discounts are available for medium-sized traffic customers.
Tier 3 > 50 TB	$0.035 – 0.045/GB	≈ $35 – 45/TB	High volume customers are subject to separate pricing with sales for lower discounts, depending on geography and contract terms.
Enterprise-level customization	customization	customization	For value-added features such as WAF, Protection, Edge Computing, Dedicated DNS, etc., quotes are subject to further discussion with sales.

CDN5 Pricing Table:

releases	prices (Monthly)	DDoS protection value	CC Defense Value	Number of domain names	Number of ports	SSL Certificate	Websocket	network acceleration	multi-line network
Free	Free	50 Gbps	20 000 QPS	2	2	Yes	NO	NO	NONON
Standard	$499	150 Gbps	30 000 QPS	5	10	Yes	Yes	global area	BGP/CN2
Business	$1 999	400 Gbps	50 000 QPS	10	20	Yes	Yes	global area	BGP/CN2
Customized	customized	T	senseless	200	500	Yes	Yes	global area	BGP/CN2

Horizontal comparison table

Item	Akamai CDN	CDN5
Pricing Model	Uses a volume-tiered billing approach:
• Tier 1 (0–10 TB/month): $0.049 per GB (≈ $49 per TB).
• Tier 2 (10–50 TB/month): $0.045 per GB (≈ $45 per TB).
• Tier 3 (> 50 TB/month): custom pricing, with bulk discounts starting at roughly $0.035 per GB (≈ $35 per TB).	Offers fixed monthly plans on a tiered structure:
• Free Plan: Free – no charge.
• Standard Plan: $499 per month.
• Business Plan: $1 999 per month.
• Custom Plan: Custom pricing (negotiated).
DDoS Protection Peak	Scales with negotiated volume tiers and add-ons, theoretically supporting hundreds of Gbps when combined with enterprise-level contracts and optional security modules.	• Free Plan: 50 Gbps.
• Standard Plan: 150 Gbps.
• Business Plan: 400 Gbps.
• Custom Plan: Terabit-class (T-level).
CC Protection Peak	CC (Challenge Collapsar) defense levels are custom-negotiated per contract—generally priced on QPS or concurrent request rates, not publicly disclosed.	• Free Plan: 20 000 QPS.
• Standard Plan: 30 000 QPS.
• Business Plan: 50 000 QPS.
• Custom Plan: Unlimited (no cap).
Domain Allowance	Not itemized separately—billed based on bandwidth/traffic. Enterprise customers can purchase dedicated WAF and domain protection bundles as add-ons.	• Free Plan: 2 domains.
• Standard Plan: 5 domains.
• Business Plan: 10 domains.
• Custom Plan: 200 domains.
Port Allowance	Customized per deployment—opening non-standard ports may require load balancer or security group configurations and can incur additional fees.	• Free Plan: 2 ports.
• Standard Plan: 10 ports.
• Business Plan: 20 ports.
• Custom Plan: 500 ports.
SSL Certificate	Supported – customers may choose high-trust certificates or bring their own. Certificate pricing varies by type and region.	Supported on all plans (including Free).
WebSocket Support	Available via Enterprise-level add-ons—must be purchased separately or included in higher tiers.	• Free Plan: Not supported.
• Standard Plan & above: Supported.
Network Acceleration	Provides global content acceleration (static & dynamic). Advanced optimizations (e.g., media streaming) require additional fees.	• Free Plan: Not supported.
• Standard Plan & above: Global acceleration.
Multi-Carrier Network	Offers multi-carrier Tier-1 ISP connectivity and dedicated circuits; customers choose BGP or private lines based on contract (additional fees apply).	• Free Plan: Not supported.
• Standard Plan & above: BGP/CN2 network.
Additional Security Services	• WAF, bot management, DDoS advanced mitigation, edge security analytics—charged based on traffic volume and feature modules. Enterprise contracts can include dedicated security bundles (long-term agreement required).	• Free Plan: Basic protection only.
• Standard Plan & above: Includes basic WAF and protection policies.
• Custom Plan: Can add advanced security solutions (pricing on request).
Contract Term	Typically requires a minimum 12-month contract; short-term projects can be negotiated but often at higher rates.	No mandatory term—month-to-month or annual payments available. Custom Plan may offer discounts for long-term commitments.
Use Cases	Best suited for large enterprises needing global coverage, ultra-high traffic acceleration, and high-availability security protection with dedicated support and SLA guarantees.	• Free Plan: Testing and small-scale applications.
• Standard Plan ($499/month): Small to mid-sized sites and startups.
• Business Plan ($1 999/month): Mid to large-scale enterprises with varied use cases.
• Custom Plan: Ultra-large deployments requiring extensive customization.

Akamai CDN: tiered pricing for traffic, the higher the traffic, the lower the price

CDN5: Fixed package pricing, globally standardized pricing

Security and Performance Capabilities
Akamai leverages its global footprint of 300,000+ edge nodes and industry-leading security technology for organizations that demand the highest levels of performance and security. Premium features are available for an additional fee or are included in enterprise-level contracts.

All levels of CDN5 packages have clearly defined limits on peak DDoS/CC protection, domain names and port quotas, making them ideal for on-demand choices, while Standard and above get global acceleration and a multi-line network that meets the needs of most small, medium and large to medium-sized businesses.

Recommendations
If you need strict SLAs for heavy traffic, global geography, and advanced security, and have the budget to do so, Akamai CDNs offer more flexible tiered pricing and customized value-added services.

If you have a small-to-medium business and want to expect a fixed cost, CDN5's tiered package model is intuitive for budget planning, especially the Standard ($499/month) and Business ($1,999/month) editions, which cover most common scenarios.
For extreme large-scale operations, contact CDN5 directly for a “customized” quote, or talk to Akamai about volume discounts and value-added services for Tier 3 and above.