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Fastly CDN

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Company health

Employee growth
1% decrease in the last year
Web traffic
14% decrease in the last quarter
Financing
April 2018 - $219M

Ratings

G2
4.7/5
(86)
Glassdoor
3.6/5
(237)

Fastly CDN description

Fastly CDN is a platform that helps websites and apps load faster and more securely. It achieves this by storing copies of your content on servers around the world and delivering it to users from the closest location. This improves load times and provides a smoother user experience. Fastly also offers security features to protect against cyberattacks and ensures your content is always available. It's a popular choice for businesses of all sizes, particularly those with high-traffic websites and apps.


What companies are using Fastly CDN?

Yelp is using Fastly CDN
Yelp
SpaceX is using Fastly CDN
SpaceX
Anheuser-Busch is using Fastly CDN
Anheuser-Busch
The New York Times is using Fastly CDN
The New York Times
Zapier is used by Yelp, SpaceX, Anheuser-Busch, The New York Times.

Who is Fastly CDN best for

Fastly CDN helps websites and apps load faster by caching content on a global network of servers. Users praise its speed, affordability, and easy-to-use dashboard, while some find the pricing structure and documentation lacking. It's a good option for businesses needing fast content delivery and security features.

  • Best for small to medium-sized businesses.

  • Suitable for various industries.


Fastly CDN features

Type in the name of the feature or in your own words tell us what you need
Supported

Fastly CDN supports cache invalidation through purging and surrogate keys.

Supported

Fastly CDN offers Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection against common web attacks.

Supported

Fastly supports browser caching via Cache-Control headers, but cannot directly control or invalidate them.

Supported

Fastly CDN offers a global content delivery network with over 50 points of presence.

Supported

Fastly CDN offers built-in DDoS protection to mitigate attacks.


Fastly CDN reviews

We've summarised 86 Fastly CDN reviews (Fastly CDN G2 reviews) and summarised the main points below.

Pros of Fastly CDN
  • Fast and affordable.
  • Easy-to-use dashboard.
  • Excellent customer support.
  • Highly customizable with VCL.
  • Fast cache invalidation.
Cons of Fastly CDN
  • Difficult to manage along more cdn facilitator.
  • Lack of customization options.
  • Limited documentation.
  • Lack of transparency in pricing.
  • Minimum subscription amount is $50/month.

Fastly CDN pricing

The commentary is based on 7 reviews from Fastly CDN G2 reviews.

Fastly CDN offers powerful features and performance, but reviews indicate its pricing can be complex and potentially expensive, especially for smaller businesses or those with lower usage needs. Some users mention the cost-effectiveness of load balancing, while others point out the high cost of TLS options.

See the Fastly CDN pricing page.

  • Fastly CDN has a free plan.

  • Fastly CDN has a free trial.

Free Tier

Free

Offers $50/mo worth of CDN traffic, no request throttling, no advertised logos, no cap on redirects & page rules, no cap on regular expressions, and purge anything from global cache in 150ms.

Usage

$50/mo + usage

Includes all Free Tier features plus unrestricted bandwidth and requests (pay for usage), unrestricted TLS certificates (5 included), Mutual TLS, SSO authentication, and standard support.

Basic

$1,500

For smaller businesses looking to improve web and app performance and reliability with core CDN capabilities.

Starter

$6,000

For cost-conscious businesses who want to scale their website(s), apps and APIs quickly.

Advantage

Contact for pricing

For growing businesses looking to enhance performance or add resiliency.

Ultimate

Contact for pricing

For larger businesses that require collaborative support for complex distributed systems.

Starter

$3,000

For smaller businesses looking for simple, effective OWASP Top 10 app protection.

Advantage

Contact for pricing

For organizations needing enhanced and customizable security, visibility and control.

Ultimate

Contact for pricing

For organizations requiring advanced app and API security, technical support, and rapid response capabilities.

Starter

$500

For developer teams at organizations who want to get started with edge computing using familiar tools and languages with predictable pricing.

Advantage

Contact for pricing

For developer teams at organizations who require a boost in capacity to apply edge computing to more use cases.

Ultimate

Contact for pricing

For developer teams at organizations embracing serverless computing, who need maximal capacity, plus additional configuration and storage options.

Starter

$1,500

For small organizations who want real-time actionable insights right out of the box.

Advantage

Contact for pricing

For organizations who want to streamline workflows with in-app data analysis tools.

Ultimate

Contact for pricing

For large organizations who want full origin-to-edge visibility over their distributed network.


Fastly CDN alternatives

  • Logo of Cloudflare Application Security and Performance
    Cloudflare Application Security and Performance
    Better fit for enterprise companies and excels in e-commerce and IT industries. Has significantly more momentum and is easier to use, more reliable, and easier to scale. However, customer service is a common concern. A Fastly CDN alternative.
    Read more
  • Logo of CDN Pro
    CDN Pro
    More focused on small to medium businesses, particularly in e-commerce. CDN Pro is growing faster in terms of web traffic. Fewer features available.
    Read more
  • Logo of ImageKit
    ImageKit
    Better fit for smaller companies and the software and IT industries. More focused on image and video optimization and management. Easier to implement and use. Provides real-time image transformations and excellent image optimization. However, the free tier is limited and pricing can be unpredictable as usage scales. A strong Fastly CDN alternative for visual-heavy websites and apps.
    Read more
  • Logo of F5 Distributed Cloud CDN
    F5 Distributed Cloud CDN
    Better fit for enterprise companies. Has stronger momentum.
    Read more
  • Logo of Gumlet
    Gumlet
    More focused on image and video optimization and delivery. Better fit for companies of all sizes across various industries, especially e-commerce and media. Stronger customer service and reliability. A Fastly CDN alternative and competitor.
    Read more
  • Logo of Varnish Software
    Varnish Software
    Better fit for enterprise companies.
    Read more

Fastly CDN FAQ

  • What is Fastly CDN and what does Fastly CDN do?

    Fastly CDN is a content delivery network that accelerates website and application performance by caching content on servers worldwide. It enhances security with DDoS protection and a web application firewall, improving user experience and protecting against cyberattacks. It's known for its speed, affordability, and easy-to-use dashboard.

  • How does Fastly CDN integrate with other tools?

    Fastly CDN integrates with various tools through its API and supports webhooks. It also offers pre-built integrations with popular platforms, simplifying workflows and enhancing functionalities like security and observability. This allows for seamless incorporation into existing tech stacks.

  • What the main competitors of Fastly CDN?

    Fastly CDN's main competitors include Cloudflare, CDN Pro, F5 Distributed Cloud CDN, and Varnish Software. These alternatives offer similar features like content delivery, security, and performance optimization for websites and applications.

  • Is Fastly CDN legit?

    Yes, Fastly CDN is a legitimate and safe platform. It's known for its fast content delivery and robust security features, making websites and apps faster and more secure. Users appreciate its ease of use and excellent customer support. However, some find its pricing structure complex.

  • How much does Fastly CDN cost?

    Fastly CDN pricing starts with a generous free tier including $50 of traffic. A flexible pay-as-you-go plan is also available. Beyond that, tailored plans for Network Services, Security, Compute, and Observability begin at $1500. Contact Fastly for pricing on Advantage and Ultimate plans. A free trial is also an option.

  • Is Fastly CDN customer service good?

    Fastly CDN's customer service receives positive feedback. Users highlight "great support," quick responses, helpful and knowledgeable staff, and seamless integration assistance. They praise the support team's responsiveness and expertise in resolving issues and implementing new features.


Reviewed by

MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.