The Best CDN Providers in 2022

G-Core Labs is a trendy provider that boasts partnerships with the likes of Intel. With such connections, you’d expect it to be a great CDN for gaming, and you’d be correct.

But that’s not all it does.

G-Core Labs is an excellent content delivery network for entertainment in general, with the ability to stream 4K video at top speeds with minimal disruption.

Of course, it can just as easily handle basic websites and servers too. This is all capped off with IPv6 capability and top-of-the-line protection against cyber attacks.

Check out what else it has to offer.

G-Core Labs Locations

120+ POPs worldwide

G-Core Labs Features

G-Core Labs’ pricing is straightforward, broken into five plans:

• Free, €0 – This plan offers connections to 28 POPs, 1TB of free traffic per month, and a cost of €0.0025 per GB over the free allotment. CDN support is limited to the knowledge base.
  
  
• Start, €35/mo – It includes 1.5TB of traffic per month, a reduced overage of €0.0023 per GB, connection to all 90+ POPs, and support via 8/5 email.
  
  
• Pro 5TB, €100/mo – As the name implies, this plan gives you 5TB of traffic per month with a greatly reduced overage of €0.0020 per GB, the same number of connections as the Start plan, and 24/7 email, phone, and live chat support.
  
  
• Pro 10TB, €150/mo – This package includes 10TB of traffic and an even cheaper overage of €0.0015, plus all features from the previous plans.
  
  
• Enterprise, Custom price – This subscription is fully customized to your needs. If you plan to go big, contact sales to make an inquiry.

G-Core Labs makes it easy to start off with a cheap CDN plan and build from there. The service offers free SSL certificates, IPv6 capability, and an instant purge feature to clear your network.

All of this can be easily managed through G-Core Labs’ CDN control panel. Additionally, the panel gives you access to live chat so you can get step-by-step guidance as you work. It also provides comprehensive statistics and two-factor authentication to buff your login security.

G-Core Labs Support

The CDN service offers quick and comprehensive support. It includes everything from a knowledge base to email, live chat, and phone. But there’s a catch—24/7 support is limited to the Pro 5TB plan and up.

Still, G-Core Labs’ support staff is great, with attentive and friendly agents. Plus, when the service says 24/7, it means it. The reps were quick to respond even in the early hours of the morning.

The knowledge base, which is available to everyone, is fantastic. It offers easy instructions on all but the most specific issues a user could have.

G-Core Labs User Reviews

• G-Core Labs Trustpilot score: 4.7 / 5 (49 reviews)
• G-Core Labs Host Advice score: 4.8 / 5 (135 reviews)

Users have an overwhelmingly positive view of the G-Core Labs CDN network. Aside from the scores mentioned above, the service holds at least 4/5 on multiple other review sites too.

Customers appreciate every aspect of the service, from its resources and speeds to the ease of setting it up. There’s also consistent mention of the support staff going beyond to deliver the best service.

Our Verdict

G-Core Labs is a great CDN that specializes in entertainment sites in need of good speeds and stable connections. It doesn’t skimp on any features, but to have access to the full range, you’ll have to pay for a pricier plan.

As such, it could be overwhelming for new users. All the same, it is worth trying, seeing as it offers both a free CDN trial and a free plan.

Here is a name that should ring a bell.

Cloudflare holds the largest piece of the pie on the CDN market. Nearly 29% of Alexa’s Top 1 Million Websites make use of its services.

That number is no surprise—Cloudflare is by far one of the most popular free CDN solutions, coming as an added extra with many reputable web hosts. It is trusted by names like Reuters, Discord, and ZenDesk (and about 16 million more).

In 2014 the company received international acclaim after its services mitigated the most persistent DDoS attack at that time, blasting 400GB/s incoming traffic.

Cloudflare Locations

POPs in 180+ cities on six continents

Cloudflare Features

Unlike other providers on this list, Cloudflare has a very clear and comprehensive pricing policy. You have four service plans:

• Free
• Pro – starting from $20/mo
• Business – starting from $200/mo
• Enterprise – quote by request

The Free plan is (understandably) housing most clients and actually doing a pretty good job at it. You have access to the whole network of servers and can utilize free SSL certificate and DDoS protection options.

A plethora of hosting companies are already partnering with Cloudflare, so activating the Free Plan takes just a few clicks from your cPanel.

Moving to the premium packages, things are getting increasingly sweet.

Cloudflare is throwing a web application firewall (WAF), HTTP2 prioritization, and advanced optimization features in the mix.

