Cloudflare DNS vs Akamai Edge DNS

Cloudflare DNS9.4Visit Akamai Edge DNS8.7Visit

Higher score Cloudflare DNS #1 in Anycast DNS Services 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Cloudflare

vs

Akamai Edge DNS #6 in Anycast DNS Services 8.7/10 Pricing on request ✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Akamai

• Cloudflare DNS fits best

  Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation

• Akamai Edge DNS fits best

  Large enterprises needing mature DNS operations

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	Cloudflare DNS 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Akamai Edge DNS 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.7
Ranking	#1 in Anycast DNS Services	#6 in Anycast DNS Services
Best for	Teams seeking managed anycast DNS and API automation	Large enterprises needing mature DNS operations
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	$20/mo	Pricing on request
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	2 integrations	4 integrations
Features Cloudflare DNS 4/5 · Akamai Edge DNS 4/5
DNSSEC signing	✓	✓
Geo-based steering	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
DNS health checks	✓	✓
Secondary DNS	✓	✓
API access	✓	✓
Specs
Anycast locations	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Free plan includes DNS and authoritative record management Supports DNSSEC, CNAME flattening, and DNS analytics API automation plus Terraform and Ansible integrations	Global IP Anycast infrastructure with primary and secondary DNS support Advanced traffic management, health-based failover, and zone apex mapping DNSSEC, analytics, API access, and Terraform-based automation
Cons	Health checks and traffic steering require the Load Balancing add-on Secondary DNS is available to Enterprise customers Pro and Business are billed annually at their listed prices	Pricing requires contacting sales No free plan is available No AI features are included
Our verdict	Cloudflare DNS provides authoritative DNS hosting and record management, serving responses through Cloudflare’s global network. It is suited to teams that want managed anycast DNS, DNSSEC, analytics, and API automation, with a free plan… Read the review →	Akamai Edge DNS is a cloud-based authoritative DNS service for organizations managing internet-facing applications and APIs. It supports primary, secondary, and alias DNS zones across globally distributed IP Anycast infrastructure. The… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Cloudflare DNS — where it wins

  • Free plan includes DNS and authoritative record management
  • Supports DNSSEC, CNAME flattening, and DNS analytics
  • API automation plus Terraform and Ansible integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Health checks and traffic steering require the Load Balancing add-on
  • Secondary DNS is available to Enterprise customers
  • Pro and Business are billed annually at their listed prices

• Akamai Edge DNS — where it wins

  • Global IP Anycast infrastructure with primary and secondary DNS support
  • Advanced traffic management, health-based failover, and zone apex mapping
  • DNSSEC, analytics, API access, and Terraform-based automation

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing requires contacting sales
  • No free plan is available
  • No AI features are included

• Cloudflare DNS9.4/10 · Free plan

  Free authoritative DNS with advanced steering and failover through a separate add-on.

  Visit CloudflareFull verdict →
• Akamai Edge DNS8.7/10 · Pricing on request

  A mature enterprise DNS service with advanced routing, failover, automation, and analytics.

  Visit AkamaiFull verdict →