Akamai Cloud: Tailored Linode Pricing & Hosting Solutions

At a Glance

Akamai Cloud was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. They specialize in providing cloud infrastructure and Linux-based virtual machines (VPS) with a developer-friendly focus, offering scalable storage, networking, and managed services. Their security model follows a “shared responsibility” approach: they secure the host hardware, infrastructure, and network, while users are responsible for securing their own applications and environments. Akamai Cloud also runs a private bug bounty program with HackerOne to reward vulnerability reports. Their mission centers around making the cloud simple, affordable, and accessible for developers and businesses that need reliable infrastructure without unnecessary complexity. In 2022, Akamai Cloud was acquired by Akamai Technologies, combining Akamai Cloud’s developer cloud expertise with Akamai’s global edge and security capabilities. Over the years, Akamai Cloud has earned recognition, such as being named one of the fastest-growing private companies by Inc. Magazine.

Features

Private networking and VPC setup: Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) lets you segment environments, while NAT gateways help control outbound traffic. This setup ensures better data privacy, improved internal communication, and robust security measures for critical workloads.

Built-in load balancing for uptime: The platform’s NodeBalancers actively monitor server health and automatically reroute traffic to functioning nodes. This guarantees high availability and reliable uptime, even during spikes in user activity or maintenance periods.

Integrated cloud firewall protection: Each plan includes a free, stateful firewall to safeguard your cloud servers and virtual instances. Create allow and deny rules, apply them across multiple deployments, and protect inbound and outbound traffic directly at the edge.

Multiple management tools: You have full flexibility in managing your cloud hosting services. Choose between the intuitive Cloud Manager dashboard, a command-line interface (CLI), or a complete API for automated workflows.

Global data center options: Deploy servers in different regions across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. These data center locations are built for lower latency and compliance with local hosting requirements.

Enterprise-grade AMD EPYC CPUs: Servers run on the latest AMD EPYC processors, offering exceptional speed and stability for CPU instances and compute-heavy workloads. These dedicated CPUs deliver predictable performance and are ideal for demanding use cases such as AI, machine learning, and large-scale web applications.

NVMe SSD storage: All cloud servers use fast NVMe storage, providing quicker reads, writes, and database access compared to older SSDs. This improves website performance, reduces page load times, and supports consistent performance during high-traffic or data-intensive operations.

24/7 customer and community support: Akamai Cloud provides round-the-clock access to an experienced support team and active community support forums. Whether you’re troubleshooting technical issues or learning best practices, you’ll always find help from experts who prioritize excellent customer support and provide guidance for your specific needs.

Plans & Pricing

Akamai Cloud hosting plans operate by offering virtual private servers (VPS) that you pay for based on the resources you select, including CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth. Akamai Cloud charges hourly usage rates up to a monthly cap, meaning you pay only for the time you use the server, but never more than the monthly maximum price for that plan. There are different types of plans to fit various needs: Shared CPU, Dedicated CPU, High Memory, and GPU plans.

Shared CPU plans: These plans are best suited for smaller projects, testing environments, and lightweight workloads. Pricing begins at $5 per month for the 1GB Nanode, which includes 1 GB of RAM, 1 shared vCPU, and 25 GB of storage. For larger needs, options scale up to $480 per month for a 192GB Linode with 192 GB of RAM, 32 CPU cores, and 3.8 TB of storage.

Dedicated CPU plans: Built for production workloads and applications that need consistent performance. These plans begin at $36 per month with 4 GB of RAM, 2 dedicated vCPUs, and 80 GB of SSD storage. The top-tier plan costs $2,880 per month, featuring 512 GB of RAM, 64 cores, and 7.2 TB of storage.

Premium plans: Designed for enterprise-level applications, these plans run on the latest AMD EPYC processors for consistent performance and reliability. Pricing starts at $43 per month for 4 GB of memory and 2 vCPUs and can reach $3,072 per month for 512 GB of memory and 64 vCPUs.

High memory plans: Optimized for applications that require large amounts of RAM, such as databases and big data processing. Prices start at $60 per month with 24 GB of RAM, 2 dedicated vCPUs, and 20 GB of storage. The largest plan costs $960 per month, offering 300 GB of RAM, 16 vCPUs, and 340 GB of storage. These plans provide a cost-effective way to run in-memory workloads.

GPU plans: Created for AI, machine learning, and rendering tasks that demand extreme processing power. Plans begin at $350 per month with 4 vCPUs, 16 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada GPU. For larger workloads, plans can reach $1,000 per month featuring an NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, 8 vCPUs, and 32 GB of memory. GPU plans enable fast parallel processing for compute-intensive operations.

Accelerated plans: Purpose-built for video processing, transcoding, and streaming workloads. Pricing starts at $280 per month and includes 8 dedicated vCPUs, 16 GB of RAM, and 200 GB of storage. The higher-tier plan costs $420 per month with 12 vCPUs, 24 GB of RAM, and 300 GB of storage. Backed by NETINT Quadra VPUs, these plans deliver efficient, hardware-accelerated video processing.

Pros

Built-in cost calculators and estimators

Akamai Cloud offers built-in pricing calculators that help you estimate monthly or hourly costs before deployment. You can adjust variables like CPU cores, RAM, and storage to find the most cost-efficient setup for your needs. This tool gives businesses full transparency and helps prevent unexpected billing.

