Do you want to make your WordPress site and web pages load faster? Companies that provide content delivery networks (CDNs) will help the website perform better and provide better user experiences.
We’ll compare the best CDN providers, as well as their benefits and drawbacks, in this article to help you speed up your website.
What Is a CDN?
A Content Delivery Network, or CDN, is a collection of servers that holds a cached copy of your website on multiple servers.
When you use a CDN, your static content, such as images, CSS files, Javascript files, Flash, and other media, is cached and stored on a network of servers spread across the globe.
It also sends the copy from servers near your site’s visitors’ geographical position.
However, you will also need a web hosting account to store your website files. The CDN provider’s role is to keep your website’s static resources rather than hosting the original website files.
Let’s use an example to illustrate the principle of CDN.
Let’s say your WordPress site is hosted by Bluehost, and your Bluehost account’s server is in Los Angeles. When a visitor from London comes to your site, the files are downloaded from a server in Los Angeles.
Your site’s loading time can be affected as a result of this. Additionally, an increase in the number of requests made to a single server would slow down the web. A CDN provider comes in handy in this situation. It maintains a static copy of your website in various locations around the globe.
As a result, instead of serving the original files from your web host, the user will be served a cached copy of the website from the nearest CDN server. This will assist you in reducing the time it takes for your website to load. Now that you understand what a CDN is, let’s look at the best CDN providers for speeding up your WordPress pages.
The Best CDN Providers
Here’s a list of top picks for the fastest and most reliable CDNs.
1- StackPath
One of the strongest CDN providers on the market is StackPath. They bought MaxCDN a few years ago in order to improve their operation.
It comes with numerous data centers across the world, allowing you to increase your website’s loading speed. In addition, their package includes a free private EdgeSSL certificate.
Stackpath is simple to install and use, and it allows you to track real-time analytics. It also has intelligent caching, Gzip compression, 301 redirects, and other useful features.
Also Read: 15 WordPress Website Design Tips
StackPath, unlike most CDN providers, has security features such as load balancing and blocking for DDoS protection, as well as a firewall, in addition to their CDN service. You may choose to buy either the CDN service or a package of different services.
Pros
- Use on unlimited websites without any restrictions
- Offers 1 TB (Terabyte) per month bandwidth with their basic plan
- Free private EdgeSSL certificate
- Multiple server locations across the globe
- Comes with additional security services
Cons
There isn’t a free plan available. You can, however, try their service for one month for free.
Price– StackPath offers a variety of discounted bundles and services. However, their CDN service is only available for $10 a month.
2- Sucuri
Sucuri is a well-known website security firm that guards against hackers, DDoS attacks, and malware. You can track and search your website for security issues using their WordPress plugin.
They also offer a CDN service to help you optimise your website for speed, in addition to their security features. Site speed optimization is important for SEO and a variety of other purposes.
They make use of the most up-to-date hardware and software to boost your site’s success. They also have a variety of caching solutions for various types of websites.
Pros
- Unlimited bandwidth limit with every plan
- Reliable website uptime
- Offers security features along with their CDN service
- Their support team is available 24/7 to help you solve your problems
- DNS Monitoring that features warnings when your site’s name servers, MX records, or IP address changes
Cons
- Costly compared to StackPath
- Doesn’t offer any free plan
Price– For a single website, prices start at $199 per year.
3- Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a common content delivery network (CDN) among bloggers, small businesses, and professionals. It comes and a free plan with no bandwidth restrictions. As a result, it’s one of the best free CDNs for WordPress.
They have over 180 data centers located all over the world. This could be beneficial in terms of improving your website’s efficiency, pace, and security.
Cloudflare is simple to install on your WordPress blog. It will store your website’s resources automatically, but you can purge or clear them from the control panel if you like.
One disadvantage of Cloudflare is that, unlike other CDN providers like StackPath and Sucuri, you’ll have to upgrade to a premium plan to use all of their security features.
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Easily monitor the performance from the control panel
- 180+ data centers across the globe including North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Australia/New Zealand.
