2 categories · RankedAWS Shield
AWS Shield is a managed DDoS protection service from AWS that protects networks and applications by analyzing network security configurations · aws.amazon.com ↗
Read the same way at every company size.
The standing depends on who is buying. Every model is asked the same questions for each company size.
Cloudflare is first at 100%.
Cloudflare is first at 94%. 0 of 14 models made it the first choice when asked directly.
Cloudflare is first at 68%.
Why models recommend it
“a managed, cloud-based DDoS protection service (like Cloudflare, Akamai, or AWS Shield) is likely the best fit”MiniMax M2.5 · Scale-constrained question · first choice
“Choose AWS Shield Advanced, Azure DDoS Protection, or Google Cloud Armor when most workloads already reside in the corresponding cloud”Perplexity Sonar · Comparative question · alternative
“Best for AWS Users: AWS Shield Standard ... Caveat: It does *not* protect against sophisticated application-layer (Layer 7) attacks.”Qwen 3.7 Flash · Budget-constrained question · alternative
“Start with established players like Cloudflare (cost-effective for mid-size), Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, or AWS Shield.”Grok 4.20 · Scale-constrained question · alternative
What gives them pause
“Avoid *AWS Shield Advanced*, as it costs a minimum of $3,000/month.”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Budget-constrained question · warning
“These free, basic tiers are often criticized for limited capacity and failing to handle large-scale or sophisticated attacks.”Mistral Small · Negative question · warning
“mentioned as being potentially problematic include Akamai Prolexic, AWS Shield, DDoS-Guard, and Azure DDoS Protection”Llama 4 Maverick · Negative question · warning
“Note: AWS Shield Advanced costs $3,000/month + 1-year commitment”Kimi K2 · Budget-constrained question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as AWS Shield, over the 182 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 173 | 143 | Compare → | |
| 137 | 11 | Compare → | |
| 94 | 2 | View → | |
| 81 | 1 | View → | |
| 75 | 0 | View → | |
| 47 | 0 | View → | |
| 35 | 0 | View → | |
| 34 | 0 | View → | |
| 17 | 0 | View → | |
| 12 | 0 | View → |
What the models named instead of AWS Shield →
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
At a glance
Stated on AWS Shield's own site, not checked by Gane.
- For
- your subscription to AWS Shield Advanced
- Price stated
- AWS Shield Standard is built into the AWS services that you already use for your web applications. There are no additional costs for AWS Shield Standard. With AWS Shield Advanced, you pay a monthly fee of $3,000 per month per organization. In addition, you also pay for AWS Shield Advanced Data Transfer usage fees for AWS resources enabled for advanced protection. During the preview period, AWS Shield network security director will be available at no additional cost.
- Starting price
- 3000
- Free plan or trial
- AWS Shield Standard has no additional costs; AWS Shield network security director will be available at no additional cost during the preview period
- Hosting
- US East (N. Virginia), Europe (Stockholm), Northern Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, Northern California, Montreal, São Paulo
- Also from AWS
- AWS ACM, AWS ALB/ELB, AWS ALB/NLB, AWS API Gateway HTTP APIs, AWS Amazon Aurora, AWS App Runner and 84 more
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 154 of the 182 answers that named AWS Shield and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
457 of the 457 domain citations in answers naming AWS Shield came from a third party's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |