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Live streaming has exploded from a niche technology to a fundamental business tool. Microsoft Teams alone saw daily active users surge from 20 million in 2019, while monthly active users reached over 280 million by 2023. Twitch viewers watched over 1.35 trillion minutes of content in 2022. Yet despite this growth, delivering high-quality live streams remains technically challenging.
Studies have shown the critical importance of streaming quality: each 1% increase in buffering correlates with a 3-minute reduction in viewing time. For businesses, these metrics translate directly to lost revenue, whether you’re monetizing through subscriptions, advertising, or using streams to drive sales.
This is where a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for live streaming becomes essential.
What Is a CDN for Live Streaming?
A CDN for live streaming is a distributed network of servers designed to deliver live video content to viewers with minimal latency and maximum reliability. Unlike standard web CDNs that cache static files, live streaming CDNs must handle real-time video ingestion, processing, and distribution to potentially millions of concurrent viewers.
These specialized CDNs solve critical challenges including reducing latency between the live event and viewer playback, handling sudden traffic spikes when streams go viral, ensuring consistent quality across different geographic regions, and protecting origin servers from being overwhelmed.
We tested and evaluated dozens of live streaming CDN solutions to identify the best options for different use cases:
- Affordable pay-as-you-go streaming for SMBs and developers
- Enterprise-scale broadcasting with guaranteed uptime
- Developer-first platforms with real-time observability
- Complete streaming platforms with sub-second latency
- Ultra-low latency specialists for interactive applications
- Asia-Pacific optimization with strong China presence
- Azure-native solutions with enterprise security
- Budget-conscious streaming without long-term commitments
Let’s examine the top platforms that excel in these areas.
The Best CDN for Live Streaming
| Pricing: From $0.03/GB pay-as-you-go |
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| Pricing: Custom enterprise contracts |
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| Pricing: From $1,500/month |
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| Pricing: From $195/month or $295 one-time |
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| Pricing: From €199/month |
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| Pricing: From $1.40/month promotional |
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| Pricing: From $35/month (Standard) or $330/month (Premium) |
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How To Choose a CDN for Live Streaming
Here’s what matters when selecting your live streaming CDN:
- Latency Requirements: Determine if you need standard streaming (10-30 seconds delay), low latency (3-5 seconds), or ultra-low latency (under 1 second) based on your use case
- Pricing Model: Evaluate whether pay-as-you-go, monthly subscriptions, or enterprise contracts align with your budget and traffic patterns
- Geographic Coverage: Ensure the CDN has strong presence in regions where your audience is located, particularly for Asia-Pacific or emerging markets
- Technical Complexity: Assess whether you need a simple turnkey solution or require deep customization and API control
- Scalability: Consider both your current viewer numbers and potential growth: can the platform handle sudden viral moments?
- Security Features: Determine if you need DDoS protection, token authentication, or DRM for premium content protection
- Streaming Protocols: Verify support for your required protocols (HLS, DASH, RTMP, WebRTC) and compatibility with your encoding workflow
How We Curated Our List of Platforms
We began by identifying the most common live streaming CDN use cases through industry research and user feedback. This revealed distinct needs ranging from budget-conscious startups to enterprise broadcasters requiring guaranteed uptime.
We then evaluated 25+ CDN providers based on their live streaming capabilities, testing each platform using real streaming workflows including RTMP ingestion, HLS delivery, viewer scaling, and geographic performance.
Our evaluation criteria focused on:
- Streaming Performance: Latency, startup time, and buffering rates across different regions
- Cost Structure: Transparency, predictability, and value for different usage levels
- Ease of Implementation: Time from signup to first successful stream
- Reliability: Uptime guarantees, redundancy, and failover capabilities
- Support Quality: Documentation completeness and technical support responsiveness
This process identified eight platforms that excel in specific live streaming scenarios, which we present below.
1. CDNsun — Best for Affordable Pay-As-You-Go Live Streaming
CDNsun is a global CDN provider that has built a strong reputation over 12 years as the smart choice for businesses seeking enterprise-level CDN performance without enterprise complexity or pricing. Founded in 2012 and based in Prague, the company serves over 2,000 customers worldwide by offering enterprise-grade features at SMB-friendly prices while providing the personalized support and tailored solutions that industry giants can’t match.
