Linode Alternative: RAW vs Akamai Cloud (Linode) in 2026

What Happened to Linode

For 20 years, Linode was the indie developer's cloud. Simple pricing, clean dashboard, no enterprise bloat. It was the anti-AWS. Developers loved it.

In February 2022, Akamai acquired Linode for $900 million. The promise was "Linode stays Linode." The reality has been different.

Since the acquisition:

• Linode rebranded to "Akamai Cloud Computing" (the Linode name is fading)
• The dashboard merged with Akamai's control panel, adding enterprise complexity
• New "Akamai Premium" plans sit alongside legacy Linode plans, creating pricing confusion
• Bandwidth pricing now has "transfer pool" mechanics that are harder to predict
• Support response times increased as the team integrated into Akamai's org
• Some legacy plans were deprecated or repriced

The result: Linode lost the simplicity advantage that made it special. It's becoming another enterprise cloud with layers of abstraction between you and your server.

Linode (Akamai Cloud) Pricing in 2026

• Nanode 1 GB: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD — $5/mo
• Linode 2 GB: 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD — $12/mo
• Linode 4 GB: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD — $24/mo
• Linode 8 GB: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 160 GB SSD — $48/mo
• Linode 16 GB: 6 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 320 GB SSD — $96/mo
• Bandwidth: pooled across account, overages at $0.01/GB
• Backups: add 25% to monthly price
• Block storage: $0.10/GB/mo

RAW Pricing

• raw-2 ARM: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe — $6/mo
• raw-4 ARM: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe — $11/mo
• raw-8 ARM: 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 160 GB NVMe — $21/mo
• Bandwidth: 20 TB included (no pooling math)
• Storage: NVMe included with every plan
• Backups: snapshot via dashboard

Direct Comparison

Linode pricing from Akamai Cloud Computing pricing page, April 2026. RAW prices are for ARM plans.

Performance: NVMe vs SSD

Linode still uses standard SSDs for most plans. RAW runs on NVMe exclusively. The difference is significant for database-heavy workloads:

Benchmarks on 4 vCPU / 8 GB instances. fio random read/write with 4K blocks, depth 32.

For applications that touch disk frequently (databases, search indexes, file processing), NVMe storage alone delivers a 3-5x performance improvement over Linode's standard SSD tier.

The Complexity Problem

Linode used to have one dashboard. Now it has two: the legacy Linode Manager and the new Akamai Cloud Manager. Features are split between them. Documentation references both. The Linode CLI still works, but Akamai is pushing their own tooling.

Here's what creating a server looks like on Linode now:

# Linode CLI — create an instance
linode-cli linodes create \
  --type g6-standard-2 \
  --region us-east \
  --image linode/ubuntu24.04 \
  --root_pass "YourSecurePassword123!" \
  --label my-server \
  --backups_enabled true \
  --private_ip true \
  --tags "production" \
  --authorized_keys "$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)"

# Wait for provisioning...
linode-cli linodes list --label my-server

# Get the IP
linode-cli linodes view LINODE_ID --format ipv4

Here's the same on RAW:

# RAW — deploy a server
npx rawhq deploy

# That's it. SSH key auto-configured. IP returned instantly.

What Linode Still Does Well

• Global presence: 25+ data center locations worldwide
• Kubernetes (LKE): Managed Kubernetes with free control plane
• Marketplace: One-click deploys for 100+ applications
• Object storage: S3-compatible storage at $5/250GB
• DDoS protection: Built-in via Akamai's network
• Longhorn history: 20+ years of operational experience

If you need managed Kubernetes, object storage, or global data center coverage across 25 regions, Linode still delivers. For raw compute (pun intended), the value proposition has shifted.

Migration Guide: Linode to RAW

Step 1: Inventory Your Linode Setup

# List all your Linodes
linode-cli linodes list

# Check each instance's config
linode-cli linodes view LINODE_ID

# Export your StackScript or startup commands
linode-cli stackscripts view SCRIPT_ID

Step 2: Provision on RAW

# Deploy your new server
npx rawhq deploy

# SSH in and update
ssh root@your-new-server-ip
apt update && apt upgrade -y

Step 3: Migrate Your Application

# Option A: Git clone (recommended)
git clone https://github.com/youruser/yourapp.git /var/www/app
cd /var/www/app
npm ci && npm run build

# Option B: rsync from Linode
rsync -avz --progress \
  root@linode-ip:/var/www/app/ \
  /var/www/app/

Step 4: Migrate Your Database

# On your Linode server — export database
pg_dump -h localhost -U postgres mydb > /tmp/mydb.sql

# Transfer to RAW server
scp root@linode-ip:/tmp/mydb.sql /tmp/

# On RAW server — install PostgreSQL
apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib

# Import the database
sudo -u postgres createdb mydb
sudo -u postgres psql mydb < /tmp/mydb.sql

# Verify
sudo -u postgres psql -d mydb -c "SELECT count(*) FROM your_table;"

Step 5: Set Up Nginx + SSL

# Install Nginx and Certbot
apt install -y nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# Create site config
cat > /etc/nginx/sites-available/app << 'EOF'
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}
EOF

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/app /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx

# SSL
certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Step 6: Update DNS and Decommission

# Update your DNS A record to point to the new RAW server IP
# Wait for propagation (check with dig)
dig yourdomain.com +short

# Once traffic is flowing to RAW, delete the Linode
linode-cli linodes delete LINODE_ID

Annual Savings

For a typical developer running a web app with a database:

When to Stay on Linode

• You need managed Kubernetes (LKE is genuinely good)
• You use Linode's Object Storage or NodeBalancers extensively
• You need data centers in regions RAW doesn't cover yet
• Your team relies on Linode's Marketplace one-click apps
• You need Akamai's DDoS protection built-in

For straightforward compute (web apps, APIs, databases, background jobs), RAW gives you faster hardware at a fraction of the price. No Akamai upsells. No pooled bandwidth math. Just a server.

Try RAW Free

7-day free trial. 13-second deploy. No credit card required. Full root SSH access from the start.