CloudFront vs Azure CDN vs Cloud CDN — Content Delivery Compared
Compare AWS CloudFront, Azure CDN, and Google Cloud CDN for content delivery. Pricing, edge locations, and performance.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Amazon CloudFront | Azure CDN | Google Cloud CDN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edge locations | 450+ | 180+ (varies by provider) | 180+ |
| Edge compute | Lambda@Edge + CloudFront Functions | Azure Functions (via Front Door) | Limited |
| Free tier | 1TB + 10M requests/mo | No | No |
| HTTP/3 support | Yes | Yes (Front Door) | Yes (default) |
Service Details
Amazon CloudFront
Global CDN with 450+ edge locations. Deep Lambda@Edge integration for serverless compute at the edge.
- 450+ edge locations (largest network)
- Lambda@Edge for edge compute
- Deep S3/ALB integration
- Free tier included
- Complex pricing by region
- Configuration can be overwhelming
- Invalidation costs at scale
Azure CDN
Azure's CDN with multiple provider options (Microsoft, Akamai, Verizon). Azure Front Door for advanced routing.
- Multiple CDN provider backends
- Azure Front Door for advanced routing/WAF
- Good integration with Azure services
- Competitive pricing
- Multiple product tiers add confusion
- Front Door pricing is separate and complex
- Fewer edge locations than CloudFront
Google Cloud CDN
Global CDN leveraging Google's network backbone. Simple pricing model with cache egress significantly cheaper than standard egress.
- Google's global network backbone
- Simple pricing model
- Automatic HTTP/3 and QUIC
- Deep integration with Cloud Load Balancing
- Fewer edge locations
- Less edge compute capability
- Simpler feature set than CloudFront
When to Use Which
Choose CloudFront for the largest edge network and Lambda@Edge capabilities. Choose Azure CDN/Front Door for advanced routing with WAF. Choose Cloud CDN for simple pricing on Google’s backbone.
CDN costs scale with traffic. CloudExpat helps optimize cache hit ratios, identify expensive origin fetches, and right-size your CDN configuration.
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