The platform excels at live streaming with comprehensive HLS and RTMP delivery, video-on-demand streaming, and both push and pull origin methods. With 30 Points of Presence globally including strong coverage in Oceania, CDNsun delivers reliable streaming performance without requiring annual contracts, monthly fees, or complex enterprise agreements.
| CDNsun Pros | CDNsun Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ True pay-as-you-go with no monthly fees or subscriptions | ❌ Limited advanced features vs enterprise CDNs |
| ✅ No minimum spending after initial $20 credit top-up | ❌ No built-in WAF or advanced DDoS protection |
| ✅ 12 years of proven reliability and uptime | ❌ Less suitable for ultra-low latency use cases |
| ✅ Individual PoP control for cost optimization | ❌ Higher pricing for APAC regions ($0.06/GB) |
| ✅ Personalized support with tailored solutions | |
| ✅ User-friendly interface requiring minimal technical expertise | |
| ✅ No DNS server changes required (unlike Cloudflare) | |
| ✅ Presence in Oceania |
Why Choose CDNsun for Live Streaming?
CDNsun distinguishes itself through four key advantages that matter for cost-conscious streaming deployments:
True Pay-As-You-Go Without Monthly Fees or Hidden Commitments: Unlike many CDNs that claim “pay-as-you-go” but require monthly minimums or charge ongoing fees, CDNsun operates like prepaid cell phone credit – you buy credit and use it as needed with absolutely no monthly fees or subscriptions. Pricing starts at $0.03 per GB for Europe and North America traffic, or $0.06 per GB for Asia-Pacific regions. After an initial $20 credit top-up, there are no recurring charges. This model is perfect for event streaming companies, educational webinar hosts, or any business with irregular streaming patterns who don’t want to pay monthly fees for services they use intermittently. The platform even provides granular control to enable or disable individual cities, allowing you to optimize costs by excluding expensive regions if your audience doesn’t require global coverage.
Personalized Support and Tailored Solutions: As a focused company serving fewer but larger clients, CDNsun can provide the customized support and tailored solutions that giants like Amazon CloudFront simply cannot offer their 10,000+ customers. The 12-year track record demonstrates proven reliability – CDNsun knows what it’s doing and delivers stable service without outages, which is paramount for enterprise clients. This combination of experience and personalized attention means you get enterprise-level reliability with the responsive support of a boutique provider.
User-Friendly Interface That Doesn’t Require a Technical Degree: While competitors like Akamai require extensive technical expertise to navigate their complex dashboards, CDNsun’s interface is designed to be easy to understand and use. You get comprehensive streaming features including HTTP/2 support, SSL certificates, real-time analytics, API access, and support for both push streaming (uploading content directly to CDNsun storage) and pull streaming (CDNsun fetching from your origin). The platform includes 5GB of free integrated storage, daily backups, and secure token authentication – all accessible through an intuitive dashboard that your team can actually use.
Simple Setup Without DNS Migration Headaches: Unlike Cloudflare which requires migrating your entire domain to their DNS servers, CDNsun keeps things simple – you just create one CNAME record and retain full control of your domain. This straightforward approach is complemented by excellent documentation, with clear guides for configuring popular encoders like OBS Studio and Wirecast, plus REST API clients for Python, PHP, Node.js, Java, Ruby, .NET, and Golang for easy automation.
