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Akamai Cloud Computing vs. Amazon Elastic Transcoder vs. Google Compute Engine

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Akamai Cloud Computing

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/AAkamai Cloud Computing (formerly Linode) include scalable and accessible Linux cloud solutions and services. These products and services support developers and enterprises as they build, deploy, secure, and scale applications.

    $5

    per month

    Amazon Elastic Transcoder

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AThe Amazon Elastic Transcoder from AWS is a cloud-based media transcoding service available to AWS users which is priced on the volume of media transcoded by minute and the media's resolution. The service is scalable and anticipates transcoding of very large files or high volumes of files.

    $0

    per minute

    Google Compute Engine

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Compute Engine is an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) product from Google Cloud. It provides virtual machines with carbon-neutral infrastructure which run on the same data centers that Google itself uses.

    $0

    per month GB

    Pricing
    Akamai Cloud ComputingAmazon Elastic TranscoderGoogle Compute Engine
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Audio Only
    $0.0045
    per minute
    Less than 720p
    $0.015
    per minute
    720p and above
    $0.03
    per minute
    Preemptible Price - Predefined Memory
    0.000892 / GB
    Hour
    Three-year commitment price - Predefined Memory
    $0.001907 / GB
    Hour
    One-year commitment price - Predefined Memory
    $0.002669 / GB
    Hour
    On-demand price - Predefined Memory
    $0.004237 / GB
    Hour
    Preemptible Price - Predefined vCPUs
    0.006655 / vCPU
    Hour
    Three-year commitment price - Predefined vCPUS
    $0.014225 / CPU
    Hour
    One-year commitment price - Predefined vCPUS
    $0.019915 / vCPU
    Hour
    On-demand price - Predefined vCPUS
    $0.031611 / vCPU
    Hour
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Akamai Cloud ComputingAmazon Elastic TranscoderGoogle Compute Engine
    Free Trial
    YesYesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsCPU, transfer, storage, and RAM are bundled into one price. Storage capacity can be increased with additional Block Storage or S3-compatible Object Storage. Instant Backups can be added with complete independence to the stack. Linode NodeBalancers ensure applications are available.Amazon Elastic Transcoder offers a monthly free usage tier. The free tier consists of: 20 minutes of free audio-only output per month, 20 minutes of free SD output per month and 10 minutes of free HD output per month. Once you exceed the number of minutes in this free usage tier, you will be charged at the prevailing rates.Prices vary according to region (i.e US central, east, & west time zones). Google Compute Engine also offers a discounted rate for a 1 & 3 year commitment.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Akamai Cloud ComputingAmazon Elastic TranscoderGoogle Compute Engine
    Considered Multiple Products
    Akamai
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    I am still evaluating DigitalOcean Droplets as their pricepoint has moved more towards Linode, but so far I am leaning back towards Linode. They also don't have the GPU machines. But they do have a wider range of options for CPU. At present if you do lscpu on Linode it lists …
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    Linode often offers the most competitive pricing on regular usage.
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    Linode has a very competitive price.
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    Linode provides easier and more understandable pricing and value. I never have to wonder or estimate the month's costs or have any surprises. Linode also is more logically laid out and easy to get things set up and running quickly.
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    DigitalOcean had very bad communication both internally and externally. Vultr had good features but could not answer questions about Spectre/Meltdown with any specificity. EC2 and GCE's unpredictable costs and higher bandwidth fees make them annoying or expensive for most of my …
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    Google Computer Engine: it is too expensive. You have to pay for computing resources (CPU, memory), storage, network traffic individually. While the quality of service is good, it's still with the same level of Linode.

