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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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