CDNsun Pricing
CDNsun’s pricing model is refreshingly simple:
Business Plan (Pay-As-You-Go)
- $0.03 per GB for Europe & North America
- $0.06 per GB for Asia-Pacific, South America & Africa
- No monthly fees or subscriptions – only pay for what you use
- No minimum monthly spending (after initial $20 credit top-up)
- Up to 20 websites/streaming services
- Includes CDN streaming, storage (5GB free), SSL, and API access
- 24/7 support via email, phone, and live chat
Custom Plan
- Volume discounts available for higher usage
- $200 minimum monthly commitment
- Unlimited websites/streaming services
- Additional support options available
Use CDNsun if:
- You’re an SMB or developer who needs reliable live streaming without enterprise pricing overhead
- Your streaming is occasional or unpredictable (events, webinars, conferences), making pay-as-you-go more economical than monthly contracts
- You want transparent, predictable costs without complex pricing calculators, surprise overage charges, or monthly fees
- You value personalized support and tailored solutions over one-size-fits-all approaches
- You need a user-friendly interface that doesn’t require extensive technical expertise
- You want simple setup without changing DNS servers or complex configurations
- You need presence in Oceania or want granular control over which regions serve your content
2. Akamai — Best for Enterprise-Scale Broadcasting
Akamai Technologies pioneered the modern CDN industry and remains the dominant force for enterprise-scale live streaming. With approximately 365,000 servers across 135 countries, Akamai operates at a scale that few competitors can match, making it the choice for major broadcasters, sports leagues, and Fortune 500 companies streaming mission-critical events.
The platform’s live streaming infrastructure is built for scenarios where failure isn’t an option: think major sporting events, breaking news coverage, or shareholder meetings where technical issues could trigger regulatory consequences. Akamai backs this with contractual 100% uptime SLAs and a global support infrastructure that operates at broadcast industry standards.
| Akamai Pros | Akamai Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Unmatched global scale and redundancy | ❌ Complex enterprise pricing |
| ✅ 100% uptime SLA guarantees | ❌ Requires annual contracts |
| ✅ Enterprise security and DRM integration | ❌ Overkill for small-scale streaming |
| ✅ Proven broadcast-grade reliability |
Why Choose Akamai for Live Streaming?
Carrier-Level Network Infrastructure: Akamai servers are embedded directly within ISP networks through carrier-level colocation, meaning content often sits just one or two network hops from end viewers. This architecture handles massive concurrent audiences, automatically distributing load across thousands of servers during traffic spikes that would overwhelm standard CDNs.
Guaranteed Reliability with Automatic Failover: The 100% uptime SLA isn’t marketing rhetoric but a contractual guarantee backed by sophisticated disaster recovery. If origin servers fail, Akamai can continue delivering from cached segments when configured properly. The Edge DNS service provides distributed name resolution that remains operational even under attack.
Comprehensive Content Protection: Akamai integrates with major DRM systems, provides token authentication, and includes Prolexic DDoS mitigation that can absorb volumetric attacks by distributing malicious traffic across the global network. The Web Application Firewall and bot management distinguish between legitimate viewers and automated threats.
Akamai Pricing
- Custom enterprise contracts based on volume and requirements
- Typically starts around $0.049/GB for first 10TB/month
- Volume discounts for higher usage tiers
- 12-month minimum commitments standard
- Additional charges for premium features and professional services
Use Akamai if:
- You’re broadcasting events where downtime would cause significant financial or reputational damage
- Your streams regularly reach hundreds of thousands or millions of concurrent viewers
- You need DRM integration and enterprise-grade content protection
- You require contractual SLA guarantees and dedicated support
3. Fastly — Best for Developer-First Streaming with Real-Time Visibility
Fastly targets the sweet spot between basic CDN services and enterprise complexity, serving companies that have outgrown simple solutions but aren’t ready for Akamai-level contracts. The platform is built for engineering teams who want deep technical control and instant visibility into their streaming infrastructure.
Fastly reimagined CDN architecture with fewer but more powerful edge locations, sophisticated caching logic, and genuine real-time analytics that deliver logs instantly rather than in delayed batches.
| Fastly Pros | Fastly Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Real-time log streaming included (up to 2 logs per request) | ❌ $1,500/month minimum for packages |
| ✅ Sophisticated caching and request collapsing | ❌ Requires technical expertise |
| ✅ Media Shield reduces origin costs up to 75% | ❌ Additional charges for high-volume logging |
| ✅ VCL for custom edge logic | |
| ✅ Transparent per-GB pricing available |
Why Choose Fastly for Live Streaming?
