Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the
shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in CDN providers
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 12 tools, reviewed
#1 Bunny CDN
Low-cost pay-as-you-go CDN from Slovenia · Slovenia · bunny.net
Pay-as-you-go Regional rates Edge scripting
Bunny CDN earns first place because a small buyer can read the entire price list in a minute and predict the bill. The Standard Network is priced by region, from $0.01 per GB in Europe and North America to $0.06 in the Middle East and Africa, with no charge per request and a $1 monthly minimum.
- Pricing: Usage-based. Standard Network from $0.01 per GB in Europe and North America (119 PoPs), Volume Network from $0.005 per GB (10 PoPs), $1 monthly minimum, no request fees, 14-day free trial. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Small sites wanting cheap bandwidth
- Strengths: Standard and Volume networks; Replication zones; Image optimizer.
Where it falls short
The Volume Network runs on only 10 PoPs, so cheap bulk bandwidth comes with a smaller footprint than the Standard Network.
Wrong for
Large enterprises that need a negotiated SLA, a dedicated engineer and a security stack in one contract.
Visit Bunny CDN →
#2 CDN77
Delivery network for video, software and large files · United Kingdom · cdn77.com
Video delivery Large files Flat plan
CDN77 ranks second because it sells a plain, large-volume product at a price a growing media company can budget. The Growth plan is $990 a month for 250 TB, every PoP is included, and overage is $3.96 per TB, which works out to well under a cent per gigabyte once the volume is used.
- Pricing: Flat monthly. Growth plan $990 per month for 250 TB with $3.96 per TB overage, all PoPs and 24/7 support included. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Media and download-heavy businesses
- Strengths: 235 PoPs in 135 countries; Object storage; DDoS protection.
Where it falls short
The entry price is $990 a month, so a site serving a few hundred gigabytes pays far more than it would on a metered service. There is no free plan, and the Enterprise tier is quote-only.
Wrong for
Small sites and shops with modest traffic, who would overpay for a flat plan sized for 250 TB.
Visit CDN77 →
#3 Fastly
Programmable edge delivery with usage pricing · United States · fastly.com
Programmable edge Usage-based Developer-focused
Fastly sits third because it gives engineers the most control over the cache for a published price. The Free tier covers 100 GB and one million requests, and Growth adds usage-based rates, with Europe and North America at $0.12 per GB for the first 10 TB and $0.08 for the next 10 TB.
- Pricing: Usage-based. Free tier with 100 GB of bandwidth and 1 million requests. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Developer teams needing edge control
- Strengths: Full Site Delivery; Image Optimizer; Managed TLS.
Where it falls short
Per-gigabyte rates are several times those of Bunny CDN or KeyCDN, and the price list has many separate meters, so forecasting takes work. Managed TLS beyond five domains costs $20 each, or $275 for a commercial certificate.
Wrong for
Sites that only need cheap static delivery and no configuration, where metered rates at this level are wasted.
Visit Fastly →
#4 Cloudflare
CDN, DNS and security in one set of plans · United States · cloudflare.com
Free tier Bundled security DNS
Cloudflare is the incumbent most small sites end up on, and the reason is visible in its plans. CDN, DNS, unmetered DDoS protection, Universal SSL and a free managed firewall ruleset sit in the Free plan at $0, with Pro at $20 a month billed annually and Business at $200. The CDN page claims data centers in more than 335 cities.
- Pricing: Flat monthly. Free $0; Pro $20 per month billed annually ($25 monthly); Business $200 per month billed annually ($250 monthly); Contract on custom annual pricing. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Websites wanting CDN and security together
- Strengths: CDN in all plans; Unmetered DDoS protection; Universal SSL.
Where it falls short
Features are split across plans in ways that surprise buyers: the 100% uptime SLA and PCI DSS 4.0 support start at Business, network prioritization and larger service credits at the Contract level.
Wrong for
Teams that need a contractual SLA on a small budget, or want a pure pull CDN without moving DNS under one vendor.
Visit Cloudflare →
#5 KeyCDN
Swiss pay-as-you-go CDN with all features included · Switzerland · keycdn.com
Pay-as-you-go Tiered rates 24/7 support
KeyCDN is a straightforward CDN: every feature is open to every account, requests are not charged and 24/7 support costs nothing extra. Pricing is tiered by volume and region, from $0.04 per GB in North America and Europe for the first 10 TB down to $0.01 beyond 100 TB.
- Pricing: Usage-based. From $0.04 per GB in North America and Europe (first 10 TB), down to $0.01 over 100 TB. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Small sites wanting a simple CDN
- Strengths: Instant purge; HTTP/2; Free TLS certificates.
