KeyCDN Pricing in 2026: Real Costs for Buyers

KeyCDN pricing looks refreshingly simple at first glance. The public rate card is short, the entry traffic pricing is easy to understand, and there are no request charges. That simplicity is real, but it is not the full picture.

If you are comparing CDN providers for a real workload, the important question is not just the headline per-GB number. It is what the final invoice and day-to-day operating model look like once you add the things many teams actually need: multiple Zones, raw logs, Push storage for larger files, image processing, and reliable cache-control workflows. That is where the gap between KeyCDN and CDNsun becomes much more relevant. For the broader product-level view beyond pricing, see our recent KeyCDN review.

The short version is this: KeyCDN remains a credible pay-as-you-go CDN, especially for simple pull-based website acceleration. But for many small and mid-size buyers, CDNsun is easier to enter, easier to operate, and often cheaper in practice. The caveat is important: on pure North America and Europe bandwidth at higher volumes, KeyCDN can become more competitive.

Decision in 20 seconds

• Choose KeyCDN if you mainly want straightforward pull-based website acceleration, do not need many extras, and expect large enough NA/EU traffic volumes for KeyCDN’s higher tiers to matter.
• Choose CDNsun if you want lower entry pricing, no monthly minimum, lower prepaid threshold, included raw logs, included streaming, and a more storage-friendly operating model.
• For many small and mid-size workloads, CDNsun has the better total-cost profile. For higher-volume NA/EU traffic on bandwidth alone, KeyCDN deserves a fair second look.

KeyCDN pricing at a glance

KeyCDN bandwidth pricing by region

KeyCDN uses tiered regional pricing. In North America and Europe, the first 10 TB starts at $0.04/GB, then drops to $0.03/GB for the next 40 TB, $0.02/GB for the next 50 TB, and $0.01/GB above 100 TB. In Asia and Oceania, pricing starts at $0.08/GB. In Africa and Latin America, pricing starts at $0.10/GB.

That structure matters because it creates two different buyer outcomes. At lower and moderate volumes, especially in the first 10 TB, KeyCDN is not the cheapest published option in this comparison. CDNsun starts at $0.030/GB in North America and Europe and $0.060/GB in APAC, South America, and Africa, which is materially lower at the entry tier.

At higher volumes, especially for traffic concentrated in North America and Europe, KeyCDN becomes more interesting. Once the lower volume tiers give way to $0.03/GB and then $0.02/GB traffic, the bandwidth-only comparison gets much tighter. That does not automatically make KeyCDN cheaper overall, but it does mean buyers should separate headline rate comparison from total-cost comparison.

What KeyCDN really costs beyond bandwidth

The bandwidth line item is only part of the invoice. KeyCDN’s public pricing also includes a $4 minimum monthly usage, a $49 minimum payment, the first 3 Zones free with $1 per month for each additional Zone, Push storage from $0.12/GB/month, log forwarding at $1/day, and image processing at $0.40 per 1,000 operations.

These are not universal penalties. Many buyers will not trigger all of them. That nuance matters. A team with one or two Pull Zones and no interest in raw logs or image transformations may find the model acceptably lean. But as soon as the workload becomes more operationally serious, extra line items start appearing in common places.

The prepaid billing model also affects buying friction. KeyCDN uses credits and normal top-ups start at $49. CDNsun also uses prepaid credit, but its minimum top-up is $20 and there is no monthly minimum. For smaller teams, testing projects, regional sites, or uneven workloads, that difference is commercially meaningful.

10 TB examples by region

For buyers comparing public pricing at a practical workload size, 10 TB per month is a useful reference point.

Those examples are deliberately simple traffic comparisons, and even there CDNsun comes out ahead at the published entry tier. The gap is strongest outside North America and Europe. In Africa and Latin America, the difference is especially large. Once you add potential operating extras such as paid logs or storage-backed delivery, CDNsun often pulls further ahead.

The fairness point is equally important: these examples do not mean KeyCDN is always more expensive. They show that at the 10 TB level, CDNsun is clearly cheaper on published pricing in the regions that matter for this article. Above that level, especially in NA/EU, KeyCDN’s tiering changes the picture.

Where CDNsun is cheaper

CDNsun is cheaper at the entry tier in every regional comparison used here. It starts lower in North America and Europe, lower in APAC, and much lower in Africa and Latin America. That alone gives it the better first-pass pricing position for many buyers.

CDNsun is also cheaper in the way many buyers actually experience a service commercially. There is no monthly minimum, the minimum top-up is lower, unlimited requests are included, raw logs are included, streaming is included, and storage is part of the Business plan positioning. That reduces the number of small but recurring decisions that turn a clean rate card into a more complex bill.

