Cloudflare Alternatives: Pricing and Performance Benchmarks

Cloudflare is a market leader in web performance, security, and content delivery services. However, as digital infrastructure needs diversify and grow, many businesses seek viable alternatives to Cloudflare that offer comparable — or even better — performance and pricing. In this article, we’ll compare several top alternatives through the lens of pricing structures and performance benchmarks to help you make an informed decision.

Why Consider Alternatives to Cloudflare?

While Cloudflare offers a comprehensive suite of services — including CDN, DDoS protection, DNS management, and web application firewall (WAF) — it may not fit every business requirement. Some of the reasons businesses look elsewhere include:

Pricing Complexity: Cloudflare’s tiered pricing and add-ons can become expensive for growing websites or platforms requiring advanced features.
Platform Lock-in: Dependency on a single provider may not be ideal for systems requiring more flexibility or control.
Performance Variability: Although generally fast, regional performance discrepancies may exist when compared to more regionally-optimized services.

With that in mind, let’s examine leading Cloudflare alternatives and how they fare in both performance and pricing.

1. Fastly

Overview: Fastly is an edge cloud platform known for its high-performance CDN and real-time caching capabilities. It has gained popularity among large-scale media streaming companies and e-commerce platforms that require low-latency delivery.

Pricing:

Pay-as-you-go model: Starts at $0.12 per GB for North America and Europe. Asia-Pacific and South America rates are higher.
No minimum commitment: Flexibility for startups and mid-sized websites.
High-tier features: Advanced metrics and logging come at additional costs.

Performance Benchmarks: Fastly generally leads in low latency and fast cache hit ratios, particularly in North America and Western Europe. Additionally, Fastly’s network of globally distributed points of presence (PoPs) ensures consistent performance.

Pros:

Transparent pricing model.
Developer-friendly architecture.
Real-time configuration with minimal propagation delay.

Cons:

Might be too complex for non-technical users.
Higher costs in regions outside North America and Europe.

2. Akamai

Overview: Akamai is one of the oldest and most robust content delivery and edge security platforms. It’s favored by enterprises and high-traffic platforms for its reliability, scalability, and extensive global network.

Pricing:

Akamai does not offer public pricing.
Enterprise-level contracts required, and costs generally exceed those of Cloudflare.
Custom solutions tailored to exact business needs.

Performance Benchmarks: Akamai excels in global latency and availability, especially in geographies such as Africa, South America, and parts of Asia where other providers may struggle.

Pros:

Large server footprint across over 130 countries.
Industry-leading uptime and DDoS mitigation.
Designed for complex enterprise workloads.

Cons:

No transparent pricing; difficult for small businesses.
Requires technical expertise to fully leverage.

3. StackPath

Overview: StackPath positions itself as a flexible edge services provider, targeting agencies, SMBs, and developers looking for fewer complexities and more control than Cloudflare offers.

Pricing:

Starts at $10/month for bundled CDN and security features.
Higher cost tiers offer WAF, edge computing, and real-time analytics.
Transparent and flat-rate pricing model.

Performance Benchmarks: In North American and European regions, StackPath performs very well, offering low latency and high cache hit rates. However, its global reach is limited compared to larger providers.

Pros:

Simple setup and configuration.
Predictable flat-rate pricing.
Integrated edge compute services for developers.

Cons:

Limited coverage outside North America and Europe.
Performance dips in Asia and South America.

4. Bunny.net (formerly BunnyCDN)

Overview: Bunny.net is gaining traction as a high-performance, cost-effective alternative to Cloudflare, particularly for content-heavy websites like blogs, video streaming platforms, and image galleries.

Pricing:

Per-GB pricing: Starts at $0.01/GB in Europe and North America.
Minimal upfront costs.
Value-added services such as video delivery and storage come at extra cost.

Performance Benchmarks: Bunny.net features low latency and high speeds throughout Europe and North America. While it performs respectfully in other regions, its performance may lag compared to Cloudflare in Asia-Pacific territories.

Pros:

Extremely affordable entry-level plans.
Easy integration and setup.
Growing network of PoPs worldwide.

Cons:

Fewer advanced features like WAF or advanced analytics.
Limited enterprise-level customizability.

5. Imperva

Overview: Formerly known as Incapsula, Imperva offers a strong combination of CDN, bot mitigation, and web security functionalities. It is ideal for businesses that prioritize security alongside CDN performance.

Pricing:

Quote-based pricing tailored to traffic volume and required features.
Premium protection and compliance-related services come at additional costs.

Performance Benchmarks: Imperva is highly reliable when it comes to web application security and bot protection. Its CDN performance is solid in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia but slightly behind Cloudflare and Fastly in pure delivery speed.

Pros: