Akamai review
Updated September 28, 2026 · DeployCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026
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Our verdict
Akamai suits teams that treat edge reach as the deciding factor: its 4,200 points of presence rank 1 of 30 brands here, the widest reach in the set. The trade-off is unit cost, where transfer bills $0.049 per GB and rivals quote less.
Key facts
- Best for
- Buyers who rank edge reach above the lowest per GB rate.
- Price per GB
- $0.049 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Points of presence
- 4,200 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Legal entity
- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Headquarters
- United States (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Founded
- 1998 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Support channels
- Email, Chat, Phone, Help-centre, Community (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Official website
- akamai.com
Serverless
Pros and cons
Pros
- Points of presence reach 4,200, against 500 for UCloud, which matters for distant audiences.
- Support runs on email, chat and phone, so phone and chat sit alongside email.
- A long operating history, founded in 1998 and headquartered in the US.
Cons
- Unit cost is the weak side: price per GB ranks 15 of 25, and the low end of Google Cloud's $0.02 to $0.20 sits under Akamai's $0.049.
- The cost part scores 4.4 against an overall 7.2, so the case for it rests on reach rather than price.
Ready to try Akamai?
Scored 9.5 / 10 by DeployCue.
Who it suits
- Teams shipping media or app traffic to users far from their origin servers.
- Organisations that want phone and chat as well as email, since support runs on email, chat and phone.
- Buyers who treat points of presence as a primary requirement, at 4,200.
Who should look elsewhere
- Buyers chasing the lowest per GB rate, where UCloud CDN quotes CNY 0.20 and the low end of Google Cloud's $0.02 to $0.20 runs under Akamai's $0.049.
- Sites that need only a modest network, since UCloud reports 500 points of presence.
Where it sits among rivals
On points of presence, Akamai ranks 1 of 30 brands, the strongest showing on that measure here. On price per GB it sits at 15 of 25, so the network wins the coverage comparison and loses the unit cost one. Readers weighing both land in the same place: reach is the reason to pick it, and the rate is the reason to look elsewhere.
How Akamai compares
Akamai vs BytePlus9.5 vs 8.7
Akamai vs RunPod9.5 vs 9.5
Akamai vs Netlify9.5 vs 8.6
Akamai vs ScalaHosting9.5 vs 8.3
Akamai vs Hostinger9.5 vs 9.1
Akamai vs Proton Drive9.5 vs 8.3
Akamai vs AIS Cloud9.5 vs 8.1
Frequently asked questions
What does Akamai charge to move a gigabyte?+
Akamai's stated transfer price is $0.049 per GB. Delivery is priced as a unit rate rather than a plan with a fixed monthly fee, so the bill follows the traffic you push through the network. That figure is the one used in the price per GB column.
How does that rate compare with other providers?+
Google Cloud's per GB pricing runs at $0.02 to $0.20, a range that reaches below and above Akamai's $0.049. UCloud CDN lists CNY 0.20 per GB, quoted in a different currency, so a conversion is needed before the two can be compared directly.
How big is the delivery network?+
Akamai runs 4,200 points of presence, which places it at 1 of 30 brands on that measure here. Reach at that scale matters when users sit in many regions, since content can be served from a nearby location instead of travelling the whole route back to origin.
What support can I reach?+
Support runs on email, chat and phone. Phone and chat sit alongside email, with a help centre for self-service and a community space for shared answers, so an urgent delivery problem does not have to wait on a written ticket.
Who runs Akamai?+
The service comes from Akamai Technologies, Inc., founded in 1998 and headquartered in the US. Operating history matters for a network business, since edge capacity and carrier relationships accumulate over time rather than being bought on a short cycle.
How does it score on this comparison?+
Akamai takes an overall score of 7.2 here. That splits into an offer score of 10 and a cost score of 4.4, which is the clearest summary of the trade-off: what the service covers rates strongly, and the per GB rate is the lighter side.
Is this the cheapest price per GB listed?+
Not quite. On price per GB, Akamai sits at 15 of 25 brands, so $0.049 is a competitive rate rather than the lowest one shown. It gets picked for the size of the network, not for topping the cost column.
Sources
- ioriver.io/questions/how-much-does-akamai-cdn-charge-per-gb checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Price per GB
“0-10 TB per month: ~$0.049 per GB”
- blog.blazingcdn.com/en-us/cdn-network-providers-compariso... checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Points of presence
“Akamai reports over 4,200 PoP locations as of early 2026”
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akamai_Technologies checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Founded, Headquarters, Legal entity
“Founded 1998”
- techdocs.akamai.com/cloud-computing/docs/help-and-support.md checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Support channels
“You can reach us through a support ticket, by phone, or by e-mail.”
Compiled from 4 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.
Not confirmed yet: Free tier.