--- source_url: "https://www.cdnplanet.com/compare/imperva/akamai/" title: Imperva versus Akamai - CDN Planet mirrored_at: 2026-08-04T13:08:41.291Z host: www.cdnplanet.com cited_in_42a: true mirror_canonical: "https://index.42a.ai/www.cdnplanet.com/compare/imperva/akamai/index" --- > **Original source:** https://www.cdnplanet.com/compare/imperva/akamai/ Easily compare [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/) and [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/) for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks. ![Imperva logo](https://www.cdnplanet.com/static/img/imperva-logo.svg) ![ logo](https://www.cdnplanet.com/static/img/akamai-logo-svgomg.svg) ## Company Company [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/) [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/) Short profile Imperva's CDN (formerly Incapsula) makes your websites and applications faster, more reliable and safer. A global network of servers provides content caching, load balancing and failover, while an enterprise-grade cloud web application firewall and DDoS protection safeguard your site from the latest threats. Akamai is one of the oldest CDNs and generally considered to be the largest global CDN. They have 'servers everywhere' and a wide range of products and services. The company is actively involved in Let's Encrypt and is pushing HTTP/2 adoption. ## Products Yes Sort of/partially No Extra costs Unknown Product [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/#products) [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/#products) Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... [Content Delivery Network](https://www.imperva.com/products/cdn-content-delivery-network/) [Dynamic Site Accelerator](https://www.akamai.com/us/en/products/performance/dynamic-site-accelerator.jsp) Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) Content Caching [Ion](https://www.akamai.com/us/en/products/performance/web-performance-optimization.jsp) Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB) [Download Delivery](https://www.akamai.com/us/en/products/media-delivery/download-delivery.jsp) Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? [Adaptive Media Delivery](https://www.akamai.com/us/en/solutions/products/media-delivery/adaptive-media-delivery.jsp) Video on demandDelivery of on demand video Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization [Image Compression](https://www.imperva.com/learn/performance/image-optimization/) [Image & Video Manager](https://www.akamai.com/uk/en/products/performance/image-and-video-manager.jsp) DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain [Name Server (NS) Protection](https://www.imperva.com/products/dns-ddos-protection-services/) ![tooltip](https://www.cdnplanet.com/static/img/help-circle-outline.svg) Name Server (NS) Protection is a secure proxy in front of your authoritative DNS [Edge DNS](https://www.akamai.com/uk/en/products/security/edge-dns.jsp) WAFWeb Application Firewall [Web Application Firewall](https://www.imperva.com/products/web-application-firewall-waf/) [Web Application Protector](https://www.akamai.com/us/en/products/security/web-application-protector-enterprise-waf-firewall-ddos-protection.jsp) Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. [DDoS Protection](https://www.imperva.com/products/ddos-protection-services/) [Kona DDoS Defender](https://www.akamai.com/us/en/products/security/kona-ddos-defender.jsp) Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers [EdgeWorkers](https://www.akamai.com/us/en/products/performance/serverless-computing-edgeworkers.jsp) ## Network How many POP locations do Imperva and Akamai have in different parts of the world? Region [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/#network) [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/#network) North America 12 ? Latin America 5 ? Europe 12 ? Russia & CIS 0 ? Asia excl. China 12 ? China 0 ? Oceania 3 ? Middle East 3 ? Africa 2 ? ## Pricing Pricing & contract duration [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/#pricing) [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/#pricing) Minimum contract term Unknown 12 months Minimum monthly costs Unknown Unknown Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests Unknown Unknown Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred Unknown Unknown NA/EU traffic (low volume) Unknown Unknown APAC traffic (low volume) Unknown Unknown LATAM traffic (low volume) Unknown Unknown ## Features Yes Sort of/partially No Extra costs Unknown Web acceleration [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/#caching) [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/#caching) Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. Can't sign up and get started. Must talk to sales. Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? Instant Apex/root domain OK No performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com Anycasted network (regional) If you also use their Fast DNS for your domain HTTP/2 [FAQ](https://docs.imperva.com/bundle/cloud-application-security/page/faq/http2-faq.htm) HTTP/3 [HTTP/3 announcement](https://www.akamai.com/blog/performance/deliver-fast-reliable-secure-web-experiences-http3) WebSockets [WebSockets docs](https://docs.imperva.com/bundle/cloud-application-security/page/websocket.htm) [WebSockets docs](https://techdocs.akamai.com/property-mgr/docs/websockets-support) IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6? [IPv6 support](https://docs.imperva.com/bundle/cloud-application-security/page/more/ipv6-support.htm) Compression Reduce file size for faster delivery Compress on the edge Resend from origin, or compress on edge Origin pull - protocolHTTP only or HTTPS possible too? HTTP and HTTPS. ![tooltip](https://www.cdnplanet.com/static/img/help-circle-outline.svg) Can be IP address HTTP and HTTPS Origin pull - Host headerUse client > edge value? Set specific value? Can configure specific other Host header. ![tooltip](https://www.cdnplanet.com/static/img/help-circle-outline.svg) Forward client request Host header is possible Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room [Waiting Room](https://www.imperva.com/products/waiting-room/) [Virtual Waiting Room](https://techdocs.akamai.com/cloudlets/docs/what-visitor-prioritization-fifo) Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin Cache control - CDN caching [Granular control/override rules possible](https://www.imperva.com/products/cdn-caching/) Cache control - client caching Granular control/override rules possible Serve Stale CDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble Purge Invalidate or delete cached objects on CDN Instant Purge - capabilities Purge all, by directory, by file extension, by tag(s) Analytics Real time perf and security events dashboard Log files Available via UI, API, or full SIEM integration ![tooltip](https://www.cdnplanet.com/static/img/help-circle-outline.svg) Logs are not delayed API Purge, analytics, configuration HTTPS & Content Protection [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/#https) [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/#https) CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net [CDN and SSL/TLS](https://www.imperva.com/learn/performance/cdn-and-ssl-tls/) Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN Token authentication Via authentication header Geo blocking Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content [Two Factor Authentication](https://www.imperva.com/learn/application-security/2fa-two-factor-authentication/) IP white/blacklisting IP address/ranges/subnets, self-service in UI ## Support Customer support [Imperva](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/imperva/#support) [Akamai](https://www.cdnplanet.com/cdns/akamai/#support) Documentation Yes, [public](https://docs.imperva.com/) [Akamai techdocs](https://techdocs.akamai.com/) Humans Imperva’s team of support engineers deliver technical assistance 24x7x365 via phone, email, or online via the self service portal