Instant Observability for Active Incident Response: Fastly delivers 100% of logs in real-time, though high-volume logging (beyond two log statements per request average) requires the paid High-Volume Logging add-on. This immediate visibility allows teams to identify and resolve issues within seconds during live events.
Request Collapsing and Streaming Miss: When thousands of viewers simultaneously request the same segment, Fastly collapses these into a single origin fetch. The platform begins delivering content as soon as first bytes arrive rather than waiting for complete segments, reducing startup latency.
Media Shield for Multi-CDN Optimization: This intelligent caching layer sits between origins and edge networks, with customers reporting up to 75% reduction in costs. For multi-CDN deployments, Media Shield provides a unified origin shield that all CDN providers pull from, simplifying architecture and improving cache hit ratios.
Fastly Pricing
- Basic Package: $1,500/month for 100M requests
- Starter Package: $6,000/month for 500M requests with Gold support
- Pay-as-you-go bandwidth: $0.12/GB for first 10TB (North America)
- Real-time logs included up to 2 log statements per request
- Media Shield pricing available upon request
Use Fastly if:
- Your engineering team values deep technical control and programmability
- You need real-time operational visibility during live events
- You’ve outgrown basic CDNs but want flexible pricing options
- You operate multi-CDN architecture and need origin cost control
4. Wowza — Best for Real-Time Interactive Streaming
Wowza provides a complete streaming platform rather than just CDN services, offering everything from video ingestion to player delivery in a unified system. The platform’s defining capability is achieving sub-500 millisecond latency at scale with WebRTC, enabling genuinely interactive experiences like live auctions, betting, and virtual classrooms.
Unlike pure CDN providers, Wowza offers both cloud-based (Wowza Video) and on-premises (Wowza Streaming Engine) deployment options, with hybrid configurations possible. This flexibility makes it valuable for organizations with specific infrastructure requirements or compliance needs.
| Wowza Pros | Wowza Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Complete end-to-end streaming platform | ❌ Higher complexity than pure CDNs |
| ✅ Sub-500ms latency with WebRTC (Engine) | ❌ Per-instance licensing can be expensive |
| ✅ Cloud, on-premises, or hybrid deployment | ❌ Cloud version typically 2-3 second latency |
| ✅ Extensive protocol support | ❌ Requires technical expertise |
Why Choose Wowza for Live Streaming?
Ultra-Low Latency for Interactive Applications: Wowza’s WebRTC implementation in Wowza Streaming Engine achieves consistent sub-500ms latency even as audiences scale to hundreds of thousands. Wowza Video Cloud typically delivers 2-3 second latency for most use cases. This enables use cases where traditional streaming’s 8-30 second delays break the experience: live auctions, sports betting, interactive education.
Unified Platform Architecture: Rather than integrating multiple vendors, Wowza provides ingestion, transcoding, CDN delivery, player, and analytics in one platform. This “glass-to-glass” approach means single-vendor support and consistent APIs across most components.
Deployment Flexibility: Wowza Streaming Engine can run on-premises for complete control, while Wowza Video provides managed cloud simplicity. Organizations can combine both: processing sensitive video behind their firewall while using cloud CDN for global delivery.
Wowza Pricing
Wowza Streaming Engine (Self-Hosted)
- One Month: $295 one-time per instance
- Monthly Subscription: $195/month per instance
- Includes 10 concurrent transcoded channels
- Additional channels: $25/month each
Wowza Video (Cloud)
- Pay-as-you-go: $2.50 per streaming hour, $0.10 per viewer hour
- Storage: $0.20/GB
- Free 30-day trial available
- Contact sales for enterprise rates
Use Wowza if:
- Your application requires genuine real-time interaction (sub-1 second latency with Streaming Engine)
- You need complete control over the entire streaming workflow
- You operate in regulated industries requiring specific compliance
- You have technical expertise to leverage extensive APIs
5. nanocosmos — Best for Ultra-Low-Latency Specialist Applications
Berlin-based nanocosmos, founded in 1998, launched their nanoStream Cloud CDN in 2016 to focus on ultra-low-latency streaming at global scale. Their nanoStream Cloud delivers approximately one-second end-to-end latency worldwide through proprietary H5Live technology that works in any HTML5 browser without plugins.
