Company snapshot

CategoryAmazon CloudFrontBlazingCDN
Statusactiveactive
Founded
Headquarters
Website
Docs

Overview

Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), designed to deliver web content, APIs, and streaming media with low latency and high availability. It integrates with other AWS services like S3, EC2, and Lambda for seamless content storage and compute capabilities. CloudFront serves a wide range of users, from startups to large enterprises, particularly those already using AWS infrastructure. It supports static and dynamic content, video streaming, and edge computing through Lambda@Edge. The service is known for its global reach and integration with AWS’s security and monitoring tools.
BlazingCDN is a content delivery network provider focused on delivering video, gaming, and large file content with global coverage. It serves businesses of various sizes, including media, gaming, and software companies, by offering solutions for video-on-demand, live streaming, and static content acceleration. The service emphasizes straightforward pricing and a user-friendly dashboard for managing CDN zones and analytics. Its infrastructure supports high-traffic projects, with a network designed to minimize latency for end users.

Network & Architecture

CloudFront operates over 600 points of presence (PoPs) across 100+ cities in 50+ countries, with regional edge caches for improved performance. It leverages AWS’s global backbone for efficient routing and peering with major ISPs. The service has a strong presence in North America, EMEA, and APAC, with growing coverage in LATAM, India, and the Middle East. Its architecture supports tiered caching and origin shielding to reduce origin load. Limitations include less penetration in Africa and certain APAC regions compared to competitors like Cloudflare.
BlazingCDN operates over 25 points of presence (PoPs) globally, with 50 GBps uplink per server and a total network capacity exceeding 10 Tbps. It uses Anycast routing to optimize content delivery by directing traffic to the nearest server. The network has strong coverage in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, but lacks PoPs in Africa and the Middle East. Its architecture supports a private global backbone with 4.5 petabytes of cached files and an average latency of 27 ms in the USA and EU.

Feature comparison

FeatureAmazon CloudFrontBlazingCDN
waf
bot_mitigation
ddos
rate_limit
http3_quic
tls13
tiered_cache
origin_shield
instant_purge
stale_while_revalidate
stale_if_error
image_optimization
video_vod
video_live
drm
hls_dash_packaging
websockets
signed_urls
edge_compute
functions
kv_storage
api_first
realtime_logs
log_push
terraform

Legend: ✓ = Supported, ✗ = Not supported, — = Not listed

Pricing

CloudFront uses a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model with no upfront commitments. A free tier includes 1 TB of data transfer and 10 million HTTP/HTTPS requests per month for the first year. Pricing varies by region, with per-GB rates starting at $0.085 in the US and Europe, higher in regions like India ($0.109). Enterprise plans are available for high-volume users with custom pricing. Full details: https://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/pricing/.
BlazingCDN offers pay-as-you-go pricing starting at $5 per TB, dropping to $1.5 per TB for higher usage, with a minimum monthly cost of $25 for 5 terabytes. Enterprise plans are available for projects exceeding 25 TB. A 14-day trial is provided for testing. Pricing details are available at https://blazingcdn.com/pricing/.

Integrations & DevEx

CloudFront supports Terraform for infrastructure-as-code deployments. SDKs are available in multiple languages (Python, Java, Node.js, etc.) for API integration. It integrates with AWS CI/CD tools like CodePipeline and offers real-time logs via CloudWatch and log push via Kinesis. Migration tools include S3 transfer acceleration and origin failover configurations. Analytics are real-time through CloudWatch dashboards, though RUM is not natively supported.
BlazingCDN provides an API-first platform with a user-friendly dashboard for managing CDN zones, custom domains, and analytics. It supports integration with object storage and tools like Cyberduck for file uploads via Swift protocol. Real-time analytics and log push enable monitoring and debugging. Migration support is offered with 24/7 SLA monitoring, though Terraform and other IaC tools are not explicitly supported. Documentation is available at https://help.blazingcdn.com/.

When it fits

  • Organizations already using AWS services (S3, EC2, Lambda) needing tight integration with a CDN.
  • Applications requiring global content delivery with strong support for video streaming and edge computing.
  • Enterprises needing robust security (WAF, DDoS) and customizable caching policies.
  • Businesses needing affordable CDN for video streaming, gaming, or large file delivery with global reach.
  • Small to medium-sized companies seeking simple setup and transparent pay-as-you-go pricing.
  • Projects requiring low-latency content delivery in North America, Europe, or Asia-Pacific.

When it doesn’t

  • Small businesses or startups looking for simpler, non-AWS-integrated solutions with lower complexity.
  • Users prioritizing deep coverage in Africa or specific APAC regions where PoP density is lower.
  • Budget-conscious buyers seeking predictable pricing without regional rate variations.
  • Organizations needing coverage in Africa or the Middle East due to absent PoPs.
  • Users requiring advanced WAF, bot mitigation, or edge compute capabilities not offered.
  • Enterprises needing extensive third-party integrations or Terraform support for infrastructure automation.

History & Notes