Best CDN Services · head-to-head
Amazon CloudFront vs Fastly
A sourced, side-by-side comparison for cdn services. Amazon CloudFront has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it.
At a glance
- Price: Amazon CloudFront $0/mo vs Fastly $1500/mo — Amazon CloudFront is cheaper to start.
- Free tier: Amazon CloudFront Yes; Fastly No.
- HIPAA: Amazon CloudFront Yes; Fastly Yes.
Side by side
| Amazon CloudFront | Fastly | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $0/mo (Free (Always Free + flat plan)) | $1500/mo (Network Services - Basic) |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| HIPAA (BAA) | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Yes |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Existing AWS customers wanting native CDN with zero integration friction | Enterprise media and publishing needing sub-150ms global purge |
Sources — Amazon CloudFront: aws.amazon.com (verified 2026-06-13). Fastly: fastly.com (verified 2026-06-13).
Key features
Amazon CloudFront: HIPAA-eligible service per AWS BAA (excludes Embedded PoPs); SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3 in scope (per AWS compliance services list); GDPR-compliant with AWS DPA including SCCs; Lambda@Edge and CloudFront Functions for programmable edge; AWS Shield Standard DDoS protection included; Integration with AWS WAF for application-layer filtering; Global network of 600+ PoPs (AWS edge locations + regional caches); Signed URLs and signed cookies for private content distribution; Real-time metrics and logging via CloudWatch; Field-level encryption for sensitive data at edge
Fastly: Instant Purge: <150ms average global cache invalidation; 578 Tbps global edge capacity serving 5+ trillion daily requests; ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified; SOC 2 Type 2 (Security and Availability criteria); HIPAA-audited with HIPAA-compliant caching product; PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider; GDPR-audited as data processor; Next-Gen WAF (~90% of customers in blocking mode); Programmable edge via Compute@Edge (WebAssembly); Up to 32% faster TTFB vs competing CDNs (Fastly claim)