Infrastructure Assessment Document
🌐

CDN PASSPORT

Cloudflare & Alternatives · Evaluation Tour 2023
P<INFRA<<CDN<EVALUATION<<2023<<<CLOUDFLARE<AKAMAI<FASTLY<BUNNY<CLOUDFRONT<KEYCDN<<
Holder Information · Page 2
Purpose of Travel
Infrastructure Evaluation & Procurement Research

Traveler Type
IT Decision Maker / DevOps Team

Date of Issue
January 2023
Evaluation Criteria
Performance · Security · Pricing · Edge Compute · Ease of Use

Destinations Visited
6 CDN Providers Across All Tiers

Date of Expiry
December 2023
2
Visa Stamps · Pages 4–5
Republic of Cloudflare
Est. 2009 · San Francisco · "Helping Build a Better Internet"
Entry
15 JAN 2023
Visa Class
FREE → PRO → BIZ
Duration
UNLIMITED
Network
285+ PoPs
Customs Declaration — Features Imported
☑ Workers serverless runtime (V8 isolates, KV storage, sub-5ms cold start)
☑ R2 object storage with $0 egress fees (S3-compatible)
☑ Unmetered DDoS protection on all tiers including free
☑ Pages static hosting + D1 SQLite database (beta in 2023)
☑ 71M rps DDoS attack mitigated in Feb 2023 — record at the time
OFFICER'S NOTE: Broadest feature set of any CDN. Free tier is genuinely useful. Workers ecosystem rapidly expanding. However, advanced WAF rules require $200/mo Business plan. Support quality on free/Pro tiers is community-forum only.
APPROVED
Empire of Akamai
Est. 1998 · Cambridge, MA · "The Intelligent Edge Platform"
Entry
22 MAR 2023
Visa Class
ENTERPRISE ONLY
Duration
ANNUAL CONTRACT
Network
4,100+ servers
Customs Declaration — Features Imported
☑ Kona Site Defender WAF — enterprise-grade rule sets
☑ Prolexic DDoS scrubbing — 20+ Tbps capacity
☑ Akamai Connected Cloud launched Feb 2023 (Linode integration)
☑ Adaptive Media Delivery — 4K ABR streaming optimization
☑ Bot Manager Premier — behavioral fingerprinting
OFFICER'S NOTE: The oldest and largest CDN — embedded directly inside ISP networks across 135 countries. Unmatched for banks, governments, and media conglomerates. Connected Cloud (Linode) is new in 2023 and still maturing. Pricing requires direct negotiation; budget-hostile for SMBs.
CLEARED
Entry
15.01.23
Cloudflare
Entry
22.03.23
Akamai
4
5
Visa Stamps · Pages 6–7
Principality of Fastly
Est. 2011 · San Francisco · "The Edge Cloud Platform"
Entry
08 MAY 2023
Visa Class
DEVELOPER PRO
Duration
$50/MO MINIMUM
Network
~70 PoPs
Customs Declaration — Features Imported
☑ Instant Purge — 150ms global cache invalidation (fastest in industry)
☑ VCL — Varnish Configuration Language for granular edge control
☑ Compute@Edge — Rust, JS, Go via WebAssembly at edge
☑ 100% real-time log streaming — zero throttling
☑ Signal Sciences WAF — acquired 2020, fully integrated by 2023
OFFICER'S NOTE: The developer's CDN. 150ms purge is an order of magnitude faster than alternatives. Used by GitHub, Shopify, NYT, Stripe. VCL learning curve is steep — not for beginners. Smaller PoP network means coverage gaps in remote regions. No free tier.
STAMPED
Canton of Bunny.net
Est. 2012 · Ljubljana, Slovenia · "The Fastest Hopping CDN"
Entry
19 JUN 2023
Visa Class
PAY-AS-YOU-GO
Duration
$1/MO MINIMUM
Network
114 PoPs
Customs Declaration — Features Imported
☑ Bandwidth: $0.01/GB (EU/NA) — cheapest tier-1 CDN
☑ Bunny Optimizer — automatic WebP/AVIF image conversion
☑ Bunny Stream — video hosting and delivery platform
☑ Edge Storage — globally replicated object storage
☑ Perma-Cache + instant purge + real-time logs
OFFICER'S NOTE: The indie darling — started with 3 servers, now 114 PoPs. ~28ms global latency rivals much larger networks. Dashboard is clean and support is praised. Security stack is basic (no enterprise WAF). Edge compute still minimal in 2023. Extraordinary value for the price.
