Cloudflare CDN vs Fastly: which is better? Comparison 2026
By our public methodology Cloudflare CDN scores 77 out of 100 and Fastly scores 59. Below: the factors and facts where they differ, each fact with its source.
Score breakdown
| Cloudflare CDN | Fastly | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 40 | 40 |
| Network and performance | 80 | 33 |
| Security | 100 | 100 |
| Developer control | 100 | 100 |
| Reliability and trust | 77 | 35 |
Pros and cons
Cloudflare CDN
- Large network of PoPs
- Has a permanent free plan or free monthly traffic
- DDoS protection
- Web application firewall
Fastly
- Has a permanent free plan or free monthly traffic
- DDoS protection
- Web application firewall
- Free TLS certificates
- High price per GB
Facts side by side
| Fact | Cloudflare CDN | Fastly |
|---|---|---|
| Price per GB, North America and Europe, lowest tier | Not verified | $0.12 fastly.com |
| Free plan or free monthly traffic | Yes cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Points of presence (provider's count) | 348 cloudflare.com | Not verified |
| HTTP/3 | Yes developers.cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Image optimisation | Yes cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| DDoS protection | Yes cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Web application firewall (WAF) | Yes cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Free TLS certificates | Yes cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Edge compute | Yes cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Real-time logs | Yes developers.cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Instant cache purge | Yes developers.cloudflare.com | Yes fastly.com |
| Uptime SLA | 100% cloudflare.com | Not verified |
| SOC 2 or ISO 27001 | Not verified | Yes fastly.com |
| Public status page | Yes cloudflarestatus.com | Not verified |
| Founded | 2009 cloudflare.com | 2011 fastly.com |
| Company headquarters | United States cloudflare.com | Not verified |
| Company | Cloudflare, Inc. cloudflare.com | Not verified |
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