A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a globally distributed network of servers that deliver web content to users from the server closest to them. Instead of all requests going to a single origin server, CDN edge servers cache and serve content from locations worldwide – reducing latency and load times significantly.
| Provider | Known for | Free tier? |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Security, DDoS protection, DNS | Yes |
| AWS CloudFront | Amazon ecosystem, global scale | Limited |
| Fastly | Real-time purging, developer-friendly | Trial |
| Akamai | Enterprise, media delivery | No |
| BunnyCDN | Affordable, fast | Trial |
| jsDelivr | Open source libraries (npm, GitHub) | Yes |
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) distributes website content across a global network of servers, delivering it to users from the nearest location. This reduces latency, improves load times and protects against traffic spikes and DDoS attacks. CDNs cache static assets like images, CSS, JavaScript and videos. Major providers like Cloudflare offer free CDN services with additional security features like DDoS protection and free SSL certificates.