    Amazon Web Services: it's more affordable, comparable to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    For simple VMs or Kubernetes, Linode is cheaper and it also has consistently good performance. As long as this is what you need, you get all you'd want.
    AWS and GCP shine when you need their other services. Oracle Cloud was bare bone and expensive. Droplets are easy to start …
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    Red Hat OpenShift was the first product I used and it was fantastic--until they changed to a container model and kicked everyone of the previous model. From there I moved to Linode and haven't looked back. You have much more control but it does mean you need to keep on top of a …
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    Compared to the "big three" cloud providers, Linode does not have the enormous range of service offerings that they do. I would not attempt to build the next Instagram on Linode. But for companies that simply want a straight-forward cloud provider, they're definitely our …
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    One of our clients was previously hosted on Rackspace, then Google Cloud Services. Their Rackspace services were very expensive and provided little in the way of migration or management. After re-engineering their deployment, we migrated them to Google Cloud Services (GCS) …
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    I have used DigitalOcean once, the price is quite the same but the support I am getting from Linode is more valuable than DigitalOcean.
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    Linode is very similar to DigitalOcean. Linode pricing for my use case was the determinant factor for choosing it.
    Incentivized
    Chose Akamai Cloud Computing
    There are a lot of very good cloud operations. Linode, for us represents a good offering. It offers a simple way to control infrastructure, without being overly simplified. For us, it was a good median giving us the flexibility to explore, experiment and still build for scale. …
    Incentivized
    Amazon AWS
    No answer on this topic
    Google
    Chose Google Compute Engine
    Google Compute Engine provides on-demand computing resources that are easy to scale up or down according to my organization needs. This allows our business to quickly adapt to changes in demand without having to invest in additional hardware. It also offers a very competitive …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    65 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Would buy again
    45 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    65 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    44 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    65 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    61 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    64 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    41 Answers
    Features
    Akamai Cloud ComputingAmazon Elastic TranscoderGoogle Compute Engine
    Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
    Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Akamai Cloud Computing and Amazon Elastic Transcoder and Google Compute Engine
    Feature
    Akamai Cloud Computing
    -
    Ratings
    Amazon Elastic Transcoder
    9.2
    3 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Google Compute Engine
    8.0
    65 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime00 Ratings10.02 Ratings8.125 Ratings
    Dynamic scaling00 Ratings10.02 Ratings7.860 Ratings
    Elastic load balancing00 Ratings9.53 Ratings9.353 Ratings
    Pre-configured templates00 Ratings9.03 Ratings9.562 Ratings
    Monitoring tools00 Ratings9.53 Ratings3.026 Ratings
    Pre-defined machine images00 Ratings8.02 Ratings9.464 Ratings
    Operating system support00 Ratings9.03 Ratings8.365 Ratings
    Security controls00 Ratings8.03 Ratings9.163 Ratings
    Automation00 Ratings9.52 Ratings7.92 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Akamai Cloud ComputingAmazon Elastic TranscoderGoogle Compute Engine
    Small Businesses
    IBM Cloud Object Storage
    Score9 out of 10
    IBM Cloud Object Storage
    Score9 out of 10
    IBM Cloud Object Storage
    Score9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
    Score8.7 out of 10
    IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
    Score8.7 out of 10
    IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP on IBM Cloud
    Score9 out of 10
    SAP on IBM Cloud
    Score9 out of 10
    SAP on IBM Cloud
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Akamai Cloud ComputingAmazon Elastic TranscoderGoogle Compute Engine
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.1
    (218 ratings)
    8.5
    (3 ratings)
    8.9
    (65 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.2
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.9
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (22 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.6
    (28 ratings)
    Performance
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (28 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (217 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (10 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.3
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Akamai Cloud ComputingAmazon Elastic TranscoderGoogle Compute Engine
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Akamai
    Akamai Connected Cloud Linode would be a good service to host a content delivery network (CDN) because of its edge network but I'd prefer not to use Akamai Connected Cloud Linode for tasks that need GPU power such as Machine Learning or Artificial Intelligence (AI) because Akamai Connected Cloud Linode lacks deep GPU compute compared to AWS or Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    It is well suited in a large setting where people use different file formats and various apps to record and transfer their audio or video files across devices. In such scenarios, the transcoder would of real help to eliminate the hassle of converting the files into desired formats for viewing or doing some other analysis.
