Company snapshot
| Category | Fastly | KeyCDN |
|---|---|---|
| Status | active | active |
| Founded | — | — |
| Headquarters | — | — |
| Website | — | — |
| Docs | — | — |
Overview
Fastly is a global content delivery network (CDN) and edge cloud platform founded in 2011, headquartered in San Francisco, USA. It focuses on delivering fast, secure, and customizable content delivery and edge computing services. Fastly serves a range of enterprise customers, including The New York Times, GitHub, Spotify, and Pinterest, with a developer-centric approach. Its platform emphasizes real-time control, analytics, and edge computing capabilities. Fastly went public in 2019 and remains active, though it has faced challenges with outages and industry slowdowns.
KeyCDN is a content delivery network (CDN) provider founded in 2012, headquartered in Wilen, Switzerland. It specializes in accelerating the delivery of web content, such as HTML, JavaScript, images, and videos, through a global network of edge servers. The service is designed for businesses of all sizes, from small blogs to enterprise websites, offering features like real-time analytics and DDoS protection. KeyCDN emphasizes ease of integration with a user-friendly dashboard and API, making it accessible for developers and SMBs. It supports a wide range of use cases, including e-commerce, media, and gaming, with a focus on performance and security.
Network & Architecture
Fastly operates over 60 points of presence (POPs) globally, with a focus on major population centers for low-latency content delivery. Its global anycast network optimizes routing, but its smaller POP count compared to competitors like Akamai or Cloudflare may limit coverage in some regions. Fastly has strong peering agreements, enhancing performance for high-traffic sites. It excels in North America, EMEA, and APAC but has less presence in Africa and LatAm. The platform leverages WebAssembly for edge computing isolation and resiliency.
KeyCDN operates over 50 points of presence (POPs) across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and other regions, ensuring global coverage. Its network leverages SSD storage and HTTP/3 for efficient content delivery. The service uses a tiered caching system and supports origin shielding to reduce load on origin servers. KeyCDN has strong peering agreements with major ISPs, optimizing latency and throughput. Its regional strengths include robust performance in North America and Europe, though coverage in Africa and parts of Asia may be less extensive compared to larger providers like Cloudflare or Akamai.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Fastly | KeyCDN |
|---|---|---|
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
Fastly uses a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model with pricing based on data transfer ($0.12–$0.19 per GB) and requests ($0.0075 per 10,000). Additional features like WAF or edge computing may incur extra costs. No free tier is offered, and pricing targets enterprise users. Full details are available at https://www.fastly.com/pricing.
KeyCDN uses a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model with no minimum commitments, making it SMB-friendly. Pricing starts at $0.04 per GB for the first 10 TB in North America and Europe, with higher rates for other regions like Asia ($0.14/GB) and Oceania ($0.19/GB). A 30-day free trial includes 10 GB of traffic. Additional features like DDoS protection are included at no extra cost, though custom SSL certificates may incur fees. Full details are available at https://www.keycdn.com/pricing.
Integrations & DevEx
Fastly supports Terraform for infrastructure-as-code, with recent updates like the Terraform Provider 7.1.0 adding domain metadata and IPv6 preferences. It offers SDKs and APIs for custom integrations, CI/CD pipelines, and real-time analytics. Realtime logs and log-push capabilities integrate with monitoring tools like Splunk or Datadog. Migration tools are limited, but the API-first design simplifies configuration for developers.
KeyCDN provides a robust API for automating tasks like cache purging and zone management, supporting an API-first workflow. Real-time logs and analytics are accessible via the dashboard or API, with log push capabilities for integration with external systems. It offers plugins for platforms like WordPress and Magento, simplifying setup for non-technical users. Terraform support is not available, but the API covers most automation needs. Migration tools are limited, though the dashboard supports easy configuration for importing assets from origin servers.
When it fits
- Enterprises needing real-time control and analytics for dynamic content delivery.
- Developers requiring edge computing with Compute@Edge for serverless applications.
- Sites with high-traffic demands in North America, EMEA, or APAC regions.
- Small to medium-sized businesses needing a cost-effective, easy-to-use CDN with global reach and real-time analytics.
- Developers seeking an API-first CDN with features like instant purge and signed URLs for dynamic applications.
- Websites with heavy image or VOD content, leveraging KeyCDN’s optimization and delivery capabilities.
When it doesn’t
- Small businesses seeking free tiers or simpler, budget-friendly CDN options.
- Users needing extensive POP coverage in Africa or Latin America.
- Applications requiring advanced video streaming features like HLS/DASH packaging or DRM.
- Enterprises requiring advanced edge computing or serverless functions, which KeyCDN does not offer.
- Users needing extensive coverage in Africa or niche regions where KeyCDN’s POP density is lower than competitors like Cloudflare.
- Applications requiring specialized video features like live streaming or DRM, which are not supported.
History & Notes
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