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AWS CloudFront vs Fastly(2026)

AWS CloudFront is better for teams that need deep aws integration. Fastly is the stronger choice if excellent performance. AWS CloudFront is paid (from $0.0085/GB) and Fastly is paid (from $0.12/GB).

Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.

By Bikram Nath

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AWS CloudFront logo

AWS CloudFront

paid

Amazon CloudFront is a fast CDN that integrates with AWS services for delivering websites, APIs, and video with low latency.

Starting at $0.0085/GB

Visit AWS CloudFront
Fastly logo

Fastly

paid

Fastly is an edge cloud platform with CDN, streaming delivery, and compute@edge capabilities used by Shopify and GitHub.

Starting at $0.12/GB

Visit Fastly

How Do AWS CloudFront and Fastly Compare on Features?

FeatureAWS CloudFrontFastly
Pricing modelpaidpaid
Starting price$0.0085/GB$0.12/GB
Global edge locations✓—
Lambda@Edge✓—
CloudFront Functions✓—
WAF integration✓—
S3 integration✓—
Real-time logs✓—
CDN—✓
Compute@Edge (WebAssembly)—✓
Image optimization—✓
Streaming—✓
Security (WAF)—✓
Real-time analytics—✓

AWS CloudFront Pros and Cons vs Fastly

A

AWS CloudFront

+Deep AWS integration
+Edge computing (Lambda@Edge)
+Reliable and scalable
+Good for AWS-heavy stacks
−Complex pricing
−AWS lock-in
−Configuration is verbose
F

Fastly

+Excellent performance
+Compute@Edge is powerful
+Real-time config changes
+Used by major companies
−No real free tier
−Complex VCL configuration
−Expensive compared to Cloudflare

Should You Use AWS CloudFront or Fastly?

For most teams, AWS CloudFront is the better default: it offers deep aws integration and is paid (from $0.0085/GB). Choose Fastly instead if excellent performance matters more than complex pricing. There is no universal winner — the right pick depends on your budget, team size, and whether you value deep aws integration or excellent performance more.

Choose AWS CloudFront if…

  • •Deep AWS integration
  • •Edge computing (Lambda@Edge)
  • •Reliable and scalable

Choose Fastly if…

  • •Excellent performance
  • •Compute@Edge is powerful
  • •Real-time config changes

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