Once your business starts booming, you can easily upgrade to the Business plan. The goodies there are shaped to match your stature—custom SSL certificates, image resizing requests, 24/7 dedicated support.

It looks like Cloudflare competitors have a mountain to climb…

Cloudflare Support

Cloudflare seems so confident in the ease of use and reliability of its services that its support took a back seat. So much so that you can only find them over the phone for sales queries.

Need chat or email assistance? Sure…on the Pro plan, starting from $200/mo.

How about technical help over the phone? You are now in Enterprise plan territory, so you better be ready for larger investments.

Sure, you have a well-written knowledge base and a large community ready to lend a helping hand, but for me, nothing can beat the hands-on approach of a dedicated operator.

I know that dealing with millions of clients is no easy job, but a 24/7 chat or a ticketing channel will do wonders to Cloudfare’s customer satisfaction rates.

At the very least, let users take advantage of more support options on the cheaper plans.

Cloudflare User Reviews

• Cloudflare Trustpilot score: 3.4 / 5 (193 reviews)
• Cloudflare FeaturedCustomers score: 4.3 / 5 (165 reviews)

Existing users seem to have split opinions about the Cloudflare CDN, and I can see why.

For most, the platform works like a charm. There is very little initial setup needed and once you get this out of the way, you can let CF do the rest.

The problems come when you do need extra assistance.

As we mentioned, live support is a paid feature, so people often resort to the ticketing. The response rates are satisfactory but the level of assistance – not so much.

The platform definitely seems better-suited for users with at least a little technical experience.

Our Verdict

You can’t argue with the numbers—Cloudflare is the most prominent company on the market for a reason. Their cheap CDN plans are solid, reliable, and secure enough to handle both startup and mid-level projects.

Enterprise clients are always welcome as well, but I believe there are companies with more tailored services for this particular group.

Akamai is one of the largest (if not THE largest) CDN providers in terms of coverage. Based in Cambridge, MA, the company has more than two decades of experience behind its back.

But wait a minute—isn’t CDN a relatively new technology?

The answer might surprise you…

The father of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee, laid the grounds of the CDN technology way back in 1995.

Three years later, Akamai Technologies came to the stage. The CDN provider today caters to some of the largest enterprises, with Fox, Audi, Adobe, Nintendo, and IBM just a few of the big names utilizing its services.

Akamai Locations

Over 40 POPS.

Akamai Features

Akamai is best-known for serving high-end clients.

It's cost starts at $0.04/GB for the first 10TB, but the company carries more benefits than your run-of-the-mill CDN. Akamai often has to deal with media-heavy projects, so it employs predictive content delivery to stream high-quality videos without stalling and buffering.

The Akamai CDN optimizes content delivery speeds via a Cisco IWAN boosted by Akamai Connect.

There is a visible focus on security measures as well.

The company provides a wide range of products that tackle malware, phishing, DDoS attacks, SQL injections, or XSS attacks. In short—protection against all popular cyber threats.

Akamai Support

Akamai guarantees 24/7 support via phone and live chat. Not only that, but there is a dedicated hotline you can call when your website is under a DDoS attack.

Certainly a step ahead of the competition here, but remember—these are high roller clients we are talking about, so you can’t risk disappointing them with below-par assistance.

I had a quick run-in with Akamai’s chat operators and was generally impressed with their level of knowledge. The representative was on point with the information I was seeking and cleared all my security concerns.

The only thing that baffled me was when I asked for clarification on how easy it would be to connect their service with my web host.

Just some positive reassurance, you know.

Instead, the operator started making excuses this question was for the Technical Support team (really?). Then he asked a lot of additional details to determine which tech team would best handle this.

A bit of unnecessary hassle, but a minor hiccup for an otherwise excellent service.

Akamai User Reviews

• Akamai FeaturedCustomers score: 4.7 / 5 (230 reviews)
• Akamai G2.com score: 3.8 / 5 (33 reviews)

FeaturedCustomers is a moderated platform for verified product reviews. You can see many interesting companies in Akamai’s corner, and they are happy to share a positive word.

Clients report great results with content caching and in many cases—a reduced server load. The best thing is, the Akamai CDN is really consistent in its performance, proving that its fame is well-deserved.

On the flip side, the solution doesn’t seem to suit smaller businesses as much, with startups reporting the service as “too confusing” or “quite costly.”

