Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs F5 BIG-IP DNS comparison

Akamai and F5 are both solutions in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category. Akamai is ranked #9 with an average rating of 9.0, while F5 is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.8. Akamai holds a 1.8% mindshare in DS, compared to F5’s 6.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Akamai users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of F5 users who would recommend it.

Akamai Secure Internet Acc...

Read 1 Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise review

437 Views
309 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

F5 BIG-IP DNS

Read 20 F5 BIG-IP DNS reviews

1,493 Views
944 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Akamai Secure Internet Acc...

F5 BIG-IP DNS

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise and F5 BIG-IP DNS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Infoblox, Palo Alto Networks and others in Domain Name System (DNS) Security.

To learn more, read our detailed Domain Name System (DNS) Security Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

March 2025

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Helped 844,944 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Akamai Secure Internet Acc...

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

9th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (23rd)

F5 BIG-IP DNS

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise is 1.8%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP DNS is 6.6%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

Featured Reviews

reviewer2159601

Manager- Secure Web Defense- Perimeter Security at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

A user-friendly security SaaS provider with an easy setup

Akamai SPS Threat Avert is deployed on-cloud in our organization. Users should choose Akamai SPS Threat Avert based on their needs and the organization's capability. If it's a small-scale business, I would recommend exploring other solutions that will be fairly cheaper than Akamai SPS Threat Avert. However, if it's an enterprise business with a lot of transactions, security concerns, and compliance issues, I would advise them to go ahead with Akamai SPS Threat Avert. Although it's a good solution, Akamai SPS Threat Avert is expensive and best suited for enterprise-level businesses, not mid-level or low-level organizations. Overall, I rate Akamai SPS Threat Avert a nine out of ten.

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Richard Polyak

Sr. Architect at NBC Universal

A robust solution designed to inspect network and form an internal topology network with clients

While we haven't explored AI-driven features yet, it's part of our roadmap for future versions. I would recommend F5 BIG-IP DNS to others in the industry. Overall, I would rate it an eight out of 10 as it meets our current needs but it will always have room for improvement.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The best feature of Akamai SPS Threat Avert is that it's very user-friendly compared to other technologies."

"One of the most effective feature of F5 BIG-IP DNS is its robustness and integration with our existing F5 infrastructure. It helps us to geographically connect and form an internal topology network with our clients."

"F5 technical support is quite good and they follow up if there are any issues."

"The main features valued in F5 BIG-IP include high availability, scalability, and protection of applications from attacks."

"F5 BIG-IP DNS has been rock solid in terms of stability for years."

"F5 provides us with a mechanism to accomplish complex product balancing."

"F5 BIG-IP DNS is useful, depending on how you use it."

"BIG-IP DNS effectively handled a traffic surge. For example, we have application forms replicated across our DCs. If our primary application becomes unavailable, BIG-IP automatically fails over to a client-unaware secondary application."

"For one of our clients, F5 improved global server load balancing with an active-active site configuration for Disaster Recovery."

More F5 BIG-IP DNS pros

Cons

"Akamai SPS Threat Avert's pricing could be improved because it's a very expensive enterprise solution."

"The initial setup is a step-by-step process, so it can be a bit complicated for someone who's using it for the first time."

"I sometimes encounter issues with the porting of F5 BIG-IP DNS."

"Scalability is a concern, it could be improved."

"The support response time could use improvement."

"It would be great to see a F5 BIG-IP DNS cloud version. What we within the Australian government are looking at doing is utilizing a secured DNS service much the same as the English GCHQ version of their protected DNS service."

"I would like to see more marketing documentation, rather than technical documentation."

"I would like to see the login facilities improved, as well as more troubleshooting."

"CNC (control and command) communication would be beneficial. We would like to have control and command blocking to prevent visiting malicious websites."

More F5 BIG-IP DNS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Provided the features Akamai SPS Threat Avert provides, it is bound to be expensive."

"The on-prem version is only available on a yearly license, but the cloud version can be paid for on a day-by-day basis."

"This product is quite pricey but if you compare the feature set and its compatibility with similar products on the market, you would understand why it's that price."

"They are competitively priced."

"Cost is a factor. It is really costly."

"BIG-IP DNS is more expensive than its competitors like Citrix, but it gives good value for money."

"I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being a low price."

"In some cases, it is expensive."

"You cannot do much around DDoS protection without an additional license from F5."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

27%

Financial Services Firm

20%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Akamai SPS Threat Avert?

The best feature of Akamai SPS Threat Avert is that it's very user-friendly compared to other technologies.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Akamai SPS Threat Avert?

Provided the features Akamai SPS Threat Avert provides, it is bound to be expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Akamai SPS Threat Avert?

Akamai SPS Threat Avert's pricing could be improved because it's a very expensive enterprise solution. AWS and a lot of other vendors are usually not that much expensive.

See all answers

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP DNS?

For one of our clients, F5 improved global server load balancing with an active-active site configuration for Disaster Recovery.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP DNS?

In terms of pricing, F5 BIG-IP is not cheaper compared to other solutions like Fortinet or Citrix. The cost can be high due to its comprehensive modules.

See all answers

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP DNS?

The support response time could use improvement. In critical cases, such as in the big environment projects, faster support is needed to address critical issues promptly.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 37% of the time

Infoblox BloxOne Threat Defense vs Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise

Compared 12% of the time

More Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise Competitors

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 66% of the time

EfficientIP DNS Guardian vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 14% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 13% of the time

BlueCat Edge vs F5 BIG-IP DNS

Compared 7% of the time

More F5 BIG-IP DNS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

March 2025

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise report

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Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP DNS

March 2025

Download F5 BIG-IP DNS product report

Also Known As

Akamai Enterprise Threat Protector, Akamai ETP, Akamai SPS Threat Avert

F5 BIG-IP DNS, F5 DNS Delivery

Overview

Safely connect users & devices to the internet with a secure web gateway.

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise (SIAE) enables security teams to proactively identify, block, and mitigate targeted threats such as malware, ransomware, phishing, and data exfiltration that exploit the Domain Name System (DNS). Powered by real-time intelligence from Akamai Cloud Security Intelligence and Akamai’s proven, globally distributed recursive DNS platform, Enterprise Threat Protector efficiently delivers security, control, and visibility to the enterprise while easily integrating with your existing network defenses.

Akamai

F5® BIG-IP® DNS distributes DNS and user application requests based on business policies, data center and cloud service conditions, user location, and application performance. BIG-IP DNS is commonly configured as a full proxy to provide global server load balancing (GSLB) for applications and DNS across architectures, and across the globe.

The BIG-IP platform delivers DNS services with visibility, reporting, and analysis; scales and secures DNS responses geographically to survive increased traffic or threats; delivers a real-time DNSSEC solution; designed to provide availability of global applications in all cloud environments.

Sample Customers

MCNC, Educational Testing Service

Ricacorp Properties, Bangladesh Post Office, Shawbrook Bank, Shinsegae Internet Duty Free

Buyer's Guide

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

March 2025

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