# Amazon CloudFront vs Akamai: which do AI models recommend for CDN, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Content delivery networks. One of fourteen models named Amazon CloudFront first on the direct prompt; zero named Akamai. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/network/content-delivery-networks/amazon-cloudfront-vs-akamai/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon CloudFront | 5% | #4 of 8 | 22% | 68 | 14 of 14 |
| Akamai | 2% | #6 of 8 | 38% | 48 | 14 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Claude Haiku 4.5: amazon cloudfront first (first choices: Amazon CloudFront, CDN77) (alternatives: Azure CDN, Cloudflare, Gcore)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Amazon CloudFront, Fastly)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Akamai, Amazon CloudFront)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Amazon CloudFront, Bunny.net, KeyCDN)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Amazon CloudFront, Bunny.net)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Amazon CloudFront, Bunny.net, Fastly)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Bunny.net, KeyCDN) (alternatives: Amazon CloudFront, Cloudflare)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Amazon CloudFront, Fastly)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Amazon CloudFront, Bunny.net, Fastly, KeyCDN)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Bunny.net, Fastly)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Bunny.net, KeyCDN)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: Bunny.net, KeyCDN) (alternatives: BlazingCDN)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: KeyCDN) (alternatives: BlazingCDN, Bunny.net, Cloudflare)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare) (alternatives: Bunny.net, Fastly, KeyCDN)

## What the models said about Amazon CloudFront

- "It's best to avoid unless you have strict cost controls and predictable traffic patterns." (Mistral Small, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "At 500 TB a month, Amazon CloudFront's North America list pricing works out to roughly $24,600 before request fees... The same bytes on a volume-tier CDN cost between $1,500 and $2,500." (Muse Glimmer 30B, scale prompt, soft negative)
- "Lambda@Edge is generally slower and more expensive to execute than Cloudflare Workers or Fastly's Compute@Edge, and AWS data transfer pricing can become complex and costly at scale" (Claude Haiku 4.5, comparative prompt, soft negative)
- "1. Amazon CloudFront - Best for companies already using AWS... If you're on AWS, go with CloudFront." (Mistral Small, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "For mid-market B2B specifically, CDN77 and CloudFront emerge as particularly well-suited options" (Claude Haiku 4.5, direct prompt, first choice)
- "I'd recommend evaluating Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai, and CloudFront first" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, scale prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Akamai

- "Avoid enterprise ones (Akamai, Fastly) as they're pricier." (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Avoid—too pricey/complex for mid-market." (Grok 4.1 Fast, direct prompt, hard negative)
- "traditionally complex to configure, slower to deploy changes, and usually the most expensive. Typically suited for very large enterprises" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt, soft negative)
- "One of the oldest and largest CDNs; handles ~30 %+ of internet traffic. ... Global scale & compliance: Akamai." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "I'd recommend evaluating Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai, and CloudFront first" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, scale prompt, first choice)
- "best when you need maximum resilience, compliance, and security depth, but it is generally positioned more toward large enterprises than mid-market teams" (Perplexity Sonar, direct prompt, alternative)

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. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.