It’s a fast-paced world. WordPress sites should keep pace with the need for fast-loading pages. CDN, short for Content Delivery Network, is a powerful way to speed up content delivery and user experience. In this article, I have reviewed the best CDN for WordPress.
There are many free CDN services. However, paid CDN for WordPress offers more functionalities. For example, paid plans include accelerated mobile page speed and advanced analytics.
Should you use a CDN with WordPress? To appreciate this article best, you must understand why WordPress sites need CDN and its benefits. You should also understand how to use CDN in WordPress.
How to find the right WordPress CDN provider?
Many CDN providers offer similar services in the market. Along with the core CDN services, you may consider several add-ons.
This section reviews the parameters to shortlist the best CDN for WordPress. Each of these critical features plays a vital role in increasing your chances of success. Few of the featured CDN providers are strong in some of these parameters. You can make an informed decision based on what is a priority in your situation.
Global presence
You must ensure that the chosen service provider has many “Points of Presence.” The Point of Presence (PoP) must be at your target audience’s data centers. A network of servers located nearby will deliver the WordPress-cached content. The CDN service provider must have enough servers to cater to your end-user needs.
Security tools
CDN providers have a crucial role to play in maintaining online security. Prevention of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS attacks) is a must-have. They must also provide support for SSL Encryption.
Good performance metrics
The primary reason for deploying CDNs is quick content delivery. So, the CDN service provider should score well on metrics like Round Trip Time (RTT), Wait Time, Image Optimization, and Cache Hit Ratio. Here’s additional information on how to speed up your WordPress Website.
Ease of Use
The chosen service provider must have excellent integration tools. Good WordPress integration out of the box will ensure easy setup and run time monitoring. You may also check if your WordPress hosting provider has tied up with a CDN provider.
User Analytics & Pricing
The Service Provider should provide data collection tools. These analytics equip you with valuable insights on end-users. End-user analytics examples are mode of connectivity, device types, web vitals, and online preferences.
Pricing
Some of the service providers have free versions with limited functionality. You have the option to decide which one best suits your budget. All have flexible pricing to suit everybody’s needs. Everybody’s pricing features integration with WordPress.
Who is the best CDN provider?
There are many CDNs available for WordPress sites, some of which are free. Here, I have picked the five best CDN providers. Each of these five has its unique strengths. As a WordPress site owner, you may choose one from another based on your priority.
I have omitted offerings from the big players in this space. Google Cloud CDN, Amazon & Microsoft offer CDN services as part of their broader hosting offering. You may need to host your WordPress site with them to leverage their CDN.
In this article, I have considered specialized CDN offerings best suited for WordPress sites.
Cloudflare
Cloudflare is a fantastic CDN solution you can install on your WordPress site. Cloudflare automatically stores your Website’s content. It also refreshes dynamic or static content when you change the images, text, videos, or other elements.
You can manage this WordPress plugin from your WordPress dashboard. You only need to apply default settings after following a few basic steps. The plugin then takes the required next steps.
Cloudflare CDN stands out as the best free CDN for WordPress sites. It is popular among small business owners. You’ll get DDoS protection, shared SSL, great page load time, and a global network in the free plan.
Cloudflare’s network can serve 95% of the world’s population. That, too, is within 50 milliseconds. Also, they boast direct access to almost all service providers in 285 cities. In addition, their presence is across 100+ countries.
Pricing
Below is pricing ranging from free to $200/month with several add-ons available.
Coolfundas runs on Cloudflare CDN – see impressive Performance Metrics from Google Page Insights
Sucuri
Sucuri is one of the best CDNs, with great security features to guard your Website. Also, their CDN boosts page speed and usually reduces server load by 70%. Running WordPress Speed Tests before and after implementing CDN should give you an idea of the benefits.
Their anycast network is globally spread. That way, the fast servers are always near your customers. Their web application firewall has the dual advantage of both quickness and safety. They include website protection, malware removal, and hacking prevention. They have a 24/7 security team as well.
Their Basic plan works well for bloggers and small site owners. Those requiring occasional cleanups with ongoing security scans. The Pro Platform is targeted at SMBs. It is for those who want to cut disruptions with advanced support. The Business Platform offers the fastest real-time response. This response time is required for site cleanups with frequent scans.
Pricing
They have plans starting from $199/yr for the Basic platform to $499/yr for the Business platform.
Bunny.net
BunnyCDN is a popular WordPress CDN service among enterprise customers. They have 114 edge locations with 29000+ customers and affordable pricing. It is effortless to set up in WordPress with a user-friendly control panel. It allows you to purge cache, view reports, set up locations, and more.
The Bunny CDN plugin for WordPress also enables you to add an SSL certificate or a shared one. These certificates ensure that your cached content is served through SSL/HTTPS.
They focus tremendously on performance and boast a 100% Cache Hit ratio. An 80 Tbps+ network allows customers to grow without fear of getting choked. Your users connect to one of their 3000 ISPs and 14 Tier 1 transit providers.
Pricing
Bunny.net has pricing options starting at $1 per month. They provide Volume discounts as well. Also, new users get a 14-day free trial without giving a credit card.
KeyCDN
KeyCDN is another popular WordPress CDN solution. It is well known for its cutting-edge technology & optimization along with CDN.
They provide extensive coverage with 60+ data centers in 40+ countries. They have spread across all six continents. Key CDN follows stringent security and compliance standards. These standards keep the data safe (ISO 27001). Also, they have dense interconnectivity with distributed power and cooling, ensuring high availability.
KeyCDN offers pay-as-you-go plans. So, you pay for what you use instead of a fixed monthly payment. It helps reduce pricing for smaller websites. But unexpected traffic growth may also increase costs.
Pricing
KeyCDN has region-wise pricing tiers. Plans start at $0.04/GB for the first 10TB; the least is $4/month. Also, new users can avail of a 30-day free trial without a credit card.
Stackpath
Many popular WordPress sites use Stackpath. With MaxCDN as part of its range of products, it’s one of the premier WordPress CDNs.
Stackpath can deliver content to end-users quickly with worldwide edge locations. They have many Tier-1 carrier connections. Also, they have implemented global Anycast. It is a private network backbone between all areas and has remarkable cache depth.
They have a powerful CDN rules engine to set policies. You can automate unique content and delivery behaviors. It includes how they handle requests and how and what they deliver content.
It integrates with almost all available WordPress cache plugins. You only need to enable CDN and provide the necessary information.
Pricing
Contact Stackpath sales to know about their pricing plans
Conclusion – which is the best CDN service for WordPress?
Gone are the times when WordPress sites depended on a single server to deliver all the content. Now you have dependable CDN services for WordPress. You can ensure website viewers have a great experience with a speedy page loading time. Cutting-edge security is the natural accompaniment.
In this article, I have reviewed the best CDN for WordPress. It may seem complicated to pick the appropriate service provider. But every one of them has its strengths when it comes to cost, protection, and customer service:
- Cloudflare’s free CDN plan should work when you are on a tight budget.
- Sucuri is fast, reliable, and easy to use. It is used along with other CDNs like Stackpath.
- KeyCDN is one of the most accessible, with pay-as-you-go plans and a quick startup.
- Bunny.net is famous for its comprehensive feature set and transparent pricing.
- StackPath delivers top-notch premium service.
If you still need help choosing the best CDN, drop me a note in the Comments section.