Dedicated video processing units (VPUs)

For workloads involving streaming, rendering, or transcoding, Akamai Cloud’s dedicated VPUs provide optimized hardware acceleration. These units handle video encoding tasks faster and more efficiently than CPUs alone, reducing latency and bandwidth usage. They’re ideal for media platforms, video conferencing apps, and developers working on real-time content delivery.

Built-in monitoring for managed databases

Managed databases come with built-in monitoring tools that track performance metrics like CPU usage, query latency, and disk I/O in real time. You can set alerts to identify bottlenecks or resource spikes early, keeping your databases stable and responsive.

Plan choice that fits your build

Akamai Technologies offers a wide range of hosting plans designed for different workloads and budgets. For example, their 1GB Nanode plan starts at just $5 per month, making it ideal for small projects or testing environments. From there, options scale all the way up to high-performance plans like the 512GB Dedicated CPU or GPU plans that can exceed $1,000 per month, built for AI, rendering, and large-scale production workloads. This pricing flexibility lets users choose exactly how much power and storage their projects need.

Bug bounty program

Akamai’s bug bounty program, which includes Akamai Cloud’s infrastructure, rewards ethical hackers who responsibly report vulnerabilities. Hosted on HackerOne, it ensures continuous external testing across critical systems and services. This ongoing collaboration strengthens Akamai Cloud’s platform security and demonstrates a commitment to safeguarding user data against evolving threats.

Strong price-to-performance compared to competitors

They offer competitive hosting prices that often undercut providers like AWS and DigitalOcean for similar resources. Their plans include generous bandwidth and clear pricing with no hidden charges. Many users also highlight better performance and support at lower price points, making them a cost-effective choice for small to mid-sized projects.

Cons

Security feature gaps

While they offer core protections like firewalls and basic DDoS mitigation, some advanced security features are missing. For example, they don’t currently support stronger MFA methods, such as FIDO/WebAuthn. Users also point to limited built-in monitoring tools, which can make it harder to get detailed visibility without third-party integrations.

Their DDoS protection mainly targets large-scale attacks aimed at infrastructure. Smaller, more targeted incidents can still affect individual workloads. Several users reported that they needed to rely on third-party tools to handle lower-scale or application-layer attacks effectively.

Feature availability varies by region

Not every service is offered across all data center locations. Object Storage and VPC, for example, are only available in select regions. Community reports and official documentation confirm that Object Storage is limited to a handful of regions, and VPC isn’t fully supported everywhere. This can complicate deployment strategies for users needing multi-region infrastructure or feature consistency.

No formal money-back guarantee

They don’t offer a standard refund policy like many hosting providers. Refunds are handled case by case, which can make it harder for new users to try the service without financial risk.

Customer Reviews

Akamai Cloud’s customer feedback is mixed, showing a split between long-term users who value reliability and new customers who report sign-up and support issues. On Trustpilot, Akamai holds a low average rating of 2 out of 5, mostly due to complaints about account verification and downtime. In contrast, G2 reviewers rate them 4.5 out of 5, emphasizing strong server performance, user-friendly tools, and dependable uptime.

Positive reviews

Many customers praise Akamai Cloud for their consistent uptime, fast deployments, and stable server performance. Users often mention that even smaller VPS plans deliver excellent speed and scalability for their projects. For example, one reviewer said the service was “easy to use, reliable, and backed by responsive support.” Another customer running a Kubernetes cluster noted that deploying new nodes takes just one to two minutes, outperforming major competitors like AWS. Others highlight Akamai's clear pricing and strong documentation, with one user describing it as “the simplest cloud platform to scale without unnecessary complications.”

Negative reviews

The most common complaints focus on account rejections, poor onboarding experiences, and delayed support responses. Several new users report that their accounts were flagged as fraudulent during sign-up, even after submitting valid information and payment details. One user described receiving a suspension email within minutes of signing up, while another lost access to servers during a 22-hour downtime that affected business operations. Some customers also express concerns about billing issues, including unexpected charges after they have canceled services. Others mention slow communication and difficulty reaching support when dealing with technical problems or account cancellations.

How Can I Contact Akamai Cloud?

Whether you’re planning a large cloud deployment, exploring migration options, or looking for volume discounts, the Akamai Cloud (Akamai) team is ready to assist. You can reach their sales department directly at sales@linode.com. For technical support, billing inquiries, or general questions, visit their Support Page or email support@linode.com to connect with a representative. For direct communication, you can call their sales team at U.S. 844-869-6072 or Global +1-609-380-7103.

To report a security concern, contact security@linode.com and encrypt your message using their PGP key. Any instances of abuse originating from the Akamai network can be reported through their Abuse Report Form, ideally with relevant logs included. Stay connected and informed by following Akamai Cloud on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Conclusion

Akamai Cloud was founded in 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is now part of Akamai Technologies. They’ve built their name on being a developer-friendly cloud hosting provider that focuses on simplicity, transparent pricing, and strong performance.

Their biggest strengths include predictable pricing, powerful AMD EPYC CPUs with NVMe SSDs, and a range of plans to match different workloads. They also offer practical tools, including built-in load balancing, private networking, and VPC setup, as well as monitoring for managed databases and multiple ways to manage servers. Their bug bounty program reinforces their commitment to security.

While long-term customers highlight solid uptime and good value, new users often report onboarding issues, strict account verification, and slower response times from support. Akamai Cloud also offers fewer fully managed services compared to larger providers, which can make it less beginner-friendly.

If you’re still weighing your options after learning about Akamai, there’s more to explore. Check out our top hosting services list to compare other strong providers. You can also use our comparison tool to find the best fit for your needs and browse our blog for practical hosting guides.