Easily compare ChinaCache and Cloudflare for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks.
Company
| Company | ChinaCache | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Short profile | Founded in 1998, publicly traded on NASDAQ (CCIH), ChinaCache is the first CDN in China and generally considered to be one of the better CDNs for China delivery because of their network, knowledge and experience from working with (enterprise) multinational customers. The ChinaCache network and services are not limited to mainland China and ChinaCache has been growing steadily outside China in the past years. | Cloudflare provides a global CDN with unique performance capabilities and a strong focus on security. The company has a global infrastructure built from the ground up using only next-generation, high-performance equipment—no legacy software or hardware. The result is a CDN that's easy to set up, affordable, and built to continuously adapt and integrate emerging technologies to meet future needs of everyone's Internet properties. |
Products
| Product | ChinaCache | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... | Dynamic Content Acceleration | |
| Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) | Static Content Acceleration | |
| Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB) | Download Acceleration | |
| Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? | Media Acceleration | Stream Live |
| Video on demandDelivery of on demand video | Media Acceleration | Stream |
| Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization | Image Resizing, Mirage, Polish | |
| DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain | DNS | |
| WAFWeb Application Firewall | Cloud Web Application Firewall | |
| Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. | DDoS Protection | |
| Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs | ||
| Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers | Workers |
Network
How many POP locations do ChinaCache and Cloudflare have in different parts of the world?
| Region | ChinaCache | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 8 | 54 |
| Latin America | 1 | 55 |
| Europe | 3 | 47 |
| Russia & CIS | 0 | 12 |
| Asia excl. China | 10 | 45 |
| China | 400 | 37 |
| Oceania | 0 | 14 |
| Middle East | 1 | 21 |
| Africa | 1 | 24 |
Pricing
| Pricing & contract duration | ChinaCache | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum contract term | 12 months | None |
| Minimum monthly costs | Unknown | $0 |
| Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests | None | None |
| Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred | Unknown | None |
| NA/EU traffic (low volume) | Unknown | $0 |
| APAC traffic (low volume) | Unknown | $0 |
| LATAM traffic (low volume) | Unknown | $0 |
Features
| Web acceleration | ChinaCache | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. | ||
| Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? | <5 minutes | Instant |
Apex/root domain OK  No performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com |
Non-Anycasted network | Global Anycast network |
| HTTP/2 | ||
| HTTP/3 | HTTP/3 Prioritization | |
| WebSockets | WebSockets docs | |
| IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6? | At customer request | |
| Compression Reduce file size for faster delivery |
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
CDN can also forward client request Host header to origin
|
Can be an IP address |
| Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP | Tiered Cache, included in all paid plans | |
| Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room | Cloudflare Waiting Room | |
| Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin | ||
| Cache control - CDN caching |
CDN can honor origin headers
Custom rules can be set by CDN support team
|
Page rules for overriding caching headers |
| Cache control - client caching | ||
| Serve Stale CDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble |
Only 'stale while revalidate' | |
| Purge Invalidate or delete cached objects on CDN |
<3 minutes delay | Purge Speed |
| Purge - capabilities | Purge all, purge by directory | Purge per file and purge all |
| Analytics | Web analytics, threats and more. Live-updating for paying customers | |
| Log files | Logs are daily or hourly | Only for Enterprise customers, instantly available |
| API | Purge, analytics, billing. Not configuration | Purge, analytics, configuration |
| HTTPS & Content Protection | ChinaCache | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net | Only for testing | SNI |
| Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate | More info | |
| Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN | ||
| Token authentication | More info | |
| Geo blocking | Access Rules | |
| Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content | ||
| Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content | Possible with Workers | |
| IP white/blacklisting | Access Rules |
Support
| Customer support | ChinaCache | Cloudflare |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation | Yes, but not public. | Yes, public. Cloudflare Community. |
| Humans | Different levels of support are available. | Email support for all. Phone only for Enterprise customers |