CloudFront pricing is no longer just a simple pay-as-you-go CDN question.
In 2026, Amazon CloudFront gives buyers two different pricing paths. One is the classic AWS model: pay for bandwidth, requests, and selected features as you use them. The other is a newer flat-rate plan model for website delivery and security, with monthly pricing from $0 to $1,000 and no overage charges according to AWS.
That sounds simpler on paper. In practice, CloudFront pricing still needs careful reading. Costs can depend on geography, HTTP versus HTTPS request volume, edge compute, logging choices, and whether your delivery stack stays inside core CloudFront or expands into the wider AWS ecosystem.
For some teams, that flexibility is exactly why CloudFront is worth it. For others, especially buyers who mainly want straightforward pricing for websites, downloads, and media delivery, a simpler model can be more attractive. That makes CDNsun a relevant option for buyers who prioritize predictable CDN pricing for those delivery use cases.
Quick verdict
CloudFront is a strong fit if you want an AWS-native CDN with broad security, edge, and application delivery capabilities, and if your team is comfortable managing a pricing model that can span multiple usage dimensions.
CDNsun is a strong fit if you want predictable pay-as-you-go delivery for websites, file distribution, video, and live media without separate request charges and without turning CDN buying into a larger cloud pricing exercise.
CloudFront pricing summary at a glance
| Provider | Entry point | Core pricing model | What can raise the real cost | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CloudFront  |
AWS free usage tier for pay-as-you-go, plus flat-rate plans from $0/month | Pay-as-you-go or monthly flat-rate plans for website delivery and security | Regional bandwidth pricing, HTTP/HTTPS request charges, edge compute, Origin Shield, logging destinations, and wider AWS service usage | AWS-heavy teams, advanced web applications, security-sensitive delivery, complex edge logic |
CDNsun  |
Business plan with $0 minimum monthly spending, from $0.030/GB in Europe and North America | Transparent pay-as-you-go based on delivered traffic through enabled PoPs | Regional PoP mix, optional storage charges, custom plan from $200 monthly minimum for larger deployments | Buyers who want simpler forecasting for websites, software delivery, video delivery, and live streaming |
Provider overview for buyers
Before looking at line items, it helps to separate these two providers by buying model.
CloudFront
CloudFront is not just a CDN. It is also part of the broader AWS application and security stack. AWS positions it as a front door for web applications, APIs, static content, dynamic content, software downloads, and live or on-demand HTTP media delivery.
That breadth is one of CloudFront’s biggest advantages. It can combine global delivery, DDoS protection, WAF, origin protection, edge compute, logging, and tight integration with AWS origins. It is also why CloudFront pricing can become harder to model than the headline suggests.
CDNsun
CDNsun takes a different position. It is a focused CDN platform for buyers who want to accelerate websites, software and file delivery, video delivery, and live streaming with a pricing model centered on delivered traffic.
On the public pricing page, CDNsun lists $0.030/GB in Europe and North America on the Business plan, $0 minimum monthly spending on that plan, unlimited requests, CDN streaming included, and raw logs included. Pricing is transparent by PoP, so buyers can see where cost changes by region instead of piecing together several product pages.
What CloudFront pricing includes
CloudFront now has three main pricing conversations: pay-as-you-go, the AWS free usage tier, and flat-rate plans.
1. Pay-as-you-go CloudFront pricing
The traditional CloudFront model charges primarily for three things:
- data transfer out to the internet,
- HTTP or HTTPS requests,
- and selected add-on features.
In North America and Europe, CloudFront pay-as-you-go data transfer is free for the first 1 TB per month, then starts at $0.085/GB for the next 9 TB and $0.080/GB for the next 40 TB. Request pricing is also free for the first 10 million HTTP(S) requests per month, then continues as separate charges by protocol and region.
That request layer matters. In the United States, Mexico, and Canada, AWS lists HTTP requests at $0.0075 per 10,000 and HTTPS requests at $0.0100 per 10,000. In Europe, Israel, and Turkiye, AWS lists $0.0090 for HTTP and $0.0120 for HTTPS. Other regions can be higher.
