The Best Content Delivery Networks: An Extensive Research Report on 500 Top Websites

Want to improve website performance? Invest in a content delivery network (CDN).

If you’re not familiar with the term, a content delivery network is a group of edge servers and data centers in multiple geographical locations around the world. Their purpose? To cache web content from a website’s origin server; then quickly display it to the appropriate web traffic.

Is your head spinning right now? No problem. Just know that content delivery networks reduce load times, which improves the user experience. When users have good experiences with a website, they stay for longer and come back more often. Both of these things improve SEO.

The question is, what’s the best content delivery network on the market?

That’s what this research report will teach you! Keep reading to learn how CDN providers impact SEO and which CDNs are the most popular for news, e-commerce, education, tech, and health websites.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if/when you buy a product after clicking on them. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it helps me run this blog and allows me to offer in-depth research reports like this for free. Know that I only recommend products and services that I personally stand behind.

How Does a Content Delivery Network Impact SEO?

So, how will a content delivery network (CDN) help you rank higher in search results? Before I can answer that question, we need to talk about web hosting…

Web hosts make internet content accessible by offering customers space on a web server. Said space is then used to store files and other important data points.

Here’s the problem: data takes time to transfer from its origin servers to each end user’s device.

If the user is close to the origin servers, this isn’t a problem. They’ll be able to access the web pages they want in a flash. But if the user is far from the origin servers, they’ll experience network latency. (This is especially true when dealing with dynamic content like live video streaming.)

40% of consumers will abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. If this happens too often, search engines like Google will think, “People don’t stay on this site for very long. It must not be valuable. I should rank it lower in my results pages.”

CDN services aim to remedy this problem. By storing cached content on multiple servers around the world, CDNs reduce content delivery times. In the end, web users will be able to view your website content immediately, which will increase customer satisfaction.

Higher satisfaction scores usually lead to more web traffic. And more web traffic will prove to Google that your website resources are valuable. Then you’ll achieve higher search rankings.

A Few Details About This Report

Before we dive into the content delivery network (CDN) report below, I want to take a minute to explain a few things. First, who am I? And why should you listen to me?

My name is Marko and I have a background in pharmaceuticals. In fact, I’ve led large clinical trials for health companies, which helped me develop a love for data, statistics, and experimentation. Now, I use the skill sets I learned in that career to help companies with SEO.

Regarding this report, I studied 500 top websites in five different categories: news, e-commerce, education, technology, and health. Each website was studied manually. In other words, I did not use web scraping techniques, as I was concerned that this might violate certain privacy rules.

I should also mention that this is a worldwide analysis; it’s not country specific. And websites were chosen based on keywords like “world news” and “buy online” and “tech reviews”.

Now, I did my best to conduct a thorough analysis of CDN edge servers. But, of course, no analysis is perfect. The one limitation in my report is that all my data was collected via Site Checker. It’s considered a reliable tool, but I always want to be upfront with my findings.

After using Site Checker, 114 websites that I’d chosen for my analysis were disqualified. So that left 386 websites for me to study regarding content delivery networks.

Last but not least, if you want access to ALL the raw data I collected for this report, sign up for my newsletter. I’d be more than happy to send the spreadsheet your way.

Make sense? Great, let’s find out what the best CDN services are!

The Most Popular Content Delivery Networks Worldwide

There are tons of CDNs out there. Seriously, type, “best content delivery network” into Google and you’ll find a bunch of options. But not all these options are equal.

More importantly, not all options are equal for your specific business. What do I mean by that? Simply that an edge server provider that works for one company might not work for yours. Assess your needs and choose the content delivery network that matches them best.

With that in mind, let’s dive into the data:

According to my research, Fastly is the most popular content delivery network. In fact, 89 of the 386 websites I analyzed use Fastly, good for 23% of the field. Another 20% use Cloudflare (78 out of 386 websites), 18.4% use Akamai (71 out of 386 websites), and 14.8% use Amazon CloudFront (57 out of 386 websites).

To be clear, not every website that I studied uses one of these CDN services. But every other provider accounted for less than 5% of total results. As such, they aren’t worth mentioning.

We’ll dig deeper into the data I collected for this report soon. First, I want to shine a spotlight on the four most popular CDN providers: Fastly, Cloudflare, Akamai, and Amazon CloudFront.

CDN Provider #1: Fastly

Fastly is a cloud computing services provider based in San Francisco, California. The company is known for its “edge cloud platform” which enables developers to deliver websites “as close to the users as possible, to create unforgettable experiences at global scale.” Sounds pretty good, right?

Here’s What Makes This CDN Great

Fastly is optimized for speed, security, and scale. In other words, websites that run on Fastly load in a flash, protect user data, and allow for expansion. That’s why major brands like The New York Times, Spotify, and Ticketmaster use the service.

One of the best things about Fastly’s CDN servers is that they allow for real-time personalization. For example, Fastly helps news outlets show content based on where website users are. Nice!

