--- title: "AWS WAF Bot Control vs DataDome | Agent Ready Crawlers" description: "AWS WAF Bot Control vs DataDome: rubric grades side by side, the sourced difference and verdicts for platform engineers, security engineers and publisher ops." canonical: https://agentreadycrawlers.com/compare/aws-waf-bot-control-vs-datadome site: "Agent Ready Crawlers" last_updated: 2026-11-04 section: "Comparisons" --- # AWS WAF Bot Control vs DataDome | Agent Ready Crawlers > AWS WAF Bot Control vs DataDome: rubric grades side by side, the sourced difference and verdicts for platform engineers, security engineers and publisher ops. Source: https://agentreadycrawlers.com/compare/aws-waf-bot-control-vs-datadome Site: Agent Ready Crawlers Last reviewed: 2026-11-04 Head-to-head # AWS WAF Bot Control vs DataDome In short AWS WAF charges AI bots natively over x402 at no extra fee beyond WAF charges; DataDome charges through partners from its USD 8,670 Advanced plan. On per-purpose policy the rubric grades AWS WAF Bot Control yes and DataDome partial, and on commerce agents the rubric grades AWS WAF Bot Control not published and DataDome partial. ## The sourced difference AWS WAF charges AI bots natively over x402 at no extra fee beyond WAF charges; DataDome charges through partners from its USD 8,670 Advanced plan. [Source](https://aws.amazon.com/waf/pricing/), read 2026-11-04. ## Side by side | Question | AWS WAF Bot Control | DataDome | | --- | --- | --- | | Tells a verified agent from a spoof | Yes; Web Bot Auth (rule set Version_4.0+), verified self-identifying bots | Yes; Web Bot Auth, KYA tokens, official IP lists, reverse DNS, plus fingerprinting fallback | | Per-purpose policy (train, search, answer, act) | Yes; rules on bot category and name labels; prices can differ by bot identity and verification status | Partial; policies per agent, trust score and intent; no published search versus training switch (checked 2026-11-04) | | Charging for access | Yes; HTTP 402 x402 monetization on CloudFront, Coinbase x402 settlement in stablecoins | Yes; AI crawler and agent monetization through partners, from the Advanced plan | | Lets signed commerce agents through | Not published; Visa TAP or Mastercard Agent Pay support (checked 2026-11-04) | Partial; TAP and KYA trust-authority integrations listed; Experian Agent Trust member since 2026-10-01 | | Cost | published: USD 10/month per web ACL plus USD 1 or USD 10 per million requests after free allowance | published: from USD 3,830/month | | Reporting | Yes; Bot Control console dashboard, AI activity dashboard, CloudWatch metrics and logs | Yes; agent traffic by intent, identity, geo, URL and endpoint type | | Where it runs | edge or regional: CloudFront edge and regional resources such as load balancers and API Gateway | both: server-side module on web servers, CDNs or API gateways plus client-side tag | | Points, rank | 8 of 10, rank 1 (tied) | 8 of 10, rank 1 (tied) | | Price read 2026-11-04 | Bot Control USD 10/month per web ACL. Common level: first 10M requests/month free, then USD 1.00 per million. Targeted level: first 1M requests/month free, then USD 10.00 per million. Standard AWS WAF web ACL and rule charges also apply; AI traffic monetization has no extra charge. | Bot Protect Essentials USD 3,830/month (under 100M requests/month), Advanced USD 8,670/month (under 200M), Premium USD 10,160/month (under 300M), Enterprise from USD 13,270/month (over 300M). Agent Trust capability listed from Essentials; monetization from Advanced. | ## Verdicts by reader Platform engineer AWS for CloudFront shops; DataDome for multi-CDN. Security engineer DataDome adds intent detection on authenticated agents; AWS adds targeted ML for bots that do not self-identify. Publisher operations AWS pays out in stablecoins; check that suits your finance team. ## What each does not do ### AWS WAF Bot Control - Monetize only works with CloudFront-associated web ACLs, not regional resources (Bot Control docs). - Stripe payouts and Machine Payments Protocol are not live yet; settlement is via Coinbase x402 in stablecoins (what's new, 2026-06-15). - Web Bot Auth is off unless the rule group version is pinned to Version\_4.0 or later (Bot Control docs). ### DataDome - Agent Trust does not run on its own; Bot Protect must be fully installed with server and client components (Agentic Trust docs). - Monetization is not in the Essentials plan; it starts at Advanced (pricing page). - No published control that separates search crawling from training crawling as distinct purposes (docs and pricing read 2026-11-04). More: [alternatives to AWS WAF Bot Control](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/vendors/aws-waf-bot-control/alternatives/), [alternatives to DataDome](https://agentreadycrawlers.com/vendors/datadome/alternatives/). ## Sources - [aws.amazon.com: pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/waf/pricing/) read 2026-11-04 - [datadome.co: pricing](https://datadome.co/pricing/) read 2026-11-04 - [docs.aws.amazon.com: waf bot control](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/waf/latest/developerguide/waf-bot-control.html) read 2026-11-04 - [docs.datadome.co: agentic trust getting started](https://docs.datadome.co/docs/agentic-trust-getting-started) read 2026-11-04 - [aws.amazon.com: aws waf ai traffic monetization](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/06/aws-waf-ai-traffic-monetization) read 2026-11-04 Last reviewed 2026-11-04