Linode (Akamai) vs Rackspace Technology: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Linode (Akamai)
- Wins in 3 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Performance, Best for Beginners
- 4.0/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Linode (Akamai)
$5.00/mo vs $Infinity/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Linode (Akamai)
99.99% uptime, 4.0/5 rating
Best Support
Tie
Similar support options
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
Tie
Similar developer features
Best for Beginners
Linode (Akamai)
Higher ease of use score (6.0/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Cloud Infrastructure | Cloud Infrastructure |
| Monthly Price | $5.00/mo | — |
| Renewal Price | $5.00 | — |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 4.0/5 | 3.0/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 100% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 2.0/5 | 1.2/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 202 | 286 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $60.00 | $2388.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $60.00 | $2388.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 7 days | — |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 0 months | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 25 GB | — |
| Storage Type | SSD/NVME | SSD/HDD (VARIES BY PLAN) |
| Bandwidth | 1000 GB | — |
| Max Websites | — | — |
| Max Databases | — | — |
| PHP Versions | — | — |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | — | — |
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | ||
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | ||
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | Akamai-powered DDoS protection included on all plans | Enterprise DDoS mitigation included |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Daily automatic (paid add-on) | Daily |
| Backup Retention | 7 days | 7 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Ticket, Live Chat, Email, Knowledge Base, Community Forum, IRC | Phone, Ticket, Chat, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7 (US: 855-454-6633, Global: +1-609-380-7100) | 24/7/365 |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | — |
| Mailbox Size | — | 25 GB |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Akamai CDN (integration available, paid) | Akamai/CloudFlare (partner integrations) |
| Server Locations | Newark (US), Atlanta (US), Dallas (US), Fremont (US), Los Angeles (US), Chicago (US), Seattle (US), Miami (US), Washington DC (US), Toronto (Canada), Sao Paulo (Brazil), London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Paris (France), Milan (Italy), Stockholm (Sweden), Tokyo (Japan), Osaka (Japan), Singapore, Mumbai (India), Chennai (India), Sydney (Australia), Jakarta (Indonesia) | Dallas (US), Chicago (US), Virginia (US), London (UK), Hong Kong, Sydney (Australia) |
| Server Location Count | 25 | 6 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | ||
| Brotli Compression | — | |
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | Linode Cloud Manager | MyRackspace Portal |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 0 | — |
| Migration Turnaround | — | — |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | — |
| Migration Quality | — | — |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS | SOC 1, SOC 2 Type II, SOC 3, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, PCI DSS Level 1, HIPAA, HITRUST CSF, FedRAMP, FISMA, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, ITAR, FIPS 140-2 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.5/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 2.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 4.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 2.0/10 | 1.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Developers | 5.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 2.0/10 | 1.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Transfer pooled across all Linodes (1TB-20TB depending on plan); $0.005/GB additional egress | Varies by contract; typically metered |
| Storage Overage | Pay for additional Block Storage volumes | Varies by contract |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2003 | 1998 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | Akamai Technologies (acquired for $900M in March 2022; Akamai trades as NASDAQ: AKAM) | Independent (publicly traded; owned by Apollo Global Management since 2016) |
| Green Hosting | — | |
| Instant Activation | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, India, Australia, Brazil | United States, United Kingdom, Australia |
| Local Currencies | USD | USD, GBP, AUD |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, SOC 2, PCI-DSS | GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2 |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.6/5 | 4.2/5 |
| BBB Rating | NR (Not Rated) | A+ |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/PostgreSQL (managed available) | MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, Oracle |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | — | — |
| Subdomains | — | — |
| FTP Accounts | — | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | 7-day unconditional refund guarantee for compute services; Hourly billing allows pay-as-you-go; Can cancel anytime | Enterprise contracts; no traditional refund policy |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Google Pay | Credit Card, Invoice, Wire Transfer, Enterprise Agreement |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | — |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Self-managed (Let's Encrypt recommended) or NodeBalancer SSL termination | Let's Encrypt / Custom certificates |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | United States, United Kingdom, Australia |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | — | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Fixed per acquisition | — |
| Commission Amount | $100 per new customer who stays active 90+ days; 90-day cookie; Referral program: $25 credit when referee spends $25 | — |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.01 | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; fraud detection; non-payment; abuse reports | Violation of ToS; non-payment |
| Malware Removal Cost | — | $0.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Developers wanting reliable infrastructure with phone support; Teams needing Akamai edge network integration; Users valuing predictable flat-rate pricing; Kubernetes users (LKE); Users needing 24/7 phone support (rare for cloud providers); Long-term Linux users comfortable with unmanaged hosting | Large enterprises needing multi-cloud management; Organizations requiring managed services across AWS/Azure/GCP; Companies needing 24/7 expert support; Compliance-heavy industries |
| Avoid If | Need managed WordPress hosting; Want included cPanel; Beginner requiring hand-holding; Need included email hosting; Budget-sensitive (prices increased post-acquisition); Concerned about recent support quality decline; Need extensive global coverage (fewer locations than competitors) | Small business or startup; Need affordable hosting; Want simple self-service; Budget-conscious; Need quick support responses |
| Known Issues | Low Trustpilot rating (2.0/5) with many complaints about account verification/cancellation; Price increases post-Akamai acquisition; Some report worse support quality after acquisition; Aggressive fraud detection leads to false positives; No managed WordPress; Limited compared to hyperscalers for enterprise features; Some legacy features deprecated | Very poor Trustpilot rating (1.2) despite 'Fanatical Support' brand; Support quality reportedly declined after outsourcing; Expensive for what you get; Complex contracts; Slow response times reported; Not suitable for small businesses; Apollo acquisition led to cost-cutting |
| Unique Selling Point | Only major cloud provider with 24/7 phone support, backed by Akamai's global edge network and DDoS protection | Multi-cloud managed services provider with 'Fanatical Support' across AWS, Azure, and GCP |
| Ideal Customer | Developer or business wanting reliable cloud infrastructure with phone support and enterprise-grade DDoS protection | Enterprise needing managed multi-cloud services with 24/7 support and compliance requirements |
| Best Alternative To | DigitalOcean | Self-managed multi-cloud |
| Primary Competitors | DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS Lightsail | Cloudways, AWS Managed Services, Azure Managed |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Linode (Akamai) if you...
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.0/5)
- Are new to web hosting
- Want more server locations (25 available)
Choose Rackspace Technology if you...
- Need free website migration