C
CGlobal network for CDN, DDoS protection, Zero Trust and serverless compute
Free, from $5/mo
Akamai vs Imperva
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
A
Choose Akamai if…
- you're in its core audience: enterprises, media and streaming companies
I
Choose Imperva if…
- you want to trial it before paying
- you're in its core audience: enterprise security teams, financial services firms
Side by side
Feature Akamai Imperva
Pricing modelPaidContact for pricing
Starting price——
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryCDN & edgeDDoS protection & WAF
CompanyAkamai TechnologiesImperva, Inc.
Full feature lists
A Akamai
- Adaptive Media Delivery for streaming and large files
- EdgeWorkers for serverless code at the edge
- Web application and API security
- Edge DNS
- Zero Trust Network Access
- Guardicore microsegmentation
- Akamai Cloud compute with Linode API and CLI
- Terraform and Postman support
I Imperva
- Cloud web application firewall
- DDoS protection with guaranteed uptime
- Advanced bot and account takeover protection
- API discovery and threat mitigation
- Client-side JavaScript protection for PCI DSS 4.0
- Data discovery, classification and database auditing
- Compliance reporting for SOX, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR
- 260+ integrations including Splunk and SOAR
What you'd pay
The cheapest plan that fits, per month, billed yearly where the plan offers it.
Akamai
Compute (1 GB VM, pay-as-you-go)$0.0075/hr
Managed Services (Infrastructure management)$100 per compute instance, per month
Imperva
Data AssureCustom
Data SecureCustom
Data 360Custom
Strengths and limitations
Akamai
- Covers delivery, security and cloud compute on one platform
- Automation through APIs, CLI, Terraform and Postman
- Zero trust and segmentation products alongside the WAF
- The large product range is complex to configure for small projects
Imperva
- Covers application, API and data security in one portfolio
- Data Security Fabric supports 100+ data repositories
- More than 260 built-in integrations
- Free trial available
- No public pricing; all plans require contacting sales
- Some Data Assure capabilities are on-premises only
- Encryption and key management need the separate Thales CipherTrust product
More comparisons
Other options to consider
CC
Free, from $5/mo
C
Global network for CDN, DDoS protection, Zero Trust and serverless compute
DDoS protection & WAFFree plan
D
D
From $3830/mo
H
H
Contact
K
K
Contact
Facts from each vendor's public pages, prices checked Nov 10, 2026. Editorial policy