Company snapshot
| Category | Fastly | Universal CDN |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Universal CDN, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, offers a global content delivery network focused on delivering web content, video streaming, and live media. It serves businesses ranging from small startups to large enterprises, particularly those needing video-on-demand and live streaming capabilities. The service emphasizes an API-first approach, enabling developers to integrate and manage CDN services programmatically. Universal CDN supports a variety of use cases, including e-commerce, media, and gaming, with a focus on performance and real-time analytics.
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.
Universal CDN operates a global network with points of presence (PoPs) across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Specific PoP counts are not publicly disclosed, but the provider claims broad coverage with optimized routing for low latency. It leverages partnerships with major ISPs for peering, enhancing delivery speeds. The service is particularly strong in Europe and North America but has less presence in Africa and the Middle East, which may limit performance in those regions.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Fastly | Universal CDN |
|---|---|---|
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.
Universal CDN offers a pay-as-you-go (payg) model with no minimum commitments, suitable for variable traffic needs. Pricing starts at approximately $0.05 per GB for standard delivery, with discounts for higher volumes. A free trial is available for testing, and enterprise plans are offered for custom needs. Detailed pricing is available at https://www.ucdn.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.
Universal CDN provides an API-first design for seamless integration with developer workflows. It supports real-time logs for immediate performance insights but lacks Terraform support or advanced IaC tools. SDKs are available for common programming languages, facilitating integration with CI/CD pipelines. The platform does not offer built-in migration tools but provides documentation for transitioning from other CDNs.
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.
- Businesses needing video-on-demand or live streaming with HLS/DASH packaging and RTMP ingest for media-heavy applications.
- Developers seeking an API-first CDN with real-time analytics for programmatic control and monitoring.
- Small to medium-sized businesses looking for a pay-as-you-go model with global coverage for web and video content.
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.
- Organizations requiring advanced security features like WAF, bot mitigation, or rate limiting, which are not offered.
- Companies needing extensive edge compute capabilities or key-value storage for serverless applications.
- Users focused on regions like Africa or the Middle East, where Universal CDN’s network presence is limited.
History & Notes
—
—