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Lumen versus StackPath

Easily compare Lumen and StackPath for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks.

Lumen logo StackPath logo

Company

Company Lumen StackPath
Short profile Lumen (formerly known as Centurylink or Level 3) owns and operates a global Tier-1 network and - logically - their CDN runs on top of it. Lumen CDN has POPs on many continents and their product focus is on video, large object delivery and edge computing. StackPath launched in 2016 and promises global, high performance content delivery + top notch security (integrated web application firewall and DDoS mitigation) while keeping things simple, transparent and affordable. StackPath is developer-friendly with 24/7/365 support and a fully-documented API.

Products

Yes
Sort of/partially
No
Extra costs
Unknown
Product Lumen StackPath
Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... CDN Edge Compute
Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) CDN and/or CDN Edge Compute
Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB)
Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? CDN and/or CDN Mesh Delivery
Video on demandDelivery of on demand video CDN and/or CDN Mesh Delivery
Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization part of CDN Edge Compute Image Optimization
DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain
WAFWeb Application Firewall WAF Web Application Firewall
Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. Lumen DDoS Hyper (on-demand) and DDoS Mitigation Service DDoS Mitigation
Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs CDN Mesh Delivery for Enterprise
Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers Edge Compute Edge Compute

Network

How many POP locations do Lumen and StackPath have in different parts of the world?

Region Lumen StackPath
North America 28 15
Latin America 11 6
Europe 35 12
Russia & CIS 0 0
Asia excl. China 7 6
China 0 0
Oceania 5 2
Middle East 4 0
Africa 3 1

Pricing

Pricing & contract duration Lumen StackPath
Minimum contract term Unknown One month
Minimum monthly costs Unknown $25
Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests Unknown None
Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred Unknown Unknown
NA/EU traffic (low volume) Unknown $0.04 per GB
APAC traffic (low volume) Unknown $0.04 per GB
LATAM traffic (low volume) Unknown $0.04 per GB

Features

Yes
Sort of/partially
No
Extra costs
Unknown
Web acceleration Lumen StackPath
Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. Not yet, but coming soon.
Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? No longer than 15 minutes - Often instant Instant
Apex/root domain OK Blog: Root domain on CDN and performanceNo performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com Available with Section product for an additional fee
HTTP/2
HTTP/3
WebSockets WebSockets docs
IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6?
Compression CDN Guide: CompressionReduce file size for faster delivery Resend from origin, or compress on edge Resend from origin, or compress on edge
Origin pull - protocolHTTP only or HTTPS possible too? HTTP and HTTPS. HTTP and HTTPS
Origin pull - Host headerUse client > edge value? Set specific value? Configure specific other Host header
tooltip CDN can also forward client request Host header to origin
Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP
Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room
Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin FTP, SFTP, rsync. Storage costs apply
Cache control - CDN caching Full and granular control with EdgeRules
Cache control - client caching Full and granular control with EdgeRules
Serve Stale CDN Guide: Serve StaleCDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble
Purge CDN Guide: PurgeInvalidate or delete cached objects on CDN Instant Instant!
Purge - capabilities Purge all but not purge by directory or tag or header Purge all, purge by directory/header,
Analytics Real-time!
Log files Only for larger volume plans
API Purge, analytics, configuration Purge, analytics, configuration
HTTPS & Content Protection Lumen StackPath
CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net Free. SNI
Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate
Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN Free. SNI
Token authentication
Geo blocking
Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content
Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content
IP white/blacklisting

Support

Customer support Lumen StackPath
Documentation Yes, but not public Yes, public
Humans 24/7 phone and email support included in all plans. Higher volume plans get a dedicated technical account manager