1. StackPath.
StackPath is an IT infrastructure whose platform has several layers. CDN services are included in this framework.
The company distributes this service through edge servers that are designed to be much faster and less loaded than the cloud server infrastructure used by many CDN services.
A cloud-based CDN uses a central location to distribute your content to users who access it from a specific region. For example, if this type of CDN has a network location in Chicago and nowhere else in the Midwest, every user who visits your site from the Midwest will access your content from that single point of origin.
Edge computing allows StackPath to create multiple points of presence (PoPs) that deliver your content much closer to where your users are accessing it.
StackPath also includes advanced caching in its CDN service. Instant purge is available when you want to make sure that a file that you remove from your website won't appear to users long after. This feature also prevents deleted files from consuming resources.
In addition to instant purging, StackPath allows you to customize caching through “edge rules.” It's about rules.”whether this, then Do this” that you can apply to edge servers to control how they handle the traffic that your site receives. These rules allow you to customize how long content is stored on your site, among other things.
With these rules, you can also create 301 redirects to control what web pages users visit, add or remove headers to determine if requests are sent to your point of origin and then to the user, and sign URLs to limit access to your content and the length of time that access lasts.
You can also use StackPath to protect your website with a web access firewall (WAF) and a private SSL certificate. Service analytics and monitoring also allows you to see how much traffic you're receiving, where it's coming from, and how much traffic you're getting from specific sites.
Features
- 45 cutting-edge sites on five continents.
- Peripheral servers with peripheral rules.
- Advanced DDoS protection
- Advanced caching with personalization and instant purge.
- Serverless scripting to incorporate custom logic and send personalized content to specific users.
- Gzip compression.
- Web access firewall available.
- Origin shield to protect your origin server from request overload.
- Managed DNS service available.
- Real-time analysis.
- Supervision of the service.
Pricing
StackPath offers its CDN services as a standalone product or as part of a suite of products. Individual service plans, such as CDN, WAF, and service monitoring, cost $10/month each. Bundles start at $20/month.
Additional fees apply if you go over your plan limits.
Try Stackpath
2. Sucuri.
Sucuri is a cloud-based website security platform that provides cutting-edge applications to protect your website from threats.
It offers CDN services through its network of 12 data centers located on five continents. Two of these sites are edge servers: one in Brazil and one in Australia.
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Because Sucuri's platform is built on cloud infrastructure rather than at the edge, its caching system doesn't have the same level of sophistication as CDNs like StackPath.
There are four caching configurations to choose from, with no ability to define your own rules, except to easily exclude certain URLs from caching. You can enable simple caching, only cache your site for a few minutes at a time, use site caching through headers, or disable caching entirely.
Fortunately, clearing the cache offers more advanced features. You can clear the cache for the entire site or for each file. You can also set up Sucuri's cache API, which allows you to clear your site's cache on the fly from a bookmarked page.
Sucuri's CDN and caching functions may seem light at first glance, especially when compared to the other options on this list, but they're all the more impressive when you consider that the company's main claim to fame is site security.
Its WAF blocks incoming threats while the included CDN and brute-force protection protect your site from DDoS attacks. However, even the most complex security system cannot block all threats. That's why Sucuri also offers a malware scanner that monitors malicious activity and file changes on your site.
They'll even clean up your site for you when threats creep in.
Features
- 13 data centers on five continents.
- Caching with exceptions and clearing.
- Web access firewall with DDoS protection that blocks layers 3, 4, and 7.
- Detecting and removing malicious software.
- Keep track of your site's blacklist status.
- Uptime monitoring.
- DNS monitoring that detects changes in your site's DNS settings.
- Alerts for changes to your site's SSL certificate.
- Automatic and manual incremental backups available as an additional $5 per month option.
Pricing
You can access Sucuri's site security platform for $199.99/year. All plans offer more or less the same features but differ in response times.
Try Sucuri
3. NitroPack.
NitroPack is a website optimization application that connects your site to the Amazon CloudFront CDN from Amazon Web Services. This allows you to use the benefits of CloudFront without having to pay for an AWS account or set up the CDN yourself.
Don't let the name “CloudFront” fool you. Amazon's CDN is powered by a global network as well as multiple edge sites. In fact, there are 217 PoPs in 84 cities across six continents, making it the first CDN on this list to offer rapid content delivery to African countries.
As an application, NitroPack focuses primarily on optimizing your website speed in order to improve your score Google PageSpeed Insights. To do this, it offers a number of different features, including caching and minification.