This specialization makes nanocosmos the choice for applications where standard CDN latency breaks the business model: iGaming platforms where players must see outcomes instantly, live shopping where purchase decisions happen in seconds, or virtual events requiring genuine audience participation.
| nanocosmos Pros | nanocosmos Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Consistent sub-second latency globally | ❌ Premium pricing for specialization |
| ✅ Browser-native playback without plugins | ❌ Primarily focused on interactive use cases |
| ✅ H5Live technology works on all devices | ❌ Smaller network than major CDNs |
| ✅ End-to-end optimization for latency |
Why Choose nanocosmos for Live Streaming?
Proprietary H5Live Eliminates Plugin Dependencies: The technology uses frame-based segments and continuous streams over WebSocket for most browsers, with unique low-latency HLS for Safari/iOS. This delivers sub-second latency to thousands of concurrent viewers on any device without software installation.
Complete Integration for Ultra-Low Latency: Every component from ingest to player is optimized specifically for minimal delay. The integrated analytics provide quality-of-service metrics and performance monitoring throughout the workflow.
Media over QUIC Implementation: As pioneers of this next-generation protocol, nanocosmos achieves sub-500ms latency with improved stability over unreliable networks, automatically selecting optimal protocols for each viewer’s connection.
nanocosmos Pricing
- Starter: €199/month for 5 channels, 500 viewers, 200GB
- Medium: €499/month for 10 channels, 2,500 viewers, 1TB
- Additional bandwidth: €0.07-0.08 per GB
- 7-day free trial available
- Custom enterprise pricing for larger deployments
Use nanocosmos if:
- Your business model depends on real-time interactivity
- You need consistent sub-second latency at global scale
- Browser-native playback across all devices is essential
- Your use case requires minimal latency variance between viewers
6. Tencent EdgeOne — Best for APAC Markets with Enterprise Requirements
Tencent EdgeOne offers exceptional performance for content targeting Asian markets. With over 2,500 nodes in Asia-Pacific (out of 3,200 globally), EdgeOne provides performance in China and surrounding regions that Western CDNs struggle to match.
While EdgeOne offers a free plan, it explicitly does not support video delivery or large-file distribution. The platform’s real strength lies in its paid tiers, which provide comprehensive streaming capabilities with integrated security features, particularly valuable given the complexity of streaming into China where regulatory and infrastructure challenges often surprise Western companies.
| Tencent EdgeOne Pros | Tencent EdgeOne Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Exceptional APAC performance | ❌ Limited documentation in English |
| ✅ 2,500+ nodes in Asia-Pacific | ❌ Free tier doesn’t support video streaming |
| ✅ Integrated DDoS and WAF included | ❌ Less coverage outside Asia |
| ✅ Strong China presence with local peering |
Why Choose Tencent EdgeOne for Live Streaming?
Privileged China Access: As operator of WeChat and QQ, Tencent has extensive peering with Chinese ISPs and direct backbone connectivity that foreign CDNs struggle to replicate. The Cross-MLC-Border Acceleration optimizes traffic routing through Hong Kong edge nodes to improve performance for overseas sites accessing mainland China.
Integrated Security Without Separate Procurement: Security operates as part of content delivery rather than add-on services. AI-powered DDoS detection can identify and mitigate attacks within an average of 3 seconds, while the platform includes built-in WAF protection leveraging Tencent’s extensive security experience.
Asia-Pacific Network Density: With over 2,500 nodes specifically in Asia-Pacific, EdgeOne provides lower latency and better reliability across the region compared to CDNs with limited Asian presence.
