Easily compare Cloudflare and SwiftServe 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 | Cloudflare | SwiftServe |
|---|---|---|
| Short profile | 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. | SwiftServe CDN, operated by Conversant, has a strong POP presence in Asia and especially Indonesia. Their services include web acceleration, file download optimisation, video on demand (VoD) and live streaming. Conversant operates the largest CDN Federation in Asia. |
Products
| Product | Cloudflare | SwiftServe |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... | ||
| Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) | ||
| Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB) | ||
| Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? | Stream Live | |
| Video on demandDelivery of on demand video | 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 Cloudflare and SwiftServe have in different parts of the world?
| Region | Cloudflare | SwiftServe |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 54 | 2 |
| Latin America | 55 | 0 |
| Europe | 47 | 1 |
| Russia & CIS | 12 | 0 |
| Asia excl. China | 45 | 20 |
| China | 37 | 1 |
| Oceania | 14 | 0 |
| Middle East | 21 | 0 |
| Africa | 24 | 1 |
Pricing
| Pricing & contract duration | Cloudflare | SwiftServe |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum contract term | None | 12 months |
| Minimum monthly costs | $0 | Unknown |
| Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests | None | None |
| Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred | None | None |
| NA/EU traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
| APAC traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
| LATAM traffic (low volume) | $0 | Unknown |
Features
| Web acceleration | Cloudflare | SwiftServe |
|---|---|---|
| Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. | ||
| Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? | Instant | 15 minutes |
Apex/root domain OK  No performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com |
Global Anycast network | |
| HTTP/2 | ||
| HTTP/3 | HTTP/3 Prioritization | |
| WebSockets | WebSockets docs | |
| IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6? | ||
| Compression Reduce 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? | Can be an IP address | Can't configure specific other Host header |
| 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 | FTP or upload in portal. Storage costs apply | |
| Cache control - CDN caching | Page rules for overriding caching headers | Set override caching rules. Per file type. |
| 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 |
Purge Speed | Up to 15 minutes |
| Purge - capabilities | Purge per file and purge all | Purge file, all and by directory |
| Analytics | Web analytics, threats and more. Live-updating for paying customers |
Updated daily or hourly (premium)
No metrics per config/zone
|
| Log files | Only for Enterprise customers, instantly available | Logs are daily |
| API | Purge, analytics, configuration | Purge, analytics, configuration |
| HTTPS & Content Protection | Cloudflare | SwiftServe |
|---|---|---|
| CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net | 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 | Cloudflare | SwiftServe |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation | Yes, public. Cloudflare Community. | Yes, but not public |
| Humans | Email support for all. Phone only for Enterprise customers | All customers get email support. 24/7 phone support is available (costs extra) |