What's the Difference Between Amazon CloudFront and AWS Global Accelerator?
Compare Amazon CloudFront and AWS Global Accelerator side by side — features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right product.
Compare side-by-side
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Comparisons
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Amazon CloudFront
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AWS Global Accelerator
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Category
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Networking, CDN |
Networking, Traffic acceleration |
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Description
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Global content delivery network to accelerate web and API performance |
Improve global application availability and performance using the AWS global network. |
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Best for
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Key features
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Pricing model
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Pay per data transfer out + requests |
Fixed hourly rate + data transfer premium |
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Free tier
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Yes |
No |
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Expert take
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“CloudFront reduces latency by caching content at 400+ edge locations worldwide. For dynamic content, it still helps because the AWS backbone network between edge and origin is faster than the public internet. Pair it with Origin Shield to collapse cache-fill requests from multiple edge locations into one.” |
“Global Accelerator routes TCP/UDP traffic over the AWS backbone rather than the public internet, providing consistent performance regardless of user location. Unlike CloudFront (which caches content), Global Accelerator accelerates non-cacheable traffic like APIs, gaming, and VoIP.” |
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Product page
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When to use Amazon CloudFront or AWS Global Accelerator
Use Amazon CloudFront when:
- Website acceleration
- API acceleration
- Video streaming
- Software distribution
Learn more about Amazon CloudFront »
Use AWS Global Accelerator when:
- Global applications
- Gaming
- IoT
- Voice/video
- Health checks
Next steps with AWS for Networking
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