A Few Notable Features

• Cache a wide range of content to enhance the speed and personalization of your site
• Enjoy real-time configuration control, comprehensive APIs, and stress-free rollbacks
• Rest easy knowing Fastly provides built-in DDoS, next-gen WAF, and TLS offerings
• Simplify billing with the only external CDN on the AWS and Google Cloud marketplaces
• Access a top-rated customer support team (Fastly has a CSAT score of 95%)
• There’s no money back guarantee, but Fastly does allow you to test $50 of traffic for free

It’s Not All Sunshine and Rainbows

Fastly offers a great product, but there are a couple of disadvantages you need to be aware of. Some people claim that this CDN is hard to use, and you have to pay extra for access to 24/7 customer support. Fastly isn’t the cheapest delivery either. Finally, Fastly does not offer an uptime guarantee. (The company actually had a major outage in 2021.)

How Much Does Fastly Cost?

CDN services start at $50 a month. But the total amount you’ll pay for Fastly will depend on your bandwidth consumption. In other words, the more traffic your site receives, the more it will cost to display your web content.

CDN Provider #2: Cloudflare

Cloudflare is a global network of CDN servers with an ambition goal: to build a better internet. The American company started from humble beginnings, though. Its founders built a simple program to help website owners track spam. Then that program evolved into the fast and secure content delivery network that it is today.

Here’s What Makes This CDN Great

Cloudflare is known as the world’s first “connectivity cloud” because businesses of all sizes use it for a variety of networking, security, and developer purposes. Also, while Cloudflare will definitely make your website faster, it’s best known for website security.

One more thing, Cloudflare offers domain registration services. This is super convenient and another reason why many people say Cloudflare is one of the easiest CDN providers to use.

A Few Notable Features

• Tap into a large edge server network that includes 310 cities in 120 countries
• Enjoy ultra-fast static and dynamic content delivery on the Cloudflare “free” plan
• Access security features like DDoS protection, SSL/TLS Encryption and HTTPS Support, and WAF
• Lower bandwidth costs by reducing original server requests, which minimizes bandwidth usage
• Use Cloudflare Analytics to understand website performance; then optimize it for better results

It’s Not All Sunshine and Rainbows

Cloudflare is used by top brands like IBM, L’Oreal, and DoorDash. But that doesn’t mean it’s a perfect tool. For example, Cloudflare isn’t the most customizable option. And Cloudflare users are uber reliant on the Cloudflare infrastructure. If it goes down, or network traffic spikes, your site won’t fare very well.

How Much Does Cloudflare Cost?

Cloudflare offers a generous free plan. For access to all the platform’s top features, though, you’ll likely need to pay between $20 and $250 a month.

CDN Provider #3: Akamai

Akamai was one of the first CDN services on the market. Since its start, the content delivery network has only grown in popularity, and now counts major brands like FOX and iHeartMedia as customers. I’m not surprised. Akamai operates more CDN edge servers than most others.

Here’s What Makes This CDN Great

Akamai’s offerings are straight to the point and easy to use. If you do get stuck, though, the CDN company offers thorough documentation to see you through. Also of note, Akamai gives users complete control over the web server they’re assigned. Finally, I’ve heard great things about the Akamai support team, which is definitely a benefit worth mentioning.

A Few Notable Features

• Easily deliver all kinds of content to website users (including streaming media)
• Outsmart the most sophisticated security threats to keep your website content safe
• Seize control of your caching server and handle cached content with more flexibility
• Take advantage of phone and email support to help overcome web page related issues

It’s Not All Sunshine and Rainbows

No CDN is perfect. Akamai, for example, can be more expensive than other CDNs. Also, because Akamai gives users control over their edge servers, said users must manage them. This requires a fair amount of time and technical know-how. So, if running system updates makes you break out in a cold sweat, you should look at other CDN servers.

How Much Does Akamai Cost?

Unfortunately, Akamai doesn’t post pricing information on its website. To learn about the cost of this content delivery network, get in touch with the company.

CDN Provider #4: Amazon

Amazon is the biggest e-commerce company in the world. But did you know that they offer a bunch of different cloud services, too? One of those services is a popular content delivery network. Known as Amazon CloudFront, this CDN will help you deliver web content faster and more securely. Win!

Here’s What Makes This CDN Great

Amazon CloudFront offers a ton of advanced features to its CDN customers. Want access to a reliable global edge network? No problem. Worried about the security of your web content? CloudFront has your back. Looking for deep metrics related to website performance? You got it!

A Few Notable Features

• Enjoy built-in data compression, edge compute capabilities, and field-level encryption
• Optimize dynamic website content delivery with the purpose-built AWS network infrastructure
• Deliver different kinds of internet content at scale and maintain high transfer rates

It’s Not All Sunshine and Rainbows

What do I not like about Amazon CloudFront? Its pricing structure is somewhat complex. Worse, many of their complicated pricing plans are more expensive than competitors. And what do you get for all those extra dollars? A system that some say is pretty difficult to use. (You also get access to some amazing features, as we discussed above. So take the good with the bad.)

