Curated Supplier · Edge Security · Developer-First Edge

Fastly — edge security that moves at developer cadence.

Edge cloud platform with Next-Gen WAF, Bot Management, DDoS protection, API Security, and Client-Side Protection — purpose-built for organizations where developers and security work tightly together and iteration speed matters. Nearly 90% of Next-Gen WAF customers run it in full blocking mode, which says everything about how customers actually trust the detections.

What Fastly actually does.

Fastly's security suite sits on the same edge cloud platform their CDN runs on. The Next-Gen WAF is delivered as edge service or on-prem, with confidence levels high enough that nearly 90% of customers actually use it in full blocking mode — most WAFs sit in monitor-only because their false positive rates are too high. Bot Management, API Security, DDoS protection, and Client-Side Protection layer onto the same edge fabric. The differentiator vs Akamai is developer experience: Fastly's API-first model, observability, and Compute@Edge integration are where developer-led organizations gravitate.

Capabilities · A short list

Next-Gen WAF Edge or on-prem deployment, used in full blocking mode by ~90% of customers. SmartParse approach reduces false positives below traditional WAFs.
Bot Management Behavioral and fingerprinting-based bot mitigation at the edge. Detects and blocks automated abuse without manual tuning hell.
API Security Discovery, schema validation, abuse detection across REST and GraphQL. API surface is now the larger attack surface — Fastly treats it that way.
DDoS Protection Global edge mitigation at L3/4 and L7 — distributed scrubbing, no scrubbing center routing.
Client-Side Protection Defends against client-side attacks (Magecart, formjacking) and addresses PCI v4 client-side requirements.
Compute@Edge Edge compute platform alongside security — security teams and platform teams using the same infrastructure.

Who this fits.

Best Fit

Digital-native CISO at e-commerce / SaaS / modern media org

Developer and security teams work tightly together, iteration speed matters, and the modern edge stack is part of your operational identity.

Strong Fit

API-heavy organizations

Your attack surface is more API than web. Fastly's API Security and observability are real differentiators here.

Mixed Fit

Enterprises with deep Akamai investment

Switching costs are real. Worth briefing as a layered or migration play rather than rip-and-replace.

Less Likely

Public sector / heavy regulatory footprints

Akamai's scale and regulatory recognition still wins in deeply regulated spaces. Brief Akamai there.

How Fastly sits against the field.

This page

Fastly

Developer-first edge security
Next-Gen WAF — ~90% in full blocking mode
API Security and Bot Management built in
Edge compute alongside security
Strong fit: digital-native organizations

Adjacent

Akamai

Enterprise scale + regulator-grade brand
Adds Guardicore microsegmentation
Wins on traditional / regulated enterprises
Available through our sourcing network
Comparative brief is the right move

Different shape

Netacea

Bot management + ATO defense specialist
Intent analytics beyond bundled WAF/Bot
Often layered on top of edge platforms
Available through our sourcing network
Right tool when bot/ATO is THE problem