Fastly DDoS Protection review
Usage-priced protection for network and application-layer DDoS attacks.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Fastly DDoS Protection is a cloud-based service for detecting and mitigating distributed denial-of-service attacks against applications, APIs, and infrastructure. It is designed for teams protecting web and API traffic across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid architectures through edge deployment. Always-on protection combines traffic analysis, adaptive mitigation rules, automatic network-layer attack absorption, and application-layer attack blocking.
Pricing uses a free tier and monthly usage bands rather than conventional named plans. The paid tiers start at $1 per 10,000 requests for 500,000–10 million requests, then decrease to $0.50 for 10–50 million, $0.30 for 50–100 million, $0.16 for 100–500 million, $0.10 for 500 million–3 billion, $0.042 for 3–15 billion, and $0.015 beyond 15 billion requests. Each paid tier lists DDoS Protection, while the free tier also includes DDoS Protection. This structure suits organizations that want costs to track request volume and provides lower per-request pricing at higher usage levels.
Its strongest technical focus is coordinated mitigation across multiple attack layers. Continuous anomaly detection, mitigation in seconds, synchronized handling of multiple attacks, and visibility into DDoS events and rules support an always-on operating model. Zero-attack-fee billing for mitigated attack spikes also separates attack traffic from ordinary usage costs. Fastly DDoS Protection is a sensible choice for web and API teams seeking usage-based, edge-delivered coverage across network and application layers. Organizations specifically seeking an included web application firewall should consider a product with WAF functionality, since WAF is not included here.
Fastly DDoS Protection pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Covers both network-layer and application-layer attacks
- Near-real-time mitigation with continuous anomaly detection
- Zero-attack-fee billing for mitigated attack spikes
- Where it doesn't
- WAF protection is not included
- The free tier does not specify a request allowance
- Pricing is based on monthly request volume
Fastly DDoS Protection fact sheet, pricing and score →
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