Cloudfront vs. Cloudflare: A Battle of the Cloud Infrastructure Giants
When it comes to cloud infrastructure, two names that float around repeatedly are Cloudfront and Cloudflare. Both have been around for a while and have an excellent reputation in the market. But which one is better? Let's find out.
Performance
Both Cloudfront and Cloudflare offer fast content delivery networks (CDN's) with excellent reliability. However, according to Cedexis research conducted in 2018, for heavy pages with large files, Cloudflare outperformed Cloudfront by up to 50%. Later, in 2021, Catchpoint research showed that Cloudfront outperformed Cloudflare in North America by 7%, while Cloudflare outperformed Cloudfront in Asia by 14%.
Winner: It's a tie
Pricing
Cloudfront and Cloudflare have different pricing structures. Cloudfront offers hourly, monthly and annual pricing based on bandwidth usage, requests, and data transfer. Cloudflare, on the other hand, has a free plan and paid plans for businesses. The paid plans offer additional features and performance improvements. Additionally, Cloudflare offers an exclusive feature for web shops called "Railgun," which is absent in Cloudfront.
Winner: Depends on your specific needs
Security
When it comes to security, both Cloudfront and Cloudflare have robust security measures in place. Cloudfront uses AWS Shield, which provides protection against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Cloudflare, however, comes with a firewall, a web application firewall (WAF), and account-level security features like two-factor authentication (2FA).
Winner: Cloudflare
Ease of Use
Regarding ease of use, both Cloudfront and Cloudflare are relatively easy to set up and use, with straightforward documentation and user interfaces. However, Cloudflare provides better internationalization support, with over 200 data centers globally, compared to Cloudfront's 216.
Winner: Cloudflare
Conclusion
Both Cloudfront and Cloudflare have their merits and drawbacks, and ultimately it comes down to individual requirements. Cloudfront is better suited for high-speed delivery to Amazon Web Services (AWS) origin servers, while Cloudflare offers a more extensive range of features, such as better security, internationalization, and free DDoS protection.
Overall Winner: It's a tie
References
- Cedexis Research: Amazon Cloudfront vs. Cloudflare: A Real-World Comparison
- Catchpoint Research: Cloudfront vs. Cloudflare