8 Top Content Delivery Network(CDN) Providers

By TechFunnel Contributors - Last Updated on March 23, 2020
CDN Providers

What is a CDN?

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network. A CDN refers to a network of servers positioned in various locations; they store important contents such as CSS files, HTML pages, JavaScript files, and visual/audiovisual files.

In this article, we will be expounding the reasons why you need one of the best CDN provider, and how to choose among the top CDN providers, with many other interesting information that you need to know about Content Delivery Network.

Why You Need One of the Best CDN Providers

Basically, if you truly desire to grow your website with successful traffic influx, then is necessary to have a CDN provider. The reason behind this is quite simple: when visitors come to your site, they are all using a single server to access your site. If you have overwhelming traffic, which is what every website owner wants, the single server may become overwhelmed and eventually result in slow web page loading. In fact,your server may even crash all of a sudden.

Below, we have compiled cogent reasons why you should use a CDN provider:

  1. Increase in loading time: without doubt, this is the primary benefit of making use of a CDN provider. Making use of a CDN provider increases the speed of your site. Why don’t you ask regular CDN users? They will surelywill not hesitate to attest to this.
  1. Better Visitor Experience: it is only logical that increase in site speed will be accompanied by a better browsing experience enjoyed by your visitors. The situation is equally vice versa: decrease in speed sends your users away. And when your users leave? Well, we all know that’s the end of such website.
  1. Anti-crash benefit: as earlier stated, high volumes of traffic can cause a server to collapse. Hence, if you are experiencing high traffic, then considering CDN service providers is not an alternative but a necessity. Instead of having all your traffic bombard a single server, you can distribute the traffic across several other servers.
  1. SEO improvement: do you know that search engines rank fast loading sites higher in search result pages? Well now you do. This is another important reason why you should get yourself a CDN provider right away!

How to choose the right CDN provider

If you are wondering how to choose between the top CDN providers, then consider the following factors below:

  1. Performance

    Always keep in mind that the basic aim of a CDN service provider is to improve the performance of your website by increasing the web loading speed. Therefore, before choosing any CDN, be sure to confirm that such provider can effectively handle your desired bandwidth demands. Remember, speed is key! Do not opt for a CDN provider that cannot guarantee a quick response time.

  1. Security

    What is the essence of a fast loading website if it can easily be hacked? Thus, a good CDN provider should be able to defend your site from attacks, spams, and invasive bots.

  1. Customer Service/Support

    Take for instance, something goes wrong unexpectedly with your site’s performance and you can’t reach your CDN provider on time. You wouldn’t want that, right? Hence, a good CDN provider should be available for customer care issues all day long.

  1. Pricing

    It is necessary that you consider a CDN provider whose pricing is commensurate with your traffic volume. If you are just starting your website, then it may be okay to use free CDNs(1). However, the more your website grows, the more you would have to pay for higher CDN providers.

Best CDN Providers

Having mentioned the abundant benefits of using a CDN, you’re probably wondering what the best CDN providers are? Don’t worry, we have compiled a CDN providers list below:

  • StackPath
  • Sucuri
  • Cloudflare
  • KeyCDN
  • Google Cloud CDN
  • Rackspace
  • CacheFly
  • Amazon CloudFront

CDN Providers Comparison

We will be making some CDN providers comparison based on their challenges and opportunities.

Challenges and Opportunities

  1. StackPath

    • Performance: based on performance, this is almost the best WordPress CDN provider you can find anywhere. Stackpath has a high performance rate due to its numerous network of servers strategically positioned in various parts of the world. Stackpath offers advanced reporting features that gives you detailed data points concerning the delivery of your content(s) and traffic analytics.
    • Security: based on this condition, stackpath again rises up to task as it provides additional security features that some other CDN providers don’t give. They allow you to make use of SSL certificates to ensure maximum security of your cached contents.
    • Customer care: with 45 locations in 5 continents, Stackpath surely has a good customer care feature.
    • Pricing: the average cost for stackpath is $10 per month.

    Rating: 9/10.

    Challenges: there is no free plan.

    Opportunities: basic plan gives you 1 terabyte bandwidth for a month.Also, it has extra security services, usage on unlimited websites with zero restrictions, and numerous servers situated all around the world.