So even before optional extras, CloudFront pricing is not just bandwidth pricing. It is bandwidth plus request pricing, with regional variance on both.
2. Flat-rate CloudFront plans
AWS also offers flat-rate plans designed for website delivery and security.
| Plan | Monthly price | Included requests | Included data transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 million | 100 GB |
| Pro | $15 | 10 million | 50 TB |
| Business | $200 | 125 million | 50 TB |
| Premium | $1,000 | 500 million | 50 TB |
According to AWS, these plans include CDN, Route 53 DNS, always-on DDoS protection, WAF, TLS certificate support, serverless edge compute, and S3 storage credits, all with no overage charges. AWS also says the plans can simplify delivery for buyers who want one monthly price instead of tracking separate services.
This is a meaningful improvement for buyers who want a more packaged CloudFront offer. But it does not replace pay-as-you-go for every scenario. AWS states that some features are not supported on pricing plans, and recommends pay-as-you-go when buyers need unsupported features, custom configurations, or more control over individual services.
3. CloudFront free tier vs free flat-rate plan
This is one of the easiest places for buyers to get confused.
CloudFront’s pay-as-you-go free usage tier includes 1 TB of data transfer out to the internet, 10 million HTTP or HTTPS requests per month, 2 million CloudFront Functions invocations, 2 million KeyValueStore reads, 10 distribution tenants, free SSL certificates, and AWS says all features are available.
That is different from the Free flat-rate plan, which is a bundled plan for website delivery and security with 1 million requests and 100 GB of data transfer, plus the bundled security and DNS features.
If you are comparing entry-level CloudFront costs, make sure you know which free model you are actually evaluating.
Flat-rate plans vs pay-as-you-go
CloudFront is now more flexible than many buyers realize.
If you want a packaged website delivery plan with built-in security, flat-rate pricing is much easier to reason about than classic AWS billing. If you want full configurability, feature depth, or pricing that scales directly with usage, pay-as-you-go still gives you that path.
There is also a middle ground for larger buyers. AWS says CloudFront offers a Security Savings Bundle that can save up to 30% in exchange for a monthly spend commitment for one year, and AWS also offers additional private committed pricing for customers typically willing to commit to 10 TB per month or more.
In other words, CloudFront pricing is no longer one model. It is a menu of models.
Why CloudFront pricing can be hard to predict
CloudFront is powerful, but its total cost can still be harder to predict than it first appears.
Regional pricing changes the math
Bandwidth pricing depends on where your users are. North America and Europe are cheaper than regions such as South America or several Asia-Pacific markets. That means the same traffic total can produce a meaningfully different bill depending on audience geography.
Request charges are separate from bandwidth
This is a big difference from simpler CDN pricing models. CloudFront request charges are separate from data transfer charges, and AWS also splits request pricing by HTTP versus HTTPS and by region.
That makes forecasting trickier for workloads with:
- many small files,
- API-heavy traffic,
- image-rich pages,
- or large numbers of media segment requests.
Optional features can add their own pricing logic
CloudFront Functions, Lambda@Edge, Origin Shield, real-time logging workflows, and some logging destinations can all introduce additional charges. For example, AWS lists CloudFront Functions at $0.10 per 1 million invocations after the free tier, and Lambda@Edge at $0.60 per 1 million requests plus duration charges.
Even standard access logging, while free to enable, can still create downstream storage or delivery charges depending on whether logs go to S3, CloudWatch Logs, or Data Firehose.
The wider AWS stack often matters
AWS itself now frames flat-rate CloudFront as a way to avoid calculating cost across separate services such as WAF, Route 53, S3, and CloudWatch Logs. That framing is useful because it highlights the underlying issue: in a more customized AWS setup, buyers may still need to watch more than one billable service.
That is not necessarily bad. It is the tradeoff you make for flexibility.