Our Verdict

Akamai is for all the big boys out there. Businesses with large-scale web projects that need a lot of resources and impenetrable defense. The high-end services are perfectly complemented with some polite and knowledgeable support.

Still, if you are just in it for a cheap ecommerce or WordPress CDN solution, then you might like one of our next contenders.

Our next contender is all about protection.

Imperva is a California-based cybersecurity company, which evolved into a full-blown cloud-based platform for application delivery. Part of that evolution was the acquisition of 85% of the Incapsula CDN service in 2009.

By 2013, Incapsula was already growing by 50% per quarter, but Imperva’s balance was still in the red.

That’s when the security firm completely assimilated the CDN and made it part of their fully-featured app delivery service.

Who works with Incapsula?

PayPal’s service Xoom, real estate marketplace Zillow, and tech giant Siemens are just some of the most notable fans.

Incapsula Locations

45+ POP locations on six continents

Incapsula Features

Incapsula is not your run-of-the-mill content distribution network. It’s a multipurpose solution that mixes CDN, WAF, load balancing, and application delivery control in one monster of a product.

We are talking about a CDN that makes your website environment look like a maximum-security prison.

From the smart caching options, which lower bandwidth costs, to the Cache Shield on your origin server—Incapsula has it all figured out.

That is if you’re not a newbie.

Novice users might have some trouble navigating the website and understanding what is where. I know I did, even with my previous experience.

This is why I thought the support team could shed a little light on the services and pricing…

Incapsula Support

At first glance, everything looks fine—you have a 24/7 phone line, a live chat, emergency DDoS protection. The last service promises 3-second mitigation, possibly the best on the market.

So how good are they? Here’s my experience:

I entered the chat very optimistic. I just wanted to confirm the types of plans and which one would be best for me and my budget.

First of all, it turned out this was not a sales chat, but a support one—I could only leave my details so a sales representative could contact me. Usually, it works the other way around, but alright, I’ll play along. What would you need?

They asked general questions—what’s the size of my business, the content I wanted to protect, and my email. However, they couldn’t seem to accept email that’s not from a hosted domain. That’s how I wasted 15 minutes and got zero information.

Incapsula User Reviews

• Incapsula FeaturedCustomers score: 4.7 / 5 (13 reviews)
• Incapsula G2.com score: 4.1 / 5 (77 reviews)

InnoGames, Trello, and Dunbar Cybersecurity are some of the prominent Incapsula clients, who have been utilizing Imperva’s CDN network for quite some time.

You can often read positive remarks about lightning-fast speed and reliability, but there is some constructive criticism as well.

Smaller businesses often find Incapsula too expensive and not very cost-effective in the long run. We often say that you have to pay for quality and this might very well be the case here.

Our Verdict

Incapsula carries undeniable benefits in terms of performance and security, but I expected nothing less. We are talking about a complete solution ready to power not just your content, but your whole website infrastructure.

Still, Imperva Incapsula might not be the best solution for an entry-level customer. Also, the level of support could improve.

Chicago-based provider CacheFly started with a different name in 1999. The company was initially called DownloadHosting.com—a file distribution solution for software developers. After a few years of testing, in 2005, the new CDN project was ready to hit the stage.

CacheFly foresaw the rise of media-rich content and pioneered the Anycast technology for optimized data routing and delivery.

The long years of experience and positive online reputation helped the company convert over 3,500 clients in 80 countries.

You can find a lot of interesting names in CacheFly’s list of clients—ArsTechnica, Bank of America, and Rakuten. The company is also famed as the #1 CDN platform for podcasts, partnering with platforms like Twit and Diggnation.

CacheFly Locations

43 POP locations on six continents.

CacheFly Features

I found a lot of intriguing items in CacheFly’s feature set.

Take Multi-CDN, for example.

What can be better than the CDN coverage of a single provider? Why, the servers of multiple carriers, of course. Utilizing the POPs of many companies means you can further increase your content delivery speed and network coverage.

Pioneering the development and establishment of the Anycast technology (more on that here) was particularly praiseworthy. The routing method proved much faster than the ordinary DNS lookups, and some of the best CDN providers were quick to adopt it.

This means your video or IPTV stream would never have to endure interruptions because of latency anymore.

Even on the lowest plan, you still get a sweet deal with real-time server monitoring tools, traffic reports, and token-based authentication.

SMBs might find CacheFly’s services a bit costly for a new project, though. Prices start at $295/mo, which can go down to $245/mo if prepaid yearly.

CacheFly Support

CacheFly provides support services via email and phone. No option for live chat, which is always a pity.

Still, I went ahead and sent an email with a few sales questions about the packages and what they include.

The reply arrived within the hour—great response time for email correspondence. Still, I feel I could’ve gotten more from the response, as the staff member just gave me basic info and skipped over most details I expected.

As most providers at least maintain some kind of a knowledge base, I went to check how useful CacheFly’s support documentation was.

Have you played “Where’s Waldo” before?

Well, that’s the same, except Waldo isn’t there.

Sadly, neither the company website nor Google was able to help me solve the Case of the Missing Knowledge Base.

CacheFly User Reviews

• CacheFly FeaturedCustomers score: 4.7 / 5 (17 reviews)
• CacheFly G2.com score: 4.6 / 5 (6 reviews)

CacheFly’s scale of operations is not as big as what Cloudflare or MaxCDN are running. So it’s understandable you can’t find as many online reviews or case studies about this content delivery network.

From the few we have gathered, it’s a solid and reliable service with high availability all across the network.

Our Verdict

CacheFly doesn’t offer any fixed plans or billing models, so you can’t really tell if it’s a cheap CDN or not. Still, some of the features, like MultiCDN and infinite scalability, are well worth considering.

The company prefers to maintain a personal relationship with clients, and I am perfectly fine with that. Sure, more communication methods are always welcome, but CDN service is so reliable that you probably won’t need any.

Founded in 2001, Limelight not only managed to sustain the pressure of surviving in such a competitive industry but gradually grew into one of the largest companies for CDN services.

We are talking about a company with hundreds of servers under the watchful eye of 500+ employees.

Limelight reached a new milestone in 2017. After being recognized among the top “Companies that Matter Most in Online Video,” the CDN provider was one of three chosen to stream the NFL Super Bowl.

Just look at the Limelight clients—Marvel, DailyMotion, Napster! I mean they can’t all be wrong, right?

Limelight Locations

135+ POPS on six continents.

Limelight Features

The Limelight website is not exactly clear when it comes to outlining essential information, like product features. Luckily I got a hold of a datasheet which was much more helpful.

So what do we have here?

• Content caching for improved delivery speed and performance.
• SmartPurge for global content invalidation and deletion.
• Last Mile Acceleration for boosting the user/server connection.
• HTTP video streaming with reduced load on the origin server.
• Rate limitation and data transfer caps, so you don’t go overboard with the expenses.

The list goes on…

It looks like a hefty deal, really, especially if the packages are cost-efficient.

You’ll find more about that in the next section.

Limelight Support

Here we have all possible support channels—phone, mail, and chat. The LimeLight team is international, so you can even request to speak to someone in your native language.

But let’s keep things in English for now.

As their website didn’t say much about the plan features and pricing, I went ahead and investigated them with a chat operator. She was very straightforward with her answers, something not so common with other CDN server providers.

I posed as a startup client with minimal needs, just to get a feel of what monthly invoice I should expect.

As it turns out, the cheapest deal included up to 5TB of traffic and came at a whopping $1,500/mo.

Ouch!

Not exactly your cost-fits-all provider.

Still, support-wise, I appreciated the honesty and the followup I got via email.

Limelight User Reviews

• Limelight FeaturedCustomers score: 4.7 / 5 (42 reviews)
• Limelight G2.com score: 4.5 / 5 (11 reviews)

Limelight Networks is a premium provider of content delivery services, but there aren’t so many client reviews to tell us what is going on behind the scenes.

Still, there was something interesting in the client’s list.

We found a lot of media and entertainment services like The Indian Express, Farm Journal, and AnyClip Media. They all attest that Limelight is working great for their multimedia-heavy projects, without compromising on speed and performance.

Our Verdict

Limelight is one of those content delivery network providers that focus primarily on their advanced business and enterprise offerings. The CDN plans are bursting with features and ready to accommodate any website, video platform, application…for the right price.

You see, there are plenty of reliable and secure platforms out there. But they won’t do you any good unless you first understand the technology behind it.

How can you not trust a CDN network that was chosen by space agencies?

That’s how CDN77 feels as well, so they proudly advertise handling The Hubble Telescope images as part of 45,000+ client projects.

The provider maintains a 30TB/s+ network with solutions for web acceleration, video processing, software distribution, gaming—you name it.

Let’s put that to the test.

CDN77 Locations

34 POPs on six continents

CDN77 Features

CDN77 relies on an advanced routing system to efficiently reduce network latency and optimize content delivery.