Caching options come in the form of purging the cache on demand and the ability to automatically invalidate the cache in the event of traffic spikes. The invalidation process refreshes the cache in the background rather than purging it outright, so your users don't have to deal with slow page speeds, a side effect of the purge process.
You can also exclude specific pages from caching.
As for minification, NitroPack minifies HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. Additionally, Gzip and Brotli compression are also available for these files. The tool also optimizes your images, converts them to WebP, and allows lazy loading.
Solutions to common PageSpeed Insights errors are also provided. They include the update of CSS and JS files as well as the optimization of fonts.
Features
- Amazon CloudFront CDN offers 217 POPs.
- Simple but effective caching with caching options included.
- Minimize HTML, CSS, and JS files.
- Gzip and Brotli compression.
- Report CSS and JS files.
- Optimizes fonts.
- Optimization of images with lazy loading included.
- A “warming up” of the cache that ensures that your most important pages are always optimized.
Pricing
Most of the features listed above are available in the free version of NitroPack, but you're only allowed 200 page optimizations per month. Premium plans start at $228/year for up to 20,000 page optimizations per month and up to 20GB of CDN bandwidth.
Try Nitropack for free
4. RocketCDN.
RocketCDN is another great CDN solution that stands out for its simplicity and ease of use.
It's powered by StackPath (our preferred content delivery network provider) and therefore benefits from the same high-performance infrastructure, with a reliable network of 45 state-of-the-art sites across five continents.
What makes RocketCDN special, though, is how easy it is to use. Unlike Stackpath and other CDN solutions, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to set it up properly. RocketCDN has opted for a one-click configuration system that is much faster and more convenient.
Simply activate your subscription and enter your custom URL, then let RocketCDN do the rest. It will automatically apply the best configuration settings, and you should see an immediate improvement in the speed and performance of your site. No more configuration headaches!
It's ideal for small businesses, bloggers, freelancers, and other solopreneurs who don't have the resources or time to set everything up manually themselves (a necessary task if you're going through Stackpath directly).
RocketCDN is also more affordable than Stackpath if you only have one site. On the other hand, if you plan to use your content delivery network for multiple sites, Stackpath is a bit cheaper.
If you need additional help, you can contact the Rocketeers expert customer support team. Their customer support is known to be one of the best on the market, with a 92% satisfaction score based on over 2,000 customer reviews.
Features
- Powered by StackPath
- 45 full battery edge locations
- One-click setup
- Automatic configuration
- Easy integration
- Outstanding support
- Unlimited bandwidth
- SSL traffic
Pricing
You can sign up for RocketCDN for only $8.99 per site per month (or $89.99 billed annually). It's the only plan available and it includes unlimited bandwidth.
There's no free trial, but you can request a refund within 24 hours of signing up if you change your mind.
Try RocketCDN for free
5. Cloudflare.
Cloudflare is a website performance platform that is very similar to StackPath.
Its network is massive and exists in more than 200 cities on six continents. Additionally, like CloudFront, the company's CDN infrastructure is powered by edge computing, despite the term “cloud” in its name.
Additionally, Cloudflare is able to ensure the rapid delivery of static and dynamic content through an integrated tool called Argo Smart Routing. This technology detects network congestion in real time and directs traffic to the fastest path in response.
Cloudflare also offers CDN content caching as well as caching options. For example, the Page Rule tool available to premium users allows you to control how individual URLs are cached. You can choose what is cached, how long content is cached, etc. An instant purge is also available.
Developers can take caching a step further with the Cloudflare Workers tool, which allows you to build your own caching rules with code, and the Cloudflare Cache API.
In addition to these site performance tools, Cloudflare also offers security solutions in the form of WAF, DDoS protection, and bot management. DDoS protection blocks layers 3, 4, and 7 at the edge, while bot management stops content scrapers, credential stuffers that expose private customer data, and spam in general.
Features
- Over 200 POPs powered by edge servers and Argo Smart Routing.
- Cache control, instant cache purge, and advanced tools available to developers.
- Web access firewall.
- Advanced DDoS protection with DNS management available.
- Bot management.
- Rate throttling that blocks suspicious visitors, DDoS attacks, and brute-force attempts.
Pricing
Cloudflare CDN and DDoS protection are available for free. If you want to have access to the firewall, you'll have to pay $20/month. Unfortunately, the other services listed are only available as individual add-ons.
