Vol. MMXXVI · Plates I–V · The Edge Order

A Field Guide to the Edge

Five content-delivery species observed in the wild, catalogued by habit, range, and cost of upkeep. Measurements current to mid-2026.

❧ ❦ ❧
Plate I — Specimen 01
Cloudflare
Reticulum universalis
The Generalist
Upkeep
Free base · Pro $20/mo · Business $200/mo
Range
330+ cities across 100+ countries; one of the broadest networks observed.
Description
A platform species rather than a pure delivery animal. Bundles CDN, DNS, free SSL, WAF, bot defense, and Workers compute into flat fees, with no per-GB charge on standard website plans. The strongest free tier in the order.
Habits
Unmetered DDoSWorkers $0.15/M reqR2 no egressPage/API Shield
Field Caution
Real cost can scatter across add-ons (Argo, Stream, Logpush). Per-zone billing multiplies across domains. Acceptable-use policy restricts wholesale video on standard plans.
Plate II — Specimen 02
AWS CloudFront
Nimbus amazonicus
The Native Symbiont
Upkeep
$0.085/GB (NA tier 1) · 1TB/mo free, permanent
Range
750+ PoPs plus embedded ISP locations in many countries.
Description
Thrives in the AWS habitat. Its defining trait is zero egress when pulling from S3, EC2, or ALB in-region, a saving that bleeds elsewhere. Best fit when encode, package, and deliver already run on Amazon infrastructure.
Habits
Free S3 origin pullLambda@EdgeShield + WAF$0.0075/10k req
Field Caution
Less intuitive than plug-and-play species; requires AWS familiarity. Regional multipliers and per-request fees create invoice surprises. Weaker value outside its native ecosystem.
Plate III — Specimen 03
Fastly
Velox programmabilis
The Swift Specialist
Upkeep
Usage-based ~$0.12/GB · committed-use discounts
Range
~90 PoPs — the smallest range of the majors, yet remarkably fast.
Description
A developer's species, prized for reflexes. Consistently the lowest P99 TTFB on cached segments and instant global purge under 150ms. Compute@Edge runs Wasm directly in the request path for manifest manipulation and per-viewer logic.
Habits
Instant purgeCompute@Edge WasmEdge SSAIReal-time logs
Field Caution
Premium upkeep versus volume species. Origin-fetch billed near delivery rates. Small footprint limits last-mile reach for the largest live migrations of viewers.
Plate IV — Specimen 04
Akamai
Antiquus colossus
The Apex Veteran
Upkeep
Custom contract · ~$0.049/GB at 10TB/mo
Range
4,100+ PoPs with ISP-embedded topology; the deepest territory of all.
Description
The founding species of the order, still moving ~30% of all CDN traffic. The safest choice for global live events past a million concurrent viewers; Adaptive Media Delivery handles LL-HLS natively, with Linode adding edge transcoding.
Habits
Deepest last-mile100% uptime SLAsEnterprise securityLL-HLS native
Field Caution
No published price; approach requires a sales call. Complex line-item structure across CDN, security, and performance. Slower change cycles and volume floors deter smaller, nimble teams.
Plate V — Specimen 05
Bunny.net
Parvus economicus
The Thrifty Sprinter
Upkeep
From $0.01/GB (NA/EU) · no per-request charges
Range
119 PoPs — modest territory, efficient foraging.
Description
Small but mighty. From $0.01/GB with no request fees, a structural advantage for segmented video that generates many requests per GB. A friendly dashboard and request coalescing suit WordPress, static sites, and budget-minded keepers.
Habits
No request feesRequest coalescingBunny ShieldEasy setup
Field Caution
Smaller footprint than the giants. Lighter security plumage. Deep compliance (HIPAA, heavy PCI) favors Cloudflare or Akamai. Less recognized in enterprise procurement.

Comparative Key

distinguishing traits at a glance

TraitCloudflareCloudFrontFastlyAkamaiBunny
Range (PoPs)330+ cities750+~904,100+119
Base upkeepFree$0.085/GB~$0.12/GBCustom$0.01/GB
Free tierGenerous1TB/mononenonetrial
Edge computeWorkersLambda@EdgeCompute@EdgeLinodelimited
Security suiteFullShield+WAFStrongEnterpriseBunny Shield
Best habitatAll-in-oneAWS stacksDynamic/APIEnterpriseStatic/video

No specimen is superior in every field. Match the animal to your terrain: Cloudflare for breadth, CloudFront for AWS soil, Fastly for speed, Akamai for scale, Bunny.net for thrift.

All names are trademarks of their respective owners · Latin nomenclature is an editorial conceit · Measurements publicly listed as of Q2 2026, subject to change
Independent field guide · Not affiliated with or endorsed by any provider · For informational purposes only · Verify current pricing with each vendor