  1. Sucuri

    • Performance:without doubts, Sucuri gives high performance. It offers monitored and statistical reports of your site’s activities
    • Security: Sucuri has high security features that will protect your site against security threats such as malware, and DDoS among others. They have an application firewall that analyzes all user requests to your content before they are authorized to connect to your hosting server
    • Customer care: Sucuri has a customer care service that will attend to you all day long.
    • Pricing: The basic payment for Sucuri starts from $200 per year. The Pro plan goes for $300 per year, and the Business Plan goes for $500 a year.

    Rating: 8/10.

    Challenges: does not come with a free plan. It is also quite expensive  with a starting price of $200 annually per website.

    Opportunities: it has an unlimited bandwidth size for all of their plan. Customer care service is always available to offer assistance. In addition, the website uptime is dependable.

  1. Cloudflare

    • Performance: this is another good CDN with good performance but not as high as Stackpath or Sucuri. It also offers reporting time frame for your site.
    • Security: there may be challenges with security here, because it has restricted DDoS protection.
    • Customer care: the customer care service is not upto standard levels.
    • Pricing: they have a free plan and a standard plan. Standard plan costs $20 for a month.

    Rating: 6/10.

    Challenges: the free plan is limited. There is the challenge of possible malware, spam and DDoS attacks.

    Opportunities: numerous server locations in five continents (North America, South America, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, and Europe). Also, the configuration process is simple and straightforward.

  1. KeyCDN

    • Performance: the performance is relatively high because it has powerful server networks across 6 continents, that guarantees the speed of your website performance.
    • Security: it offers standard security features which includes DDoS protection, custom SSL, and a powerful control center.
    • Customer care: the customer care service is very good and free.
    • Pricing: the prices are set on a Pay-as-you-go basis.

    Rating: 8.5/10.

    Challenges: its  security capacity is not really strong. Also, there is no free plan.

    Opportunities: free customer support all day long. The configuration process is simple.

  1. Google Cloud CDN

    • Performance: the performance is relatively satisfactory. It allows seamless integration with the Google Cloud Platform for better performance.
    • Customer care: their customer support capacity has been reported to be poor. They provide technical assistance only when you have paid for it.
    • Security: it secures your website and offers a cost-free SSL certificate for better security
    • Pricing: the price is set on a pay-as-you-go basis, but they have a free trial plan.

    Rating: 7.5/10.

    Challenges – the configuration process is hard.

    Opportunities – their plans align with affordability and it also offers free SSL certificate.

  1. Rackspace

    • Performance: it works very well with WordPress. It offers powerful cloud infrastructures.
    • Security: the security features are quite low. There is no protection against DDoS.
    • Customer care: the customer care service is average.
    • Pricing: the price is set based on geographical position, bandwidth and usage.

    Rating: 7/10

    Challenges: it offers no protection against DDoS attacks. It is also fairly expensive, and the configuration process is strenuous.

    Opportunities: it has numerous server locations and a strong cloud infrastructure.

  1. CacheFly

    • Performance: the performance level is above average. It allows easy streaming of videos and podcasts.
    • Security: they have standard security features such as DDoS and malware protection against hackers.
    • Customer care: they have one of the best CDN customer care services. They offer free customer assistance in a quality manner.
    • Pricing: it is quite expensive for most website businesses, with a starting price of $295 per month.

    Rating: 7.5/10.

    Challenges: with a starting price of $295 per month, it is definitely expensive.

    Opportunities: it provides good security options. They have a superb customer support service.

  1. Amazon CloudFront

    • Performance: it is highly advanced and therefore boosts speed. In fact, its sophisticated performance makes us recommend it for programmers.
    • Security: the security features are topnotch and advanced
    • Customer care : they operate a satisfactory customer care service.
    • Pricing: price is set on a pay-as-you-go basis.

    Rating: 8/10.

    Challenges: operating it can be hard for some individuals.

    Opportunities: they have numerous locations all over the world. They also deliver instantly.

Final Thoughts

Speed is almost everything in today’s rapidly developing data age. It is advisable that your CDN provider is experienced with years of reputable services. There are just as much bad CDN providers out there, as there are genuine and efficient ones too.

TechFunnel Contributors | TechFunnel.com is an ambitious publication dedicated to the evolving landscape of marketing and technology in business and in life. We are dedicated to sharing unbiased information, research, and expert commentary that helps executives and professionals stay on top of the rapidly evolving marketplace, leverage technology for productivity, and add value to their knowledge base.

TechFunnel Contributors | TechFunnel.com is an ambitious publication dedicated to the evolving landscape of marketing and technology in business and in life. We are dedicate...

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