You have a rich bundle of features for HTTP/2 optimization, Gzip compression, and content purging. Though the customizable cache rules, you can fine-tune your traffic routing and boost your website speeds.

Then comes CDN security.

CDN77 not only supercharges your content but also puts an impenetrable wall around it. Imagine things like SSL certificates, DDoS protection, IP blacklisting/whitelisting, hotlink protection—you have them all with this solution.

Detailed statistical data is available for your traffic consumption, performance, and billing, making it easy to oversee your processes and plan accordingly.

Still, your journey with CDN 77 can be rather costly.

The provider supports two types of billing: Monthly (from $199/mo + surplus charges) and Pay-As-You-Go (from $0.049/mo). This is far from fitting all budgets.

CDN77 Support

Above all, CDN77 is one of the best CDN providers in terms of customer care.

Unlike many niche competitors, this platform comes full 24/7 support via live chat, phone, and email.

Prefer something else?

CDN77 can also offer assistance via Skype or Telegram.

The operators are a pleasure to work with—always friendly and attentive to details before they jump into conclusions.

We didn’t go too hard on them as we didn’t really have any significant issues – everything in the user interface is clear enough and has been working error-free for us.

Still, it’s good to know someone has your back when you need it.

CDN77 User Reviews

• CDN77 Trustpilot score: 3.9 / 5 (31 reviews)
• CDN77 G2.com score: 4.8 / 5 (64 reviews)

Customer testimonials about the CDN77 service are rather positive.

You can often find happy users singing praises about tech support efficiency, content optimization, and high delivery speeds.

The best thing is, even when the rare bad review about CDN77 comes around, the company operators are always quick and try to resolve the issue accordingly. The hefty prices and overage fees seem to be the primary client concerns in that matter.

Our Verdict

CDN77 is a great all-round provider with a high focus on security. The company utilizes the latest technology methods to ensure effortless content caching, web acceleration, and video streaming.

The pricing is a bit on the high side, making the solution better suited for larger enterprises.

MetaCDN is more than just your average CDN server provider.

The company is not a product of a sole inventive entrepreneur. Instead, it had the collective minds of the University of Melbourne research and develop it into the reliable CDN and video streaming solution it is today.

The university did not achieve success on its own—Australian venture capitalists Starfish Ventures provided a much-needed financial backing to keep the project growing.

MetaCDN leverages the services of top cloud providers AWS, Azure, and Edgecast. This partnership offers clients access to a robust network of servers, optimized for fast performance.

MetaCDN Locations

120+ POPs on four continents.

MetaCDN Features

What are your main goals when looking for a trustworthy CDN provider?

Fast content delivery?

Low latency?

Great value for money?

MetaCDN has it all!

Starting at just $20/mo, the platform rightfully claims to be an enterprise-level content delivery platform with an entry-level price.

There is even a free trial, letting you test MetaCDN without any contracts or billing information required.

Under the hood, it seems the Australian provider has all your bases covered.

Thanks to its smart routing, your web content loads from a location closest to the user, accelerating your website to impressive levels.

The Quick Purge function is another beauty, letting you remove your content from the CDN servers with the push of a button.

Still, you need to keep everything under control. You can always take a peek at the detailed statistics and analytics from the CDN dashboard.

MetaCDN Support

There is no live help available with MetaCDN, but that doesn’t mean you’re on your own.

First, you have the CDN Support Portal. There you can find comprehensive tutorials that help you master the web accelerator, deploy content, track data, and more.

As there are only about 30 articles, it’s natural you might need something more.

The MetaCDN operators are available through an online form and internal ticket requests. We tested both channels on several occasions and always got replies within a few hours. The answers were detailed and enough and showed that MetaCDN takes customer care seriously.

Still, we would’ve enjoyed a live chat feature, as many questions or mission-critical issues can be solved more swiftly and efficiently.

MetaCDN User Reviews

Surprisingly enough, we couldn’t find МАНЪ testimonials from existing MetaCDN clients to make an objective judgment.

Even the biggest aggregators had no more 1-2 reviews about the Australian provider.

That could either mean a small customer base or the service is reliable enough not to raise any concerns.

All the same, these scarse reviews are all positive, hovering between 4 and 5 stars. A small but promising sample size.

Our Verdict

MetaCDN packs everything needed to accelerate your online content delivery. It might not be the best CDN out there, but secure and reliable enough to power all kinds of small and mid-sized projects.