DDoS Protection Services: 10 Providers Compared by Model, Attack Layers and Pricing

A distributed denial-of-service attack floods a service with traffic or requests until legitimate users cannot get through. The CISA guidance on denial-of-service attacks describes how such attacks exhaust bandwidth, connection tables or application resources, and why a plan must exist before an incident.

SaaSPodium lists ten DDoS protection products. This guide explains the service models, compares the listed products on deployment and pricing data we hold, and gives a selection method. It extends our earlier roundup of DDoS protection tools with a focus on how each service model behaves under attack.

Prices are the starting figures shown in SaaSPodium listings as of November 2026. Most enterprise DDoS contracts are negotiated, so treat "not published" as a signal to request a quote, not as free.

The four DDoS protection service models

Every service uses one of four models: always-on cloud scrubbing, on-demand diversion, edge or CDN absorption, or on-premises appliances. Each trades response speed, cost and control differently, so match the model to your architecture.

Always-on cloud scrubbing

All traffic flows through the provider's scrubbing network, which filters attacks continuously. Response is near-instant because there is no switchover, but you accept an extra network hop and a higher recurring fee.

On-demand diversion

Traffic reaches you normally until an attack is detected, then routing is changed, commonly through BGP, to send traffic to scrubbing centers. It costs less, but diversion takes time, so confirm the mitigation start commitment in the contract.

Edge and CDN absorption

Web-facing applications sit behind a distributed edge network that absorbs floods across many locations. It protects HTTP and DNS traffic well, but it does not protect raw network ranges unless the provider offers an IP protection product.

On-premises and hybrid appliances

Hardware or virtual appliances inspect traffic at your data center and often pair with a cloud service for volumetric overflow. They suit regulated or latency-sensitive environments but cannot absorb attacks larger than your own uplinks.

Attack types a service must handle

DDoS attacks target three layers: volumetric floods that fill bandwidth, protocol attacks that exhaust connection state, and application attacks that overload web servers. Ask any vendor how it handles each layer separately.

• Volumetric: UDP and amplification floods measured in bits per second, stopped by sheer scrubbing capacity.
• Protocol: SYN floods and similar abuse of TCP state, described in RFC 4987, stopped by SYN cookies and stateful filtering.
• Application layer: HTTP request floods that look legitimate, stopped by behavior analysis, rate limiting and challenge mechanisms.

Ten services compared

These summaries use SaaSPodium listing data and each vendor's published positioning. Verify capacity, mitigation timing and support terms with the vendor, because they change and are usually contract specific.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare protects web properties through its global edge network, and SaaSPodium lists a starting price of $200 as of November 2026. It is a common choice for websites and APIs that want DDoS defense bundled with CDN and security features. Vendor site: Cloudflare DDoS protection. See the SaaSPodium listing.

• Model: edge and reverse proxy.
• Fit: web applications, APIs and DNS.
• Pricing: published entry price, with custom plans above it.

AWS Shield Advanced and Google Cloud Armor

Both are tied to their cloud platforms. AWS Shield Advanced is listed from $3,000 and protects resources running on AWS, while Google Cloud Armor protects workloads behind Google Cloud load balancers. See AWS Shield Advanced and Google Cloud Armor.

• Model: provider-native protection integrated with the cloud network.
• Fit: teams whose workloads already live on that cloud.
• Limit: they do not cover assets hosted elsewhere.

Akamai Prolexic, Imperva and Nexusguard

These are cloud-delivered services built around scrubbing networks and managed support. They target enterprises that need protection for whole network ranges and want a vendor security operations team involved. See Akamai Prolexic, Imperva DDoS Protection and Nexusguard.

• Model: cloud scrubbing, with always-on or on-demand options depending on contract.
• Fit: enterprises and service providers with critical uptime targets.
• Pricing: quote-based.

F5 Distributed Cloud DDoS and Fastly

Both combine DDoS mitigation with application delivery and edge platforms. They suit organizations that want protection in the same fabric that serves their applications and APIs. See F5 Distributed Cloud DDoS and Fastly.

• Model: edge and application delivery platforms.
• Fit: API-heavy and cloud-native applications.
• Pricing: contract or usage based.

Radware DefensePro and Arbor Networks

These two list on-premises and hardware appliance deployment, with cloud options for overflow. They fit operators and enterprises that need inline detection at their own network edge. See Radware DefensePro and Arbor Networks.

• Model: inline appliances plus cloud scrubbing for large attacks.
• Fit: carriers, data centers and regulated enterprises.
• Pricing: capital cost for hardware plus service subscriptions.

What an outage costs and how to justify the spend

Budget approval is easier when you quantify downtime. Multiply the likelihood of an attack by the cost of each hour offline and the hours it takes to recover, then compare the result with the annual service fee.

Cost per hour should include lost revenue, SLA credits and staff time. If expected loss exceeds the annual fee for a service, the service pays for itself. Use realistic attack frequency from your own logs and industry peers, not worst-case guesses.

How to choose a DDoS protection service

Start with what you protect, then where it lives, then how fast you need mitigation. A web app behind a CDN needs a different service than a data center with its own IP ranges and BGP routing.

1. Map assets: web apps, APIs, DNS, VPN gateways and whole IP ranges.
2. Decide whether always-on or on-demand fits your risk and budget.
3. Ask for mitigation time commitments, scrubbing capacity and per-layer coverage in writing.
4. Check integrations with your SIEM and incident tooling, and plan a test run.
5. Write a runbook for who declares an incident and who contacts the provider.

Pair DDoS protection with application security controls. See the DDoS Protection Software category for all listed products.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does DDoS protection cost?
Pricing ranges from published entry plans to negotiated enterprise contracts. SaaSPodium lists Cloudflare from $200 and AWS Shield Advanced from $3,000 as of November 2026, while most other services quote by bandwidth, protected assets and support level.

Should I choose always-on or on-demand DDoS protection?
Choose always-on when downtime is costly and attacks are frequent, because mitigation starts instantly. Choose on-demand when budget is tight and you can tolerate a short delay while traffic is diverted. Get the mitigation start time committed in the contract.

Can my cloud provider's built-in protection replace a dedicated DDoS service?
Often yes for workloads that live entirely on that cloud, since provider-native services integrate with its network. Hybrid or multi-cloud environments, or protection of on-premises IP ranges, usually need a provider-independent service as well.