For example, five cache page rules are available for $5, Argo smart routing for $5/month, load balancing for an additional $5/month, and so on.
6. KeyCDN.
KeyCDN is a dedicated CDN service that offers a vast network powered by edge servers. That's more or less all KeyCDN has to offer, but it's still one of the fastest content delivery services out there.
Caching is available, but you'll need to play with a bit of code to control what's cached and how long it takes to recache it. Fortunately, it is possible to instantly purge the entire site and each URL at the click of a button.
A free caching plugin from KeyCDN is available in the official plugin repository if you want to set up simple caching options from the WordPress backend. This plugin also allows you to reduce HTML and JavaScript files.
The service even includes DDoS protection in its infrastructure but recommends that you integrate your account with Sucuri to activate a WAF.
Features
- 34 data centers spread across six continents and powered by edge servers.
- Simple caching with instant purge available
- Integrated DDoS protection.
- The cloud storage for images and large files is available at $0.01/GB.
- Brotli compression and other advanced features for developers.
- Block bad robots preemptively by detecting specific user agent chains found in a comprehensive list of known suspects.
Pricing
KeyCDN charges a flat rate of $4 per month, regardless of how much bandwidth you use.
The rest of the pricing depends on a bandwidth cap and the region or regions you want to serve.
However, these prices range from $0.01/GB to $0.11/GB.
7. Imperva (formerly Incapsula).
Imperva is an application and data security platform that includes CDN services. Its network is powered by edge servers and extends over 40 PoPs across six continents.
Its network also uses intelligent caching that allows static and dynamic content to be delivered at fast speeds. You can also choose how your content is cached. Options include no caching, static caching only, static caching and dynamic and aggressive caching that caches everything.
You can also define custom caching rules for specific URLs as well as URL prefixes and suffixes. Purging is available and can be set up manually or automatically.
Imperva also reduces the content you serve with its CDN and automatically enables file compression.
Developers and advanced users can use CDN delivery rules to control where legitimate users and bad bots are sent. Automatically redirect visitors based on specific parameters, such as URL patterns, cookies, HTTPS headers, and visitor type.
It is also possible to set rules based on behavior and send malicious bots to other websites and servers.
Like the permalink options in WordPress, Imperva's CDN service also allows you to “beautify” the URLs on the front-end, that is, the URLs that your visitors see in the address bar.
Imperva's core features include WAF, multi-level DDoS protection, bot protection, data protection, and more. You can even use the platform to protect applications you've built on AWS and Google Cloud Platform.
Features
- Global network with over 40 data centers based on state of the art infrastructure.
- Smart caching with various caching modes, custom rules, and purging.
- File minimization and compression.
- Delivery rules that allow you to control where specific types of traffic are sent.
- Beautification of front-end URLs (does not change permalinks).
- Web access firewall.
- Multilayered DDoS protection
- Bot protection.
- Analysis of attacks.
- Cloud data security with data masking, data protection, and file security.
- Security solutions for AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure
Pricing
CDN services, caching, WAF, and DDoS protection are available as part of Imperva's individual application security plan as well as in its bundles. Unfortunately, you will need to contact them directly to request a demo and a quote.
8. Fastly.
Fastly is a cloud CDN built on a network of dozens of edge sites. The company deliberately designed its network to provide faster speeds to a global user base while using fewer PoPs than competitors.
By focusing on more powerful PoPs, Fastly is able to cache your content for longer periods of time because it requires fewer calls to your origin server.
Speaking of caching, Fastly caches static content for you, but this feature is pretty lackluster compared to the other tools on this list. You can purge the cache on demand or use surrogate keys to mark specific objects that need to be purged.
Soft purge is also included. This allows you to specify pages as “out of date,” which prevents them from being purged, as removing these types of content from the cache can affect the user experience.
Unfortunately, controlling what is cached and how long that caching lasts requires the use of code.
Fastly also has an image optimization tool that allows you to compress and format images from its own servers rather than from your origin.
Finally, while CDN and caching services are its main features, Fastly also includes several security tools. These come in the form of WAF, advanced DDoS protection, and bot mitigation.
Features
- 55+ POPs powered by edge servers.
- Load balancing that redirects traffic to the fastest routes
- Static caching with instant, gentle purge available.
- Web access firewall.
- DDoS protection.
- Bot protection.
- Image optimization.