VERIFIED
Entry
08.05.23
Fastly
Entry
19.06.23
Bunny.net
6
7
Visa Stamps · Pages 8–9
Federation of CloudFront
Est. 2008 · Seattle, WA · "Part of Amazon Web Services"
Entry
14 AUG 2023
Visa Class
AWS ECOSYSTEM
Duration
PAY-AS-YOU-GO
Network
450+ PoPs
Customs Declaration — Features Imported
☑ Lambda@Edge — serverless compute at CDN edge locations
☑ Native S3 + EC2 + Shield integration — zero internal egress
☑ CloudFront Functions — lightweight JS for URL rewrites, headers
☑ AWS Shield Standard — free DDoS protection layer
☑ 1 TB free transfer + 10M requests/mo in free tier
OFFICER'S NOTE: The natural choice for AWS-native workloads. Massive PoP network and seamless ecosystem integration. Loses its advantage entirely outside AWS. Pay-per-GB billing escalates at scale. Configuration is complex. Support quality depends on your AWS support tier and spend level.
GRANTED
Swiss Confederation of KeyCDN
Est. 2012 · Winterthur, Switzerland · "High Performance Delivery"
Entry
03 OCT 2023
Visa Class
PAY-AS-YOU-GO
Duration
$4/MO MINIMUM
Network
~40 PoPs
Customs Declaration — Features Imported
☑ $0.04/GB bandwidth — simple, transparent pricing
☑ HTTP/2 + free shared/custom SSL certificates
☑ Real-time analytics dashboard
☑ RESTful API for zone/cache management
☑ Origin Shield — reduce origin load via tiered caching
OFFICER'S NOTE: Swiss precision — does one thing well with zero bloat. Ideal for blogs, business sites, and static content. No WAF, no edge compute, no video streaming. The minimalist's CDN. Fast in EU/NA, limited PoP coverage in Asia, Africa, and South America.
NOTED
Entry
14.08.23
CloudFront
Entry
03.10.23
KeyCDN
8
9
Travel Summary · Exit Declarations · Page 10
Cloudflare
Visa: Free–$200/mo · PoPs: 285+ · Purge: 2-3s
Edge Compute: Workers (V8) · Security: DDoS free, WAF paid
2023 Highlight: Mitigated record 71M rps DDoS attack
"The all-in-one gateway — everyone should visit at least once."
Akamai
Visa: Enterprise custom · PoPs: 4,100+ · Purge: Seconds
Edge Compute: EdgeWorkers · Security: Prolexic + Kona
2023 Highlight: Connected Cloud (Linode) launch
"The ancient empire — impenetrable but requires a diplomatic visa."
Fastly
Visa: $50/mo min · PoPs: ~70 · Purge: 150ms
Edge Compute: Compute@Edge (Wasm) · Security: Signal Sci WAF
2023 Highlight: Gartner Customer's Choice for WAF
"The precision state — fast lane for engineers, no tourist visas."
Bunny.net
Visa: $1/mo + $0.01/GB · PoPs: 114 · Purge: Instant
Edge Compute: Edge Rules · Security: Basic DDoS
2023 Highlight: Stream video platform gaining traction
"The backpacker's paradise — the most for the least."
AWS CloudFront
Visa: Pay-per-use · PoPs: 450+ · Purge: Seconds
Edge Compute: Lambda@Edge · Security: Shield + WAF
2023 Highlight: CloudFront Functions GA for lightweight edge
"The gated resort — magnificent if you already live in AWS."
KeyCDN
Visa: $4/mo + $0.04/GB · PoPs: ~40 · Purge: Fast
Edge Compute: None · Security: Basic SSL
2023 Highlight: Simplicity holds steady in a complex market
"The Swiss village — quiet, precise, and perfectly adequate."
10
"The best destination is the one that matches your journey — not the one with the most stamps." — Chief Immigration Officer, CDN Border Control

All product names are trademarks of their respective owners · Data reflects publicly available information as of 2023
Scores and assessments are editorial opinions for informational purposes only · Not professional procurement advice
CDN INFRASTRUCTURE PASSPORT · SERIES 2023 · ISSUED BY THE BUREAU OF EDGE NETWORK EVALUATION
NO ACTUAL BORDERS WERE CROSSED · NO ACTUAL VISAS WERE REQUIRED