    The transcoder would not be of much use if all the files have the same format and does not need any conversion from their source file formats. It would prove costly and not useful if it's just an additional step that is of no particular use
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    You can use Google Cloud Compute Engine as an option to configure your Gitlab, GitHub, and Azure DevOps self-hosted runners. This allows full control and management of your runners rather than using the default runners, which you cannot manage. Additionally, they can be used as a workspace, which you can provide to the employees, where they can test their workloads or use them as a local host and then deploy to the actual production-grade instance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Akamai
    • It's super easy-to-use - set up a complete virtual environment in a few minutes.
    • Linode is the ONLY service I know that will let you DOWNSIZE a VM - super useful.
    • The price is right - spin up any size server and add additional block storage if needed.
    • Object memory is cheap and integrates very well with S3 CLIs and applications.
    • I've been very happy with the knowledgeable and friendly customer service.
    • The more recent additions of a firewall and Kubernetes is a welcome plus.
    • The load balancer ("Load Balancer") service is easy to spin up and configure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    • Works at scale, you can can transcode a high number of videos at the same time.
    • Supports a good number of formats.
    • Good integration with AWS S3 and other AWS Services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Scaling - whether it's traffic spikes or just steady growth, Google Compute Engine's auto-scaling makes sure we've got the compute power we need without any manual juggling acts
    • Load balancing - Keeping things smooth with that load balancing across multiple VMs, so our users don't have to deal with slow load times or downtime even when things get crazy busy
    • Customizability - Mix and match configs for CPU, RAM, storage and whatnot to suit our specific app needs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Akamai
    • Some of the documentation requires some hand-holding to get started. It does explain how to do things, but sometimes finding the answer takes work.
    • Some of the settings are not obvious, or in locations that are not completely clear without experience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    • Amazon Elastic Transcoder requires a fair amount of setup.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • Built-in monitoring via Stackdriver is quite expensive for what it provides.
    • Initially provided quotas (ie. max compute units one can use) are very low and it took several requests to get an appropriate amount.
    • Support on GCE is limited to their knowledge base and forums. For more hands-on support provided by Google, you must pay for their Premium services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Akamai
    I've been with them a long time. They provide me with the capabilities I need coupled with knowledgeable support that's not pay-for-extra. However, if I move to a non-Linux OS, the level of support by necessity will drop off. I can still ask questions about the infrastructure but I my ability to ask about OS features will decrease.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    Its pretty good, easy and good performance. Also, interface is very good for starters compared to competitors. Infra as Code (IaC) using Terraform even added easiness for creation, management and deletion of compute Virtual Machines (VM). Overall, very good and very easy cloud based compute platform which simplified infrastructure, very much recommend.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Akamai
    Simple and clear, no BS interface. From a design perspective it's no Apple or Stripe, but it does what it needs without making me want to stick a fork in my eyes, like when being forced to use Azure, AWS or GCP.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    Having interacted with several cloud services, GCE stands out to me as more usable than most. The naming and locating of features is a little more intuitive than most I've interacted with, and hinting is also quite helpful. Getting staff up to speed has proven to be overall less painful than others.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Akamai
    There is very little planned downtime. Whenever planned downtime is necessary I'm always given lots of advanced notice and an explanation that I can pass along to my users that they'll understand. I really appreciate that Linode appreciates my commitment to reliable service to my users. It shows that they believe they've been successful when I'm successful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    Google Compute Engine works well for cloud project with lesser geographical audience. It sometimes gives error while everything is set up perfectly. We also keep on check any updates available because that's one reason of site getting down. Google Compute Engine is ultimately a top solution to build an app and publish it online within a few minutes
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Akamai
    Servers are well dimensioned and price performant. Of course one always wants more, so if they were to upgrade their hardware for the same price I'd consider moving more workloads. Networking - never had an issue. Hardware speeds - disks are fast and can grow to great size.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    It works great all the time except for occasional issues, but overall, I am very happy with the performance. It delivers on the promise it makes and as per the SLAs provided. Networking is great with a premium network, and AZs are also widespread across geographies. Overall, it is a great infra item to have, which you can scale as you want.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Akamai