Where it falls short
The headline $0.04 per GB is four times Bunny's Europe and North America rate, and Asia, Africa and Latin America are priced at $0.08 to $0.10.
Wrong for
Buyers who want a free tier, a bundled firewall or compute at the edge.
Visit KeyCDN →
#6 Gcore CDN
Global CDN with DDoS and WAF included · Luxembourg · gcore.com
Free start DDoS included Multi-service cloud
Gcore CDN is a credible mid-market option from a company that also sells cloud, storage and security. Its page claims 210+ PoPs, 200+ Tbps and a 30 ms average latency worldwide, and says L3, L4 and L7 DDoS protection and a next-gen WAF are included on all plans, not billed as add-ons.
- Pricing: Usage-based. Free to start with no credit card; paid plans add throughput, security features and support, rates not listed in the page we fetched. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Gaming, streaming and web apps
- Strengths: 210+ PoPs; 200+ Tbps capacity; L3, L4 and L7 DDoS mitigation.
Where it falls short
We could not read a per-gigabyte price in the pages we fetched, so the cost has to be established through the dashboard or sales.
Wrong for
Buyers who want to see a price list before they sign up, or a specialist with a single product focus.
Visit Gcore CDN →
#7 Amazon CloudFront
AWS content delivery with flat-rate plans · United States · aws.amazon.com
AWS Flat-rate plans Global network
CloudFront is the sensible CDN for a site whose origin is already on AWS.
- Pricing: Flat monthly. Flat-rate plans: Free $0 (1M requests, 100 GB), Pro $15, Business $200, Premium $1,000 per month per distribution with no overage charges. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Teams hosting their origin on AWS
- Strengths: 750+ PoPs; Flat-rate plans; AWS WAF and DDoS protection.
Where it falls short
The plan matrix is a puzzle: the uptime SLA, private origins in a VPC and custom caching rules start at Business, and origin failover at Premium. Usage allowances are per distribution, so many small sites multiply the fee.
Wrong for
Teams whose origin is on another cloud or a shared host, and who want a simple CNAME and a clear price list. Bunny CDN, KeyCDN or Cloudflare removes the AWS overhead.
Visit Amazon CloudFront →
#8 CacheFly
Private CDN focused on throughput and support · United States · cachefly.com
Founded 2002 Tiered plans Throughput
CacheFly is a veteran specialist with an honest ladder of plans: a free developer account with 100 GB, Business from $300 a month for 10 TB at $0.03 per GB overage, and Business Enterprise from $2,000 for 100 TB. The company says it was founded in 2002 and claims a 98% cache hit ratio and a 100% availability SLA.
- Pricing: Flat monthly. Developer plan $0 with 100 GB free and $0.05 per GB overage. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Software and media distribution
- Strengths: 65 to 80 PoPs by plan; 98% cache hit ratio claim; 100% availability SLA claim.
Where it falls short
At $0.03 per GB on the Business plan, the unit cost is three times Bunny's headline rate. The network lists 65 to 80 PoPs, fewer than the large platforms.
Wrong for
Hobby sites and small shops with under 10 TB a month, who pay a $300 minimum for capacity they do not use.
Visit CacheFly →
#9 Azure Front Door
Microsoft CDN, routing and WAF for Azure apps · United States · azure.microsoft.com
Azure Base fee plus usage WAF
Azure Front Door belongs to buyers who run on Azure and want one front door for caching, routing and a firewall. It is billed in hourly base fees, $35 a month for Standard and $330 for Premium, plus data transfer and request charges, for example $0.083 per GB in North America for the first 10 TB.
- Pricing: Usage-based. Standard base fee $35 per month and Premium $330 per month, plus outbound data transfer (from $0.083 per GB in North America for the first 10 TB) and request charges. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Azure-hosted web applications
- Strengths: Content delivery; Global HTTP load balancing; Web application firewall.
Where it falls short
The bill has several dimensions: base fee, edge-to-client traffic, edge-to-origin traffic and requests, so it takes a calculator to forecast. The cheapest path is only available when the origin sits in Azure.
Wrong for
Small sites outside Azure or buyers wanting a flat price.
Visit Azure Front Door →
#10 Google Cloud CDN
Google Cloud's cache layer for load-balanced backends · United States · cloud.google.com
Google Cloud Usage-based Cache fill
Google Cloud CDN is a feature of Google's load-balancing stack and makes sense for teams whose backends already run there. The pricing page lists cache data transfer out at $0.02 to $0.20 per GiB depending on destination and volume, cache fill at $0.01 to $0.04 per GiB and cache lookup requests at $0.0075 per 10,000.
