An honest, experience-based comparison of Cloudflare and AWS CloudFront for cdn & edge projects. We have shipped production systems with both — here is what we learned.
Cloudflare vs AWS CloudFront — quick verdict: Cloudflare offers a more developer-friendly experience with Workers, R2, and a generous free tier. AWS CloudFront provides deeper AWS integration and more granular configuration. Cloudflare wins on simplicity and edge computing; CloudFront wins on AWS ecosystem integration. ZTABS has shipped production systems with both Cloudflare and AWS CloudFront. Below is our honest, experience-based comparison. Need help choosing? Get a free consultation →
4
Cloudflare Wins
0
Ties
2
AWS CloudFront Wins
Cloudflare
10/10
AWS CloudFront
7/10
Cloudflare Workers run code at 300+ edge locations with sub-millisecond cold starts. Lambda@Edge is capable but has slower cold starts and higher latency.
Cloudflare
10/10
AWS CloudFront
6/10
Cloudflare's free tier includes unlimited bandwidth, DDoS protection, and basic Workers. CloudFront charges per GB transferred with no free bandwidth tier after the first year.
Cloudflare
3/10
AWS CloudFront
10/10
CloudFront integrates natively with S3, EC2, ALB, Lambda@Edge, and ACM. Cloudflare can work with AWS but requires more configuration.
Cloudflare
10/10
AWS CloudFront
7/10
Cloudflare is an industry-leading DDoS protection provider — protection is built into every plan. CloudFront has AWS Shield but advanced protection costs extra.
Cloudflare
7/10
AWS CloudFront
9/10
CloudFront offers more granular cache behaviors, origin groups, and failover configurations. Cloudflare is simpler but less configurable for edge cases.
Cloudflare
10/10
AWS CloudFront
5/10
Cloudflare's dashboard, Wrangler CLI, and Workers documentation are excellent. CloudFront configuration through AWS Console is complex and verbose.
Cloudflare Workers provides the best edge computing platform with Durable Objects and R2 storage.
CloudFront integrates seamlessly with S3, EC2, and other AWS services for an all-AWS stack.
Cloudflare's free tier with unlimited bandwidth and automatic DDoS protection is unbeatable for static content.
CloudFront's granular cache controls and AWS compliance certifications suit enterprise media workflows.
The best technology choice depends on your specific context: team skills, project timeline, scaling requirements, and budget. We have built production systems with both Cloudflare and AWS CloudFront — talk to us before committing to a stack.
We do not believe in one-size-fits-all technology recommendations. Every project we take on starts with understanding the client's constraints and goals, then recommending the technology that minimizes risk and maximizes delivery speed.
Our senior architects have shipped 500+ projects with both technologies. Get a free consultation — we will recommend the best fit for your specific project.