How Much Does Amazon CloudFront Cost?

Get started with Amazon CloudFront for free and facilitate 1TB of data transfer per month. If you need more than that, or want access to some of Amazon’s high-level features, you’ll need to pay a regular fee. The size of said fee will depend on your bandwidth consumption.

Now, it’s time to dig into the results of my analysis, starting with the best CDNs for news sites…

The Most Popular CDN Providers for News Websites

26% of the news websites I studied use Akamai, 18.5% use Fastly, and 13.8% use Amazon CloudFront. Surprisingly, only 6% use Cloudflare. In fact, CDN providers like Lee Enterprises and Automattic are more popular than Cloudflare’s content distribution network for news.

So the first takeaway is this: content owners who run news-oriented websites should probably steer clear of Cloudflare. There seems to be better options in the industry. (That’s not to say that Cloudflare is a subpar product. But it doesn’t seem to fit the news niche as well as other tools.)

So, which CDN should you use? According to my research, Akamai is the leading provider for news websites. This makes sense. Akamai’s large network of operational servers helps content delivery. Plus, the company works hard to ensure the security of its customers and their users.

Fastly and Amazon are popular CDN solutions in the news space as well. These options are perfect for news websites that prioritize top performance and scalability. At the end of the day, look for CDN providers that are reliable and can reduce load times for a global audience.

The Most Popular CDN Providers for E-Commerce Websites

50.9% of the e-commerce websites I studied use Akamai, 15.8% use Cloudflare, and 12.3% use Amazon CloudFront. In last place is Fastly, which 5.3% of e-commerce websites I studied use.

Once again, the most popular CDN in the category is Akamai—but this time, it’s not even close. An overwhelming majority of top e-commerce sites use Akamai’s CDN edge servers.

Also of note, Cloudflare is way more popular in the e-commerce space than it is in the news space, while the inverse is true for Fastly. This is probably related to most e-commerce brands’ priorities: security, speed, and reliability. Fastly can definitely provide the first two things, but the major outage it experienced in 2021 might cast doubt on its reliability.

If you run an e-commerce website, look for a CDN that offers advanced security features and an efficient core network infrastructure that can optimize delivery for a variety of media files.

The Most Popular CDN Providers for Education Websites

29.9% of the education websites I studied use Cloudflare, 26% use Amazon CloudFront, 13% use Fastly, and 3.9% use Akamai.

As you can see, industry plays a major role in determining which CDN servers that content owners choose. Cloudflare is the least popular option in news, but the most popular in education. The exact opposite is true for Akamai. This tells me that your web content should dictate your content delivery network. (We’ll talk more about this in a bit.)

So, why do education websites prefer Cloudflare? These websites need dependable and scalable solutions to support the heavy traffic their platforms receive. Cloudflare passes the dependability and scalability tests with flying colors.

Cloudflare is also known for its top-level security features. Since strong security is needed to maintain the integrity and availability of educational content, Cloudflare is a good fit.

The Most Popular CDN Providers for Tech Websites

38.5% of the tech websites I studied use Fastly, 17.7% use Cloudflare, 12.5% use Amazon CloudFront, and 10.4% use Akamai. Clearly, Fastly is the preferred option in this category.

It makes sense when you think about it. Fastly is known for its cutting-edge performance and fast content delivery—things that most tech companies care about. Cloudflare and Amazon CloudFront are popular options, too. This speaks to most tech companies’ desire for scalability and security.

The Most Popular CDN Providers for Health Websites

30.3% of the health websites I studied use Fastly and 28.1% use Cloudflare. These are the favorites in this industry by a wide margin. Another 13.5% of websites use Akamai and 10.1% use Amazon CloudFront.

Health websites need reliable and secure technology partners. That way patient information is always available, easy to find, and stored behind intense security protocols. Fastly and Cloudflare seem to provide these benefits to health companies better than other solutions.

Which Is the Best Content Delivery Network for You?

That concludes my research report on the best content delivery networks, as determined by the top 500 websites around the world. Now you just have to choose a CDN for yourself.

You can do that by balancing your website’s unique needs, your budget, and the usability of each CDN platform. Or, if money is no object, you can use this little cheat sheet:

• Fastly: Choose Fastly if you manage a tech or health-related website and need a CDN that can deliver high-speed performance, while handling dynamic content efficiently.
• Cloudflare: Choose Cloudflare if you manage an education or health-related website and believe that security and reliability are the most important CDN features available.
• Akamai: Choose Akamai if you manage a news or e-commerce website and need a CDN that can handle major traffic spikes, while maintaining a high level of security.
• Amazon CloudFront: Choose Amazon CloudFront if you value scalability more than anything else—especially if you already use some of the other Amazon web services.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, your content delivery network can make or break your website performance. But it’s definitely not the only thing that matters.

To learn more about optimizing your website for SEO, join my newsletter. Better yet, hire me to take your website to the top of Google’s search results. Let’s build something amazing together!