Top 10 CDN: Choose the Best CDN to Improve your Website Performance

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By Ann Oliver

Do you need dynamic site acceleration and a high-performance network? There is no alternative to employing Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), your ultimate solution to optimise content delivery. 

Powering your site with a quality CDN helps it thrive on the internet, lets your end-users enjoy seamless web browsing, ensures higher ranking on search engines, reduces bandwidth costs, and more!

Picking the most competent service can seem intimidating, especially when you have so many choices. To help you select the best one, I have come up with a list of the top 10 CDN.

What is a CDN

A Content delivery network or CDN is a group of geographically spread servers and data centers. Over an access request for website content, a CDN collects the original file from the origin server and the proxy servers cache and store it to deliver the content to the requested user from the closest server. 

A CDN speeds up delivery:

  • texts, scripts, graphics (web object)
  • Software documents, media files (downloadable object)
  • On-demand video streaming
  • Live video streaming
  • Social networks, etc.

A CDN can:

  • Improve your website uptime 
  • Limit latency 
  • Ensure speedy loading
  • Defend cyber threats and DDoS with SSL, TLS encryption, WAF (Web Applications Firewall), etc. 

Top 10 CDN Providers

Now that you have a brief idea about CDN and its benefits, let’s put an insight into my top picks. 

1. Fastly

If your website runs on WordPress, Fastly can be the best CDN. It is a high-performance CDN that empowers enterprises to make their sites more scalable and reliable, acting as a bridge between the end-users and DNS. 

Key Features

  • SSD-driven worldwide located robust PoPs (Points of Presence) to ensure faster delivery

 following the shortest route

  • Supports on-demand stream, live streaming, and image optimisation
  • Large file caching
  • Intelligent cache-control and fast cache purging with a purge time of approximately 150 milliseconds

Pros

  • API programmability
  • It comes with a free plan.
  • Real-time logs
  • Highly secured with DDoS attack protection and offers SSL/TLS encryptions.

Cons

  • High SSL prices
  • Not for beginners

2. StackPath

StackPath is another prominent CDN with 45 edge locations (mainly in Europe and North America) that has powered its services after collaborating with MaxCDN. With this consolidated enterprise-grade CDN, you now have the power to serve your users better. 

Key Features

  • Complete and robust DDoS security (protection against layer 3, 4, 7)
  •  Real-time performance analytics for better traffic analysis and treats evaluation.
  • Fast cache purging for eliminating cached content after page update
  • StackPath comes with a 30-days free trial.

Pros

  • Free-of-cost private EdgeSSL
  • HTTP/2 support
  • Top-notch customer support
  • Complete DDoS attack protection

Cons

  • No free plan

3. Cloudflare

If you are searching for a quality CDN with a featureful free plan, Cloudflare is the most befitting pick for you. Covering more than 90 countries, this global anycast CDN has become a dependable place for accelerating website performance.

Key Features

  • Cloudflare optimises both static and dynamic content delivery
  • SSL certificate for only $5 per month
  • Offers automatic content cache and instant cache purging from the control panel
  • Real-time data analytics for traffic, treat and cache monitoring.

Pros

  • User-friendly interface
  • Programmable API for better control
  • HTTP/3 support

Cons

  • No advanced security features with the free plan
  • The free plan doesn’t come with the image or video optimisation facility.

4. KeyCDN

KeyCDN is another top-quality CDN with cutting-edge features and functionalities. It is specially designed for optimising low-traffic sites, and by paying a bit more, you can integrate it with websites experiencing heavy traffic loads.

Key Features

  • Offers instant cache purging to keep your website content synced and responsive with the application state
  • KeyCDN supports HTTP video streaming.
  • It features real-time cache, and traffic analytics.
  • Integrable with most of the frameworks, CMSs, and applications out there

Pros

  • Pay-as-you-go facility
  • Seamless WordPress integration with CDN enabler plugin
  • Cheaper than other services
  • Easy setup

Cons

  • No over-phone or chat assistance
  • No uptime guarantee

5. ImageKit

Are you searching for a quality CDN for images with top-notch services? ImageKit, with its surpassing image transformation and optimisation quality, can be your pick. 

Key Features

  • Features controllable per-URL based image compression
  • ImageKit doesn’t require any third-party service for image optimisation.
  • Image resizing with its Smart Crop tool.
  • Seamless integration with existing servers and storage

Pros

  • Top-notch customer support
  • Easy integration
  • Limitless free plan
  • Dynamic URL support

Cons

  • No free trial

6. Sucuri CDN

Sucuri is a high-performance global anycast CDN that ensures optimising your site performance besides offering top-notch protection. With Sucuri WordPress CDN, you now get the power to make your website speedier by around 70%!

Key Features

  • Ensures higher availability and redundancy
  • Smart caching to cache both dynamic and static content
  • Option to customise SSL certificate
  • Promises to maintain 99% uptime

Pros

  • Effortless integration with Sucuri Security WordPress plugin
  • Complete cyberthreat protection with WAF included in each plan
  • Faster HTTP/2 support coming by default upon sign-up 
  • Easy setup and management

Cons

  • No free plan available

7. Rackspace CDN

Built on robust hybrid cloud infrastructure, Rackspace is another top-quality CDN that can improve your website performance like never before! Though you may have to face some hurdles setting it up, it offers high coverage with its 200 data centers scattering throughout the world.

Key Features

  • Rackspace supports both static and dynamic content caching
  • Prompt provisioning with REST API or cloud Control Panel
  • Offers better control over performance
  • Rackspace CDN enables you to control access and avoid unnecessary traffic load from non-strategic locations.

Pros

  • Pay-as-you-go pricing
  • Faster load time
  • User-friendly interface
  • Free SSL

Cons

  • No DDoS protection
  • Expensive
  • Complex configuration

8. Akamai CDN

It is another high-performance CDN that can dramatically speed up your website, optimising the delivery process. With more than 325,000 servers located worldwide, Akamai CDN can offer you the most robust and pervasive service. 

Key Features

  • Smart caching process for both dynamic and static files
  • Supports both on-demand and live video streaming delivery
  • Improved download speed with data prefetch
  • Features real-time traffic analytics

Pros

  • SQL injections, DDoS, and XSS attack protection
  • Custom SSL
  • Incorporates WAF for better security
  • 24/7 customer support

Cons

  • Not that easy to use
  • Limited integration

9. BunnyCDN

Bunny CDN is among the few robust CDNs that offer incredible service at a price of your reach. Accelerate your site and optimise its performance with this high-quality network, spreading worldwide.

Key Features

  • Facility to integrate it with most of the CMS out there, including WordPress, Drupal, Magneto, etc. 
  • Real-time analysis and reporting with automatic control panel 
  • It supports creating a storage zone.
  • Bunny CDN ensures 99.99% uptime.

Pros

  • Supports image optimisation and HTTP video streaming
  • Unlimited website supported
  • Free trial for 14-days
  • Hotlinking, bad bot, malicious IP, and DDoS security

Cons

  • No over-phone customer assistance

10. Imperva CDN

With the global network of 47 PoPs, Imperva CDN ensures better coverage and secure and speedy content delivery to enterprises, including healthcare and technology. 

Key Features

  • Supports API programmability and UI analytics
  • Imperva promises to ensure 99.99% uptime.
  • Machine learning-based dynamic caching
  • ensures reducing bandwidth usage by up to 60%

Pros

  • Complete protection against DDoS attacks, abusive bots, and suspicious IPs
  • Easy setup with a few clicks!
  • Instant cache purge
  • Free online trail

Cons

  • No storage included