- REST API lets developers take full control of what the service is doing
Cons
- The free plan has a restricted set of features.
- To use their chat or phone service, you’ll need to switch to one of their paid plans.
- Due to the minimal security features available in the free plan, your website can be vulnerable to DDoS attacks, malware, and spam.
Price- If you need additional functionality, you must upgrade to their premium plan, which starts at $20 a month.
4- KeyCDN
Another famous CDN provider on our list is KeyCDN. Using the CDN Enabler plugin, you can easily incorporate it into your WordPress account.
Customers can choose from “pay as you go” plans, which means they only pay for what they use. Though this is useful for low-traffic websites, if your site receives a lot of traffic, your monthly bill will rise.
Gzip compression, real-time reports, instant purge options, two-factor authentication, DDoS security, and more are just a few of KeyCDN’s key features.
Pros
- 34 data centers
- Easy to set up on your WordPress site
- “Pay as you go” plans
- Customer support is available 24/7 at no additional cost
Cons
- Doesn’t offer a free plan
- Limited security features compared to others
Price- starting from $0.04 per GB
5- Rackspace
Rackspace is a well-known provider of managed and dedicated cloud storage services. They also have CDN services to help you improve the efficiency of your eCommerce, web application, and other websites.
It, like KeyCDN, operates on a “pay as you go” pricing model. To use their service, you’ll have to pay $0.16 per GB.
Rackspace is based on a powerful cloud platform, so your WordPress site can load quickly. It’s already installed in over 200 data centres around the world.
However, compared to the other CDN providers on our list, setting up Rackspace CDN is a little more difficult.
Pros
- Powerful cloud infrastructure
- 200 centers across the world
- “Pay as you go” pricing plans
Cons
- Doesn’t offer DDoS protection
- Costly compared to KeyCDN
- Configuring their service is a bit complicated compared to the rest
Price- starting from $0.16 per GB
6- Google Cloud CDN
The Google Cloud CDN is a low-cost content delivery service that takes advantage of Google’s global network. They have data centers in 90 different countries.
It comes with an SSL certificate that secures your website at no extra cost. You may also use it in conjunction with the Google Cloud Platform.
Also Read: How AdWords can boost your SEO ratings?
Apart from that, you can also use their $300 free trial credit to try out their service for the next 90 days.
Pros
- 90 data centers
- Affordable pricing plan
- Free SSL certificate
- Offers a $300 free trial credit
Cons
- Configuration can be difficult compared to others
- Lack of proper support, you need to pay to get technical support
Price- They also offer a free trial to test their service.
7- CacheFly
CacheFly is one of the market’s oldest CDN providers. You can use their service to download videos and podcasts without any problems.
It has an easy-to-use GUI that allows you to handle anything with ease. To secure your website from hackers, they also provide security features such as DDoS and malware detection.
CacheFly has a number of drawbacks as compared to other common CDN providers, one of which is its high cost. Their most basic package costs $295 a month, which is prohibitively expensive for most online businesses.
Pros
- Simple dashboard to manage everything
- Offers security features
- Excellent support team
Cons
- Very expensive compared to others
Price– $495 per month.
8- Amazon CloudFront
Amazon CloudFront is a common CDN for Amazon Web Services websites, particularly because of its speed. Yes, it’s fast, but it’s also very sophisticated. As a result, it may be more appropriate for programmers or developers rather than beginners.
Pros
- Integrated with AWS
- Instant deliverability of personalized and dynamic content
- Hundreds of edge locations around the globe.
Cons
- Can be difficult for people to use
Price– The cost varies by location and is based on a pay-as-you-go system.
Also Read: Top 10 Cache Plugins To Speed Up Your WordPress Website
Which CDN Service is Best for You?
After weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the various providers, we can conclude that StackPath is the best CDN provider available.
They have valuable functionality at a reasonable price to aid in the speeding up of your WordPress pages. Additionally, StackPath includes security features that secure your site from malware, spam, and unwanted traffic.
Another service that we can highly recommend is Sucuri. Though it’s well known for its security services, you can use its CDN to improve the speed of your website.