Pricing
Fastly pricing is based on bandwidth usage, the total number of requests you receive, and the region or regions you serve. Each customer is billed a minimum of $50/month regardless of the number of resources used.
The pricing then varies considerably. It ranges from $0.08/GB to $0.28/GB for bandwidth usage and from $0.0075/10,000 requests to $0.016/10,000 requests.
9. Bunny.net
The network by Bunny.net is powered by edge servers and covers over 25 countries on six continents. It also uses intelligent routing to redirect traffic to the fastest path when overloaded.
It uses simple caching with only two options that allow you to control how long the cache expires. If you want to have more control over this, you can set up a border rule. These rules allow you to specify certain conditions that must be met, which is useful if you don't want specific file extensions and other settings to be cached.
Instant purge is also available.
Bunny.net focuses more on optimizing the site outside of the features mentioned above. It has an image optimization tool as well as Brotli and Gzip compression.
Features
- 102 PoPs on six continents.
- Intelligent routing to improve performance during traffic spikes.
- Simple caching with instant purge and expiration times.
- Image optimization.
- Brotli and Gzip compression.
- Real-time analysis.
- Statistics on hidden bandwidth, traffic usage, number of requests, and more.
- Blacklist for IP addresses with the ability to block users from certain countries.
Pricing
All bunny.net users are required to pay at least $1/month. The company's pricing system gets more complicated from there. However, you will pay as low as $0.002/GB or as high as $0.01/GB.
10. Google Cloud CDN.
Google Cloud CDN is based on Google's edge points of presence located around the world.
As of June 2018, the service is in beta. A highly scalable and reliable infrastructure. By leveraging a vast global network of interconnection points, we can bring Google traffic closer to our peers, reducing their costs and providing users with a better experience.
Present on more than 90 internet exchanges and in more than 100 interconnection installations worldwide.
11. Alibaba Cloud Content Delivery Service.
Alibaba Cloud CDN develops highly scalable cloud computing and data management services.
As a cloud computing arm and a business unit of Alibaba Group, Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services globally to power both the online businesses of our global customers and the Alibaba Group e-commerce ecosystem.
Its services are available on a pay-as-you-go basis and include data storage, relational databases, big data processing, anti-DDoS protection, and content delivery networks (CDN).
FAQs
How do I choose the best CDN providers?
To choose the best CDN provider, start by evaluating the size of your website, your bandwidth needs, and where most of your traffic is coming from.
You'll want to check the size of the provider's network and its geographic distribution. More network servers mean faster speeds, while server distribution determines good coverage in many parts of the world.
See how the CDN improves your site's performance and whether it has additional tools, like image optimization, to improve site speed. You'll also want to check out the CDN's ease of use and pricing plans.
How does a CDN work?
A CDN (content delivery network) is a network of globally distributed servers that work together to deliver content to Internet users as quickly and securely as possible.
CDN data centers are strategically placed at physical sites around the world. This global distribution helps to reduce the distance between website resources and the end user.
The idea is that when users visit your website, instead of connecting to your site's origin server, they connect to the geographically closest CDN data center. Greater proximity means less travel time, which speeds up data delivery and website load times.
The best CDN providers typically place their servers in Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) — interconnected physical locations through which different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and CDNs connect to each other — helping to reduce costs and speed up data transmission.
Conclusion.
All of the top CDN providers we've included in this list are attractive options, and each has their own strengths and weaknesses. You need to choose the one that best fits your business. However, if you're not sure which one to choose, here's what we recommend:
If you want the best value for your money, go with Cloudflare. Cloudflare's free plan is one of the most generous out there — you get unlimited bandwidth and no annoying usage limits or restrictions.
All you need to do is update your DNS name servers to use Cloudflare and the service will automatically activate. If you want to upgrade and have access to premium features, you can do so for a very reasonable price of $20 per month.
If you just want the best (and most popular) CDN, we recommend StackPath. StackPath is our preferred CDN provider, all things considered.
The edge computing system it uses allows you to deliver content much closer to your users than traditional cloud-based systems. Depending on the offer or plan you subscribe to, you may also benefit from additional speed and security optimizations, such as customizable advanced caching, instant purge, web access firewall, Gzip compression, and more.
Sucuri is another great option. It probably has the best set of features, especially when it comes to site security.
In addition to WAF and brute-force protection to protect your site from threats like DDoS attacks, Sucuri also comes with an integrated malware detection and removal solution, which helps keep your site malware-free.