Tencent EdgeOne Pricing
- Personal: $1.40/month promotional (regular $4.20/month) for 50GB and 3M requests
- Basic: $57/month for 500GB and 20M requests
- Standard: $590/month for 3TB and 50M requests
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for large deployments
- Note: Free plan does not support video streaming
Use Tencent EdgeOne if:
- You’re targeting Asian markets, especially mainland China
- You need integrated security without additional complexity
- Your streams require strong performance across Asia-Pacific
- You need to stream simultaneously to Chinese and international audiences
7. Microsoft Azure Front Door — Best for Azure-Native Enterprise Teams
Azure Front Door represents Microsoft’s vision for unified edge services, combining CDN, load balancing, and security in a platform deeply integrated with Azure infrastructure. For organizations standardized on Microsoft’s cloud, it provides a security-first architecture with capabilities like Private Link for zero-trust networking.
The platform is designed for teams already invested in Azure who want to extend their zero-trust security model to the network edge while maintaining centralized management through familiar Azure tools.
| Azure Front Door Pros | Azure Front Door Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Deep Azure ecosystem integration | ❌ Requires Azure expertise |
| ✅ Private Link for zero-trust architecture | ❌ Premium tier expensive at $330/month |
| ✅ Integrated WAF and DDoS protection | ❌ Complex for non-Azure users |
| ✅ Health monitoring with failover |
Why Choose Azure Front Door for Live Streaming?
Zero-Trust Through Private Link: Backend servers connect via private endpoints within Azure Virtual Networks, with traffic traveling exclusively over Microsoft’s backbone. This eliminates public internet exposure for origin infrastructure, though similar capabilities are now available from some modern CDN competitors.
Unified Azure Security Management: The integrated WAF uses continuously updated OWASP rules enhanced with Microsoft Threat Intelligence. Multi-layered DDoS protection operates at network and application layers with correlation through Azure Monitor.
Split TCP and Anycast Optimization: Connections terminate at the nearest edge location, with separate optimized connections to origins over Microsoft’s network. This architecture minimizes viewer latency while optimizing origin connections.
Azure Front Door Pricing
- Standard Tier: $35/month base plus usage
- Premium Tier: $330/month base includes WAF and Private Link
- Data transfer from Azure origins to Front Door is free
- Additional charges for bandwidth and requests
- CAPTCHA add-on: $0.40 per 1,000 sessions
Use Azure Front Door if:
- Your streaming infrastructure already runs on Azure
- Zero-trust architecture with private backends is mandatory
- You need unified security management through Azure tools
- You prefer consolidated Microsoft billing and support
Final Verdict
The “best” CDN for live streaming depends entirely on your specific requirements, technical expertise, and budget. Here are our recommendations based on common scenarios:
For SMBs and developers seeking affordability without sacrificing reliability: CDNsun offers the perfect balance with true pay-as-you-go pricing at $0.03/GB (Europe/NA) or $0.06/GB (APAC), no monthly fees or ongoing commitments after the initial credit top-up, 12 years of proven reliability, personalized support with tailored solutions, and a user-friendly interface that doesn’t require extensive technical expertise. It’s ideal for event streaming, webinars, or any business with irregular streaming patterns.
For enterprise broadcasters with mission-critical events: Akamai remains the gold standard with unmatched scale, 100% uptime SLAs, and proven reliability for the world’s largest live streaming events.
For engineering teams wanting control and visibility: Fastly provides the perfect balance of sophisticated capabilities and transparent pricing for companies that have outgrown basic CDNs but want flexibility.
For interactive applications requiring sub-second latency: Wowza Streaming Engine (for complete platform control with sub-500ms latency) or nanocosmos (for specialized ultra-low latency) excel at enabling genuine real-time experiences.
For APAC-focused streaming: Tencent EdgeOne offers exceptional regional performance with 2,500+ Asia-Pacific nodes and privileged China access, though note the free tier doesn’t support video streaming.
For Azure-native organizations: Azure Front Door provides seamless integration with existing Microsoft infrastructure and zero-trust security architecture.
Remember that these platforms aren’t mutually exclusive. Many organizations use multiple CDNs: perhaps CDNsun for cost-effective baseline delivery with its personalized support and easy setup, paired with Akamai or Fastly for critical events. The key is matching your specific requirements to each platform’s strengths while keeping an eye on both current needs and future growth.