Fastly vs JSDelivr

What Fastly is

Fastly is an edge cloud and CDN with programmable edge compute and very fast cache purging. Instant purge and programmable edge logic are its differentiators: cache invalidation happens in seconds and routing rules run at the edge. It is priced and shaped for teams that treat the CDN as part of the application, not a checkbox.

What JSDelivr is

jsDelivr is a publicly available CDN for open-source files from npm, GitHub, WordPress and selected custom endpoints. Its terms permit free personal and commercial use without bandwidth or request limits when content and usage follow both jsDelivr and upstream-platform policies. The network uses multiple CDN providers and offers exact or aliased version URLs, an API, combination and optimization features. Production consumers should pin an exact reviewed release: aliases can resolve to newer code. The service is not general file/media hosting, private package delivery or a substitute for package, license and resilience review.

What Fastly is built to do

Instant cache purge

Invalidates cached objects across the network within seconds.

Edge compute

Runs custom logic at the edge for routing and personalisation.

Real-time logging

Streams request logs to your own systems as they happen.

What JSDelivr is built to do

Public package endpoints

Serves files from npm, GitHub, WordPress and approved custom open-source sources.

Multi-CDN routing

Uses multiple providers and monitoring-based failover for public asset delivery.

Version selection

Supports exact releases and convenient aliases; exact pins are safer for reproducible production builds.

Package API

Returns versions, files, entry points, CDN links and download statistics for tooling.

Choose Fastly if

• Traffic concentrated in North America or Europe, where delivery is $0.12/GB in the first paid band and $0.08/GB in the next
• Small or spiky sites: the first 100 GB of bandwidth and the first 1 million requests each month are free
• Image-heavy sites — Image Optimizer includes 100,000 image requests free and the per-request rate falls sharply above 10 million
• Teams that do not want seat licensing: everything here is metered by usage, with volume discounts applied automatically

Skip Fastly if

• Your audience is in Africa, India or South Korea: delivery there is $0.28/GB, more than twice the $0.12/GB charged for North America and Europe
• You need many TLS domains — only 5 are free, then $20 per domain per month, and a commercial-CA certificate is $275 per domain per month
• You need mutual TLS beyond two domains: that switches to a $500 flat monthly rate
• You want a quoted enterprise package before talking to sales — package and support-plan prices are not published

Choose JSDelivr if

• Public npm or GitHub packages that need zero-cost global asset delivery
• Static sites using exact reviewed dependency versions
• Open-source maintainers who want public package metadata and download statistics

Skip JSDelivr if

• The workload is proprietary, private, general-purpose storage or large-scale media hosting
• The application requires negotiated uptime and support-response commitments
• Security policy cannot allow a third-party domain or the build cannot pin and review dependencies

Fastly: pros & cons

• Instant global cache purge
• Programmable edge with VCL and Compute
• Strong performance and observability
• Configuration is developer-oriented
• Pricing suits larger traffic volumes
• Steeper learning curve than simple CDNs

JSDelivr: pros & cons

• Free permitted use: The published terms allow personal and commercial use without request or bandwidth limits.
• Broad public-package access: npm, GitHub and WordPress paths cover common open-source distribution workflows.
• Resilient delivery design: Multiple CDN and DNS providers plus health-based routing reduce dependence on one edge network.
• Developer tooling: Public APIs expose package versions, files, entry points, CDN URLs and download statistics.
• Strict usage scope: General image, video, backup or bulk file hosting is prohibited.
• Mutable aliases add risk: Unpinned version ranges or latest URLs can deliver code different from a reviewed build.
• Upstream rules still apply: Content must satisfy npm, GitHub or other source-platform terms as well as jsDelivr's policy.
• Free support is limited: Published terms promise a reasonable level of issue/email support, not a customer-specific response SLA.