# CDN Showdown: Cloudflare vs Fastly vs Akamai (2026)

CDN Showdown: Cloudflare vs Fastly vs Akamai (2026)

Speed, security, and edge compute matter more than ever. Here’s how Cloudflare, Fastly, and Akamai compare—performance, pricing, and best-fit scenarios.

Quick Picks

• Best value + security bundle: Cloudflare
• Best for real-time config + devs: Fastly
• Best enterprise/global media: Akamai

Pricing Snapshot (2026)

What to Look For

• Global POP coverage, cache hit ratio, and tail latency.
• Security: WAF, DDoS, bot management, TLS.
• Edge compute/runtime capabilities and observability.
• Ease of configuration, versioning, and rollback.
• Support model and SLAs.

CDN Notes

Cloudflare

• Broad feature bundle: CDN, DNS, WAF, Workers, R2, Zero Trust.
• Great for startups to enterprise; predictable pricing.
• Excellent analytics; easy UI.

Fastly

• Real-time purge and config; VCL and Compute@Edge for dev control.
• Great logs/observability; strong for APIs and dynamic content.
• Requires more technical setup than Cloudflare.

Akamai

• Massive network, media streaming strengths, strong SLAs.
• Enterprise sales-led; powerful but heavier onboarding.
• Excellent for high-traffic, global media or commerce.

Setup Checklist (45 Minutes)

• Map critical origins; enable TLS, compression, and HTTP/2/3.
• Configure caching rules, purge strategy, and versioned config.
• Add WAF/bot rules; test failover and origin health checks.
• Monitor latency and cache hit; tune headers.

Final Recommendation

Choose Cloudflare for value and bundled security, Fastly for developer control and real-time performance, and Akamai for the largest global/streaming needs. Start with a pilot and measure tail latency before committing.