How Much Does Akamai CDN Charge Per GB?

Akamai’s per-GB pricing varies significantly based on volume, geography, and services included. From historical data (because Akamai does not publicly reveal its pricing; the contracts are custom):

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• 0–10 TB per month: ~$0.049 per GB
• 10–50 TB per month: ~$0.045 per GB
• 50+ TB per month: Custom bulk discounts (as low as $0.035 per GB in some cases).

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This estimate doesn’t include additional charges like midgress traffic, WAF (Web Application Firewall), DNS, or edge-specific operations.

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Let’s dive deeper to understand how these rates are determined and what factors influence them.

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The Basics

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Akamai charges customers based on multiple factors, making it difficult to provide a one-size-fits-all number. Here's how their pricing is typically structured:

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Base Rates (Per-GB Costs)

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• Smaller data volumes (up to 10 TB) start at around $0.049 per GB.
• Larger data volumes (50+ TB) benefit from custom-negotiated discounts, which can reduce rates to $0.035 per GB or lower.

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The per-GB cost generally decreases as data usage increases, reflecting economies of scale.

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Contract-Based Pricing

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Akamai requires contracts, usually with a minimum 12-month commitment. Each contract is tailored based on:

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• Data volume: Higher usage typically reduces per-GB rates.
• Geographic distribution: Serving data in high-cost regions like Asia or South America incurs higher rates.
• Services bundled: Features like WAF, DNS, or edge computing are often added, which increases the overall cost.

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Key Billing Components

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Akamai’s contracts are detailed and include specific billing terms for various aspects of their services. Here’s a breakdown:

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Data Transfer

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• Primary cost driver: Traffic delivered from Akamai’s edge servers to end users.
• Geo Pricing: Content served from different regions incurs different costs. For example:some text
  • North America/Europe: Base rate applies (e.g., $0.045 per GB for medium volumes).
  • Asia or South America: 10–20% higher due to infrastructure and ISP costs.

Midgress Traffic

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• This refers to traffic between Akamai’s midgress servers and edge servers.
• Charged as an additional fee, typically at the same rate as regular traffic.

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Additional Service Costs

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Beyond basic traffic delivery, Akamai offers optional services that are billed separately:

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• Web Application Firewall (WAF): Charged on a per-application or per-user basis.some text
  • Typical costs: $1,000–$5,000/month for enterprise-grade protection.
• Edge DNS: Costs depend on query volume.some text
  • Estimated at ~$0.10 per million queries for large-scale usage.
• EdgeWorkers (Edge Computing):some text
  • Billed per event (e.g., JavaScript execution on edge servers).
  • Starts at $0.15 per 1,000 invocations.
• EdgeKV (Storage):some text
  • Charged for reads, writes, and storage in GB.
  • Pricing depends on usage, typically lower than traditional cloud storage costs.

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Historical Pricing Examples

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Let’s apply these components to real-world scenarios based on historical contracts:

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Scenario 1: (5 TB/month)

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• Data Transfer: 5 TB @ $0.049 per GB = $250.
• Total: $250/month.

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Scenario 2: (25 TB/month)

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• Data Transfer: 25 TB @ $0.045 per GB = $1,125.
• Midgress Traffic: Assume 10% of traffic as midgress @ $0.045 = $112.50.
• Geo Pricing: 20% of traffic delivered in Asia @ $0.054 = $270.
• Total: $1,507.50/month.

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Scenario 3: (100 TB/month)

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• Data Transfer: 100 TB @ $0.035 per GB = $3,500.
• Additional Services: WAF @ $2,000/month, DNS @ $0.10 per million queries = $500.
• Total: $6,000/month (approx.).
  
  

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Why Akamai’s Pricing is Premium

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Akamai’s pricing reflects their market-leading position:

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• Global Reach: Akamai’s servers are in more regions than most competitors, ensuring faster delivery and reliability.
• Scale: Handles over 150 million DNS queries per second and 22 million requests per second at their edge servers.
• Advanced Features: Add-ons like WAF, DNS, and edge computing provide enterprise-grade security and performance.

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Akamai’s pricing model is highly customizable, with base rates starting at $0.035–$0.049 per GB depending on volume and geography. Additional charges for midgress traffic, and optional services like WAF or Edge DNS can significantly increase costs. 

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The 12-month minimum contract means it’s essential to carefully assess your usage patterns and negotiate terms tailored to your needs.

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