The result is not just lower pricing in many cases. It is lower-friction pricing. Buyers who want one platform for website acceleration, software delivery, video delivery, and live streaming are less likely to keep discovering new operational edges as the workload grows.

Storage, logs, purge controls, and operational cost differences

This is where the comparison becomes more useful than a basic rate-card table. KeyCDN recommends Push Zones for files larger than 10 MB and requires them for files larger than 100 MB. That means larger-file workflows, software downloads, and some media use cases can move into storage-backed delivery sooner than buyers expect.

That shift matters because Push storage starts at $0.12/GB/month and Push workflows are more limited operationally than some buyers may want. Invalidation is an example. KeyCDN supports URL-level purge for Push Zones, but not full-cache purge for them. Release-heavy teams can work with that, but it is not the cleanest workflow when assets change frequently or when full rollback control matters.

CDNsun is stronger here. It includes storage in the Business plan positioning, provides 5 GB of free storage on customer accounts, supports FTP, FTPS, SFTP, RSYNC, HTTPS API, and web-based file management, and does not charge for traffic from storage to CDN edge servers. It also gives buyers purge, purge-all, and prefetch controls, which can reduce time-to-refresh and release friction for active content teams.

Logs are another clear difference. KeyCDN can forward raw logs in real time, but the feature costs $1/day. CDNsun includes raw logs and supports the logs-storage workflow as a standard part of the platform, with real-time forwarding available through direct contact. Buyers who treat logs as routine operational data, not as a premium extra, will usually prefer the CDNsun model.

Image processing is one more place where KeyCDN can become more expensive than the headline bandwidth price suggests. The feature itself is credible and useful, but it costs $0.40 per 1,000 operations and also changes some Pull Zone behavior automatically. That is not a problem by itself, but it adds one more moving part for teams trying to keep pricing and cache behavior predictable.

Where KeyCDN still makes sense

It would be a mistake to present KeyCDN as a bad buy. It is not. KeyCDN still makes good sense for straightforward pull-based website acceleration, classic static asset delivery, and self-serve onboarding where the buyer mainly wants a competent CDN without a broader platform angle.

It also becomes more defensible on price when traffic is large and concentrated in North America and Europe. If the workload is bandwidth-heavy, Pull Zone-oriented, and not dependent on paid extras such as log forwarding or image operations, KeyCDN’s higher-volume NA/EU tiers can look attractive.

In other words, KeyCDN fits best when simplicity at the CDN layer is the main goal and the workload does not push hard into storage-backed operations, broader media delivery, or richer cache-management needs.

Final verdict

KeyCDN pricing is simple enough to look appealing on first inspection, but buyers should not stop at the first row of the pricing page. The real cost picture can change once you add extra Zones, raw logs, Push storage, or image processing, and those are all common enough to matter in a serious comparison.

For many small and mid-size workloads, CDNsun is the better commercial fit. It starts cheaper, removes the monthly minimum, lowers the prepaid threshold, includes raw logs and streaming, and offers a more operationally flexible storage and cache-control model. That combination often makes it cheaper not only on paper, but in daily use.

The fair caveat is that KeyCDN should not be dismissed for larger North America and Europe bandwidth workloads. On traffic alone, its tiered pricing becomes more competitive as volume rises. But for buyers evaluating total cost, practical workflow, and inclusive pricing together, CDNsun is often the stronger choice.

FAQ

How much does KeyCDN cost per GB?

KeyCDN starts at $0.04/GB in North America and Europe, $0.08/GB in Asia and Oceania, and $0.10/GB in Africa and Latin America. The NA/EU rate drops at higher traffic tiers.

Does KeyCDN have a monthly minimum?

Yes. KeyCDN lists a $4 minimum monthly usage. It also uses prepaid credits and states a $49 minimum payment for normal top-ups.

Is CDNsun cheaper than KeyCDN?

For many small and mid-size workloads, yes. CDNsun starts at $0.030/GB in North America and Europe, has no monthly minimum, and includes raw logs, unlimited requests, streaming, and storage-friendly positioning. At higher NA/EU traffic volumes, KeyCDN can become more competitive on bandwidth alone.

What are the main hidden or extra costs in KeyCDN pricing?

The main extras buyers should check are additional Zone fees after the first three, Push storage charges, log forwarding charges, and image processing charges. These do not apply to every buyer, but they matter often enough to change the total-cost picture.

When does KeyCDN make more sense than CDNsun?

KeyCDN makes more sense when the workload is mostly simple pull-based website delivery, traffic is heavily concentrated in North America and Europe, and the buyer is unlikely to need many paid extras or storage-backed workflow features that would make CDNsun more attractive.