Akamai DNS Manager

Name: Akamai DNS Manager
Brand: Akamai Technologies
Rating: 4.4 (60 reviews)

Leader

At Akamai, we make life better for billions of people, billions of times a day

Est 1998|Valuation $16.6B|Raised $361.8M

LinkedIn 592K|Website|Web traffic 2.2M|FTEs 11,000|HQ Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

MarketsWeb Application & API Protection (WAAP)Security Service Edge (SSE)

Platform CoversThreat Intelligence Platforms Infrastructure Monitoring

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative comparison

- **Cloudflare**: Often preferred by buyers seeking quick activation, a comprehensive developer-facing UI and API ecosystem, and straightforward packaging for many use cases. Enterprise offerings may involve custom quotes influenced by query volume. - **NS1**: Frequently selected where advanced traffic steering and automation are the primary requirements rather than only DNS response speed. - **Akamai Edge DNS**: Differentiates on scale, resilience design, and integration with Akamai’s broader security and edge portfolio. Buyers commonly validate features and pricing through sales engagements.

Adoption and market signal (caution)

Engagement-based metrics (e.g., "mindshare") exist on some platforms but should not be treated as definitive market share indicators. Measurement research indicates authoritative DNS hosting is concentrated among several large providers, with Akamai among the recognized names in the ecosystem.

	Akamai (Edge DNS / DNS Manager)	Cloudflare Authoritative DNS	IBM NS1 (NS1 Connect)
Starting Price	Quote-based for Edge DNS; Connected Cloud DNS Manager offered under vendor-determined terms and may require active compute	Bundled with Cloudflare plans; enterprise-level deployments typically use custom quotes that account for query volume and usage	Typically enterprise/quote-based; pricing varies by capability and deployment needs
Primary use cases	Enterprises seeking authoritative DNS integrated with Akamai edge/security; Connected Cloud users needing basic DNS	Organizations seeking rapid activation, strong developer UX, and broad ecosystem support	Organizations needing advanced traffic steering and automation-driven DNS routing
Key Strength	Global Anycast footprint; DDoS-resilience engineering; integration with Akamai platform; threat reporting options	Ease of activation, strong UI and API ecosystem, broad adoption	Advanced steering and automation capabilities focused on application-level routing
Key Weakness	Pricing transparency; platform complexity; Connected Cloud DNS Manager limitations (limited feature set compared with full platform)	Some advanced enterprise features require higher-tier plans; potential architectural coupling when using additional Cloudflare services	May be complex and more costly for simple authoritative DNS use cases; requires deeper operational expertise

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative comparison

Cloudflare: Often preferred by buyers seeking quick activation, a comprehensive developer-facing UI and API ecosystem, and straightforward packaging for many use cases. Enterprise offerings may involve custom quotes influenced by query volume.
NS1: Frequently selected where advanced traffic steering and automation are the primary requirements rather than only DNS response speed.
Akamai Edge DNS: Differentiates on scale, resilience design, and integration with Akamai’s broader security and edge portfolio. Buyers commonly validate features and pricing through sales engagements.

Adoption and market signal (caution)

Engagement-based metrics (e.g., "mindshare") exist on some platforms but should not be treated as definitive market share indicators. Measurement research indicates authoritative DNS hosting is concentrated among several large providers, with Akamai among the recognized names in the ecosystem.

	Akamai (Edge DNS / DNS Manager)	Cloudflare Authoritative DNS	IBM NS1 (NS1 Connect)
Starting Price	Quote-based for Edge DNS; Connected Cloud DNS Manager offered under vendor-determined terms and may require active compute	Bundled with Cloudflare plans; enterprise-level deployments typically use custom quotes that account for query volume and usage	Typically enterprise/quote-based; pricing varies by capability and deployment needs
Primary use cases	Enterprises seeking authoritative DNS integrated with Akamai edge/security; Connected Cloud users needing basic DNS	Organizations seeking rapid activation, strong developer UX, and broad ecosystem support	Organizations needing advanced traffic steering and automation-driven DNS routing
Key Strength	Global Anycast footprint; DDoS-resilience engineering; integration with Akamai platform; threat reporting options	Ease of activation, strong UI and API ecosystem, broad adoption	Advanced steering and automation capabilities focused on application-level routing
Key Weakness	Pricing transparency; platform complexity; Connected Cloud DNS Manager limitations (limited feature set compared with full platform)	Some advanced enterprise features require higher-tier plans; potential architectural coupling when using additional Cloudflare services	May be complex and more costly for simple authoritative DNS use cases; requires deeper operational expertise