- Pricing: Usage-based. Cache data transfer out $0.02 to $0.20 per GiB, cache fill $0.01 to $0.04 per GiB, and $0.0075 per 10,000 HTTP/HTTPS cache lookup requests. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Workloads already on Google Cloud
- Strengths: Cache egress; Cache fill; Cloud Run integration.
Where it falls short
You pay for cache fill as well as egress, and the lookup request fee adds a third meter, so a bill is hard to predict before you run traffic.
Wrong for
Sites hosted outside Google Cloud and buyers wanting a free tier or a flat plan.
Visit Google Cloud CDN →
#11 Imperva CDN
Secure CDN inside a WAAP platform · United States · imperva.com
WAAP bundle Quote only Security-first
Imperva CDN is a delivery layer inside a larger application-security product, and that is the reason to buy it. The vendor describes Secure CDN as advanced caching, load balancing and global PoPs integrated into its WAAP platform, with a free trial and a demo on offer.
- Pricing: Quote only. Quote only; the page we fetched offers a free trial and a demo, with no published rates. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Security-led teams already using Imperva
- Strengths: Advanced caching; Load balancing; Global PoPs.
Where it falls short
No price, plan table or PoP count appears on the page we fetched, so a buyer cannot compare it with the others without a sales conversation. The product is shaped around security first and delivery second.
Wrong for
Small sites that only need fast static delivery and a price they can read.
Visit Imperva CDN →
#12 Akamai
Enterprise content delivery sold by quote · United States · akamai.com
Enterprise Quote only Media delivery
Akamai is the enterprise pole of the category, with a product family covering web performance (Ion), API acceleration, streaming (Adaptive Media Delivery), downloads and edge compute through EdgeWorkers. Its content delivery pages are organized around application and API performance and media delivery for the largest audiences. The company lists free trials for delivery and security products, though pricing is handled by sales.
- Pricing: Quote only. Security and delivery pricing is quote-based through sales; published pricing on the page we read applies to Akamai Cloud, not the CDN. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Large enterprises with complex delivery
- Strengths: Ion; Adaptive Media Delivery; Download Delivery.
Where it falls short
No price list is published for the CDN, and the breadth of products (Ion, Cloudlets, Cloud Wrapper, mPulse, CloudTest) takes time to map to a need.
Wrong for
Small businesses, agencies and developers who want to sign up and pay by card.
Visit Akamai →
Questions and answers
What is the best CDN provider in 2026?
Bunny CDN ranks first of 12, best for small sites wanting cheap bandwidth. CDN77 is second (media and download-heavy businesses) and Fastly third (developer teams needing edge control). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
How much does a CDN cost for a small website?
It can cost nothing or a few dollars a month. Cloudflare, Fastly, CloudFront and CacheFly list free plans or tiers, with 100 GB included at Fastly, CloudFront and CacheFly.
Do I need a CDN if my host is already fast?
A fast host helps visitors near its data center, but distance still adds latency elsewhere, and the origin still carries every request. A CDN is worth it when visitors are spread across regions, when pages include many images or downloads, or when traffic spikes threaten the host. If all your visitors sit in one country near the server and traffic is low, the gain is small, though a free plan still adds TLS and attack filtering at no cost.
What is the difference between a CDN and a web host?
A host runs your application and stores the original files; a CDN keeps temporary copies near visitors and forwards misses to the host. If the CDN fails or you cancel it, the site still exists on the origin.
Is Cloudflare better than a pure CDN like Bunny or KeyCDN?
It depends on what you are buying. Cloudflare bundles a CDN with DNS, unmetered DDoS protection, Universal SSL and a managed firewall ruleset in a plan that starts at $0, so it wins when you want one product.
Which CDN is best for video or large file downloads?
Look first at CDN77, whose Growth plan gives 250 TB for $990 a month with $3.96 per TB overage, and at Bunny CDN's Volume Network, listed from $0.005 per GB on 10 PoPs.
Should I use the CDN from my cloud provider?
Use it when your origin already sits in that cloud and your team knows the console.
Can I use two CDNs at once?
Yes, and large sites often do, so that one outage does not take the site offline.
How do I switch CDN provider without downtime?
Set up the new provider in parallel, copy the rules, and test with a hostname the public does not use.
Does a CDN protect against DDoS attacks?
It absorbs a good deal of traffic because requests land on many edge servers, and several providers add filtering.
What should I check in a CDN contract?
Read the billable-traffic definition, the monthly minimum, how overage is priced, the notice period and which legal entity signs.
