Cloudflare vs Akamai Prolexic
Fourteen of fourteen models named Cloudflare first on the direct prompt; zero named Akamai Prolexic. Both were named by all fourteen models and Cloudflare carries 68 labels and Akamai Prolexic 48, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in seven categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the ddos protection page.
By framing
CloudflareFirst choices, of fourteen modelsAkamai Prolexic
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Cloudflare and Akamai Prolexic were named in the same answer 150 times, of the 496 answers naming Cloudflare and the 156 naming Akamai Prolexic. In those answers Akamai Prolexic took the first choice nine times and Cloudflare 111.
Every model, every framing
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | | |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | | ||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | ||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
Cloudflare Akamai Prolexic first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cloudflare on the left and Akamai Prolexic on the right.The direct prompt
Cloudflare first, Akamai Prolexic an alternative
14 of 14 modelsAkamai Prolexic was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
Cloudflare100%#1 of 9Akamai Prolexic0%#9 of 9Cloudflare94%#1 of 9Akamai Prolexic4%#2 of 9Cloudflare68%#1 of 9Akamai Prolexic23%#2 of 9What the models said about Cloudflare
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.
“A 2023 researcher demonstrated techniques to bypass their firewall/DDoS protection ... Heavy reliance on a single infrastructure creates concentration risk.” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“For most mid-sized B2B companies, I'd recommend starting with Cloudflare due to its balance of affordability, ease of deployment, and comprehensive protection” Claude Haiku 4.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“The best DDoS protection service for a company with a limited budget is Cloudflare, which offers a free version and a Pro plan starting at $20/month.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
“Often ranked #1 for overall value and ease of use... Start with your traffic sources (e.g., multi-cloud needs a neutral provider like Cloudflare).” Grok 4.20 · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about Akamai Prolexic
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“avoid enterprise services such as Akamai Prolexic, Imperva, or dedicated Radware deployments” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · hard negative
“its pricing is often described as unpredictable and very high (starting around $30,000/year), making it less suitable for organizations with budget constraints” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“Some of the services that are mentioned as being potentially problematic include Akamai Prolexic, AWS Shield, DDoS-Guard, and Azure DDoS Protection.” Llama 4 Maverick · negative prompt · soft negative
“a managed, cloud-based DDoS protection service (like Cloudflare, Akamai, or AWS Shield) is likely the best fit” MiniMax M2.5 · scale prompt · first choice
“Cloudflare (ease + unmetered) or Akamai Prolexic (enterprise managed rigor) are common starting points” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“If you are a massive Global Fortune 500: Akamai remains the gold standard for sheer capacity and bespoke support.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · alternative
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.