Cloudflare and Fastly are the two most technically capable CDNs available, but they serve different audiences. Cloudflare aims to protect and accelerate every website on the internet. Fastly targets developers building high-traffic, dynamic applications that need fine-grained cache control.
Architecture
Cloudflare operates a reverse proxy model. Your domain’s DNS points to Cloudflare, and all traffic flows through their network (270+ cities in 2026). They intercept and filter attacks at the edge before they reach your origin. This is why Cloudflare can offer DDoS protection — they see the traffic before it hits you.
Fastly is an edge cloud platform. It is primarily a CDN with a powerful edge computing layer (VCL and Compute@Edge). Fastly caches content at 80+ points of presence and lets you run custom logic at the edge. The architecture is more flexible but requires more configuration.
Pricing
| Tier | Cloudflare | Fastly |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Full CDN, DDoS, basic WAF, SSL | None |
| Entry paid | $20/mo (Pro) — image optimisation, enhanced WAF | ~$50/mo minimum (pay-as-you-go) |
| Business | $200/mo — Argo routing, custom WAF rules | Custom — enterprise contracts |
| Enterprise | Custom — raw logs, named solutions engineer | Custom — dedicated infrastructure |
Cloudflare’s free tier is genuinely useful. You get a global CDN, DDoS protection, shared SSL, and a basic WAF at no cost. Fastly has no free tier and starts at roughly $50/month for low-traffic sites.
Performance
Both CDNs are fast. The differences are in feature set, not raw speed:
| Feature | Cloudflare | Fastly |
|---|---|---|
| Edge locations | 270+ | 80+ |
| Cache hit ratio (typical) | 85-95% | 90-98% |
| Instant purge | Near-instant (seconds) | Instant (milliseconds) |
| Cache TTL minimum | 2 hours (Free), configurable on paid | 1 second |
| Origin shield | Available (Argo Tiered Cache) | Built-in (shield nodes) |
| Image optimisation | Polish (Pro+), Images ($) | Image Optimizer (Compute@Edge) |
| HTTP/3 | Yes | Yes |
Fastly’s real-time purging (sub-150ms globally) is their standout feature. If you need to invalidate cached content immediately — for example, a news site publishing breaking updates — Fastly is unmatched.
WAF and security
| Feature | Cloudflare | Fastly |
|---|---|---|
| DDoS protection | Unlimited (all plans) | Available (paid) |
| WAF rules | Managed rulesets + custom rules | Custom rules via WAF (Next-Gen WAF) |
| Bot management | Included (Pro+), enhanced on Business | Available via Signal Sciences integration |
| Rate limiting | Pro plan ($20/mo) | Available (paid add-on) |
Cloudflare’s security features are more accessible. Their managed WAF rulesets block common attacks out of the box. Fastly requires more configuration but gives you more control over what happens to traffic at the edge.
Developer experience
| Feature | Cloudflare | Fastly |
|---|---|---|
| Edge computing | Workers (JS/TS, Wasm) | Compute@Edge (Wasm, JS, Rust) |
| Configuration | Dashboard + Terraform + API | VCL + Terraform + API |
| Logging | Logpush (paid plans) | Real-time logging (all plans) |
| Local testing | Wrangler CLI | Viceroy (local Compute@Edge) |
| Documentation quality | Very good | Excellent (developer-focused) |
Fastly’s VCL (Varnish Configuration Language) is powerful but has a learning curve. Cloudflare Workers use standard JavaScript and are easier to get started with. For teams that need edge computing, both are capable but Fastly offers lower latency execution.
WordPress-specific considerations
Cloudflare:
- APO (Automatic Platform Optimisation) caches WordPress HTML at the edge ($5/month)
- Super Page Cache for Cloudflare plugin handles cache purging automatically
- Free tier works perfectly for most WordPress sites
- WAF rules specifically tuned for WordPress exploits
Fastly:
- No WordPress-specific features
- Requires custom VCL for WordPress-aware caching
- Better suited for headless WordPress or custom CMS implementations
- More appropriate for sites with a development team
For WordPress: Cloudflare is the clear winner. Fastly’s advantages are irrelevant for standard WordPress caching needs.
Migration complexity
| Factor | Cloudflare | Fastly |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 5 minutes (change nameservers) | 1-2 hours (DNS + VCL config) |
| SSL provisioning | Automatic | Manual or automated via API |
| Cache invalidation | Dashboard + API + WP plugin | API + surrogate keys |
| Rollback | Change nameservers back | Update DNS records |
Cloudflare is dramatically easier to set up. Changing your nameservers and clicking “Enable” is enough for basic CDN + DDoS protection. Fastly requires creating services, writing VCL, and configuring backends.
Who should use each
Cloudflare is for:
- Every WordPress site (start with the free tier)
- Small to medium businesses that want security + performance without complexity
- Teams that value ease of use and broad feature coverage
- Anyone who wants a free CDN that “just works”
Fastly is for:
- High-traffic sites (>10M requests/month) that need fine-grained cache control
- Media and publishing companies where cache freshness matters
- Development teams building custom edge logic
- Ecommerce platforms that need real-time cache purging for inventory updates
Verdict
Cloudflare wins for 95% of use cases. The free tier, ease of setup, WordPress integration, and comprehensive security features make it the default recommendation. Fastly is a more powerful tool for teams that need it, but most sites do not.
If you need to ask which CDN to use, the answer is Cloudflare. If you have specific requirements that Cloudflare cannot meet, you already know why you need Fastly.