CloudFront vs CDNsun pricing philosophy
This is where the buyer decision becomes clearer.
CloudFront gives you flexibility, multiple pricing models, and tight AWS integration. In return, you accept more variables. For many buyers, the practical difference is simple: CloudFront often behaves like a broader AWS pricing model, while CDNsun behaves like a CDN bill.
CDNsun takes the opposite approach. The public pricing model is centered on delivered traffic through selected PoPs. On the Business plan there is no monthly fee, no setup fee, and no quitting fee, while unlimited requests and CDN streaming are included. Buyers can also choose the collection of PoPs they want enabled, which makes the regional pricing logic visible up front.
That does not mean CDNsun is automatically the cheaper option in every deployment. It does mean the pricing model is usually easier to understand and forecast, especially for buyers who do not need a broader edge platform.
Use case fit: websites, file delivery, and media delivery
The right provider depends less on brand size and more on what you are actually delivering.
Websites and web applications
CloudFront is attractive for websites and applications that already live on AWS or need layered AWS edge security. AWS supports static files, dynamic applications, APIs, WebSockets, gRPC, private VPC origins, origin failover, and advanced edge logic through CloudFront Functions and Lambda@Edge.
CDNsun is attractive when the goal is straightforward website acceleration without buying into a broader cloud platform. CDNsun supports website acceleration, whole-site acceleration options, and integrations for common CMS platforms. For many content-heavy websites, that can mean a shorter buying process and less pricing analysis.
Software and file delivery
CloudFront is a solid choice for global software downloads, especially when the origin already sits in AWS and the team wants AWS-native control. AWS also highlights software downloads as a common CloudFront use case.
CDNsun is a strong alternative for software and file delivery when pricing clarity matters. CDNsun positions its network specifically for software packages, desktop apps, mobile apps, updates, and other downloadable content, with a pay-as-you-go model that stays easy to explain.
Video, streaming, and media delivery
CloudFront supports live and on-demand media delivery over HTTP, including HLS, MPEG-DASH, and Smooth Streaming workflows, and it fits naturally with other AWS media services.
CDNsun can be easier to budget for buyers focused on media delivery economics. CDNsun provides multiple CDN service types for live streaming, HTTP live delivery, and video-on-demand delivery, and its public pricing includes CDN streaming rather than treating it as a separate billing layer. That makes CDNsun especially relevant for video delivery, live events, IPTV-style workflows, and other media-heavy use cases where request counts and workflow complexity can otherwise become part of the pricing problem.
When CloudFront is worth it
- your application is already deeply tied to AWS,
- you want CDN, security, DNS, and origin controls inside one ecosystem,
- you need advanced edge logic or AWS-native integrations,
- you want flat-rate plans for website delivery and security or committed pricing options,
- or your team is comfortable managing multi-part cloud pricing.
It can also be a very good value for larger deployments with predictable traffic, especially when the AWS architecture around it is already in place.
When CDNsun is the better choice
- you want transparent CDN pricing without separate request charges,
- you mainly care about websites, software delivery, video delivery, or live streaming,
- you do not want to assemble a larger cloud billing model just to estimate CDN costs,
- you want clear regional pricing by PoP,
- or you value a simpler operational model.
That is especially true for many non-enterprise buyers, media workflows, and content delivery use cases where predictability matters as much as raw feature breadth.
Final verdict
CloudFront is powerful, mature, and increasingly flexible in how it sells itself. In 2026, that is more true than ever because AWS now offers both classic pay-as-you-go billing and flat-rate plans.
But the core tradeoff has not changed.
CloudFront is strongest when you want AWS-native breadth and are willing to manage pricing across bandwidth, requests, features, and sometimes multiple AWS services.
If you want a CDN buyer experience that is easier to forecast, easier to explain internally, and better aligned with straightforward website, file, and media delivery, CDNsun is often the more practical choice.
For many buyers, that will be the real answer to the CloudFront pricing question: CloudFront can absolutely be worth it, but only if you need what makes it more complicated.