    Support was excellent and fast. The documentation is extensive and helpful. I learned many things from their online documentation. I did not contact them by phone, but email took a day or less. Complex problems would probably need a service contract. I liked the friendly and polite tone of the support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    Support for Amazon Elastic Transcoder is the same as any other service within AWS. If you are familiar with AWS, it is easy to start using Elastic Transcoder
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • The documentation needs to be better for intermediate users - There are first steps that one can easily follow, but after that, the documentation is often spotty or not in a form where one can follow the steps and accomplish the task. Also, the documentation and the product often go out of sync, where the commands from the documentation do not work with the current version of the product.
    • Google support was great and their presence on site was very helpful in dealing with various issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Akamai
    We got kick started with an initial walkthrough along with some free credits. The initial walkthrough helped us to understand Linode's ecosystem and start our hands on with Linode. We tried out some apps from Marketplace initially with the free credits, which not only helped us understand Linode better, but also those apps. We had implemented many such apps to our customers with Linode
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Akamai
    We're a small organization. The implementation of our Linode solution was trivial. Once I justified a cloud server to my bosses over a co-location -- the co-lo wasn't as fast as our linode server in load tests -- it was a matter of moving one Linux implementation to another. Trivial.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Akamai
    We switched to Linode from Namecheap due to poor uptime, and never had any issues with stability ever again after switching. We also cut our costs in half by switching. We compared Linode to DigitalOcean and Vultr, with the primary factor that caused us to go with Linode initially being their documentation. After using Linode for 3 years, their amazing support is another reason why we wouldn't consider anyone else at this point.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    Amazon Elastic Transcoder is in a league of its own when compared to other alternatives in the market. The most noticeable competitor would be either Microsoft or Adobe or Google. When I had a chance to compare Azure products and Amazon products, the difference is obvious and the experience provided by both the products are very different in terms of user experience and interaction with the application. The cost and availability also were taken into consideration when choosing between the two shortlisted choices. So we went with Amazon's product as it is widely used and has support and maintenance which is basically better than the competition.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    Google Compute Engine provides a one stop solution for all the complex features and the UI is better than Amazon's EC2 and Azure Machine Learning for ease of usability. It's always good to have an eco-system of products from Google as it's one of the most used search engine and IoT services provider, which helps with ease of integration and updates in the future.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Akamai
    Although I use only a fraction of their product offerings, the total set makes scalability an easy goal to shoot for. As I said, I have a few customers that use the services my Linode provides...and I like it that way. However, should I need to scale up, I can...without incurring any more cost than I need to.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Google
    It works really well with other Google Cloud services, making it easy to build scalable solutions across different teams and locations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Akamai
    • With the partnership of Linode, Configr is today the best performance hosting solution in Brazil.
    • With Linode, Configr can provide a PaaS solution without the cost of taking care of all the infrastructure issues such as IaaS.
    • Linode allowed Configr to be one of the biggest hosting companies in Brazil.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Amazon AWS
    • Less time for integration with this service if you are already in AWS stack
    • No real time transcoding is a negative
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    • With Google Compute we don't have the overhead of managing our own data centers reducing costs and reducing the staff needed to manage systems.
    • As I said earlier, Google's costs are ~1/2 of AWS, so we are able to see a ROI much faster.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Akamai Cloud Computing Screenshots

    Screenshot of the interface to manage all LinodesScreenshot of the Cloud Manager used to create Linode instances, manage Kubernetes clusters, add backups to Linodes, deploy Marketplace Apps, or create Object Storage buckets.Screenshot of the fully-managed container orchestration engine to deploy Kubernetes clusters.Screenshot of dedicated CPU instances that run on their own CPU cores. No sharing the processor with other instances.

    Google Compute Engine Screenshots

    Screenshot of How to choose the right VM
With thousands of applications, each with different requirements, which VM is right for you?Screenshot of documentation, guides, and reference architectures
Migration Center is Google Cloud's unified migration platform with features like cloud spend estimation, asset discovery, and a variety of tooling for different migration scenarios.