


NGINX App Protect and Akamai App and API Protector compete in web application and API security. Akamai seems to have the upper hand due to its advanced DDoS protection and holistic security features.
Features: NGINX App Protect offers robust control with customizable security headers, load balancing, and reverse proxy functions. Akamai App and API Protector provides advanced DDoS protection, CDN integration, and scalability.
Room for Improvement: NGINX App Protect could enhance its user interface, scalability, and integration with third-party solutions. Akamai App and API Protector needs improvements in custom rules, layer seven protection, and analytics.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NGINX App Protect supports diverse environments but has mixed reviews on customer support. Akamai is favored for its cloud-native deployment but also needs to improve technical support response times.
Pricing and ROI: NGINX App Protect is seen as expensive but cost-effective in the long run. Akamai App and API Protector is pricier, especially for SMEs, but its comprehensive services justify the cost for many users.
My experience with the pricing or licensing of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is that many features can be accessed for free, so the pricing is definitely reasonable.
I would rate the technical support with Cloudflare as excellent every time I've had to contact them.
The technical support of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall rates between five and seven at maximum.
They were quick and efficient when we had issues.
I would rate the customer support a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.
The scalability of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall rates between 8 to 9, as it depends upon the use cases and what exactly the client needs.
The scalability of NGINX App Protect is good and open source at its best.
The stability of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall deserves a perfect 10 out of 10.
It is a quality solution, and I would rate its stability as eight out of ten.
And maybe something similar to Pushpin that Fastly has, which is an option where you can push messages that then can be scaled globally over the network.
I think they're doing a good job with DNS and as support for any domains that I create or that my clients create, it's mandatory for me to ensure they have Cloudflare as their DNS provider.
The product can improve by having more multitenancy capability, which is currently not available.
There was more information from F5 regarding hardware requirements and specifications to deploy the service.
The GUI and web GUI configuration could be improved to be easier to manage and use.
I think NGINX App Protect could be improved by having it come out of the box with NGINX.
The custom rules and the geo-redundant geographical rule feature, which allows me to implement geographical rules for customers, add significant value.
We are in the gambling business, in the betting business, so we have constant daily DDoS attacks, and it's always working fine.
The best features of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall are multiple, including the WAF, rate limiter, and bot attack protection.
The area in which Akamai excels compared to other competitors with a WAF is in threat intelligence, as threats continually evolve, requiring ongoing updates to backend algorithms to effectively capture smart bots.
The most valuable feature is the ability to operate in a DevOps environment and to be configured through API and pipeline by the developers themselves.
Detecting bots and blocking IPs have proven effective for securing applications.
It is stable, affordable, and easy to manage.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare Web Application Firewall | 5.4% |
| NGINX App Protect | 2.2% |
| Akamai App and API Protector | 3.2% |
| Other | 89.2% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 16 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 6 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 4 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 7 |
| Large Enterprise | 18 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 9 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 5 |
| Large Enterprise | 12 |
Cloudflare Web Application Firewall's intuitive dashboard enables users to build powerful rules through easy clicks and also provides Terraform integration. Every request to the WAF is inspected against the rule engine and the threat intelligence curated from protecting over 27 Million websites. Suspicious requests can be blocked, challenged or logged as per the needs of the user while legitimate requests are routed to the destination, agnostic of whether it lives on-premise or in the cloud. Analytics and Cloudflare Logs enable visibility into actionable metrics for the user.
Akamai App and API Protector provides website security by preventing DDoS attacks, acting as an application firewall, managing content delivery, and monitoring APIs. It adapts to threat profiles and is used for fast media delivery and identifying malicious activities.
Akamai App and API Protector offers strong protection, adaptable security features, and efficient traffic management. Its WAF blocks IP addresses and country-specific threats while preventing SQL injections. Companies utilize it for scalable CDN services and comprehensive traffic analysis. Known for its cost-effectiveness and user-friendly dashboard, this protector stands out for its customizable rules and technical support. Users also highlight the ease of integration and detailed attack insights available through its advanced dashboard.
What are the key features of Akamai App and API Protector?In media, Akamai App and API Protector ensures smooth streaming by handling high bandwidth demands. E-commerce companies use it to guard against fraud and data breaches. Financial sectors rely on its ability to protect sensitive transactions. Implementations in healthcare focus on safeguarding patient data while maintaining compliance with regulations.
NGINX App Protect application security solution combines the efficacy of advanced F5 web application firewall (WAF) technology with the agility and performance of NGINX Plus. The solution runs natively on NGINX Plus and addresses some of the most difficult challenges facing modern DevOps environments:
NGINX App Protect offers:
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