CloudFront vs Azure Front Door vs Cloud CDN vs Alibaba Cloud CDN
These products cache or terminate HTTP at an edge. They are not interchangeable with a regional load balancer. Pricing (request, data transfer out, extra features) changes and belongs on each pricing page.
Last verified: · Written and technically verified by Ankit Mehta
How the products actually differ
CloudFront is an AWS CDN with distributions, behaviors and optional Shield/WAF attachments as documented. Azure Front Door is a layer-7 global entry point with caching and WAF SKUs. Google Cloud CDN sits in front of backends such as load balancers or Cloud Storage. Alibaba Cloud CDN is the Alibaba edge cache with its own domain and ICP constraints for China.
| Topic | CloudFront | Azure Front Door | Cloud CDN | Alibaba Cloud CDN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary role | CDN + optional origin shield | Global HTTP anycast + cache | CDN attached to Google backends | CDN for Alibaba and custom origins |
| Typical origin | S3, ALB, custom | App Service, AKS, Storage, custom | External HTTP(S) LB, Cloud Storage | OSS, ECS, custom |
| China / ICP | Separate China offering; verify current path | Verify Front Door availability and compliance | Verify current China offering | Mainland China requires ICP for public sites |
Decision table
Factual differences are in the table above. The rows below are recommendations for a named situation.
| When | Choose |
|---|---|
| Origin and identity already live on one provider and you need an edge cache | That provider’s CDN (CloudFront, Front Door, Cloud CDN, or Alibaba Cloud CDN). Do not add a second edge product for symmetry. |
| Public users in mainland China and ICP applies | Confirm the current China path for the provider you operate. Alibaba Cloud CDN is often the product that documents ICP constraints directly. |
When neither option is appropriate
A regional load balancer is not a CDN, and a CDN is not a multi-region active-active data plane. If the problem is origin failover or TLS on a single region, use the DNS or certificate runbook instead of this table.
Limitations
- Do not copy a dollar-per-GB figure from memory. Use the official pricing calculator for the month you are planning.
- WAF, bot and TLS options are SKU-specific. Read the current product page.